Two Weeks Before the Full Moon
Age 22
The forest swallowed me whole, its
darkness alive, pressing against my skin like a thousand unseen hands. My
breath came in ragged gasps, each one tearing at my throat as I stumbled
through the undergrowth. Branches clawed at my dress, ripping the green fabric
into jagged strips that hung off me like a banner of my humiliation. The
pendant at my throat burned hotter with every step, a searing weight like it
was trying to melt through my chest and into my heart.
I didn't know where I was going.
Didn't care. I just needed to run—away from Silverfang Manor, away from Darius
Blackthorne's cold, unyielding rejection, away from the pack's judgmental
stares and Seraphina's venomous smile.
My wolf, dormant for years, growled
low in my chest—a guttural, primal sound that vibrated through my bones. It had
woken up the moment Darius dropped my hand, the second he'd declared me unfit.
Now it wouldn't shut up. It clawed at the edges of my mind, demanding release,
demanding I let it out to tear something—anything—apart.
I couldn't. I wouldn't. I wasn't that
kind of omega. Hell, I wasn't the kind of anything. Just Liora Kane, daughter
of a traitor, a girl foolish enough to believe she could outrun her past by
tying herself to an alpha who'd rather watch her burn than stand beside her.
My foot caught on a root, and I went
down hard. My knees slammed into the damp earth. The jolt shot through me like
lightning, and I bit back a cry as pain spiked up my legs. My hands clawed at
the dirt, fingers digging into the cold, wet soil while I tried to push myself
up. But my arms shook, and my vision blurred with tears I hadn't even realized
were there.
They spilled over now—hot,
relentless—carving silent trails down my cheeks. My breath came in gasps. Each
inhale felt like it might shatter me from the inside out.
The pendant pulsed again, heat
crawling across my skin like wildfire. I grabbed it, trembling, yanking it from
my neck. The silver crescent moon glinted in the slivers of moonlight that cut
through the canopy, its etched runes glowing faintly, like they were alive.
My mother's pendant. The only thing I
had left of her.
She'd given it to me the night before
she died. Her hands were shaking, her face pale and waxy as she pressed it into
my palm. "Keep it close, Liora," she whispered, her voice barely louder than
her breath. "It'll protect you when I can't."
I hadn't understood then. I still
didn't. But something about the pendant had always felt… wrong. Not evil. Just
heavy. Like it carried a secret I wasn't ready to know.
And now, sitting in the dirt with my
dress in tatters and my pride in pieces, that secret felt closer than ever.
The growl came again—but not from me
this time.
It came from the shadows.
Low. Guttural. Close.
I froze, heart pounding so hard I felt
it in my teeth. My head snapped up. The forest was too dark, the trees too
thick. Moonlight barely touched the ground. But something was out there.
Watching.
Something old.
Something hungry.
I scrambled to my feet, clutching the
pendant tight. My wolf snarled, hackles raised, ready to bolt or bite—anything
but freeze. But my legs felt like they were made of stone, and my mind was a
mess of fear and fury and shame.
I took a step back. A twig snapped
beneath my boot. The sound echoed like a gunshot.
And then I saw them.
Eyes.
Not wolf eyes. Not human. Something
worse. Something ancient. Glowing like dying coals, burning right through me.
The figure stepped forward, smooth and
silent. Too smooth. Too silent.
It was massive—twice my size. A
grotesque blend of man and beast. Fur in patchy tufts, skin stretched tight
over muscles like chiseled granite. Its claws gleamed like polished bone. And
its mouth—too many teeth, too sharp, too wrong.
"You're awake, little omega," it said.
Not aloud.
Its mouth didn't move.
But I heard it anyway—clear as if it
were breathing the words into my ear.
"And so am I."
Panic slammed into me, stealing my
breath. I stumbled back, gripping the pendant like it was the only thing
keeping me tethered to the world. My wolf whimpered low and deep, the sound
vibrating inside me like a warning siren.
The pendant flared—blinding light
searing the dark.
The thing hissed, recoiling like it
had been burned. For one heart-stopping second, I thought I could run.
Then it lunged.
Too fast. Too close.
Its claws sliced through the air where
I'd been standing a second before. I dove sideways, crashed into the ground,
and rolled through the underbrush. Thorns ripped at my skin, but I didn't feel
them. Adrenaline roared through me like fire.
I was up again, legs moving before my
mind caught up. The pendant burned in my palm. My only weapon.
The creature turned, those glowing
eyes locking on me like a wolf with a scent.
"You can't run from me," it purred,
voice like velvet soaked in poison. "Your blood calls to me. Your power calls
to me."
"I don't have any power!" I screamed.
My voice cracked, half sob, half fury. "I'm just an omega! I'm nothing!"
It laughed.
Not a sound you hear. A sound you
feel—like bones breaking.
"Oh, little Kane," it said. Another
step closer. "You have no idea what you are. But you will."
My back hit a tree. Bark bit into my
spine. I had nowhere to go.
The creature loomed, claws flexing,
mouth curving into a grin that had nothing to do with joy.
My wolf whimpered again, curling into
a tight ball inside me.
I was alone.
Utterly, terrifyingly alone.
The pendant pulsed again. And this
time—I heard her.
My mother.
Her voice, soft and urgent, echoing in
the back of my mind.
"Liora," she said. "You have to fight.
You have to live."
"I can't," I whispered. Tears poured
down my face. My voice was a breath, a confession. "I'm not strong enough."
"You are," she said. Fainter now, like
wind in the trees. "You've always been enough."
The creature's claws came down.
I screamed.
Threw my hands up.
And the pendant exploded with light.
Silver fire poured out in waves, blinding, burning, alive. The thing shrieked—really
shrieked—and stumbled back, steam rising from its seared flesh. The air filled
with the stench of burning fur and rot.
I didn't wait to see if it would
recover. I ran.
Hard. Fast.
The forest blurred. Trees became
streaks of black and green. The moon was a blur. My legs burned. My lungs
screamed.
The pendant dimmed, its heat fading to
a soft glow, but my mother's voice lingered. A whisper of hope. A thread I
clung to.
I ran until my body gave out.
Collapsed in a clearing, shaking,
breath ragged.
The forest was quiet again. The
creature—gone. For now.
But I knew it wasn't over.
It had found me. It had woken because
I had.
I looked down at the pendant. The
runes still glowed—soft, steady. Like embers refusing to die.
My mother's voice had come from it. I
knew that now.
But what did it mean?
What power? I wasn't powerful. I was
the girl no one wanted. The traitor's daughter. The omega left behind.
And yet—something inside me had
changed.
My wolf raised her head. Still shaken.
Still scared. But no longer silent.
She was waiting.
For what, I didn't know.
A twig snapped. My head jerked up.
Eyes wide.
Nothing. Just trees. Just silence.
Just me.
Clutching a pendant that shouldn't
glow. Listening to the memory of a dead woman's voice.
Broken. But not done.
Something had started tonight.
Darius's rejection had been the spark.
And now?
Now, something inside me was burning.
And whatever it was—
It wasn't going to let me run forever.