Chapter 2: The Kill Order
638 Words
I didn’t sleep.
My body forgot how.
I sat in the far corner of the woodshed with my knees pulled tight to my chest, counting my breaths because if I didn’t, I thought my heart might tear itself apart.
The place wasn’t a room. It was a box. Rotting wood. Rusted tools. Wet hay. The smell of mold and old piss soaked into everything. Cold leaked through the walls and into my bones.
My hand stayed on my stomach.
Didn’t move.
Didn’t dare.
A baby.
The word felt wrong in my head. Too soft. Too hopeful.
Inside me was Marcus’s heir. The future Alpha of Black Ridge.
And I was sitting in a shed like discarded meat.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the hall again.
Weak.
Nothing.
Charity case.
My teeth clenched so hard my jaw ached.
Then—
CRASH.
The door didn’t open. It exploded.
Wood splintered. Metal screamed. Something sharp cut my cheek. I slammed backward into the wall, breath gone, spine biting into rotten planks.
Lightning filled the doorway.
Tanya.
She stood there like she owned the night. Two Enforcers filled the space behind her. Huge. Still. Waiting.
She didn’t look angry. She didn’t look pleased. She looked finished.
"Still here," she said.
Not a question.
She stepped inside. Her heels clicked once. Twice. Clean sounds in a dirty place. Lily perfume flooded the shed, thick and sweet enough to make my stomach turn.
"I’m leaving," I said. The words came out thin. Useless. "At first light."
Tanya looked at her nails.
"Marcus is sentimental," she said. "It’s embarrassing."
She lifted her eyes to me.
"Omegas like you don’t leave," she continued. "You crawl. You wait. You come back."
Her hand slipped into her raincoat. She took out a vial.
Small. Clear. Nothing special.
She dropped it.
It hit the dirt and rolled until it stopped against my boot. I smelled it.
Metal. Burn. Death.
Wolfsbane.
My throat closed.
"Drink," she said.
I shook my head. Once. Barely.
"Why?" My voice cracked. "He chose you. I accepted it."
Tanya crouched in front of me. Her face was calm. Almost bored.
"It won’t hurt the thing inside you," she said quietly.
The world tilted. My hand crushed against my stomach.
She knew.
"Wolfsbane kills the wolf," she went on, like she was reciting a recipe. "At this concentration, it melts everything else first."
She stood. "Clean. Efficient."
She nodded at the guards. "Or they take you apart and drop what’s left in Rogue land."
One of the Enforcers cracked his knuckles. The sound echoed.
Fear hit.
Hard.
My limbs locked. My lungs forgot how to pull air. I stared at the vial. At the dirt. At my own shaking hands.
This was how it ended.
Not dramatic. Not tragic.
Administrative.
Then—
NO.
The voice wasn’t mine. It came from deep. Low. Furious. Something old uncurled inside my chest.
THEY WILL NOT.
Heat tore through my veins. My vision sharpened until I could see the pulse jumping in the guard’s throat. Tanya checking her watch. The distance to the door.
Silver burned behind my eyes.
"Enough," Tanya said. "Grab her."
The guard lunged.
I grabbed the vial.
Tanya relaxed. "Good," she said. "Finally learning—"
I threw it.
Glass cracked bone.
The vial shattered against the Enforcer’s face.
The scream was wet. Acid smoked. Flesh sizzled. He dropped, clawing at himself, howling.
Chaos broke loose.
RUN.
The word wasn’t a thought. It was law.
I moved.
I ducked under the second guard’s arm. My shoulder slammed into Tanya’s chest. Hard.
She hit the wall. Air left her lungs in a sharp, ugly sound.
I burst outside.
Rain punched me. Cold. Heavy.
"Kill her!" Tanya screamed behind me. Her voice broke. "Don’t let her leave with it!"
I didn’t look back.
I ran.
- Writer
