The First Crack
339 Words
Aria tried to avoid Ryan.
She lasted six hours.
By nightfall, she could feel him before she saw him that same magnetic pull tightening low in her chest.
He stepped into the clearing like he owned the dark.
Which… to be fair…
He did.
“You’re avoiding me,” Ryan said calmly.
Aria crossed her arms. “You’re imagining things.”
He moved closer.
One step.
Two.
Now her back was dangerously close to the tree behind her.
Ryan’s voice dropped.
Rough.
Warm.
“You feel it too,” he said.
Not a question.
Her wolf surged violently.
And this time
Ryan heard it.
His eyes flashed
Sharp.
Hungry.
“Aria,” he warned softly.
But he didn’t step back.
Training that afternoon was brutal.
Deliberately so.
Ryan had paired Aria against three wolves back-to-back.
Testing.
Pushing.
Watching.
Aria felt it.
The scrutiny.
The pressure.
The way her wolf was growing more reactive by the second.
By the third round
Something snapped.
It wasn’t loud.
It wasn’t dramatic.
But the air
The air pulsed.
Sharp.
Wrong.
Ancient.
Every wolf in the training ring froze.
Ryan’s head lifted slowly.
Too slowly.
His eyes locked on Aria.
And for the first time…
There was no mistaking the alertness there.
“…Aria,” he said quietly.
Her stomach dropped.
Because she felt it too.
That thing under her skin.
Waking up.
Training that afternoon was brutal.
Deliberately so.
Ryan had paired Aria against three wolves back-to-back.
Testing.
Pushing.
Watching.
Aria felt it.
The scrutiny.
The pressure.
The way her wolf was growing more reactive by the second.
By the third round—m
Something snapped.
It wasn’t loud.
It wasn’t dramatic.
But the air
The air pulsed.
Sharp.
Unknown but strong
Every wolf in the training ring froze.
Ryan’s head lifted slowly.
Too slowly.
His eyes locked on Aria.
And for the first time…
There was no mistaking the alertness there.
“…Aria,” he said quietly.
Her stomach dropped.
Because she felt it too.
That thing under her skin.
Waking up.
- Writer
