Claimed By The Cursed Alpha

Chapter Two – Into the Dark

Lyra’s POV



I didn’t think the cold could get worse than it already was. I was wrong.

Every step deeper into the forest felt like walking into a freezer wrapped in another. The air was thick and wet, and every gust of wind cut through my dress with cold like knives. My feet were numb, probably bleeding, and I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore.

But I kept walking.

Because what else could I do? Turn back to the pack that had just exiled me? Beg the Alpha who told me I was nothing? Throw myself at the feet of my father the man who stood there and watched it all happen without blinking?

Screw that.

I pushed through branches and thorn bushes, my dress snagging, ripping. My legs were scratched to hell, and my hair was stuck in tangles, but none of it mattered. My chest felt hollow. My brain was too fried to panic. I was somewhere between heartbroken and completely numb.

“This is fine,” I muttered to myself. “Wandering alone through a cursed territory. Totally fine. No wolves foaming at the mouth or creepy ghost trees in sight. I’m definitely not about to die.”

A twig snapped behind me.

I froze.

I turned slowly. Nothing.

But something was off.

The air has changed. Thicker. And now Still.

And then I caught the smell.

Rotten. Like wet fur and meat left out too long.

I backed up, my stomach tightening. "Nope. Nope nope nope..."

A shape moved in the fog then two more.

My heart dropped straight into my stomach.

They looked like wolves, but not normal ones. Bigger. Leaner. Rouges. Their eyes were glowing yellow like sick fireflies, and patches of fur were missing like they’d clawed themselves raw. They didn’t growl. They didn’t snarl.

They just stared.

“Okay,” I breathed, holding up my hands. “We don’t need to do this. I’ll just go the other way. You go your way. We’ll pretend this never”

One lunged.

I screamed and bolted.

Branches slapped my face as I ran. My foot hit something hard I went down face-first into the dirt. Pain shot through my shoulder, and I barely had time to roll before teeth snapped right where my arm had been.

“s**t!” I swung wildly with a branch, smacking one of them in the muzzle. It yelped, but two more circled in.

This was it. This was how I died. Mauled by feral rogues in a forest that probably ate people for fun.

I tried to crawl backward, but they were too fast.

One lunged again

And then the whole world exploded.

A black blur crashed into the wolf mid-air, slamming it to the ground with a sickening crunch. The other two barely had time to react before it ripped into them like a goddamn nightmare.

I blinked, shaking, watching the scene unfold like a horror movie in fast-forward.

The thing that attacked them—it was huge. Like, unnaturally huge. A wolf, but not like anything I’d ever seen. Midnight black, fur gleaming even in the dark, and eyes burning red.

The rogues tried to fight back, but they didn’t stand a chance. He was faster, meaner, and terrifying.

One tried to run.

It didn’t make it five steps.

Then it was quiet again.

Except for my heartbeat, hammering like a drum in my ears.

The black wolf turned to face me.

I couldn't move.

My breath hitched. Not because I thought he’d kill me honestly, at this point, death didn’t sound half as scary as the monster in front of me but because there was something wrong about this. Not wrong like evil. Wrong like… impossible.

That thing—this wolf—was watching me like it knew me.

Then, slowly, it stepped back.

And started to shift.

Bones cracked. Fur pulled back into the skin. Limbs lengthened. It was horrifying and fascinating and painful-looking all at once.

Then he stood. A man. Completely shirtless. Tall. Ripped. Covered in blood and scars. Dark hair, messy and wet with sweat. His face looked like it was carved out of stone, all sharp angles with zero emotion.

But his eyes…

Still red.

Still burning.

What the actual hell?

I didn’t say anything at first. I was too busy trying not to pass out.

Then I croaked, “You gonna eat me or…?”

He tilted his head slightly, like I’d confused him.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.

His voice was deep. Rough. Like gravel and whiskey.

“No s**t,” I snapped before I could stop myself. “I didn’t exactly plan a vacation here. My pack threw me out. No wolf. No mate. No freaking purpose.”

He just stared at me. No sympathy. No anger. Just… analyzing.

“You’re from the Crescent Fang Pack,” he said flatly.

“Yeah. Was. They kicked me out tonight. Failed the Awakening for the third time.” I looked down at myself. Muddy, scratched up, pathetic. “Now I’m just a stray with a dress and a wound. Awesome.”

His eyes flicked to the torn-up wolves scattered across the forest floor.

“You were lucky.”

“Was I? Because it kinda felt like I was about to get eaten.”

He didn’t respond.

I winced and looked down at my arm. The bite was bad. Blood smeared across my skin, and the adrenaline was wearing off fast. It hurt like hell now.

He noticed.

Without a word, he turned and walked toward a rock by the edge of the clearing. A satchel was hidden behind it. He pulled something out, clothes I turned my eyes away as he changed into the clothes he had pulled out.

I turned back after a minute, he was done dressing up now and he had a piece of cloth and a bottle of something as he stalked over to me.

I eyed him warily. “You gonna patch me up or kill me?”

“Stop talking.”

I scowled. “You’re a real charmer.”

He knelt and poured something on the bite.

“OW damn it! Warn a girl next time!”

“It needs to be cleaned.”

“Well, congrats, it’s CLEAN now.”

He ignored me, wrapping the cloth tightly around my arm with careful hands.

When he finished, he stood and backed off, putting space between us again.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he repeated.

“Yeah, you mentioned that. Real helpful though. Want to draw me a map out of this hellhole?”

He didn’t answer. Of course.

I crossed my arms or tried to, before my bandaged one throbbed and I winced again.

Finally, I asked, “So what’s your name, forest murder wolf?”

He paused.

“Kael.”

It hit me like a punch to the chest.

Kael.

No. That couldn’t be right.

There were stories about him. A rogue Alpha. Cursed. Banished. Dangerous.

“The Kael? Like... Shadowclaw Pack Kael? The cursed Alpha?”

He didn’t confirm. He didn’t deny it either. But I was beginning to feel faint now.

I should have been terrified.

But Instead, I was just... tired.

“What happens now?” I asked. “You drag me to your haunted camp and sacrifice me to a demon tree?”

He almost smiled. Almost.

“No. You’re not my problem.”

That stung more than it should’ve.

I bit my lip and nodded. “Cool. Good talk.”

He turned to leave.

“Wait,” I called after him. “Where do I go? I have nowhere else.”

He stopped. Didn’t look back.

“Then stay alive,” he said. “Or don’t. It’s not my concern.”

I finally gave into the darkness as I felt my strength slipping away. I heard his footsteps rushing and closer to me I thought he was leaving me to make it on my own.