Escaping death

                          ~ELARA~

My heart lurched and I knew I was in deep trouble.

Shadows moved all around as wolves shifted and gave chase. 

I sprinted through the trees, branches clawing at my skin, the pack’s snarls echoing behind me.

Tears blurred my vision. My lungs burned. Every step felt like it might be my last.

I can’t go back. I won’t go back. I must escape.

The cold air sliced through my lungs as I pushed harder, ignoring the screaming pain in my legs. My bare feet pounded the forest floor, leaving bloody prints on the leaves. The scent of pine and earth mixed with the metallic tang of my own blood.

I could hear them, the others…..my former packmates, hunting me like prey. Their growls grew louder, closer. The sound of snapping branches sent fresh terror coursing through me.

“Find her!” someone shouted. “Don’t let the traitor escape!”

Traitor.

The word hit like a blade to my chest.

I wasn’t a traitor. I was a survivor.

I kept on running and running like my life depended on it.

Of course, my life actually depended on it. The faster my legs could carry me, the better chances I had at escaping.

I ran until the night air turned colder, heavier. Until the familiar forest gave way to something else, a darkness that felt… alive. The trees here loomed taller, their trunks twisted and blackened as though burned by ancient fire. The moonlight dimmed, swallowed by a creeping mist that wrapped around my ankles like ghostly fingers.

Then, suddenly…..the air changed. The forest grew colder, darker, the moonlight swallowed by a thick mist. 

My breath hitched.

No.

No, no, no.

My steps faltered as I realized where my flight had taken me.

I knew exactly where I was.

Beyond the border.

Into the forbidden territory. Into his territory.

The Devil Alpha’s land.

Even the wind seemed to die here. The howls of my pursuers faded, replaced by an eerie silence. The forest seemed to hold its breath. The scent of death hung faintly in the mist.

I turned in a slow circle, my heart thundering in my chest. The fog shifted, and for a moment I thought I saw shapes moving…..massive shadows gliding silently between the trees.

And then, from the shadows, a pair of crimson eyes opened.

My blood ran cold. Why now of all times?? Why on earth was he in the forests and not in his damned cursed castle??

The Devil Alpha stepped out of the mist like a nightmare given form. His presence filled the clearing, towering and terrible, the very ground seeming to bow beneath him.

 He was tall, broad-shouldered, with hair as dark as midnight and eyes that glowed with unholy light. His aura rolled over me like a storm, suffocating, cold, ancient.

 His lips curled into a dark smile as he regarded my trembling form.

My chest heaved as I stumbled backward, every instinct screaming at me to run, yet my legs rooted to the ground beneath the weight of his crimson stare.

The Devil Alpha was even more terrifying than the stories whispered around campfires. No one had ever truly described him, not his voice, not his face, because no one who had seen him or entered his territory had lived to tell the tale.

He was no ordinary Alpha….. his aura was suffocating, darkness itself coiled around him like a cloak. His wolves were said to be monsters, his power cursed. 

“Well, well…” His voice was smooth, dangerous. “What gift has fate delivered to my doorstep?”

I stumbled back again, my heart slamming in my chest. My body screamed with exhaustion and fear.

 I was no longer chased by my pack. I was caught by something far worse.

My voice shook, but I forced myself to speak. “Please… don’t kill me.”

One dark brow arched, and his smile deepened, cruel and intrigued.

 “Do you think your pleas mean anything to me, little one?” he growled.

The sound of his voice sent a shiver down my spine.

It wasn’t just cold…… it was power. Pure, deadly power.

The forest seemed to lean in, waiting for my answer.

“Please, don't kill me….” I tried again but he interrupted me rudely.

“You have no wolf,” he said suddenly, sniffing the air, his expression twisting into one of disdain. “I can smell no wolf scent on you. What should I do with a wolfless omega?”

He stepped closer. I could see the faint gleam of his claws as they extended from his hands….. long, sharp, deadly. 

“And how dare you cross into my territory? Are you aware that no one meets me face to face without my permission and lives to tell the tale?” His voice thundered through the clearing, echoing off the trees.

I trembled so violently my knees nearly gave out. The mist swirled tighter around us, as though the forest itself was waiting for my death. 

I swallowed hard, heart slamming against my ribs. I couldn’t fight him. I couldn’t outrun him. There was only one thing left to do.

I dropped to my knees before him, the cold earth biting into my skin. My head bowed, hair falling into my face, tears rolling down my cheeks as I whispered a desperate prayer.

“Moon Goddess, please…please let this work.”

And if it didn't work, I already prepared myself to die by the devil's alpha hands. I would rather get killed by him than by my pack.

“What are you doing, little one?? Begging for your life??” The Devil Alpha chuckled, a dark amused sound, and it echoed round the forest and sent chills down my spine.

My hands trembled as I lifted my head just enough to meet his gaze. His eyes glowed brighter, like molten fire. I forced myself to speak.

“I offer myself to you,” I whispered, my voice trembling but clear. “Take me. Do whatever you want. Just… don’t send me back to them. Or kill me. Please.”