Chapter2
882 Words
I woke up in pain.
Not the sharp tearing agony from the rejection night, but something deeper, heavier. It sat in my bones like a slow burning fire, spreading through my chest, my veins, my soul.
I gasped and pushed myself up.
Cold earth clung to my skin. The pack gate loomed behind me, tall and sealed, carved with symbols that once meant protection.
Now they meant exile.
Morning light crept over the horizon, pale and weak. Dawn.
They had not lied.
If I was still here when the sun fully rose, I would die.
Panic jolted me awake. I scrambled to my feet, nearly collapsing as dizziness washed over me. My legs trembled, weak from pain, hunger, and the loss of the bond that had once anchored me.
The bond.
I pressed a shaking hand to my chest.
Nothing.
No warmth. No pull. No presence.
Only emptiness.
My throat tightened as tears burned my eyes. I forced them back. Crying would not save me. Standing here would not save me.
Leaving might.
I staggered away from the gate and into the forest.
The trees swallowed me whole.
Branches clawed at my arms and dress as I pushed deeper, my breath coming in ragged gasps. Every sound made me flinch. Every snap of a twig felt like a threat.
I had no wolf. No pack. No protection.
Only instinct.
Hours passed. Or minutes. I could not tell. Time blurred as exhaustion dragged at my limbs. The forest thickened, darker and wilder the farther I went. The pack borders faded behind me, the familiar scents replaced by something ancient and sharp.
Wrong.
My head throbbed.
That strange pulse returned, faint at first, then stronger. A slow rhythmic beat beneath my skin.
Not pain.
Not fear.
Something else.
Power.
I stumbled to a stop, clutching my chest as heat bloomed beneath my ribs. My vision swam.
“What is happening to me,” I whispered.
The air shifted.
The forest went silent.
Every bird. Every insect. Gone.
A warning screamed through my instincts, sharp and urgent.
I was not alone.
A growl rolled through the trees.
Low. Deep. Not a wolf.
My blood turned to ice.
I spun, searching the shadows.
Yellow eyes blinked open in the darkness.
Then another pair.
Then another.
Rogues.
They stepped out slowly, three of them, scarred and feral, their wolves close to the surface. Their eyes dragged over me with hunger that had nothing to do with food.
“Well,” one of them said, his voice rough and amused. “Looks like the Alpha threw away his trash.”
I backed up, my heart pounding. “Please,” I said, hating how small I sounded. “I am just passing through.”
They laughed.
“You smell broken,” another said. “Rejected.”
The word sliced deep.
“Perfect,” the first one said. “No pack will come looking.”
They moved closer.
I turned and ran.
Branches tore at my skin as I pushed my body past its limits. Pain screamed through my legs. My lungs burned. I could hear them behind me, fast and confident.
I would not outrun them.
Desperation clawed at my chest.
The pulse flared.
Hot. Wild.
My vision blurred red as something snapped inside me.
The ground trembled.
I tripped, crashing to my knees, hands slamming into the earth. A shockwave rippled outward, strong enough to knock the rogues back several steps.
They stared at me.
So did I.
The earth beneath my palms glowed faintly silver.
“What the hell are you,” one of them whispered.
I did not answer.
I did not know.
The pulse roared now, filling the hollow space the bond had left behind. Heat surged through my veins, not painful but overwhelming, like something vast trying to wake up.
The rogues recovered quickly.
“Kill her,” one snarled. “Now.”
They lunged.
I screamed.
The forest answered.
A roar thundered through the trees, so powerful it shook the air itself. Not a wolf. Not even close.
The rogues froze.
Fear replaced hunger on their faces.
The ground split open between us, roots ripping free as something massive moved beneath the earth.
I was thrown backward as a force slammed into me, knocking the breath from my lungs.
Darkness crept at the edges of my vision.
Through it, I saw a shape rise from the shadows.
Tall. Massive. Ancient.
Silver eyes burned like moons in the dark.
The rogues dropped to their knees.
“Impossible,” one breathed.
The figure stepped closer.
I tried to crawl away, terror and awe tangling inside me. My body refused to move.
Those eyes locked onto mine.
The pulse inside me stilled.
Recognized.
A voice echoed in my mind, deep and resonant, older than the forest itself.
Daughter of broken bonds.
Heir of forgotten blood.
You have finally awakened.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“I am not your daughter,” I whispered, though I did not know why.
The presence did not answer with words.
It reached me.
The world went white.
And somewhere far away, in the pack I fled, Alpha Kael woke with a scream, clutching his chest as a bond he thought dead burned back to life.
Calling.
Begging.
For me.
- Writer
