CHAPTER 4

I sprinted quickly, with tears streaming down my face and mingling with the sweat.

I had no idea where I was heading. . I didn't mind. All I knew was that I needed to flee, to escape the shame, the exclusion, and the deep hopelessness that felt like it could consume me entirely.

In my hurried escape, I didn't notice the twisted tree root sticking out of the ground. My foot tripped over it, and I suddenly fell. I landed hard, the force making it difficult to breathe. As I lay there, trying to catch my breath, I felt my once-lovely blue dress rip even more. It seemed appropriate, I thought sadly. The dress, like my hopes, was now just torn pieces.

Gradually, I lifted myself up. At that moment, it dawned on me, the scents around me had changed. The familiar smells of the Clearwater Pack territory were gone, replaced by the unknown scents of unclaimed forest. I had crossed the pack boundary.

For a moment, fear made me unable to move. I had never been outside pack lands before. But then I heard it – howls in the distance. The pack was searching for me. Fear rushed through me when I thought about being pulled back and facing their jokes and meanness again. Without thinking twice, I ran further into the unfamiliar woods.

As I kept running, the surrounding woods started to look different. The trees became taller, their branches stretching out like grabbing hands. Shadows got longer and darker as night approached. Every little noise in the bushes, every broken twig made me jump. This wasn't the safe, familiar forest I knew from growing up. These woods had dangers I couldn't even guess.

Finally, my legs couldn't carry me anymore. I tripped into a little open space and fell down, crying and exhausted. The day's events hit me hard. The happiness of finding my partner, the deep sadness of being turned down, the embarrassment of being laughed at by everyone in the group. It was all too much. I wrapped myself up, wishing I could vanish, wishing I had never come into the world.

A loud sound in the bushes made me stop feeling sorry for myself. I quickly looked around, trying to see through the dark. It hit me then how risky my situation was. I was by myself, in a place I didn't know, with no protection. Instinctively, I tried to shift into my wolf form. But the turmoil of my emotions, the shock of the mate rejection, left me unable to complete the change. I was stuck in my vulnerable human form.

That's when I noticed them. Two bright red eyes shining in the dark, staring at me. I stopped breathing for a moment. Those eyes didn't belong to an ordinary wolf. As I stood there, too scared to move, Its fur was tangled and marked with scars, and its body was strong and powerful. But it was the eyes that kept me still – bright red circles filled with anger and hunger.

I quickly moved back, my hand desperately looking for something on the ground to use as a weapon. My fingers grabbed a strong stick just as the rogue wolf lunged at me. Its big mouth opened close to my face, and the smell of its breath made me want to throw up. Without thinking, I hit the rogue with all my strength.

The stick hit the wolf's nose with a loud sound. The wolf cried out, surprised for a moment. But I knew it wouldn't stay like that for long. I got up, holding the stick in front of me like a sword.

The rogue recovered quickly, shaking its head and fixing those terrible red eyes on me once more. It began to circle, looking for an opening. This was the moment. This was how I was going to meet my end. Alone in the woods, taken down by a rogue wolf, my body lost forever. Maybe it was fitting, I thought darkly. The rejected mate, dying a reject's death.

But right when the sneaky person was about to strike again, something strange happened. I started feeling warm inside, and it spread all over me. My vision got better, and I could smell things much more clearly. I looked down to see claws extending from my fingertips. I hadn't fully shifted, but somehow, my wolf had partially emerged.

I didn't have time to ponder this miracle. The rogue attacked again, a blur of teeth and claws. But this time, I was ready. I met its charge head-on, my newfound strength allowing me to grapple with the massive beast. We tumbled to the ground, a tangle of fur and flesh.

Pain exploded in my shoulder as the rogue's teeth sank in. I screamed, the sound more wolf than human. But even as its jaws clamped down, I managed to drive my claws into its throat. Hot blood gushed over my hands, the rogue's grip on my shoulder loosening.

With a final, desperate surge of strength, I ripped my claws through the rogue's throat. The beast let out a gurgling howl, then went limp. I pushed it off me, watching as the light faded from those terrible red eyes.

I had done it. I had killed a rogue. Me, Aurora Nightshade, the omega, the reject. I had faced death and emerged victorious.

But as the excitement started to go away, I realized how much my win had hurt me. My shoulder hurt a lot, and every beat of my heart made it worse. I noticed my dress had blood all over it.

Everything around me began to spin, and the trees appeared blurry. I fell down next to the dead enemy, and my body went into shock because I had lost so much blood and was hurt so badly.

As I lay there, losing my life on the forest ground, I felt a strange peace. Is this what dying feels like? It's not as frightening as I imagined. Perhaps it would be peaceful to simply shut my eyes and stop struggling.

But as soon as that idea came to me, I felt a strong resistance inside me. No, I couldn't die here, not in this way. I had survived years of abuse in the pack. I had survived Asher's cruel rejection. I had survived and killed a rogue wolf. I was Aurora Nightshade, and I was a survivor.

Thinking about this, I attempted to lift myself, to drag myself along, to make any kind of movement. But my body didn't react. I had lost too much blood, and the injuries were too serious. My sight started to dim at the corners, and everything around me was disappearing.

As I started to lose awareness, I noticed a different smell in the air. It was strange, but it also felt reassuring. Using the little energy I had left, I turned my head to look where it was coming from.

As my eyesight grew weaker, I noticed someone coming out of the woods. They were tall and strong, giving off a sense of power I hadn't experienced before. Not even Alpha Dominic had possessed such a presence. The figure knelt beside me, and I felt a gentle hand on my forehead.

“Rest now, little wolf,” a deep voice said. "You're safe."