Episode 4
856 Words
đź“– Chapter 4: Bloodbane
> Three weeks later
I had never known pain like this. Not even the pain of rejection could compare to the burning in my limbs, the aching in my bones, or the soreness in my muscles.
“Again,” Ryker growled.
I gritted my teeth and got back up from the dirt. My knees trembled beneath me, but I wouldn’t fall again.
I couldn’t.
Because every time I wanted to give up, I remembered Kade’s voice.
“You’re weak. I need a Luna, not a burden.”
Those words fueled every punch, every scream, every drop of blood that spilled from my knuckles.
Ryker stood tall before me, arms crossed, golden eyes burning. He was the most intimidating man I had ever met—rough, untamed, and colder than the northern winds. But for some reason, he had taken me in.
He hadn’t rejected me. He hadn’t called me weak.
He had said: “You have fire.”
And every day, he tried to bring it out of me.
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> “Let’s see if you can last two minutes this time,” Ryker said, stepping back into the clearing. “Shift.”
I nodded.
Lira? I called to my wolf.
I’m here, she whispered. Still hurting, but stronger.
We shifted together. It still ached, but the pain was less than before. My white fur shimmered in the moonlight, marked now by a scar across my left shoulder—the price of survival.
Ryker’s wolf—massive and jet-black—charged first. He didn’t hold back. He never did.
But this time, I didn’t stumble.
I ducked, rolled, and launched myself onto his back, jaws snapping.
He threw me off, but I landed on my feet.
Two minutes passed.
Then three.
Finally, Ryker shifted back, panting slightly.
“You lasted,” he said. “You’ve improved.”
My breath caught. He never praised me.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
---
Later that night, I sat near the fire pit outside the Bloodbane den. The rogue pack was made of outcasts and survivors—those who had been banished, rejected, or broken by the structured hierarchy of pack society.
Here, strength meant survival. And I was learning to survive.
A girl with short brown hair and quick eyes sat beside me.
“Can’t believe Ryker actually gave you a compliment,” she said with a smirk.
I smiled faintly. “Is that rare?”
“Extremely,” she replied. “I’m Nova, by the way. He found me bleeding in a ravine two years ago. He doesn’t take in just anyone.”
“Why me?” I asked. “Why help a rejected nobody?”
Nova’s gaze turned serious. “Because he sees what others don’t. And because you didn’t break when you were rejected. You ran.”
No, I thought. I didn't just run. I rose.
Nova leaned in. “You’re not the only one with a past, Aurora. But if you want to survive here, you better start looking forward.”
---
> That night, I dreamed of him.
Kade.
In the dream, he stood in the rain, staring at me as if he didn’t know me.
“I made a mistake,” he whispered.
But it was too late.
When I woke, my heart was pounding—and not from fear.
Why am I still dreaming about him?
He rejected me.
He destroyed me.
And yet... some small, broken piece of me still ached for what could’ve been.
---
🌙 Two Days Later
Training had become part of me now. The sweat, the pain, the thrill of getting stronger—it all felt like rebirth.
Ryker watched me closely every day. I couldn’t decide if he saw me as a project or something else entirely.
“Your instincts are better,” he said one afternoon as I dodged and struck faster than ever before.
“I’m not weak anymore,” I replied.
He tilted his head. “You never were. You just believed you were.”
Those words stuck to my ribs like honey. Was that true? Had I only been as weak as others told me I was?
After training, Ryker called me aside.
“There’s something you need to see.”
He led me to a cliff overlooking the valley. Far below, a line of torches glowed in the dusk.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Scouts from the Dark Moon Pack. They’ve been snooping around for weeks.”
My blood froze.
“Why?”
“They’re looking for something. Or someone.”
My heart thundered. Could they be looking for me?
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> “What do I do?” I asked him.
Ryker looked down at me with a cool stare. “What do you want to do?”
I took a breath.
“I want to face them. I want to show them I’m not the girl they left behind.”
“Good,” he said. “Then it’s time to teach you the final lesson.”
I frowned. “Which is?”
He smirked. “How to break an alpha.”
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