CHAPTER 2: The Day I Met With A God

***RENA***

Father always said not to go north.

I heard his voice even as I ran, sharp and steady, like he was still walking a step ahead of me. Like he hadn’t just been driven out of his chest.

“North isn’t marked by trees,” he used to say. “It’s marked by consequence.”

I never understood what he meant by that, but what choice do I have now? He's no longer here, and I need to escape in order to escape the same fate that met him.

Branches whipped my face as I ran. My lungs burned. My legs shook. Fear sat heavy in my gut, thick and sour, but it wasn’t the worst feeling inside me.

My foot caught on a root and I stumbled, barely stopping myself from slamming into the ground. I braced my hands on my knees and sucked in air, but it didn’t help. Nothing helped.

I should've known better than to trust Thalia, even when all the odds pointed to her betrayal.

“There she is!”

Big Joe’s voice sliced through the forest.

My blood turned cold.

He had always hated my father. Always looked at him like a challenge he wanted permission to kill. Now that permission was gone, he finally had the chance to do what he's always wanted.

Hearing his voice close behind me, I didn't even think—

I ran straight deeper into the woods, ignoring every warning my body was signalling. The trees grew darker. The air felt heavier, like it was watching me.

I didn’t care.

I wouldn’t let them take me too.

Suddenly, the noises behind me vanished. I stopped so suddenly I nearly collapsed. My body folded inward, breath tearing out of me in sharp, broken gasps.

My hands went to my stomach.

The movement was instinct—a desperate move to make sure my baby was okay.

I knew it was early. No heartbeat yet. No proof except a quiet certainty I hadn’t shared with anyone.

But I felt it.

A fragile warmth.

“I’m still here,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “I’ll protect you. I swear.”

Tears slid down my face, hot and useless. I wiped them away roughly.

Crying wouldn’t bring my father back. But revenge will even the stakes.

I straightened.

“I promise,” I said out loud, to the trees, to the dirt, to whatever part of him was still listening. “They will pay.”

I moved a few inches forward. And suddenly, the ground gave way beneath my foot. Pain exploded up my leg as steel snapped shut around my ankle.

I screamed.

The sound barely finished leaving my throat.

I clawed at the steel gnawing my foot, trying to pull it apart. But all my efforts were useless.

My vision blurred.

My last thought wasn’t fear.

It was my father’s face.

Then everything went black.

***

I woke to darkness.

Pain hummed through my body in a low, constant ache. My wrists burned. My throat felt raw, like I had been screaming for days.

Chains clinked softly when I moved.

Panic flared.

“You’re awake,” a woman’s voice said quickly. “Easy now.”

A candle flared to life, throwing dim light across stone walls. The woman’s face came into view—calm, eyes sharp with experience.

“Drink,” she said, lifting a bowl to my lips. “It’ll help you speak.”

The liquid was bitter enough to make me gag, but I forced it down. Then, warmth spread through my throat.

“Where am I?” I croaked.

“You were found in a trap. Bad one,” she said. “You’re safe. For now.”

My hand trembled as it moved to my stomach.

“My baby.”

Her expression stilled.

The pause was everything.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “You were unconscious for a month. Your body… couldn’t hold on.”

The words hit harder than the trap ever did.

A sound tore out of me, broken and animal. My chest caved inward as grief crashed over me in waves too big to breathe through.

First it was my father.

Now, my child.

Gone.

I curled in on myself, chains rattling, teeth clenched so hard my jaw ached.

When the crying stopped, something else filled the space—a colder longing to seek revenge on everyone who made my life miserable.

Then slowly—my vision started getting blurry, the room tilted and darkness swallowed me whole.

***

Voices woke me again. Male voices this time. Several of them.

“I told you she’d wake,” one said lightly. “People with that look always do.”

“That ‘look’ is trauma,” another replied, quieter. “Try not to provoke it.”

“Is she conscious?” a third asked. Firm. Commanding.

Footsteps approached.

When I opened my eyes, four men stood before me. Different builds. Same dress.

The first was tall and broad, shoulders loose, posture relaxed like nothing in the world truly worried him. Dark hair fell into amused eyes. A grin played at his mouth, careless but sharp.

Jeremy.

The second stood beside him, leaner, softer around the edges. His eyes were warm, brown, observant. He looked at me like I was a person, not a problem.

Dylan.

The third was rigid. Built like a weapon. Pale eyes assessed everything—my chains, my breathing, the way my fingers curled. His jaw was set, his expression unreadable.

Kade.

And the last—

He stood slightly apart.

Black hair. Green eyes. Stillness that commanded without effort.

Blake.

He met my gaze and held it.

I couldn’t look away.

“Get the chains off her,” Blake said calmly.

Kade frowned. “She’s an unknown—”

“She’s not a threat,” Blake interrupted. Not louder. Just final.

Kade hesitated. Then nodded.

Jeremy whistled softly. “Well. Guess that settles it.”

The chains fell away.

Relief flooded my limbs, but I stayed still. Watching. Learning.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“Our territory,” Dylan answered gently. “You crossed into it by accident.”

“Or fate,” Jeremy added with a grin.

Kade ignored him. “Who are you?”

“Rena,” I said. “Daughter of—” My voice faltered. I forced it steady. “Of no one.”

Blake’s eyes darkened.

“You’ve lost people,” he said.

It wasn’t a question.

“Yes.”

A silence stretched.

Then he nodded once. “You’ll stay.”

My heart stuttered. “Why?”

“Because you’re injured. Because you were hunted,” he replied. “And because I said so.”

Authority hummed beneath his words.

As they turned to leave, Jeremy flashed a grin over his shoulder. “Welcome to hell’s most comfortable castle.”

Dylan offered a small, sympathetic smile.

Kade didn’t look back.

Blake paused at the doorway, then left after carefully staring into me.

The door closed behind them.

I lay back against the stone, heart pounding.

My father was dead.

My child was gone.

But for the first time since the forest—

I was not alone.

And the men who had found me?

They felt like the beginning of something dangerous.

Something bloody.

Something inevitable.