THE ALPHA WHO MARKED ME FOR DEATH

Chapter 5: My Father’s Ghost

Arielle's POV

Pain woke me.

My eyes opened slowly, every muscle in my body screaming in protest. For a moment, I couldn't remember where I was or what had happened. Then it all came crashing back.

The rejection. The mark. The forest.

I groaned and tried to sit up. My arms shook as I pushed myself off the cold ground. Dirt and dried blood caked my skin. My hair was stained with filth. The rejection mark on my collarbone throbbed with a dull ache.

How long had I been unconscious? Hours? Days?

I looked around slowly, my neck stiff and painful. The forest looked different now. Less dark. Morning light filtered through the twisted trees overhead, though the branches were so thick and tangled that only dim rays reached the forest floor.

Everything was gray and shadowy. The trees around me looked weird. Their trunks were twisted like they'd been tortured into having such unnatural shape. The bark was black and rough. Branches reached out at odd angles.

I forced myself to stand. My legs nearly gave out but I locked my knees and stayed upright. The cold air bit at my skin.

I needed to find a way out of here. Needed to find water, food, shelter. Something.

But which direction should I go? Everything looked the same. Twisted trees and shadows stretching in every direction.

I picked a direction at random and started walking. Each step sent pain shooting through my body. My feet were cut and bleeding from being dragged across rocks. My back burned where my skin had been scraped raw.

But I forced myself to keep moving. If I stopped, I would die here. And despite everything that had happened, despite the rejection and the pain and the betrayal, some stubborn part of me refused to give up.

I walked for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes. Time felt strange in this place. The light never seemed to change. It stayed that same dim gray, making it impossible to tell how much time was passing.

The forest was too quiet. No birds singing. No insects buzzing. No wind rustling through leaves. Just silence so complete it pressed against my ears.

My skin crawled. Something about this place was fundamentally wrong. It wasn't just cursed or dangerous. It felt evil. Like the forest itself was alive and aware and hungry.

I kept walking, my eyes scanning the shadows between the trees. Were those creatures from last night still watching me? Those things with the hollow white eyes?

I couldn't see them but I felt their presence. Felt eyes on me from the darkness. Felt something tracking my every movement.

Then I heard it.

Voices.

Faint and distant but definitely voices. Human voices speaking words I couldn't quite make out.

Hope exploded in my chest. There were people here! Maybe other wolves, maybe travelers, maybe someone who could help me!

I started moving faster, ignoring the pain. I pushed through twisted branches and strange plants, following the sound of those voices. They seemed to be coming from somewhere ahead, just beyond a thick cluster of trees.

"Hello?" I called out, my voice hoarse and cracking.

"Is someone there? Please, I need help!"

The voices continued but they didn't answer me. They just kept talking, the words blending together into an incomprehensible murmur.

I ran now, stumbling over roots and rocks. Branches scratched at my skin and caught in my hair but I didn't care. I just needed to reach those voices. Needed to find whoever was out there.

The trees opened up slightly ahead. I could see a small clearing through the trunks. And there, standing in the middle of it, was a figure.

A person. Someone was actually here.

Relief flooded through me so intensely I almost sobbed. I wasn't alone. I wasn't going to die here alone.

"Please!" I called again, pushing through the last few trees into the clearing.

"Please help me! I don't know where I am!"

The figure stood with their back to me, completely still. They didn't turn when I called out. Didn't react at all.

Something felt wrong but I was too desperate to care. I moved closer, my hand reaching out toward them.

"Please," I whispered.

"I need help."

The figure turned slowly.

And my heart stopped.

No. No, this couldn't be real.

My father stood before me.

Marcus Blackwood. The man who'd been killed three weeks ago. The man whose body had been found torn apart in these very woods.

He looked exactly as I remembered. Same dark hair. Same strong build. Same face that had smiled at me my whole life.

Except he wasn't smiling now.

His face was blank. Empty. His eyes stared at me but there was nothing behind them. No recognition. No warmth. No life.

"Father?" The word came out as barely a whisper.

This couldn't be happening. He was dead. I'd seen his body, what was left of it. I'd watched them burn it during the funeral. He was gone.

But he was standing right in front of me.

My mind tried to make sense of what I was seeing. Was this a dream? A hallucination? Had I actually died last night and this was some kind of afterlife?

My father took a step toward me.

That's when I noticed his clothes. They were torn and stained with dark brown patches that looked like old blood. Deep scratches covered his arms. His shirt had holes in it, like something with claws had ripped through the fabric.

"Father, what happened to you?" My voice shook.

"How are you here?"

He didn't answer. Just took another step forward. His movements were wrong. Stiff and jerky, like a puppet being pulled by strings.

Fear started replacing my shock. Something was very wrong here.

His mouth opened. But instead of words, a sound came out that made my blood run cold. It was a low growling and compressed sound. Like something was stuck in his throat. Like he was drowning.

Then he smiled.

But it wasn't my father's smile.

And his eyes. Oh god, his eyes.

They changed. The brown I remembered disappeared, replaced by glowing red. Not just red. They burned like hot coals, radiating an unnatural light that cast shadows across his face.

This wasn't my father. This was something else. Something wearing his face.

"No," I whispered, stumbling backward. "No, no, no."

The thing that looked like my father tilted its head at an angle that was too sharp, too wrong for human bones. That horrible smile never left its face.

Then it started moving towards me.

The movement was so sudden, so fast, I barely had time to register it. One moment it was standing still. The next it was rushing toward me with impossible speed.

I screamed and turned to run. My feet slipped on the dead leaves and I fell on the hard ground. The thing was just a few meters away. I tried to stand but my legs were too weak.