Taken

Chapter 2

Aria

I had been walking aimlessly, trying to keep my blood moving, but the cold was winning. My feet were numb blocks of ice inside my ruined shoes. My eyelashes were heavy with frost.

I collapsed next to a hollowed-out tree trunk, shivering so hard my teeth rattled.

"I’m sorry," I whispered to my stomach. "I’m so sorry."

Then, something hit me.

It wasn't a cramp. It felt like a hook sinking into my spine and pulling. I gasped, falling over in the snow as a wave of heat seared through my freezing body.

"No," I panted, watching my breath cloud in the air. "Not yet. You’re too small. It’s too soon."

But the pressure didn't stop. It intensified.

I looked down at my hands clutching my stomach. To my horror, I could see the movement beneath the fabric of my dress. My belly wasn't just hard; it was surging.

'It’s dying,' a terrifying instinct whispered in my mind. 'or the baby knows the cold is killing us. It’s forcing its way out to survive.' another voice whispered.

In the old legends of the pack, they spoke of "True Alphas", children born with so much raw power that they could accelerate their own growth in times of crisis. They burned through the mother’s life force like fuel to save themselves.

I screamed as another contraction shattered my pelvis. It felt like my very life was being sucked out of my veins, pooling into my womb.

My vision blurred, grey spots dancing in front of my eyes. I was fading. He was taking everything I had left.

"Take it," I gasped, leaning my head back against the frozen bark. tears froze instantly on my cheeks. "Take it all. Just live."

The wind roared, drowning out my cries. I was eighteen, alone in the Dead Lands, with no doctor, no towels, and no mate. I only had the ice.

One final, earth-shattering push, and the pressure released.

Silence.

I slumped forward, panting.

There was no cry.

Panic, colder than the snow, seized my heart. I reached down with trembling, numb fingers. I pulled the small bundle up to my chest, wrapping him in the tattered remains of my skirt to shield him from the wind.

"Please. Please, don't be silent. Cry. Scream. Anything." I whispered, rubbing his tiny, purple back.

I brushed the blood and vernix from his face. He was tiny, but perfect. Ten fingers. Ten toes. A tuft of jet-black hair.

And then, his eyes opened.

I gasped.

They weren't blue like Lucas’s. They weren't brown like mine.

They were Violet.

A glowing, electric purple that seemed to glow with power, illuminating the dark hollow of the tree.

He didn't cry, but looked at me. His gaze was ancient, and terrifyingly intelligent.

"You..." I whispered, stroking his freezing cheek. "What are you?"

*Thwup-thwup-thwup.*

A sound suddenly came from up. The snow around me began to swirl violently, whipped up by a massive downdraft.

A spotlight blinded me from above.

I squinted up, shielding the baby’s eyes. A black helicopter, was descending onto the frozen plain. It didn't have the markings of the police or the Silver Moon Pack.

It had a symbol painted on the side, but I couldn't see it clearly.

Men in black gear jumped from the skids before it even touched the ground. They moved with unnatural speed, their heavy boots crunching on the ice as they surrounded me.

"Stay back!" I screamed, curling over my baby. "Don't touch him!"

A man in a black helmet reached me first. He didn't speak and simply reached down for my son.

"No!" I shrieked. Adrenaline gave me one last burst of strength. I bit the soldier’s gloved hand, tasting the leather and dirt.

He didn't flinch and instead backhanded me across the face.

Ah!

My head snapped back, stars exploding in my vision. The world spun dizzily.

"Secure the asset," a distorted voice commanded from his radio.

"The mother?" the soldier asked, looking down at me.

"Leave her. She's drained. She won't survive the night."

Another man knelt beside me. I tried to scratch him, to fight, but my limbs felt weak. He pulled out a syringe and plunged it into my neck.

Cold spread through my veins instantly. My muscles unlocked. My grip on the baby loosened against my will.

I watched, paralyzed, as the soldier lifted my son into the air.

The baby didn't cry. He stared at the soldier with those glowing violet eyes, silent and watchful.

"No..." I slurred, the darkness closing in like a heavy curtain. I tried to reach for him, but my hand fell limply into the snow. "My... son..."

The roar of the helicopter engine grew louder, drowning out my thoughts.

My eyes rolled back, and the world went black.