Chapter 2:No Escape
625 Words
Sofia's POV
The howl stayed with me long after the forest fell silent.
I hadn't slept.
Every time I closed my eyes, I heard it again—deep, commanding, almost... familiar.
It made no sense.
I didn't have a wolf.
So why had my heart responded to it?
A loud bang against my bedroom door shattered my thoughts.
"Get up, you useless omega!"
I flinched.
The door burst open before I could answer.
Beta Darren stood there with two warriors behind him.
His expression twisted with disgust.
"I shouldn't have to wake you. Even the servants have started working."
"I'm sorry," I murmured, climbing out of my narrow bed.
He glanced at me, then sneered.
"You look even worse than usual."
The warriors laughed.
I lowered my eyes.
"Follow me."
We walked across the pack grounds while members stopped to stare.
Some whispered.
Others smirked.
No one pitied me.
No one ever did.
When we reached the center of the village, Alpha Victor was already waiting.
The entire pack had gathered.
My stomach tightened.
Whenever everyone was summoned...
Someone suffered.
Today, that someone was me.
"There she is," Alpha Victor said, his voice echoing through the crowd.
"The disgrace of Silver Crest."
A few people chuckled.
I kept my eyes fixed on the ground.
"You've lived under this pack's protection for nineteen years."
Protection?
The word almost made me laugh.
"You've never hunted."
"No, Alpha."
"You've never shifted."
"No, Alpha."
"You've contributed nothing."
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"I'm trying—"
"Silence!"
His roar shook the square.
"You will speak only when spoken to."
My hands trembled behind my back.
"I've tolerated your existence long enough."
The crowd grew quiet.
"You eat our food."
"You occupy our land."
"And still the Moon Goddess refuses to bless you."
He took one slow step toward me.
"Tell me, Sofia... why should this pack continue to keep you alive?"
My lips parted.
No words came.
Because I didn't know.
Maybe he was right.
Maybe there wasn't a reason.
"I asked you a question!"
"I... I don't know."
His hand struck my face before I even saw him move.
The force sent me crashing onto the dirt.
A ringing filled my ears.
Warm blood trickled from the corner of my mouth.
"Pathetic."
No one moved.
No one protested.
I looked through blurred vision, searching the crowd for a single face that cared.
There wasn't one.
Not one.
Alpha Victor turned to the gathered wolves.
"Three days."
The words hit me harder than the slap.
"If this girl fails to awaken her wolf before the Blood Moon Gathering..."
He paused.
"...she will be banished from Silver Crest forever."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Banished.
Every wolf knew what that meant.
A lone omega without a pack wouldn't survive a week in the wild.
It wasn't exile.
It was a death sentence.
I slowly pushed myself to my feet.
My legs shook.
"I understand, Alpha."
He waved me away as if I were nothing more than an insect.
"Get out of my sight."
I walked through the crowd.
People stepped aside, not out of respect, but as though they were afraid my bad luck might touch them.
Behind me, the pack resumed their conversations.
It was as if my life had already ended.
Three days.
Three days to awaken a wolf that had never answered me.
Three days before I lost the only place I'd ever known.
I looked toward the forest beyond the pack borders.
For the first time...
The wilderness didn't seem as frightening as the people I called my own.
But deep in those woods, unseen crimson eyes watched the edge of Silver Crest's territory.
Waiting.
Patiently.
As though fate had already begun to move.
- Writer
