CHAPTER TWO — BROKEN, BUT BREATHING
1250 Words
The world felt distant when I woke up.
A dull ache pulsed behind my eyes, and for a moment, I didn’t remember where I was. Everything was hazy—the rejection, the crowd, Rowan’s voice slicing into me like a blade.
But then memory hit me all at once.
His words.
His cruelty.
The laughter.
The whispers.
The pain of the bond snapping.
My chest tightened painfully, and I sucked in a shaky breath.
I wasn’t in the Moonfall Courtyard anymore.
I was in my bedroom.
The same soft lavender curtains.
The same wooden dresser.
The same framed photos of my family.
Everything looked painfully normal compared to the chaos inside me.
A soft sob escaped my lips.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
The Moon Goddess wasn’t supposed to pair me with someone who despised me.
I wasn’t supposed to feel this empty.
My door creaked open.
“Aria?” my mother whispered, stepping inside cautiously as if afraid I’d break again. Her eyes were red and puffy. “You’re awake.”
She rushed to my bedside and held my hands gently, her thumb brushing over my knuckles. “My baby… I’m so sorry. So, so sorry.”
I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I was afraid that if I spoke, I’d crumble into dust.
My father walked in behind her, his expression carved with anger. “He humiliated you,” he growled. “He humiliated you in front of everyone. If I wasn’t afraid of starting a bloodbath—”
“John,” my mother warned sharply.
But the flash of rage in his eyes was real.
I swallowed hard. “It’s… fine.”
“It is NOT fine,” my father snapped. “That boy disgraced you. He dishonored the mate bond. He—”
“He didn’t want me,” I whispered. “He never wanted me.”
Silence settled like a thick blanket.
My mother stroked my hair. “Aria, the Moon Goddess has a plan. This might not be the ending you think it is.”
I managed a broken laugh. “Feels like an ending to me.”
Then pain hit.
Sharp, unbearable pain that shot through my spine and chest.
I gasped, gripping the sheets tightly.
My mother panicked, placing her hands on my cheeks. “Aria, what’s wrong? Is it the rejection pain again?”
“No,” I breathed, eyes widening as something deep inside me pulsed. “It’s… different.”
My wolf whimpered inside my mind, curling in on herself.
But behind her… something else stirred.
Something that wasn’t wolf.
Something ancient and heavy.
My vision flickered.
My heartbeat roared in my ears.
For a moment, I could swear the air around me shimmered.
“Aria?” my father called out, stepping closer. “Aria, look at me.”
But everything faded.
And then—
It stopped.
Like the mysterious force inside me slipped back into the shadows.
I took a sharp breath and blinked away the dizziness.
“Maybe it’s just the rejection,” I lied, wiping my eyes.
My parents exchanged a troubled look.
But they didn’t push.
My mother kissed my forehead. “Rest. You don’t have to face anyone today.”
But she was wrong.
Because before she could finish comforting me, a howl echoed outside.
Then another.
Then several more.
Not celebratory howls.
Not pack gathering howls.
Warning howls.
My father stiffened. “Trouble at the gates.”
My mother’s hand flew to her chest. “Now? After everything?”
He marched toward the door. “I’ll handle it.”
But before he left, he looked back at me.
His eyes—old, tired, filled with a father’s fierce love—met mine.
“You stay in this room, Aria. Whatever happens outside, you stay here.”
The door shut.
But staying put was the last thing I could do.
---
Minutes later, voices rose outside.
Loud ones.
Angry ones.
I pushed myself out of bed, wrapping a shawl around my shoulders as I moved to the window.
Down below, I saw wolves gathered at the entrance of the courtyard—guards, elders, warriors. And standing at the center was Rowan.
His posture was tight, his hands clenched. Not with guilt. Not with regret.
With irritation.
Beta Caleb rushed to his side. “Alpha, you cannot ignore this. The Shadow Beast was seen near the northern border last night. It’s getting closer.”
My heart skipped a beat.
Shadow Beast.
A creature made of darkness, stronger than rogues, faster than wolves, feared by every pack for a century.
And it was near us?
Rowan scoffed. “Let it come. My warriors can handle it.”
“No, they can’t,” a warrior argued. “It killed twenty wolves from the Riverclaw Pack last month alone.”
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
Rowan growled. “You dare question my strength?”
“No one is questioning you,” Caleb said carefully. “We’re questioning the timing. The beast only approaches packs that have destabilized—”
His eyes flicked toward me.
I froze.
He wasn’t blaming me, was he?
Rowan followed Caleb’s gaze, and his expression tightened.
He saw me through the window.
Broken.
Oversized.
Rejected.
But still standing.
He turned away quickly.
As if the sight of me irritated him further.
My stomach twisted.
Then the elders stepped forward.
“You rejected your mate last night,” Elder Thorne said sharply. “A pack’s spiritual balance is fragile after a broken bond. If the Shadow Beast truly approaches, it is because your actions invited it.”
Rowan’s aura burst violently, dark and furious. “ENOUGH!”
But the elder didn’t flinch.
“You dishonored the bond,” he said coldly. “And the consequences are coming.”
Rowan clenched his teeth. “No creature will take this pack while I am Alpha.”
“Then prove it,” Elder Thorne challenged. “Face it tonight.”
Shock and fear rippled through the crowd.
Face the Shadow Beast?
At night?
Alone?
Even the strongest Alphas didn’t survive that.
My heart pounded painfully.
“Rowan, don’t—” Beta Caleb began.
But Rowan lifted his chin, pride blazing in his eyes.
“I will face the Shadow Beast,” he declared. “And I will kill it.”
The pack stared at him with dread.
But me?
I didn’t feel dread.
I felt something else.
Something sharp.
Something cold.
Because deep inside me, beneath my hurt and humiliation…
that ancient presence stirred again.
Louder this time.
Clearer.
A whisper.
A warning.
A voice that didn’t sound like mine.
“He won’t survive the night.”
I stumbled backward, heart racing, the shawl slipping from my shoulders.
What was happening to me?
Why was I hearing this?
Why did it feel… true?
My fingers trembled as I pressed them to my chest.
Was the Moon Goddess punishing Rowan?
Or…
Was something in me awakening?
Before I could answer that terrifying question, the sky darkened unnaturally—clouds forming where none had been seconds before.
Wolves gasped.
Lanterns flickered.
A cold wind cut through the courtyard like a blade.
And somewhere in the forest beyond our borders…
A deep, monstrous growl echoed.
The Shadow Beast had arrived early.
Rowan stiffened.
Warriors panicked.
And I—
I felt that ancient presence inside me snap awake.
Burning.
Alive.
Dangerous.
Something was happening to me.
Something the pack wasn’t ready for.
Something I wasn’t ready for.
- Writer
