The Hunt Begins
1190 Words
The forest was eerily silent as Ari and her search team advanced deeper into the restricted section of the Alpha Academy grounds. Despite the early hour, not even the usual morning birdsong broke the tension. Every step Ari took was fueled by a frantic mixture of determination and dread. Her mind replayed every word, every warning, every gut feeling she had ignored about something not being right.
Luca had vanished without a trace. But she knew him better than anyone. He wouldn't just disappear—not unless something or someone made him.
As she pressed further into the shadows, her memory tugged her backward, unbidden.
Four years ago.
The rain poured down in sheets, soaking through her coat as she crouched behind the Sinclair family stables. She was supposed to be packing for boarding school, but she'd found Luca huddled there instead, shivering and bruised, a cut above his eyebrow and blood smeared on his shirt.
“What happened?” she'd asked, grabbing his arm.
“Nothing. Just... fell.”
“Don’t lie to me, Luca.”
He had looked at her then, broken in a way she'd never seen. “I messed up, Ari. I ran from them.”
He never told her who "they" were. Just that his real name wasn’t Gray, and he couldn’t go home.
That night, they made a pact. New names. New lives. No looking back.
Now, the past had caught up to them. And this time, Luca wasn’t just running.
He was being hunted.
Ari halted beside a fallen tree, examining a patch of disturbed earth. Her fingers skimmed over claw marks dug deep into the mud.
Not natural.
Ronan appeared at her side a moment later. “Find something?”
She nodded, her voice tight. “Tracks. Something big. Not human.”
His eyes darkened. “They must’ve used the storm as cover. Broke through the wards.”
“Which means someone inside helped them.”
Ronan’s jaw clenched. “A traitor.”
The word sat heavy between them.
Suddenly, a sharp whistle sliced through the air—a distress signal from the southern quadrant. Ari and Ronan bolted toward it, magic thrumming through their limbs.
They reached the ridge to find Professor Vale, bleeding from a gash across his shoulder, and a second-year lying unconscious beside him.
“They were fast,” Vale gasped. “Wolves, but not… right. Twisted.”
Ari knelt beside the student, checking his pulse. Alive, but barely.
“They were looking for something,” Vale murmured. “Or someone.”
Ari’s blood ran cold.
They weren’t just after Luca.
They were after her.
Luca’s Perspective
The cell smelled of moss and damp stone, and the chains biting into his wrists burned every time he moved. But Luca still grinned as the figure stepped into the torchlight.
“I’ve had better accommodations,” he said, voice rasping.
The woman—tall, cold-eyed, draped in black—didn’t smile. “You’re exactly as irritating as your file suggested.”
“You read my file? Wow. Didn’t know I was famous.”
“Not famous. Dangerous.”
Luca laughed, wincing. “You must be really desperate if you dragged me here.”
“You’re leverage,” she said simply.
He sobered. “Leverage for what?”
“For her.”
Ari. Of course.
“You’ve made a mistake,” he said flatly. “She’ll burn this place to the ground before she lets you win.”
The woman tilted her head. “We’re counting on it.”
At Alpha Academy
Back at Alpha, chaos buzzed through the halls. Rumors spread like wildfire—rogue wolves, traitors, students going missing. But the worst part was the silence from the Council. Not a single announcement, no lockdown orders. It was like they were pretending nothing was wrong.
Celeste stormed into the strategy room, eyes blazing. “We have to assume they’ll come back.”
Ari stood over a map with Ronan, marking attack points. “They weren’t just testing our defenses. They were mapping us.”
Celeste pointed at the forest. “Which means their next move is bigger.”
“Or closer,” Ronan added.
“I want double security on the dorms,” Ari said. “And we need eyes on every entrance. Every blind spot.”
Celeste hesitated. “What if they don’t wait? What if they’re already here?”
Silence fell.
Ari looked around the room. “Then we root them out.”
That night, as the academy pretended to sleep, Ari crept back into the training room. She needed focus. Control. She needed not to feel like her entire world was crumbling.
She was halfway through a combat sequence when the door opened.
Ronan.
He didn’t speak at first. Just watched her move.
“You’re angry,” he said quietly.
She didn’t stop. “You think?”
“You’re scared.”
She froze, breathing hard.
“I would be too,” he continued. “If someone I loved was taken.”
She turned to him slowly. “He’s all I have left.”
Ronan stepped closer. “You have me.”
She stared at him, heart pounding. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I care,” he said. “And because… I think you’re more than what you pretend to be.”
She blinked, something cracking inside her.
“You don’t know me.”
“I want to.”
Her defenses wavered—but before she could respond, the ground trembled beneath them.
A low rumble. Then a burst of energy shot through the air, lighting up the windows with unnatural light.
Ronan was already at her side. “That came from the wards.”
Ari nodded. “They’re breaking in.”
Panic spread like fire. Students were ushered into safe zones. Professors scrambled to secure the perimeter. Ari and Ronan raced toward the breach.
At the southern edge of the campus, the protective wards shimmered violently—fracturing, then collapsing.
A dozen figures stepped through the breach. Wolves. But not the natural kind.
These were bigger. Sleeker. Their eyes glowed red.
Behind them, a woman emerged from the trees.
Ari froze.
She knew that face.
From a nightmare.
The woman smiled. “We meet again, little Sinclair.”
Ronan tensed. “What did she just—?”
Ari stepped forward. “You took him.”
The woman’s smile widened. “And now I’ve come for you.”
Magic flared between Ari’s fingers. “You’ll regret it.”
“Prove it.”
And with that, the wolves charged.
The battle began.
By dawn, the academy grounds were scarred—burned earth, shattered stones, wounded students and teachers. But the enemy had retreated.
Barely.
They had tested Alpha’s defenses. And they had learned just how strong Ari could be.
But they’d also sent a message.
This was only the beginning.
As Ronan stood beside her, his arm wrapped protectively around her waist, Ari knew one thing for sure:
She was done hiding.
It was time to bring the fight to them.
And she was going to get Luca back.
No matter the cost.
- Writer
