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Chapter 8 - Hunted

Author: C.P chuks
last update Last Updated: 2025-09-19 22:34:22

The eyes didn’t blink.

Aria’s chest seized, breath locked in her throat. The red glow floated between the trees, steady, patient… waiting.

A twig snapped behind her.

She spun, pulse hammering, but saw only shadows. The night was too still, the silence too heavy.

Run.

Her legs obeyed before her mind caught up. She darted between the trees, heart pounding, bare feet tearing on roots and stone. The forest swallowed her in darkness, branches whipping her face as she forced herself deeper.

A growl followed. Low. Hungry.

Aria’s throat burned, but she didn’t scream. She knew instinctively that sound would give her away. She shoved herself forward until her lungs ached, until her legs trembled—

—and then a shape lunged from the dark.

She stumbled back with a gasp. A wolf, massive, black-furred, eyes burning like coals.

Her hand found a fallen branch, splintered and jagged, and she swung with all her strength. The wood cracked against its muzzle. The wolf yelped, staggering—then snarled, twice as vicious.

Aria ran again.

The world blurred: the ground a smear beneath her, her breath ragged. She didn’t know if she was headed toward safety or deeper into the jaws of death.

---

The clearing opened before her—a wide circle of moonlight. She stumbled across it, chest heaving, and pressed her back to a rock.

Nothing.

Silence.

She swallowed hard, eyes darting. Maybe she’d outrun it. Maybe—

A low growl rumbled behind her.

Her knees buckled. Slowly, she turned her head. The black wolf crouched just beyond the treeline, lips peeled back over gleaming teeth.

It crept closer, paws silent in the grass.

Aria’s throat tightened. She pressed the splintered branch against her chest like a shield, though she knew it wouldn’t save her.

The wolf crouched, muscles coiling—

A whistle split the night.

The beast froze, ears flicking. A heartbeat later, another wolf appeared—bigger, faster, slamming into it with bone-rattling force. Snarls ripped through the clearing as the two rolled across the grass.

Aria staggered back, terror and relief colliding in her chest.

Moonlight caught golden eyes.

Kael.

---

It was over almost as soon as it began. The rogue limped into the forest, bleeding, driven back by the Alpha’s fury.

Kael wheeled on her, chest rising and falling, his bare skin streaked with blood and dirt. His gaze burned hotter than fire.

“What,” he growled, “were you doing out here?”

Aria’s throat closed. “I—”

“Answer me!” His voice cracked through the clearing, sharp as a whip.

She flinched, tears stinging. “I needed answers. You wouldn’t give them to me!”

For a moment, the anger in his eyes softened, but only for a moment. He stepped closer, towering over her, every muscle taut with barely controlled fury.

“You could’ve been taken.” His voice was low now, dangerous in its restraint. “You could’ve died.”

Her lips trembled. “Maybe I deserve to know why.”

The words hung between them, fragile and fierce.

Kael’s jaw clenched, his golden eyes locking onto hers as though she were the only thing in the world.

And still, he said nothing.

---

Cliffhanger (Chapter End):

Aria shoved past him, heading for the lodge. Her voice cracked in the night air.

“Then I’ll find out without you.”

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