Chapter 2: You Can’t Escape Fate

I didn’t cry.

Not in front of them.

Not after he said those words.

I reject her.

The sentence replayed in my head like a blade scraping against bone.

I didn’t even understand what it meant — not fully. But my body did. My chest still ached, as if something invisible had been torn out of me. My lungs burned with every breath.

The men standing behind him avoided my eyes.

The Alpha didn’t.

His gaze was steady. Cold. Controlled.

Like he felt nothing.

“Take her to the border,” he ordered.

One of the wolves — no, men — stepped forward. “Alpha, the rogues—”

“I said take her,” he snapped.

The authority in his voice left no room for argument.

Strong fingers wrapped around my arm and pulled me to my feet. I flinched at the contact, but I refused to look weak.

“I can walk,” I muttered.

The man released me immediately.

I brushed dirt off my jeans, forcing myself to meet the Alpha’s eyes one last time.

“Why?” I demanded.

The question slipped out before I could stop it.

A flicker of something crossed his face.

Guilt?

No. Impossible.

“You don’t belong here,” he said flatly.

“That’s not what you said a minute ago.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw.

For a second — just a second — the air between us thickened again. That strange pull returned, warm and magnetic, tugging at my chest like an invisible thread trying to pull me toward him.

His nostrils flared slightly.

He felt it too.

And he hated it.

“You’re human,” he said, the word sounding like an accusation. “And I will not bind myself to a human.”

Bind.

Mate.

Reject.

None of it made sense, yet every word felt heavy with meaning.

Before I could respond, a distant howl split through the forest.

It wasn’t like the others.

This one was sharp. Violent. Wrong.

Every wolf around us went still.

The Alpha’s head snapped toward the sound.

“Rogues,” one of the men whispered.

Fear rippled through the group.

My stomach dropped. “Rogues?”

The Alpha ignored me.

“Form the perimeter,” he commanded. “Now.”

The men moved instantly, circling outward into the trees.

I stood there, frozen.

Another howl echoed — closer this time.

Then the growling started.

Low.

Surrounding.

The Alpha cursed under his breath.

“This is your fault,” he muttered.

“My fault?” I stared at him. “I didn’t invite psycho forest wolves to attack!”

His eyes flashed — and for the first time, I saw something other than coldness.

Concern.

For half a second.

Then it vanished.

“They’re drawn to you,” he said quietly.

A chill slid down my spine. “What does that mean?”

Before he could answer, a massive gray wolf burst from the trees.

It lunged.

The Alpha shifted instantly.

One second he was a man.

The next, an enormous black wolf stood between me and death.

The transformation should have terrified me.

Instead, I couldn’t look away.

He was even larger in wolf form — powerful, lethal, beautiful.

The rogue wolf collided with him midair.

They hit the ground in a violent tangle of fur and teeth.

More wolves emerged from the shadows.

Three.

Five.

Too many.

“Stay behind me!” someone shouted, but chaos had already erupted.

I stumbled backward as another wolf charged straight toward me.

This was it.

This time, there would be no one fast enough to stop it.

The wolf leapt.

Time slowed.

And something inside me snapped.

Heat exploded through my veins — not pain, but power. My vision sharpened. The world became clearer, louder, brighter. I could hear the pounding of every heart around me.

Including my own.

The attacking wolf hesitated mid-lunge.

As if it sensed something.

I didn’t think.

I moved.

My hand shot out instinctively.

A burst of force erupted from my palm — a shockwave of silver light that slammed into the wolf midair and sent it crashing into a tree.

Silence fell.

Every wolf froze.

Including the Alpha.

My breathing was ragged.

My hand trembled.

“What… was that?” I whispered.

The rogue wolf whimpered, scrambling backward before retreating into the trees.

One by one, the others followed.

Within seconds, the forest was silent again.

The Alpha shifted back into human form.

Bare. Uninjured. Furious.

He stared at me like I was no longer just a problem.

I was a threat.

“Impossible,” he said again, but this time it sounded uncertain.

“I didn’t do anything,” I breathed. “I don’t know what that was!”

His eyes searched my face.

Not with hatred.

With calculation.

“You’re coming with me,” he said.

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

“You are not leaving this territory.”

“You literally just rejected me and told me to forget you exist!”

His jaw tightened. “That was before.”

“Before what?”

“Before you proved you’re not entirely human.”

The words landed like a bomb.

My heart stuttered.

“That’s crazy.”

“Is it?” he challenged.

I had no answer.

Because deep down—

I had felt it too.

That power.

That awakening.

The Alpha stepped closer, lowering his voice so only I could hear.

“If the rogues sensed it, others will too.”

His gaze darkened.

“And they won’t try to reject you.”

The implication made my blood run cold.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying,” he said carefully, “that until I understand what you are… you’re under my protection.”

I laughed shakily. “You don’t get to reject me and then claim me as your responsibility.”

His eyes softened — just barely.

“You don’t understand our world.”

“Then explain it!”

A tense silence stretched between us.

Finally, he spoke.

“In our world,” he said, voice low and steady, “a mate bond cannot form without reason.”

My pulse quickened.

“And if the Moon chose you for me…” His gaze burned into mine. “Then you are far more dangerous than either of us realized.”

Somewhere deep inside my chest, that strange warmth pulsed again.

Stronger this time.

And for the first time since stepping into the forest—

I wasn’t just afraid.

I was changing.