Chapter 2: Trespassers
1664 Words
Mia
"Mum... Dad, wake up! I'm hungry!"
Warm sunlight streamed through the windows of our bedroom, casting everything in a golden glow. I smiled sleepily as I watched my little angel Caleb bounce on his father's chest, his dark hair sticking up in every direction.
"I'm up, I'm up," Zayne groaned dramatically, but he was grinning as he caught Caleb and flipped him over, making him shriek with laughter. "Stop using me as your personal trampoline, you little wolf."
"But Dad, my tummy is making angry growling noises!" Caleb protested, his green eyes so much like mine sparkling with mischief.
I laughed at his silly words. "Come here, baby," I said, reaching over to ruffle his hair. "Let's go make pancakes and let your father pretend to sleep for five more minutes."
"Can we make the ones with the chocolate chips? And the whipped cream? And the strawberries?"
"All of it," I promised. "Anything for my growing boy."
Zayne's strong arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me back down into the warmth of our bed. "Stay," he murmured against my neck. "Just five more minutes."
"The future Alpha is hungry," I teased, but I melted into his warmth anyway.
"I love you, Mia. More than anything in this world."
"I love you too," I whispered back.
Caleb crawled between us, snuggling into my chest. His little arms wrapped around my neck. "I love you both more than the whole universe," he declared.
"Impossible," Zayne and I said at the same time, making Caleb dissolve into giggles.
But something was wrong.
The sunlight began to dim, and Caleb's weight in my arms grew lighter.
"Caleb?" I looked down, but he wasn't there anymore.
I was standing in the forest now, my heart pounding. The trees towered around me, dark and threatening.
"Caleb! Caleb, where are you?"
My voice echoed through the woods, but there was no answer.
I began to run, crashing through underbrush. Branches tore at my clothes, but I didn't care. I had to find him.
"CALEB!"
Then I smelled it. Blood. So much blood.
I found him by the old oak tree where we'd had so many picnics.
My beautiful boy. My everything. Lying so still in a pool of blood.
"No, no, no..." I dropped to my knees, gathering him into my arms. His little body was cold. So cold. "Baby, please. Please wake up. Mommy's here now."
But his green eyes stared at nothing.
"You killed our son."
I spun around. Zayne stood at the edge of the clearing, his face twisted with grief and rage.
"No," I whispered. "No, I didn't. I would never..."
"You killed him, Mia. Our son is dead because of you."
"That's not true!" I screamed, but suddenly there was blood on my hands. My clothes. Under my fingernails.
"Murderer."
I looked at my hand but I didn't see Caleb but chained. I was back at the execution ground. Kneeling in the dirt. Silver chains burning my wrists. The taste of poison on my lips.
"NOOO!"
I jerked awake, screaming. My body was drenched in sweat and my heart was hammering.
What happened? Where was I?
I was lying on rough animal furs in what looked like some kind of cave. Weak sunlight filtered through an opening in the rock.
Was I... alive?
The poison. Selene's confession. The execution. It all came rushing back and I doubled over, gasping for air. I was supposed to be dead. I remember the poison burning down my throat, and my heart stopping.
But I was here, very much alive.
I stumbled to my feet and walked to the entrance of the cave. I could hear running water. A stream, maybe. I needed to see myself, needed to understand what had happened to me.
The stream was small but clear. I leaned over the bank and looked at my reflection.
The face staring back at me was mine, but... different. Sharper somehow. My cheekbones were more defined, my jaw stronger. My hair was the same dark brown, but it seemed thicker. And my eyes...
My eyes were no longer the warm green I'd inherited from my mother. They were amber now and seemed to glow with their own inner light.
I touched my face with trembling fingers. This was me, but not me.
"What the hell happened to me?"
I had no answers. Only questions and a burning rage growing stronger with each passing moment.
They thought they'd killed me. Thought they'd gotten away with their betrayal and lies.
They were wrong.
___
I'd been walking for what felt like hours. The forest seemed endless, stretching out in every direction. Every path looked the same. My stomach was growling with hunger, but I kept moving.
A sound made me freeze. Footsteps. Multiple sets, moving through the forest.
I ducked behind the massive trunk of an oak.
"Territory's been breached again," a deep voice said as they passed close to my hiding spot. "Third time this week."
"Alpha won't be pleased," another replied. "You know what he does to trespassers. Especially the female ones."
"Remember what happened to the last she-wolf who wandered into our territory?" They said, and then gave a frightening look.
What has happened? I wasn't sure if I wanted to know that but I needed to get away from here.
I waited until their voices faded before moving again. Apparently, I'd stumbled into someone's territory. Someone who didn't like uninvited guests.
I tried to retrace my steps, but I only got more lost.
A branch snapped somewhere behind me.
I spun around, my heart hammering. I started to run.
Behind me, I could hear them following. My lungs burned and my legs shook, but I kept running until I burst through some trees and stumbled into a clearing.
Then I stopped short.
At least ten wolves stood in a perfect circle around the space, all of them massive, and staring at me.
I was trapped.
"Well, well, well," one of them said as he shifted into human form. He was tall and lean, with scars covering his chest and arms. His smile showed too many teeth. "What do we have here?"
I backed toward the center of the clearing. There were too many. This would be a losing battle.
"I'm just passing through," I said. "I'll leave. Right now. I won't cause any trouble."
"Oh, you'll leave all right," he replied, his grin widening. "The question is whether you'll leave breathing, or not."
More of them shifted into human form, forming a tighter circle around me.
"I don't want any trouble," I said.
"Too bad," he said, taking a step closer. "You're in Alpha Kieran's territory now, little female. And he has very specific rules about uninvited guests."
"What kind of rules?" I asked, though I was pretty sure I didn't want to know.
"The kind that ends with your screaming," another one said, and it's almost as if they pitied me.
Before I could respond, the temperature in the clearing seemed to drop. The wolves that had been advancing on me suddenly stopped, their heads turning toward the tree line.
Something was coming.
The presence I felt moving toward us was overwhelming. Power so raw and dangerous it made my skin prickle. This wasn't just any Alpha. This was something else entirely.
A figure stepped from the shadows between the trees.
His presence was enough to make every wolf in the clearing drop to the forest floor.
Every wolf except me.
I stood in the center of their circle, meeting his gaze across the distance. I should have been terrified. Should have dropped to my knees like the others.
Instead, I found myself taking a step toward him.
His eyes... God, his eyes. Even in the shadows, they seemed to burn with an otherworldly light. Blue eyes but older. Ancient. Full of a pain so deep it made my chest ache.
"Alpha," the scarred guy whispered, his voice shaking with fear. "We found her wandering the eastern border. She claims she was just passing through."
Alpha Kieran said nothing for a long moment. Just stared at me with those impossible eyes, like he was seeing something that shouldn't exist.
"You're in my territory," he said finally. His voice was low and rough, like he didn't use it often.
"I know," I replied. "I'm sorry. I was lost."
He tilted his head slightly, studying me like I was a puzzle he couldn't solve. "You're not afraid."
It wasn't a question, but I answered anyway. "Should I be?"
Something that might have been amusement flickered across his features. "Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I kill trespassers."
"All of them?"
"All of them."
I should have been terrified. Should have been begging for my life. Instead, I found myself curious about this Alpha.
"What makes you think I'm not already dead?" I asked.
The question seemed to surprise him. He took a step closer, and I caught my first real glimpse of his face.
He was beautiful in the way that dangerous things were beautiful. Sharp cheekbones and a strong jaw, dark hair that looked like he'd been running his hands through it. But it was his eyes that held me captive. Those blue eyes that seemed to see straight through to my soul.
"You're not dead," he said with certainty. "Though you should be."
"Why?"
"Because that's what happens to everyone who gets too close to me."
There was something in his voice. Pain, resignation, exhaustion. Like he was carrying a weight that was slowly crushing him.
I wanted to ask more questions, but before I could speak, something struck the back of my head with enough force to send me crashing to the ground.
The last thing I saw before darkness claimed me were those ancient, haunted blue eyes staring down at me with an expression I couldn't read.
Then everything went black, and I found myself wondering if I'd just made the biggest mistake of my life.
- Writer
