The Awakening Begins
822 Words
The moment the tray shattered…
Silence didn’t just fall over the banquet hall.
It collapsed.
Golden stood frozen among broken glass and spilled wine, her heartbeat drowning out the music that had just moments ago filled the room.
Every eye turned toward her.
But none of them mattered.
Because Damian Ashford was still looking at her like she had just rewritten the laws of the world.
His wolf was awake.
And it did not calm down.
Neither did hers.
Golden didn’t understand it—only that something inside her chest was pulling violently toward him, like a thread being yanked through her ribs.
Then—
A second presence entered the hall.
Cold.
Sharp.
Predatory.
Lucian Vale.
He had arrived too late to stop what had already happened.
His eyes locked on Damian first.
Then Golden.
And something in him went dangerously still.
The First Crack in Fate
Before anyone could speak—
A deep horn sounded across the territory.
Not a celebration horn.
A war horn.
The banquet doors slammed open violently.
A wounded guard staggered inside.
“Rogue attack at the northern border!”
Gasps spread instantly.
“The outer packs— they’ve broken through the boundary line!”
Chaos erupted.
Alphas shouted orders.
Wolves shifted instinctively, their instincts reacting before their minds could catch up.
But then—
The second horn sounded.
Closer.
Inside the pack territory.
Too close.
Lucian’s entire expression changed.
“This isn’t an attack,” he said sharply.
Gabriel stepped forward immediately. “What do you mean?”
Lucian’s eyes narrowed.
“It’s a breach.”
A pause.
Then the realization hit like ice.
Someone had already gotten inside the pack lands.
THE CALLAPSE OF SAFETY.
Far from the banquet hall, the Vale estate was already burning.
Golden didn’t know that yet.
She only knew the world was breaking apart in real time.
The lights in the hall flickered.
Then went out.
A shockwave hit the building from the outside.
Stone cracked.
Glass shattered overhead.
Screams erupted.
“Everyone evacuate!” Gabriel roared.
Lucian moved instantly toward Golden.
But Damian moved at the same time.
And for the first time—
They collided.
Not physically.
But in presence.
Wolf against wolf.
Alpha against Alpha.
Lucian’s voice dropped dangerously low.
“Step away from her.”
Damian didn’t move his gaze.
“She’s mine.”
Lucian’s eyes darkened.
“You don’t get to decide that.”
Before anything else could happen—
The wall behind the banquet hall exploded .
A rogue Alpha entered.
Covered in blood.
Eyes wild.
And smiling.
“There she is…” he murmured.
His gaze locked directly onto Golden.
“I found the hidden one.”
Golden froze.
Because she had never seen him before.
But something in her body reacted anyway.
Like it recognized danger, or an old enemy.
Everything happened too fast after that.
Lucian shifted halfway.
Gabriel drew his weapon.
Angelica screamed for Golden to run.
Damian grabbed her wrist—
But Lucian struck him away instantly.
Golden was shoved backward in the chaos.
And in that moment—
She saw it.
The rogue Alpha wasn’t coming for the pack.
He was coming for her.
The building shook again.
Fire began spreading through the banquet hall walls.
People ran in every direction.
Golden turned and ran blindly into the corridor.
Her heart hammered violently.
Behind her—
Lucian shouted her name.
Damian shouted something else.
But the voices blurred.
Because Golden’s body was doing something strange.
Her skin was burning.
Not with heat.
With pressure.
Like something inside her was trying to break out
Golden burst through the back doors of the estate.
Cold air hit her like a slap.
Rain poured instantly.
Thunder cracked overhead.
Behind her, the estate was falling apart.
She didn’t stop running.
Not until the trees swallowed her whole.
Her lungs burned.
Her legs trembled.
But she kept moving.
Because something in her knew—
If she stopped…
She would be found.
A branch snapped behind her.
Golden spun around—
Nothing.
Then another sound.
Closer.
A growl.
Not animal.
Not human.
Wolf.
She stumbled backward.
And then—
The rogue Alpha stepped out of the shadows.
Covered in blood.
Smiling again.
“You smell like the Moon,” he said.
Golden’s breath caught.
“I don’t know what you want,” she whispered.
He tilted his head.
“Oh, I think you do.”
He took one step forward.
“And I think you’re going to wake up tonight whether you’re ready or not.”
Golden backed away.
The sky above her darkened further.
The moon vanished behind clouds.
And in that moment—
Something inside her cracked.
Not fully.
Not yet.
But enough.
Enough for her body to begin changing.
Enough for her bones to ache.
Enough for her eyes to glow faintly gold in the dark.
The rogue Alpha stopped smiling.
“…there it is,” he whispered.
“Finally.”
- Writer
