Chapter 6: Choices

"I'm really sorry I can't honor... this." Alpha Rowan finally turned to face Adriana, who looked up at him with sad eyes. "But I have to think of my pack, and I'm really not ready for a commitment like this..."

His eyes drifted away from her, looking over her shoulder.

She knew this was coming, and yet it still hit her like a tidal wave of pain. How could her heart be shattering when she only knew his man for a few hours?

And was this even a formal rejection? She wasn't sure if those words had to be uttered explicitly, or how all of this worked. All she knew was that Alpha Rowan was confirming everything the Turnbulls always told her.

That she wasn't worthy of love, and that she'd never deserved anything better than what she already had.

Which was nothing.

"No," Adriana said suddenly, backing away from Alpha Rowan.

He cocked his head to the side, looking at her quizzically.

"I... I have to go," she quickly added, running past him and heading towards the Turnbulls' house. 

"Adriana!" Alpha Rowan ran after her. "I'm not done talking to you." He sounded angry or frustrated, but Adriana didn't want to know.

It was almost physically painful for her to get away from him, but she knew what was coming, and she wasn't going to let him do that to her. Not now. 

She'd rather live the rest of her life yearning for him than experiencing a formal rejection right now, just when she needed her head to be calm and to keep it together for her journey ahead. 

A strong wind began to blow around them, sending the glowing hanging lights swinging. Adriana stepped into the house and the door slammed behind her, more because of the wind than because of the strength she had applied to it.

"Adriana!" Alpha Rowan banged on the door. "This is ridiculous." 

What could she say to him? That she was going to run away and that she couldn't take the heartbreak from rejection, even if they didn't know each other at all? 

That she was sorry she was a lowly maid, and that she wished the Moon Goddess had picked a better match for him, but that fate had a knack for dealing her terrible cards? 

"It will just be harder later on..." he said behind the door, his voice softening. "I... I was trying to be polite about it, but you're just making this harder."

Adriana's back was glued to the door, her heart pounding. Alpha Rowan's words felt like a thousand pins had struck her heart. 

She slid down to the floor, tears threatening to gush out of her. She had never felt this... desire or longing for someone. And he was just outside the door, yet so unreachable. 

"Adriana... I just want us to amicably go our separate ways. Can we do that?" 

Part of her felt embarrassed for what she was doing. It was clear that the poor man had wanted nothing to do with her, and as he had said, she was just prolonging the inevitable. 

But she refused to give in. 

He didn't get to decide to break her heart whenever he chose to do so. If he wanted to get rid of this, he'd have to wait.

All her life she'd been accommodating to other people's needs and forced to set aside everything she wanted or needed. This time, she would be the one to make the choices. 

"Again with this freakish weather..." Alpha Rowan said and knocked on the door again. "Adriana, will you please let me in?"

The second he finished talking, the power went out again. Earlier in the afternoon, it had come back again almost instantly, but Adriana didn't think they had prepared the event center for such an eventuality. 

Then someone outside screamed. 

Adriana stood and slid the curtain away from the window, peaking out towards the porch. In the moonlight, she saw Alpha Rowan turn towards the event center, heading away from the house.  

He suddenly stopped and tensed up. A dark figure pounced out of the darkness and sped towards Alpha Rowan.

It was a wolf, running towards him.

The wolf jumped towards his neck, but Alpha Rowan ducked right in time. He lost his footing on the uneven rocky path and fell backward. 

Alpha Rowan quickly stood and kicked the wolf away, but even an Alpha wasn't strong enough in his human form. The wolf bit into his leg, throwing him back on the ground as Alpha Rowan kicked him repeatedly with his free leg. 

Adriana didn't know what to do. Instinctively, she went back to the door and opened it. 

"Hey!" she cried out in an attempt to distract the wolf long enough so Alpha Rowan could shift. 

The wolf turned towards her and growled, and her improvised plan worked. Alpha Rowan shifted, tearing apart his clothes. The pieces of fabric fell around him in slices as the man was now an enormous red wolf with very light blue eyes. 

Alpha Rowan growled at the wolf and the wolf set his attention on him again, jumping at him with his teeth bared. This time, however, he was no match for the Alpha. Rowan was on him first, biting into his side and moving quickly around him, tearing at his flesh and backing up again.

Adriana stood on the porch, mesmerized by the fight on the front lawn when she heard more screams coming from the healing center. The cries made her snap back to the present, and she quickly rummaged through the plants where she had hidden her pack.

She had no idea what was going on or who was attacking Alpha Rowan, but she had to leave. Now. 

When she grabbed her backpack, she realized that more wolves had appeared, circling Alpha Rowan and the other wolf, who was now limping and bleeding in many places. Now that her eyes had adjusted to the semi-darkness, she could see that his fur was a matted mess. 

He was clearly no match for Alpha Rowan on equal terms, and now that more wolves had arrived, she was sure Alpha Rowan was going to be all right. 

She turned to leave and sped through the porch that surrounded the house. When she was about to head into the forest, she heard a howl and a yelp, and a sudden burst of pain hit her in the ribs as if an invisible force had sliced her skin open. She fell back against a wooden pillar, heaving and grabbing her sides.

What the hell had just happened?

The pain wasn't receding. 

Suddenly, more wolves burst out of the forest, running around the house. Immediately, Adriana felt the hairs on her skin stand. The wolves' eyes...

They glowed.

A few glanced in her direction, but they paid her no heed. There had to be at least fifteen of them.

Another burst of pain caught her by surprise, this time in her thigh, making her fall down to her knees. More yelps and howls filled the air.

A sudden thought entered her head. What if those wolves weren't Alpha Rowan's friends? 

She ran back around the house, only to see that her thoughts were correct.

Alpha Rowan stood in the middle of the yard, surrounded by the wolves with glowing eyes. They growled at him and seemed to taunt him, biting into the air as if daring him to attack one of them. He was bleeding from one of his back paws and his side.

Was the pain she had felt somehow connected to those wounds?

They could so easily jump at him and he wouldn't stand a chance; fifteen against one wasn't a fair fight, not even for an Alpha. 

Four wolves came running from the path leading to the event center, and these clearly were Alpha Rowan's friends, because, without hesitating, they pounced on the wolves surrounding him. A full-on battle began as the four wolves fought off the other ones. 

Alpha Rowan was still keeping three wolves at bay, jumping and ducking and landing some bites, but he was still bleeding and slowing down.

From behind him, one of the dark-furred wolves jumped at him, biting into his neck.

And again, Adriana felt the pain. 

"NOOO!" she screamed, and without realizing what she was doing, she felt the strange yet familiar feeling of her body shifting. The dress Luna Mona had given her tore apart as her body transformed into its wolf form. 

She had never shifted in front of anyone, and if any of the Turnbulls saw her, her secret would no longer remain so. But all she could think of right now was that the man who had taken over her heart so suddenly was going to die. 

She sprang towards the fight and jumped at the wolf on top of Alpha Rowan, biting his neck and sending him flying backward. Her strength caught her by surprise. Adriana had never bitten a wolf before, and his fur tasted horrible, but she couldn't think about that now. Even if Alpha Rowan rejected her, she couldn't let him die while she stood there watching.

The wind around them picked up speed, and a storm seemed to have formed above the house, sending lightning flying in all directions. One hit a tree, making it catch fire. Suddenly she felt a stabbing pain in her leg, and this time, it really was hers.

One of the wolves bit her, but he quickly let her go as another dragged him away, tearing into his flesh. It was Alpha Rowan. The wolf who had bitten her went limp the second Alpha Rowan tore into his neck. 

For a few seconds, Alpha Rowan stared at Adriana, their eyes boring into each others'. His strength faltered, and he lay on the ground and shifted, blood all over his body.

Adriana ran up to him, not knowing what to do.

He couldn't die. Not like this, not on the day she had met him. Even if they were to spend their lives apart, she wanted him to live a long and happy life.

The other wolves were still battling each other nearby when one with glowing red eyes approached Alpha Rowan's limp body. 

Adriana growled at him, baring her teeth. She wasn't going to let him harm Alpha Rowan if it was the last thing she did.

And subtly, very slowly, the ground beneath them began to shake. Everything around her spun into chaos as a sudden wave of dizziness hit her, and she collapsed on the ground.