Chapter 3: A Dark Warning Anna POV

"You awkward little rat!" Luna Amelia's high-pitched voice cut through the atmosphere, freezing me.

Her hand smacked against my face, causing a sharp pain to shoot through my cheek before I could even turn. As I lurched backward, trying to regain my footing, my head wrenched to the side and my vision became blurry. Every eye was on me, the room was very quiet, and I felt humiliated.

Amelia's lips curled in distaste as her eyes narrowed. "You dare bring shame to your Alpha in that way?"

Through the shock and searing pain, I was unable to react or even find my voice. Her smack caused a sting in my cheek, and I could feel my heart pounding in my temples as I felt humiliated and angry.

However, Oliver's icy, uncompromising voice reached me before I could respond. “Take her away. Lock her up for the night.”

As the other pack members grabbed me by the arms and started pulling me toward the door, I swallowed hard, hardly really digesting what he had spoken. Every step felt like a nail driven into my pride, but I forced myself to not struggle because I knew it would only make things worse. Locked up, again… because of him.

I heard the scoffs, the sneers, and the muttering as I was led out. I was nothing in their eyes—just a servant, an omega who had no right to be near Oliver, much less spill anything on him. Amelia's slap was still with me, a reminder of my position and a warning.

The metal bars slammed shut behind me with a hard clang that reverberated through the silence as the guards pushed me roughly into the darkened cell.

As I hunkered in the corner, keeping my knees to my chest for warmth, I noticed that the cell was damp and cold, with a chilly draft slipping through the stone walls. I closed my eyes, let out a trembling breath, and laid my head back against the wall. My jaw clenched at the memory of Amelia's smug, vicious visage, and my cheek still hurt from her slap.

Will I always be this way? The punching bag of the pack?

I gasped and pressed my palms to my temples as a sharp, unexpected pain pierced my skull before my thoughts could go any further. The cell surrounding me began to fade into darkness as the world appeared to tilt and blur, until I was no longer in that cell at all.

I got a vision of a warrior standing in the shadows at the boundary of our pack's territory. He stepped closer, his presence black and commanding, his eyes piercing and furious. Watching him lift a blade, his eyes fixed on mine, his face displaying icy resolve, made my heart beat.

Then he lunged before I could respond. With a wicked, ruthless frown on his face, the sword slashed through the air, aiming directly for me.

"No!" I sobbed, my voice breaking the stillness as I snapped back to the present. I gasped as the vision dimmed, clutching my hands to my chest as they shook. As I attempted to make sense of what I had just witnessed, my skin was chilly with perspiration and my pulse was pounding.

A warrior is on his way to kill me.

As I gripped my knees tighter and stared at the cell bars with my thoughts racing with questions, the anxiety took hold of me and made my stomach turn into knots. Who was he? And why did I see him that way, with such purpose in his eyes and such anger?

I sat there for an unknown amount of time, mentally reliving the vision. Hours went by, the quiet all around me heavy and deafening, every sound magnified by the silence. My heart was still racing, and the warrior's picture was ingrained in my thoughts like a silent threat.

I heard soft footsteps coming toward the cell just as the sky was beginning to brighten. I raised my head and saw a figure, blinking in the low light.

A familiar voice murmured, "Anna," and I was relieved to see Leo crouching next to the bars, his face etched with concern.

"Leo..." My throat was raw from the strain and dread of the night, and I could hardly speak above a whisper.

His eyes grew softer, but he had an odd expression, a stiffness that caused me to sit up straight, the anxiety returning. His voice was low as he questioned, "Are you okay?"

I attempted to read his face as I nodded, not believing what I was saying. "What's the matter?"

He paused, looking around as though to see if anyone was around, and then he leaned closer. He muttered, "There's something you need to know. This morning, a stranger showed up at the pack's border."

My blood ran cold and my heart skipped a beat when I recalled the vision of the warrior's lethal glare. "A stranger?" I repeated, my voice trembling a little.

His brow furrowed as he whispered, "Yes. He says he's here for diplomatic purposes, but..." His face grew serious as he trailed off. "Anna, there's something odd about him. I don’t trust him.”

I tried to keep my face neutral as I looked down and gulped hard, the words stuck in my throat. On the inside, though, I was shaking, every nerve tense. Is he the one? The warrior from my vision?

Leo said, "Anna," in a quiet but firm voice. “You need to be careful. Whatever this stranger is here for… I don’t think it’s anything good.”

I forced a tiny, comforting grin despite my heart thumping in my chest and nodded. I whispered, "I will, Leo. I appreciate you telling me."

He nodded me firmly, his eyes lingering on me before he straightened and took a step back, giving me one final anxious look over his shoulder before vanishing down the hallway.

His comments weighed heavily on me as I sat by myself in the dark cell, combining with the fear that had been bothering me ever since the vision.

Was he the one? Was the stranger who had shown up this morning the same warrior I had seen in my vision?

I tried to control my racing thoughts as the silence around me grew thick and oppressive, sending a chill down my spine. The vision seemed too vivid and real to be a coincidence. If he had been there for me...

In order to keep the terror from overwhelming me, I tightened my hands and forced myself to breathe slowly and steadily. However, I had a gut feeling that something was approaching that I wasn't ready for.

And all I could do was pray that when the time came, I would be resilient enough to handle it.