CHAPTER 12: A WOLFLESS GIRL AMONG WOLVES
1563 Words
The forest didn’t feel the same anymore.
It wasn’t just dark. It was watching her.
Aria ran… Branches tore at her skin, roots threatened to trip her with every step, and her lungs burned with every breath, but she didn’t stop. She couldn’t. Not now. Not when she could still hear them.
“They’re tracking me,” she whispered, with her voice shaking.
Of course, they were.
She had just proved everything they feared.
She wasn’t one of them.
She was something worse.
Her foot got caught on a root, and she stumbled forward, barely catching herself before crashing into the forest floor. Pain shot up her leg, but she forced herself up again, with her heart hammering wildly in her chest.
“Keep moving…just keep moving.”
But her body was reaching its limit.
And her power… It was unstable.
Every time fear spiked, she felt it surge beneath her skin like lightning, threatening to break free again.
A low growl sounded behind her.
Closer this time.
Aria froze.
Slowly, she turned with her eyes glowing.
Watching from the shadows, she saw dozens of wolves.
Her breath seized.
“No”
The wolves stepped forward one by one, surrounding her in a slow and tightening circle.
Shadow fang wolves.
Her chest tightened painfully.
“They actually came after me.”
Of course, they did.
She wasn’t just a risk anymore.
She was a problem they intended to eliminate.
“I won’t fight you,” she said, with her voice unsteady but firm.
She didn’t know if she could stop herself if they attacked.
A figure stepped forward from the pack.
It was Selene.
Her expression was cold.
“You should have stayed,” she said.
Aria’s jaw tightened.
“So you could lock me up?”
“So we could control the damage before it’s too late.”
Aria let out a bitter laugh.
You mean control me?
Selene didn’t deny it.
“You don’t understand what you are,” Selene continued.
Aria’s eyes flashed.
“And you do?”
“Yes.”
The answer hit differently.
Aria’s heart pounded.
“What am I?”
Selene held her gaze.
“A trigger.”
The word landed like a big blow.
“Your power doesn’t just affect you,” she said. “It spreads. It destabilizes others. It awakens something in wolves that shouldn’t be touched.”
Aria’s breath caught.
“That’s not possible.”
“It’s already happening.”
Memories flashed back to when the wolves collapsed…With their eyes glowing silver.
Turning towards her.
“No,” she whispered.
Selene stepped closer.
“You felt it, didn’t you?”
Aria didn’t answer.
Because she had.
And that terrified her.
“Come back with us,” Selene said. “Before more damage is done.”
Aria’s hands trembled at her sides.
“I won’t be your prisoner.”
Selene’s face hardened.
“Then you leave us no choice.”
The wolves moved.
Closing in.
Tension snapped.
And then… They attacked.
Aria’s power exploded.
Silver light burst from her like a shock wave, slamming into the wolves and throwing several wolves back violently. The ground cracked beneath her feet as the energy surged out of control.
“I said don’t come near me!”
Her voice wasn’t fully hers anymore.
The wolves hesitated.
Even Selene stepped back.
But only for a moment.
“Now!” she commanded.
They lunged attack again.
Aria fought.
Not with skill. Not with control.
But with raw, chaotic power.
Each movement sent bursts of energy crashing through the forest, knocking wolves aside, tearing through the ground, and distorting the air itself.
But she was losing control very fast.
“Stop!” she gasped.
But her power didn’t listen.
It surged again.
Stronger this time.
And then.
Everything went wrong.
A scream tore through the forest.
Not from her.
From one of the wolves.
Aria froze.
Her eyes widened.
The wolf on the ground convulsed.
Just like before.
Silver light flickering in his eyes.
Her breath caught.
“No, I didn’t mean…”
“You see?” Selene’s voice cut through sharply. “This is what you do!”
Panic crashed over her.
“I didn’t want this!”
But it didn’t matter.
The damage was already done.
And that was when the air changed.
A slow clap echoed from the shadows.
“Well, this is disappointing.”
Aria’s head snapped up.
A figure stepped forward.
Not Shadow fang.
Ronan.
His eyes gleamed with interest as he took in the scene, the fallen wolves, the cracked earth, and Aria standing at the center of it all.
“So this is the hybrid everyone’s afraid of,” he said.
Aria’s chest tightened.
“Who are you?”
He smiled.
“The one who understands what you are.”
Selene’s expression darkened instantly.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Ronan didn’t even look at her.
“I go where I want.”
His face returned to Aria.
And I take what I want.
Before anyone could react.
He moved very fast.
Aria barely had time to react before he was in front of her, his hand closing around her wrist.
Her power flared instinctively.
But it didn’t push him back.
His grip tightened.
Her eyes widened.
“How?”
Ronan leaned closer, with his voice very low.
“Because unlike them.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
Aria’s breath hitched.
There was something wrong with that.
Not just his words, but the way her power reacted to him.
It didn’t fight him.
It didn’t surge violently as it had with the others…It responded.
“No,” she whispered. “That’s not possible.”
Ronan’s grip on her wrist didn’t loosen at all.
It tightened slightly, just enough to remind her she wasn’t free.
You feel it, don’t you? He said faintly.
Aria shook her head, even as her pulse betrayed her.
I don’t feel anything, she said.
That’s a lie.
A terrible one.
Because beneath her fear.
Something inside her was reaching towards him.
Her power flickered beneath her skin.
Ronan’s eyes darkened with satisfaction.
“There it is.”
Stop looking at me like that, she said.
Like what?… I belong to you, she said.
That made him smile.
You don’t belong to anyone, he said.
Then softer.
“Not yet.”
Her heart pounded so hard.
What does that mean?
Ronan tilted his head slightly, studying her like a puzzle he had already solved.
It means, he said, “you’ve been surrounded by wolves who fear you.”
His looks sharpened.
“I don’t.”
The words settled heavily between them.
You should, Aria said quietly.
Ronan leaned closer.
Close enough that she could feel his breath.
Fear is for those who don’t understand power, he said.
“And you,” his look dropped briefly to where her energy flickered faintly beneath her skin.
“Are power.”
Her breath caught.
Just a moment.
She saw it.
A different future.
Not running. Not hiding.
Not being judged or hunted.
But standing strong.
The image terrified her.
“I’m not like you,” she said again, but her voice lacked conviction this time.
Ronan straightened slightly.
“No,” he agreed.
And then… You’re worse.
The words hit harder than she expected.
But before she could react.
He released her wrist.
Aria stumbled back slightly, shock flashing across her face.
He let her go?
Her power flared instinctively.
But she didn’t attack.
Because she didn’t understand what was happening.
You’re not afraid I’ll attack you? She demanded.
Ronan turned away from her, as if he was already bored with the question.
If you could control it, he said, you would have already tried.
You can’t even control yourself, he continued. “So no…I’m not worried.”
Anger surged through her.
I’m not weak, she said.
Ronan stopped.
Then slowly turned back to her.
“I know,” he said.
And somehow.
That was worse.
Because he wasn’t mocking her.
He believed it.
“You just don’t know what to do with what you are,” he added.
Silence stretched.
Aria’s fingers curled at her sides.
Then tell me, she said. “If you know so much, tell me what I am.”
Ronan’s looks held hers.
And for the first time.
Something serious replaced the amusement in his expression.
You’re a weapon, he said.
Her chest tightened.
“But not one meant to be controlled.”
One meant to choose.
The words sank deep.
Because no one had ever said that to her before.
Not her pack. Not Kael. Not anyone.
You’re lying, she whispered.
Ronan’s lips curved faintly.
Then why does it feel true?
Her breath caught.
Because it did.
And that scared her more than anything else.
Selene shouted.
“Stop him!”
But it was too late.
Kael’s voice roared through the forest.
“Ronan.”
Everything froze.
Aria’s breath hitched.
Kael stepped into the clearing, with his presence dark, furious, and overwhelming.
His golden eyes locked onto Ronan’s hand around her wrist.
And something inside him snapped.
“Let her go,” Kael said.
Ronan smirked.
“Or what?”
The tension between them was suffocating.
Aria’s heart pounded.
Because at that moment.
She realized something terrifying.
Ronan wasn’t here by accident.
He came for her.
And Kael… Might not be able to stop him.
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