Chapter 6: The Path of No Return
790 Words
The night air was thick with the scent of pine and damp earth, but beneath it lingered something fouler—betrayal. It clung to my skin, to my very soul, as I stood motionless in the center of my cabin, Ronan’s words echoing in my mind.
“The True Alpha.”
My pulse pounded as I clenched my fists. The True Alpha was a myth, a shadow lurking beyond the pack’s borders. Some believed he had died long ago. Others whispered he still watched, waiting for a reason to rise again. But none of that mattered. If there was even the slightest chance he could help me, I had no choice.
I refused to let Cassia get away with this.
I inhaled sharply and met Ronan’s gaze. “If I leave, the pack will brand me a traitor.”
His expression was grim. “They already treat you like one.”
I swallowed hard. He wasn’t wrong. No one would care if I disappeared. No one would search for me. The only thing I’d be leaving behind was a life of servitude to a pack that had never wanted me.
Still, doubt slithered in. “And what about you?” I asked. “You’re a Beta’s son. You have a future here.”
Ronan scoffed, raking a hand through his dark hair. “A future under a king who was too blind to see his real mate?” His jaw clenched. “Cassia lied, Selene. And you know our father will do whatever it takes to keep her lie intact. I don’t want to be part of that.”
His words struck something deep inside me.
Cassia hadn’t done this alone.
Someone had helped her. Someone had given her my scent and erased my bond with Killian. The realization sent a violent shudder through me.
I had never been safe here.
Not truly.
Alera growled inside me, her presence pulsing with anger. Then it’s time to leave.
I nodded, the decision solidifying in my mind. “I’ll go.”
Ronan exhaled slowly. “Then we don’t have much time. Cassia’s claim is fresh, but once the bond strengthens, it’ll be harder to break. We need to move before the ceremony.”
The thought of them together made my stomach churn. The claiming ceremony. The moment when a mate bond would be sealed—physically, spiritually, permanently. If Killian marked her before I could prove the truth, there would be no undoing it.
I had to act fast.
“Where do we find him?” I asked, forcing steel into my voice.
Ronan hesitated, then said, “There’s an outpost beyond the Bloodfang border. Rogues pass through there, and some of them have ties to him.”
Bloodfang. My blood turned to ice at the name. The most brutal rogue pack to exist. Even the Alpha King avoided war with them.
If we were caught trespassing on their land, death would be a mercy.
I forced down my fear. “Then we leave now.”
—
We moved through the trees like shadows, the damp forest floor muffling our footsteps. Every breath felt heavier the farther we got from Silverfang territory.
I should have been afraid.
But for the first time in my life, I felt free.
The wind rushed through my hair as I ran, my wolf stirring beneath my skin, craving the shift I had been suppressing for so long. I wanted to feel the earth beneath my paws, the power of my body unleashed.
But shifting would leave us vulnerable.
So I pushed the urge down and focused on the path ahead.
Hours passed, the dense trees growing wilder, the air colder. We were in unclaimed land now, dangerously close to Bloodfang’s borders. My instincts screamed at me to turn back, but I shoved the fear aside.
We were almost there.
Then suddenly—
A rustle in the darkness.
I froze, my breath caught in my throat. Ronan tensed beside me, his hand already on the dagger strapped to his thigh.
Something moved between the trees.
And then, a scent hit me.
Not wolf.
Something else.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
A figure stepped into view, their form barely visible in the shadows. My pulse quickened. This wasn’t a rogue. This wasn’t human.
This was a predator.
A voice, smooth as silk but edged with danger, cut through the night. “Lost, little wolves?”
The man stepped forward, his dark hood barely concealing the sharp, inhuman features beneath. Silver eyes glowed like twin moons, assessing me with an eerie calmness.
Ronan shifted subtly, his muscles coiled, ready to strike.
But I couldn’t move.
Because deep in my soul, something told me…
We had just found him.
- Writer
