Far Beyond The Pass
689 Words
The night should have been quiet.
Instead
It watched me back.
The moment my fingers brushed the frost-bitten bark of the trees at Iris Pass, something deep inside my chest stirred… then stretched.
Awake.
My wolf lifted her head slowly, ears pricked toward something I still couldn’t see.
Beside me, Ryan was tense, his body angled slightly in front of mine out of pure Alpha instinct.
Protective.
Always protective.
But tonight…
Tonight something felt different.
Behind us, the pack shifted uneasily. Low murmurs. Restless wolves. The air itself felt too tight, like the forest was holding its breath.
Then
A twig snapped.
Too close.
Too deliberate.
Ryan’s voice dropped to pure command.
“Show yourself.”
Silence.
Thick.
Heavy.
And then a young beta stepped forward from the trees, shoulders squared but eyes uncertain.
“I was sent to check the perimeter, Alpha,” he said quickly.
But my wolf
My wolf did not relax.
If anything…
She pressed harder against my ribs.
Warning.
A strange pressure began building in my palms. Not painful.
Just…
Cold.
I flexed my fingers.
Frost dusted my skin.
I froze.
Ryan noticed immediately.
His head snapped toward me.
“…Aria?”
I opened my mouth to answer
And the cold surged.
It started small.
A thin layer of frost spread across the ground at my feet, delicate as morning dew.
The beta blinked.
Confused.
Behind us, someone shifted nervously.
I sucked in a breath, trying to steady whatever was rising inside me.
“I…I don’t know…
The air dropped another degree.
Ryan stepped closer, voice low but careful.
“Aria. Breathe.”
I tried.
God, I tried.
But the cold didn’t stop.
It listened.
To me.
The beta suddenly coughed.
Once.
Then again harder.
My head snapped up.
His breath came out in a thin white mist.
Too thick.
Too fast.
Fear flickered through me.
“I’m not… I’m not doin…
The ground cracked.
A sharp spiderweb of ice shot outward from my boots.
The nearest wolves staggered back.
One dropped to a knee.
Ryan’s hand clamped around my wrist.
Firm.
Commanding.
But his pulse
Too fast.
For the first time…
Alpha Ryan looked worried.
“Aria,” he said, rougher now. “Pull it back.”
I tried.
I reached for the cold
But it didn’t feel like something I was holding.
It felt like something that had been waiting.
Waiting…
For me.
The beta choked.
A harsh, strangled sound.
My heart lurched violently.
No.
No no no
The frost began creeping up his boots.
Panic finally punched through the fog in my head.
“Ryan
My voice came out wrong.
Layered.
Too deep.
Too… not just mine.
The forest reacted instantly.
Wind slammed through the trees.
Branches shrieked.
And the temperature
Dropped.
Violently.
Wolves across the clearing buckled.
Not from ice.
From pressure.
My wolf rose fully now, massive and wild inside my chest.
Not afraid.
Never afraid.
Hungry.
Ryan grabbed both my shoulders this time, stepping directly into my space.
“Aria. Look at me.”
I couldn’t.
Because the most terrifying part
Was the flicker of heat curling low in my stomach.
Not fear.
Not panic.
Something darker.
For one horrifying second…
I liked it.
My breath hitched.
Ryan’s eyes flashed with sudden understanding.
“Aria…
STOP!
The command cracked through the clearing like thunder.
Something inside me snapped.
The cold shattered outward in a violent pulse
Then
Collapsed.
Silence slammed down.
The frost stopped spreading.
The air slowly, slowly warmed.
And the beta dropped to his knees, gasping like he’d just been pulled from deep water.
My legs nearly gave out.
Ryan caught me before I hit the ground.
His grip was iron.
Unyielding.
But when I finally forced myself to look up at him…
There was something new in his eyes.
Not just protectiveness.
Not just confusion.
Recognition.
And something dangerously close to fear.
Miles away…
In a place where the moonlight never fully touched the ground…
A man slowly lifted his head.
Dark eyes glinting.
Ancient.
Patient.
Interested.
King Lucian smiled.
Soft.
Certain.
“Oh,” he murmured into the night.
“…there you are.”
- Writer
