Chapter 5
1223 Words
Chapter Five
The rogues backed away.
They stumbled backwards like prey animals sensing a predator.
Rumi could barely process anything that was going on at that moment.
Her body burned from the inside out. Every nerve felt electrified, stretched too tight beneath her skin. The strange heat raging through her veins had become unbearable now—wild and violent and alive.
And the growl inside her chest wouldn’t stop.
The scarred rogue stared at her with widening eyes.
“She has bright red eyes, then wolf eyes.” he repeated hoarsely. She could’ve sworn she heard a hint of fascination in his voice.
Rumi’s breathing turned ragged.
Wolf eyes? Her mind echoed his words.
She had spent her entire life waiting for her wolf to appear, every year, every full moon, every ceremony, every test nothing…
The pack called her defective because there had never been any sign of a wolf inside her but now…Now something was there.
And it was terrifying.
Rumi staggered backward, clutching her head as another wave of pain ripped through her body.
“Make it stop…” she gasped.
The growl answered her immediately.
Mine.
The word thundered through her skull hard enough to make her cry out.
The rogues exchanged uneasy looks.
“I don’t like this,” one muttered.
The scarred rogue didn’t respond immediately. His gaze stayed fixed on Rumi with growing suspicion.
Then realization flickered across his face.
“She was rejected,” he said slowly.
The others frowned.
“So?”
“She still survived the bond break.”
Silence.
Even Rumi froze. The rejection, she thought startled, most wolves didn’t survive it.
Not fully.
Especially not weak wolves, especially not Omegas.
When a mate bond was severed violently, it usually destroyed the weaker mate completely. Some lose their minds while others lose the ability to shift forever.
Some end up dead.
Was she dying? Was this nature’s cruel way of snuffing the life out of her while making sure she suffered until the bitter end? It was unfair to be punished so severely for her mate not wanting her, not thinking she wasn’t good enough.
The scarred rogue stared at her like he was seeing her for the first time.
“What are you?” he asked in quiet awe.
Rumi shook her head weakly.
“I don’t know.”
Pain exploded through her spine again only this time it was worse.
A scream ripped from her throat as her body folded violently forward.
Something cracked and the sound echoed through the forest.
Rumi froze.
Then another crack followed, and another.
The rogues stepped back instantly.
“Oh s**t,” the first rogue breathed.
Rumi’s fingernails dug into the dirt as agony consumed her body, it felt like her bones were breaking apart from the inside.
Her skin burned.
Her muscles spasmed violently as every breath became torture.
“What’s happening to her?” the second rogue whispered.
The scarred rogue’s expression darkened.
“She’s shifting.”
“No,” the first rogue argued immediately. “That’s impossible. First shifts don’t happen this late.”
“Then explain this.”
Rumi barely heard them, her entire world narrowing to the agony she was feeling.
A sharp tearing sensation erupted across her back.
She screamed again. Something moved beneath her skin.
The growl inside her chest became louder, fully awake and angry.
Rumi gasped violently as a flood of emotions slammed into her all at once.
Rage, possessiveness, hunger, power.
It didn’t feel human, it didn’t even feel sane. She must be losing her mind.
Fear clawed up her throat.
The scarred rogue cursed suddenly.
“Grab her!”
Rumi barely had time to react before rough hands seized her arms.
Panic exploded inside her instantly.
“No!”
The rogue holding her tightened his grip painfully.
“She’s unstable!”
“We should kill her now—”
“Wait,” the scarred rogue snapped.
Rumi struggled weakly, but her body was barely functioning. Another pulse of heat surged through her veins so violently her vision blurred white.
The rogue gripping her hissed suddenly, smoke curled upward from his hand.
He jerked away with a curse.
“What the hell?!”
Rumi stared at him in shock, burn marks spread across his palm. The others looked alarmed now.
“She just burned him.”
“That’s not possible.”
The scarred rogue looked furious.
“No Omega can do this.”
The words triggered something inside Rumi.
Omega; Weak, worthless, defective. The memories hit one after another.
The laughter, the insults, the hard labor…Madeline smiling while Alpha Rolan rejected her publicly.
“You are nothing.”
Something inside her snapped. The growl exploded through her chest violently, and suddenly Rumi felt it.
Power…Real power.
It surged beneath her skin like wildfire. The air around her changed instantly.
The rogues felt it too as their expressions shifted from suspicion to fear.
“What the hell is she?” the first rogue whispered.
Rumi lifted her head slowly.
The rogues froze.
Her eyes were glowing now.
Not soft gold like most wolves but crimson; deep, terrifying crimson.
The forest went still, even the wind seemed to stop
The scarred rogue took a step backward instinctively.
“No…” he breathed.
Rumi’s body trembled violently as another wave of pain hit her but this time, something else came with it.
Strength. Raw, overwhelming strength.
Her senses sharpened instantly and she could hear their heartbeats. Smell their fear, feel the tension in the air.
And beneath it all, she could feel the monster inside her rising.
The rogue nearest her panicked first.
“Kill her!”
He lunged.
Everything happened too fast after that.
Rumi moved instinctively. One second she was kneeling in the dirt, the next the rogue flew backward violently.
A sickening crack echoed through the forest as his body slammed into a tree hard enough to splinter the trunk.
The remaining rogues stared in horror.
Rumi stared too. Her breathing became ragged. She hadn’t touched him, had she?
The rogue slid lifelessly to the ground.
Dead.
Rumi’s stomach twisted violently.
“No…”
The scarred rogue looked genuinely shaken now.
The second rogue shifted into wolf form and bolted into the trees.
Coward. The word echoed inside Rumi’s mind but it wasn’t hers, it was the other one’s
The wolf.
The scarred rogue remained frozen in place, staring at her with growing dread.
Rumi looked at him slowly.
And for the first time he looked weak.
Prey.
The realization terrified her because a part of her liked it.
“No…” she whispered shakily.
The rogue took another step backward.
“You’re not an Omega,” he said.
Rumi’s chest rose and fell rapidly.
Then what was she?
The answer came instantly from the thing inside her.
Predator.
The word slithered through her mind like smoke.
The scarred rogue suddenly shifted into wolf form and fled into the darkness without another word.
Rumi was alone again.
Her body shook violently as the adrenaline faded.
The crimson glow in her eyes flickered uncertain
ly.
The power inside her still surged wildly, unstable and uncontrollable.
Too much.
Rumi stumbled backward weakly.
“What’s happening to me?” she whispered.
No answer came.
Only the low growl inside her chest.
Satisfied, awake, and hungry for more.
- Writer
