Chapter 2
432 Words
Three days had passed since that strange night, yet I still felt… off.
My car had broken down yesterday, forcing me to walk to and from the clinic. It wasn’t a long walk, but it was already dark when I left work, and tonight the quiet felt wrong, like the air itself was holding its breath.
My fingers gripped the strap of my bag as I muttered under my breath, “Relax, Aurelia. You’ve just been reading too many of those wolf books again.”
I tried to laugh at myself, but the sound died in my throat when a low growl rolled out of the darkness.
My head snapped around.
Two massive shapes stepped out from the trees.
Wolves.
At least… they looked like wolves, but they were far too big. Their fur was wild and patchy, and their teeth gleamed in the moonlight.
I froze, every instinct screaming at me to run.
Then they snarled.
I bolted.
My feet barely touched the ground, my legs moving faster than I thought humanly possible. Wind tore past my face, my heart hammering so hard I thought it might burst.
How am I running this fast? The thought flashed through my mind, but I didn’t dare slow down. When you come face-to-face with death, you don’t stop to question it.
The sound of paws thudding behind me made me push harder.
The road blurred. The trees became a dark tunnel.
Suddenly, two even larger wolves burst from nowhere, colliding with the beasts chasing me. Snarls and yelps erupted, primal and violent.
I stumbled to a stop, gasping for air, too stunned to move.
My wide eyes locked on the chaos as the newcomers overpowered the attackers with terrifying ease. In moments, the forest went silent again except for my ragged breathing.
One of the wolves turned toward me.
My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the dirt road, heart still pounding.
Then the wolf shifted. Right in front of me.
Bones cracked, fur melted away, and a man stood there. Tall. Broad-shouldered. His face half-hidden by shadows.
“You’re safe now,” he said, his voice low and steady, oddly gentle for someone who had just ripped monsters apart.
I could only stare. My brain refused to make sense of what I had just seen.
Another man approached, also completely naked, and spoke to the first in a low, urgent tone.
“She crossed the border.”
“Alpha needs to know.”
My pulse spiked. My vision swam.
“What are you?” I barely whispered, before everything went black.
- Writer
