Chapter 2: The Flame Awakens
368 Words
The forest swallowed Ayla whole. Branches clawed at her skin, but she didn’t stop. She ran until her lungs burned, until the rejection stopped echoing in her chest.
He rejected me.
The bond had formed. She felt it. And yet… Kael had looked her in the eye and cast her aside like she was nothing.
A sharp crack of thunder rolled above, though the sky was clear. Her steps faltered as a pulse of heat rippled through her spine. The same pressure that had haunted her dreams now surged—stronger, demanding.
She collapsed to her knees beside the river, gasping for breath.
Then it happened.
The air shifted.
The trees hushed.
A voice—no louder than a whisper—echoed in her soul.
“Rise, child of fire. The time has come.”
Pain lanced through her chest, sharp and sudden. She cried out, clutching her heart as a burning heat flooded her veins. Her skin shimmered with light. She was glowing.
No… burning.
But it didn’t hurt.
It felt like… awakening.
Ayla looked into the water and gasped. Her reflection stared back—her eyes no longer dull brown but glowing with molten gold. Her skin shimmered like embers under her flesh. A mark she had never seen before—a crescent moon wreathed in flame—burned on her collarbone.
She stumbled back.
“What… what is happening to me?”
The rustle of branches snapped her focus. A growl.
Rogues.
Three dark-furred wolves crept from the shadows, snarling, eyes glowing with hunger.
She was alone. Unshifted. Powerless—or so she thought.
One lunged.
Ayla flinched… but instead of fear, fire exploded from her hands.
The wolf yelped mid-air as flames struck it like lightning, sending it flying into a tree. The others hesitated, confused.
Ayla rose, body glowing with fire and fury.
“Leave,” she said, her voice not her own.
They ran.
She stood there, panting, body trembling from the power that had just poured out of her.
She didn’t know how she did it.
She didn’t know what she was.
But she knew one thing now…
She was no ordinary omega.
And Kael Draven had made a terrible mistake.
- Writer
