Chapter 1
1494 Words
Writer-
Seraphina knew better than to go into the northern woods.
Everyone did.
That was the first rule you learned growing up in a place like hers; small, quiet, and too close to things people didn’t talk about.
Don’t go too far.
Don’t stay out after dark.
And never, under any circumstance, step into their territory.
So of course, that was exactly where she was going.
The village lights flickered behind her, soft and golden, spilling warmth across the dirt path. If she turned around now, she could still pretend this was nothing. Just another restless night. Just another strange feeling she couldn’t explain.
She almost did.
Her steps slowed.
Her fingers tightened slightly at her sides.
Then it came again.
That pull.
Sharp. Deep. Indismissible.
It twisted low in her chest, like something inside her had finally woken up and was dragging her forward whether she liked it or not.
Seraphina exhaled shakily.
“Just a little further,” she murmured, though she wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince.
Herself, maybe.
Because nothing about this felt normal.
Nothing about her ever had.
She stepped past the invisible line where the village ended and the forest began,
and everything changed.
The air shifted first.
It thickened, pressing faintly against her skin, heavier with every step she took. The sounds of the village faded too quickly, swallowed whole until there was nothing left but the forest.
No voices.
No distant movement.
Just silence.
Not the peaceful kind.
The wrong kind.
Seraphina stopped.
A strange feeling crept up her spine, slow and deliberate. The hairs on her arms rose, her body reacting before her mind could catch up.
Something was off.
She listened.
At first, there was nothing.
Then,
A heartbeat.
Her breath caught.
It wasn’t hers.
It was slower. Deeper. Too steady.
And it wasn’t far.
Her stomach dropped.
She turned her head slightly, trying to locate the sound, but it didn’t come from one direction. It was everywhere. Around her. Inside the forest itself.
That wasn’t possible.
Her pulse began to race.
Okay… okay, this was a mistake.
A stupid one.
She took a step back.
Then another.
The pull inside her flared instantly, sharper this time, almost painful.
Her body refused to move any further.
“No,” she whispered under her breath. “No, I’m not doing this.”
But she was already turning back around.
Already stepping deeper in.
Because whatever was calling her wasn’t asking anymore.
It was demanding.
The further she went, the worse it got.
The strange heat beneath her skin spread, curling through her veins like fire and ice at the same time. Her breathing grew uneven, her senses sharpening in a way that made everything feel too close, too loud.
She could hear things she shouldn’t.
Leaves shifting.
Something moving far off in the distance.
And that heartbeat?
Still there.
Still steady.
Still not hers.
A branch snapped behind her.
Seraphina spun around so fast she nearly lost her balance.
“Hello?”
Her voice sounded wrong. Too loud. Too small.
No answer.
But the silence had changed.
It wasn’t empty anymore.
It was watching.
Her throat tightened.
Every instinct she had screamed at her to run, this time louder, clearer, impossible to ignore.
So why wasn’t she moving?
Why did her feet feel rooted to the ground?
Another step sounded behind her.
Closer.
Seraphina’s breath hitched.
Slowly, very slowly..she turned.
At first, she saw nothing.
Just shadows tangled between the trees.
Then the shadows shifted.
And he stepped out of them.
Everything in her body went still.
He was tall—too tall, it felt like—with a presence that filled the space around him without effort. The kind of presence that didn’t need movement to feel dangerous.
The moonlight caught his face just enough for her to see him clearly.
Sharp features.
Dark eyes.
Not glowing. Not fully.
But not human either.
Not even close.
Seraphina forgot how to breathe.
Predator.
The word came instinctively.
Every part of her recognized it.
Run.
Run now.
But she didn’t.
She couldn’t.
Because the moment her eyes locked with his—
Something shifted.
Not around her.
Inside her.
Recognition.
It hit her so suddenly it almost made her dizzy.
Impossible.
She had never seen him before.
She would remember.
And yet—
It felt like she had been walking toward this exact moment her entire life.
His gaze moved over her slowly, deliberately, like he was trying to figure her out piece by piece.
Then his expression changed.
Not much.
Just enough.
Shock flickered across his face.
Gone almost instantly.
Replaced with something colder.
“Impossible,” he muttered.
The word sent a chill through her, sharp enough to cut through the strange heat burning under her skin.
Seraphina forced herself to take a step back.
“Stay away from me.”
Her voice came out steadier than she felt.
His eyes snapped back to hers.
And suddenly—
The air changed.
It hit her like a wave.
Pressure.
Heavy. Crushing. Invisible.
Her breath stuttered as it wrapped around her, pressing down on her shoulders, her chest, her knees.
Her body reacted instantly.
Submit.
The urge slammed into her, raw and overwhelming. It clawed through her instincts, demanding obedience, demanding that she look away, that she kneel, that she—
No.
Her fingers curled into fists.
“No.”
She didn’t even realize she said it out loud.
But something in her pushed back.
Hard.
The pressure didn’t disappear.
But it cracked.
Just enough.
Just enough for her to stay standing.
Just enough for her to keep looking at him.
Silence stretched between them.
But now it was different.
Tighter.
Sharper.
His expression shifted again.
Not anger.
Not confusion.
Interest.
Dangerous, focused interest.
“What are you?” he asked.
The question should have been simple.
It wasn’t.
Seraphina opened her mouth—
Nothing came out.
Because she didn’t know.
She had never known.
And somehow, standing in front of him, that felt like the worst possible answer.
He stepped closer.
One step.
That was all it took.
The air changed with him, his presence intensifying in a way that made her pulse spike. Her instincts were completely out of control now—half of her screaming to run, the other half pulling her closer.
He stopped just a few feet away.
Too close.
Close enough that she could see the tension in his jaw.
Close enough to feel the heat radiating from him.
And beneath it—
Something else.
Something that snapped into place so suddenly it stole the air from her lungs.
Mate.
The word hit her like a physical force.
Clear.
Absolute.
Unmistakable.
Seraphina’s breath caught.
No.
No, that wasn’t possible.
Her gaze locked with his.
And she knew.
He felt it too.
His reaction was instant.
His entire expression hardened, something sharp and unyielding dropping into place behind his eyes.
“No.”
The word came out low. Final.
The bond didn’t break.
It didn’t even weaken.
It tightened.
Seraphina’s heart started racing, confusion crashing into something dangerously close to panic.
She didn’t understand.
None of this made sense.
But the look on his face did.
Rejection.
Not hesitation.
Not doubt.
Rejection.
His gaze moved over her again, slower this time, more calculating.
Like he was looking for something—
And then he found it.
She saw the exact moment it happened.
The shift.
The realization.
And for the first time since he appeared—
He looked… wary.
Not of her.
Of what she was.
“You’re not just omega,” he said quietly.
The word felt wrong the second it hit her ears.
Incomplete.
Like calling her something she had never been.
His eyes darkened slightly.
“And you’re definitely not human.”
The forest seemed to hold its breath.
Seraphina’s pulse roared in her ears.
Because deep down—
She had always known that.
She just never expected anyone else to see it.
His next words landed like a verdict.
“You shouldn’t exist.”
The bond pulsed between them again.
Stronger.
Unbreakable.
And suddenly—
Everything became very, very clear.
If he was right…
If she really wasn’t supposed to exist—
Then this wasn’t just a mistake.
It wasn’t just bad timing.
It was something worse.
Something that could destroy far more than just her.
Seraphina took a slow step back.
Then another.
This time, her body listened.
Because whatever this was—
Whatever he was—
Whatever *they* were—
It wasn’t safe.
Not for her.
Not for anyone.
His voice stopped her before she could turn.
“Don’t run.”
It wasn’t loud.
It didn’t need to be.
The command wrapped around her just as tightly as before—
But this time, she understood something she hadn’t before.
She could resist him.
Not completely.
Not easily.
But enough.
Seraphina glanced back at him, her heart pounding.
“Watch me.”
And then she ran
- Writer
