Chapter 2: The Girl They Came For.
1425 Words
The world exploded.
Heat slammed into me before I heard the blast.
The ballroom shook violently.
Crystal chandeliers shattered above us, raining glittering shards across the marble floor.
Flames burst through the western wall, devouring velvet curtains in seconds.
Smoke curled through the air, thick and black.
People screamed.
The orchestra stopped mid-song.
The few nobles who were still leaving dropped their champagne glasses and ran for their lives.
Someone crashed into my shoulder.
Another guest fell to the floor.
A child cried for his mother.
I stood frozen.
Only minutes earlier, my heart had been shattered in front of everyone.
Now the manor itself was breaking apart.
“They’re here for you.”
Alpha Kade's voice was hard enough to cut steel.
I turned toward him.
He had already shifted into battle mode.
His tuxedo jacket lay discarded, his expression cold, every muscle in his body tense.
For me?
My throat tightened.
“What are you talking about?”
Another explosion thundered somewhere deeper inside Blackwood Manor.
The floor trembled beneath my feet.
“They’re not attacking the pack,” Kade said.
His blue eyes locked onto mine.
“They’re hunting you.”
The enormous front doors burst inward.
Splintered wood flew across the ballroom.
Dark wolves poured inside.
Not pack warriors.
Rogues.
Scarred and wild.
Fur matted with blood, ash, and old wounds.
Bigger than normal wolves, with patches of missing fur.
Their eyes glowed amber with madness.
They moved like shadows given claws.
The first guard rushed forward.
He never reached them.
A rogue slammed into him, sending both crashing through a banquet table.
Silver cutlery scattered across the floor.
More screams.
The scent of blood spread through the room.
A scarred man stepped through the smoke, shifting from wolf to human with terrifying ease.
Tall.
Broad shoulders covered in old scars and tattoos.
Dressed in black leather.
His eyes stayed amber even as a man.
His gaze swept across the crowd.
Then stopped on me.
“There she is.”
He smiled.
“The moon-blood.”
“Every rogue turned toward me.”
“Every single one.”
Ice spread through my veins.
“I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
The scarred rogue laughed.
“No.”
“We’ve searched for you for years.”
I looked at Kade.
“What is he talking about?”
His jaw tightened.
He didn't answer.
That silence frightened me more than the fire.
The rogue took another step.
“The girl whose blood can break any curse.”
“I don't know what moon-blood is.”
“You don't need to.”
His grin widened.
“Our Alpha does.”
The rogues surged forward.
Kade moved first.
He shifted so quickly I barely saw it happen.
Bones cracked.
Muscles expanded.
Dark gray fur rippled over his skin.
Within seconds, an enormous wolf stood between me and the attackers.
Sleek.
Clean.
Silver-gray fur, powerful and controlled.
His growl shook the room.
The first rogue leaped.
Kade met him in midair.
Their bodies collided with a deafening crash.
Claws flashed.
Fangs snapped.
They rolled across the marble before Kade threw the rogue into a pillar hard enough to c***k the stone.
More came.
Too many.
The ballroom became a battlefield.
Pack warriors rushed in from every entrance.
Silver armor gleaming over black uniforms.
The Blackwood crest on their chests.
Trained.
Disciplined.
Wolves with gray, silver, and black fur moved as one unit.
Steel clashed.
Wolves howled.
Flames climbed higher.
I backed away, trying to stay out of the fighting.
Someone grabbed my arm.
I spun around.
A young servant girl.
She couldn't have been older than fifteen.
“Please,” she cried.
“My little brother's still in the kitchen.”
Her hands shook so badly she could barely stand.
“The ceiling collapsed.”
“Around us, people pushed toward the exits.”
No one stopped.
No one looked back.
I swallowed.
I was terrified.
But I couldn't leave her.
“Show me.”
Her eyes widened.
“You’ll help?”
I nodded once.
We ran.
The kitchen was filled with smoke.
Pots lay scattered across the floor.
Part of the ceiling had collapsed, trapping a boy beneath a heavy wooden shelf.
He was crying.
“I can’t get out.”
The servant girl rushed toward him.
I grabbed the edge of the broken shelf.
It barely moved.
Too heavy.
I planted my feet harder.
“Push with me.”
Together we strained.
The wood shifted.
Just enough.
The boy crawled free, coughing violently.
“Go!”
The children ran toward the courtyard.
Relief flooded through me.
Then a growl echoed behind us.
I turned.
Three rogues stood in the doorway.
Wild, dirty, and snarling.
One sniffed the air.
His eyes gleamed.
“The scent is stronger now.”
Another smiled.
“The moon-blood.”
I backed away.
“I don’t know what you want from me.”
“We want your blood.”
My stomach turned.
“Our Alpha has lived beneath an ancient curse for generations.”
The rogue tilted his head.
“Only moon-blood can destroy it.”
“What curse?”
“The kind even death couldn’t break.”
He stepped closer.
“And you’ll free him.”
“I won’t.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
They lunged.
I ran.
The hallway blurred around me.
Smoke burned my lungs.
The rogues gained with terrifying speed.
One reached for me.
Claws grazed the back of my dress.
I stumbled.
A powerful hand caught my wrist.
“Move!”
Kade.
He yanked me sideways with incredible force.
The instant our skin touched—everything stopped.
A sharp pulse shot through my arm.
Heat exploded beneath my skin.
My heartbeat stumbled.
Images flashed through my mind.
A moonlit forest.
Golden eyes.
A voice whispering my name.
Longing.
Grief.
Love so fierce it hurt.
I gasped.
Kade froze too.
His fingers tightened around my wrist.
His expression changed.
Shock.
Raw disbelief.
He had felt it.
Whatever passed between us wasn’t my imagination.
It lived in him too.
The air seemed to hum.
Then a stone pillar crashed into the exact place where I'd been standing a heartbeat earlier.
Kade pulled me behind him.
The spell broke.
He released my wrist almost immediately.
As though touching me had become dangerous.
“We have to get outside.”
His voice sounded rough.
I stared at him.
“You felt that.”
His eyes stayed forward.
“This isn’t the time.”
He shifted again, blocking another rogue.
I grabbed a fallen spear from the floor.
One rogue slipped past Kade.
He charged toward an injured pack warrior lying against the wall.
Without thinking, I ran.
I drove the spear into the rogue's side.
He roared.
The force knocked me backward, but it distracted him long enough for the wounded warrior to stab him through the chest with a silver dagger.
The rogue collapsed.
The warrior stared at me.
“You saved me.”
I offered him a shaky smile.
“I wasn’t about to let him win.”
For the first time since meeting him, Kade looked at me differently.
Not as a burden.
Not as a mistake.
Something unreadable flickered in his eyes.
Respect.
Maybe.
Another horn sounded outside.
The rogues began retreating.
One by one they disappeared into the burning forest beyond the manor.
The scarred leader paused at the edge of the courtyard.
He pointed directly at me.
“We’ll return.”
His smile was full of certainty.
“Moon-blood always answers the moon.”
Then he vanished.
Silence settled slowly.
Only the crackle of burning timber remained.
Bodies covered the courtyard.
The manor behind us burned against the night sky.
I wrapped my arms around myself.
“What is moon-blood?”
No answer.
“Kade.”
He stood perfectly still.
“You owe me the truth.”
His gaze lifted to my face.
Something changed.
He frowned.
His eyes narrowed.
He stepped closer.
Closer than before.
His attention fixed on the small crescent-shaped scar near my collarbone.
His face lost all color.
“No.”
“What?”
His breathing became uneven.
“I’ve seen that scar.”
I frowned.
“I’ve had it for years.”
His expression twisted with something that looked frighteningly like fear.
He searched my face as though trying to solve an impossible puzzle.
Then he whispered,
“It can’t be.”
My pulse quickened.
“Kade, what are you talking about?”
His voice broke.
“You shouldn’t be alive.”
- Writer
