Chapter 3 Blood In The. Dark
1548 Words
The first howl tore through the forest like a warning.
Low.
Hungry.
Too close.
My entire body went rigid, every instinct screaming at me to run but my legs refused to move. It wasn’t just fear holding me in place.
It was him.
Alpha Draven
He hadn’t moved.
Not even slightly.
While my heart pounded wildly in my chest, his remained steady controlled. As if the danger closing in on us wasn’t a threat…
But an inconvenience.
“Stay behind me,” he said quietly.
It wasn’t a suggestion.
I swallowed hard but didn’t argue this time. Slowly, I stepped back, positioning myself just behind him. The moment I did, something strange settled in my chest.
Not safety.
Not exactly.
But something close enough that I didn’t question it.
Another branch snapped.
Then another.
The shadows shifted and they stepped out.
Three of them.
Rogues.
Their eyes glowed faintly in the darkness, their bodies tense, movements sharp and erratic. They weren’t like pack wolves. There was no discipline in them, no control.
Just hunger.
Violence.
One of them stepped forward, his lips pulling back to reveal elongated fangs.
“Well,” he drawled, his voice rough, edged with amusement, “what do we have here?”
His gaze slid past Draven
And landed on me.
A slow, cruel smile spread across his face.
“The rejected one,” he said. “We could smell your misery from miles away.”
My stomach twisted.
Instinctively, I took a step back only to feel something solid behind me.
Draven’s arm.
He didn’t look back.
Didn’t acknowledge me.
But the message was clear.
Don’t move.
“She’s not yours,” Draven said.
His voice wasn’t loud.
But it carried.
Cold.
Final.
The rogue laughed.
“Not yet,” he replied. “But you know how this works, Alpha. Territory doesn’t mean much to us.”
His eyes gleamed.
“Especially when the prize smells this… broken.”
The insult burned but before I could react
A growl.
Deep.
Violent.
It didn’t come from the rogues.
It came from Draven.
The sound sent a sharp chill down my spine. It wasn’t just anger.
It was something darker.
Something territorial.
Something that didn’t make sense.
Because I wasn’t his.
“Last chance,” Draven said, his tone dropping lower, more dangerous. “Leave.”
The rogues exchanged glances.
Then
They laughed.
“All three of us?” one of them sneered. “Against one Alpha?”
Another stepped forward, cracking his neck slightly.
“We like those odds.”
Everything happened at once.
The air shifted
And then exploded.
Draven moved so fast I barely saw it.
One second he was standing still
The next, he was in front of them.
A sickening crack echoed through the forest as his fist connected with the first rogue’s jaw, sending him crashing into a tree. The impact shook the ground beneath my feet.
I gasped, stumbling back.
The second rogue lunged.
Draven didn’t dodge.
He caught him mid-attack, his hand closing around the rogue’s throat before slamming him to the ground with brutal force.
No hesitation.
No mercy.
This wasn’t a fight.
It was domination.
The third rogue shifted.
Bones snapped, fur bursting through skin as he transformed into his wolf form a massive, dark creature with glowing eyes and bared teeth.
My breath caught.
“Draven!” I started.
Too late.
The wolf lunged.
But Draven
Didn’t move.
At the last second, he turned, his hand shooting out to grab the wolf mid-air. The force of it sent both of them sliding across the ground, dirt scattering beneath them.
For a moment, everything blurred
And then
Draven shifted.
The transformation was instant.
Violent.
Terrifying.
One second, he was human.
The next
A massive black wolf stood in his place, larger than any I had ever seen. His fur was dark as night, his eyes glowing with something far more dangerous than anger.
Power radiated from him.
Raw.
Uncontrolled.
Dominant.
The rogue didn’t stand a chance.
Draven lunged, his jaws snapping shut around the rogue’s neck with a force that echoed through the clearing.
A sharp yelp.
Then silence.
My stomach twisted as the body went still.
The other two rogues didn’t hesitate.
They ran.
Vanishing into the forest without looking back.
Silence fell again.
Heavy.
Thick.
Broken only by the sound of my own breathing.
Slowly—very slowly—Draven turned toward me.
Still in his wolf form.
My heart pounded.
There was blood on his muzzle.
His chest rose and fell steadily, his gaze locked onto mine with an intensity that made it hard to breathe.
For a second
I forgot how to move.
Forgot how to think.
All I could see… was him.
Dangerous.
Powerful.
Untouchable.
And then
He stepped closer.
Instinct screamed at me to run.
But I didn’t.
I couldn’t.
Something held me there.
Something I didn’t understand.
He stopped just in front of me.
Close enough that I could feel the heat of his body again, even in this form.
Close enough that I could see the intelligence in his eyes.
Watching me.
Studying me.
Waiting.
My throat went dry.
“I…” I started, my voice barely a whisper. “Thank you.”
The words felt small.
Insufficient.
But they were all I had.
For a moment, he didn’t react.
And then
He shifted back.
The transition was just as sudden, his human form returning in seconds. He stood there, completely unfazed, as if what had just happened meant nothing.
As if killing meant nothing.
His gaze remained fixed on me.
“You’re trembling,” he said.
I hadn’t noticed.
But now that he said it
I felt it.
My hands.
My legs.
Even my breath.
“I’m fine,” I lied.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“No,” he said quietly. “You’re not.”
Before I could respond, he stepped closer—too close—his hand lifting toward my face.
I froze.
His fingers brushed against my cheek, slow and deliberate.
My breath caught.
“Why?” I whispered.
The question slipped out before I could stop it.
“Why what?” he asked.
“Why help me?” I said. “You don’t know me. I’m nothing to you.”
His hand stilled.
For a moment, something unreadable flickered in his eyes.
Then
“You’re wrong,” he said.
My chest tightened.
“I don’t understand.”
“No,” he agreed softly. “You don’t.”
Silence stretched between us again.
Thick.
Heavy.
And then
He leaned in slightly, his voice dropping lower.
“Tell me something,” Alpha Draven murmured. “When he rejected you…”
My heart clenched.
“…what exactly did you feel?”
The question caught me off guard.
“Pain,” I said after a moment. “Like something inside me broke.”
His gaze darkened.
“Is that all?”
I frowned slightly.
“What do you mean?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, his eyes searched mine again deeper this time, as if he were looking for something hidden beneath the surface.
Something even I didn’t know was there.
And then he said
“Then why,” he asked quietly, “do I still smell a mate bond on you?”
My breath stopped.
The world seemed to tilt.
“That’s not possible,” I whispered. “He rejected me. I felt it break”
“Did you?” he interrupted.
Doubt crept in.
Sharp.
Unsettling.
Because the truth was
I had felt something break.
But had it fully disappeared?
Or had I just… assumed it did?
My chest tightened as his words sank in.
“No…” I shook my head. “No, that’s not”
“Interesting,” he murmured.
Panic flared.
“What are you saying?” I demanded. “Just tell me!”
He stepped back slightly, his expression shifting into something far more dangerous than before.
Not anger.
Not curiosity.
Something calculated.
Something that made my stomach drop.
“I’m saying,” he replied slowly…
“That your story is far more complicated than you think.”
The air grew colder.
He turned away from me, his gaze lifting toward the dark forest ahead.
“Which means,” he added, his voice quiet but sharp
“You’re not just a rejected wolf who wandered into my territory.”
My heart pounded.
“Then what am I?”
He paused.
Just long enough to make the silence unbearable.
And then
Without looking back
“You’re something someone went to great lengths to hide.”
My breath hitched.
Before I could ask anything else
A howl echoed in the distance.
Not like the rogues.
Stronger.
Organized.
Familiar.
My blood ran cold.
Because I recognized it.
My former pack.
They were coming.
And from the way Draven’s expression darkened
He knew exactly who it was.
“Looks like your past isn’t done with you yet,” Alpha Draven said.
My chest tightened.
“What do we do?” I asked.
This time
He didn’t hesitate.
He turned to me, something fierce and unyielding flashing in his eyes.
And then he said the one thing that made my heart stop
“Now…”
His voice dropped.
Deadly calm.
“We go to war.”
- Writer
