Chapter 18: The Stranger's Territory
1719 Words
Dahlia’s POV
I woke up choking on air.
My body jerked violently, the pain spreading everywhere at once, sharp, deep, and overwhelming. My chest burned as I dragged in breath after breath, my heart slamming so hard I thought it might tear itself apart.
For a moment, I didn’t know where I was.
The forest flashed behind my eyes. The growl. The darkness is rushing toward me. The feeling of falling…
I gasped and tried to sit up.
Pain exploded through my skull.
I cried out in pain, the sound breaking from my throat before I could stop it. My body immediately protested, every muscle screaming in agony as dizziness washed over me in suffocating waves.
“Don’t move.”
The voice was deep.
Commanding.
Too close.
I froze instantly.
My breath stuttered, fear slicing through the fog in my mind. My heart pounded harder with panic clawing its way up my chest as I forced myself to stay still despite the instinct to flee.
“You will black out again if you move,” the voice said, calmer now, but no less firm.
I swallowed hard.
My eyes fluttered open slowly, and painfully, as the world swam into focus.
Wooden walls, a low ceiling. Flickering lantern light that made shadows dance across unfamiliar surfaces. The smell of herbs and something metallic lingered thickly in the air.
This wasn’t the forest.
My breath came shallow as I tried to understand where I was, and how I had gotten here.
“Where…” My voice cracked, barely audible. “Where am I?”
“Safe,” the man replied.
I turned my head slightly, wincing as pain shot through my temples.
He stood near the foot of the bed.
Tall, broad-shouldered, dark hair pulled back loosely. His sharp eyes were watching me with something between wariness and restraint. There was an authority about him that made my chest tighten instinctively.
Not Alpha.
But close enough to power that it still terrified me.
“You were found near our border,” he continued. “Half-dead. Bleeding. Alone.”
The words hit me slowly, one after another.
Half-dead.
Found.
Alone.
My throat tightened painfully.
“I…” I tried to speak, but my voice failed me. The effort left me dizzy and weak, tears stinging the corners of my eyes.
“Easy,” he said, stepping closer. “You’ve been unconscious for hours.”
Hours.
The memory of the pain, the bond snapping, my body collapsing, the terror in the forest, crashed into me all at once.
My chest seized.
I sucked in a shaky breath, my fingers curling into the thin blanket beneath me as the rejection echoed in my head like a wound that refused to close.
I reject her.
My vision blurred.
“Why…” My voice trembled. “Why didn’t you leave me there?”
The man studied me for a long moment before answering.
“I’m Ramiel,” he said finally. “Beta of the Dark Moon Pack.”
Dark Moon.
The name alone sent a shiver of fear through me.
A dangerous pack. Ruthless. Known for their strength, and their cruelty to outsiders.
My heart stuttered.
“I didn’t ask why we helped you,” Ramiel added quietly. “But we don’t leave dying women in the forest.”
Something in his tone, controlled, and honest, made my throat burn.
I laughed weakly, the sound fractured. “You should have.”
Ramiel’s jaw tightened.
“You don’t mean that.”
I turned my face slightly toward the wall, tears sliding silently into my hair. “Everyone says that.”
Silence stretched between us.
The pain in my body was still there, dull and constant, but it paled in comparison to the ache in my chest. It felt hollow.
Empty.
Like something vital had been ripped out and never replaced.
The bond was gone.
Truly gone.
I waited for the faint echo of it.
Some whisper.
Some pull, but there was nothing. Just silence where something once lived.
It made breathing hurt.
“He rejected you,” Ramiel said quietly.
I stiffened.
The words felt like a slap.
“How?”
“We can smell it,” he interrupted. “A snapped bond leaves a scent.”
Humiliation burned through me, hot and sharp. I squeezed my eyes shut, as shame and grief washed over me so tightly that it made my chest ache.
“He did it in front of everyone,” I whispered. “Like I was nothing.”
Ramiel didn’t respond immediately.
When he did, his voice was lower. “You survived it.”
I let out a bitter, broken sound. “Barely.”
“You shouldn’t have,” he admitted. “Many don’t.”
That truth settled heavily over me.
I stared at the ceiling, tears leaking silently despite my efforts to hold them back. “Then maybe I wasn’t meant to.”
Ramiel exhaled slowly. “Careful.”
“Why?” My voice cracked. “Because I should be grateful?”
“No,” he said. “Because you’re still alive. And something kept you that way.”
I didn’t answer.
I didn’t trust my voice not to shatter completely.
He adjusted something beside the bed, a cool cloth, gentle hands, I barely registered. His touch was careful, distant, as if he feared startling me.
“You were found near the Dark Moon border,” he said again. “If you had taken three more steps, you would have crossed fully onto our land.”
I frowned weakly. “So… I didn’t?”
“You did,” he said. “And then you collapsed.”
My heart skipped.
Crossing into another pack’s territory without permission was a crime that could get someone killed.
“Am I… a prisoner?” I asked quietly.
Ramiel met my gaze. “Not yet.”
The answer did nothing to calm me.
“Then what am I?” I whispered.
He hesitated a little.
“An unanswered problem,” he said truthfully.
That made my stomach twist.
I shifted slightly despite his warning, my body protesting immediately. Pain flared sharply, stealing my breath, but I forced myself to endure it.
“I can’t stay,” I said. “I don’t belong anywhere.”
Ramiel's eyes softened just a fraction. “You’re not in any condition to go anywhere.”
I closed my eyes, exhaustion crashing down on me like a wave. My limbs felt heavy, my thoughts sluggish, my heart unbearably tired.
“I don’t want to be here,” I murmured.
“I know.”
“I don’t want to be anywhere,” I corrected softly.
Silence fell again.
The lantern flickered.
Somewhere outside, wolves howled, it was deep, distant, but powerful. The sound sent a shiver down my spine, fear and awe tangling together.
Dark Moon wolves.
I was surrounded by strangers. By danger. By a pack that owed me nothing.
And yet… they had saved me.
That confused me more than anything else.
“Why help me?” I asked again. “Why not leave me to die?”
Ramiel studied my face carefully. “Because our Alpha saw you.”
My pulse spiked.
“Before or after I collapsed?” I asked hoarsely.
“After.”
I swallowed hard. “And he still helped me?”
“Yes.”
That didn’t make sense.
No Alpha helped a rejected, wolfless woman without reason.
The door creaked softly behind Ramiel.
Every nerve in my body stiffened.
Ramiel straightened immediately, his posture shifting into something more formal, more guarded.
“He’s here,” he said quietly.
My breath caught.
The air in the room seemed to change. It felt heavier, charged with a presence I hadn’t even seen yet.
I turned my head weakly toward the door.
It opened slowly.
A man stepped inside.
He was tall, taller than Ramiel, and carried himself with a quiet, dangerous authority that made my pulse race instinctively. Dark hair, sharp features, eyes like shadows carved into stone.
Alpha.
Dark Moon’s Alpha.
Dante.
His gaze landed on me and stayed there.
I couldn’t read his expression.
There was no obvious cruelty. No warmth either. Just intensity. Calculation. Interest sharpened by something I couldn’t name.
I felt suddenly exposed.
Fragile.
Too tired to hide.
And too broken to pretend.
I tried to sit up again, panic flaring, but my body betrayed me immediately. Pain lanced through me, and I cried out softly, collapsing back against the pillows.
Dante didn’t move.
Didn’t rush forward.
Neither did he look away.
He just watched me.
“I see you’re awake,” he said.
His voice was deep. Smooth. Controlled.
I don't know why but it sent a chill through me.
“I didn’t mean to cross your border,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “I didn’t know where I was going.”
“I know,” Dante replied.
His eyes never left mine.
“You were running,” he continued. “And you were dying.”
My throat tightened.
“I won’t cause trouble,” I said quickly. “I’ll leave as soon as I can.”
Dante’s gaze sharpened.
“That,” he said calmly, “is not your decision to make.”
Fear curled in my stomach.
‘What did he mean it wasn't my decision to make?’ I thought silently.
Ramiel shifted beside him, saying nothing.
Dante took one step closer.
Then another.
He stopped beside the bed, close enough that I could feel the weight of his presence pressing down on me.
“You survived a snapped bond,” he said quietly. “That alone makes you… interesting.”
The word sent a shiver through me.
I swallowed hard, my heart pounding as dread and exhaustion tangled together.
“I don’t want to be interesting,” I whispered. “I just want to live.”
Dante studied me for a long moment.
Then his lips curved, not into a smile, but something close to one.
“Good,” he said. “Because for now…”
He paused, his gaze darkening.
“You belong here.”
My heart dropped.
The lantern flickered.
The wolves outside howled again.
And I realised, with terrifying clarity…
Whatever had found me in the forest hadn’t been the end.
It had only been the beginning.
- Writer
