Chapter 2: The Alpha's Bargain

The climb took hours.

Or maybe days.

Time didn't exist in the Void Chasm.

Arielle’s fingers were raw and bloody.

But every time her skin tore on the sharp rocks, the black mist healed it.

She didn't feel tired.

She felt like a machine running on endless fuel.

Finally, her hand grabbed a root covered in dirt.

Real dirt.

She pulled herself up over the edge.

She rolled onto the grass and gasped.

Fresh air filled her lungs.

It smelled of pine needles and damp earth.

It smelled like freedom.

She lay there for a moment, staring at the sky.

The moon was gone.

The sun was beginning to rise, painting the horizon in pale pink.

She had survived the night.

Arielle sat up and looked at her hands.

The claws retracted, turning back into normal fingernails.

Her skin looked pale, almost translucent in the morning light.

She checked her reflection in a nearby stream.

Her left eye was still black.

Pitch black.

"I can't go back to town," she whispered.

Damian controlled the Silverclaw territory.

If his guards saw her, they would finish the job.

Or worse, they would take her back to the lab.

She needed a place to hide.

She needed leverage.

A twig snapped nearby.

Arielle froze.

Her new ears twitched.

She could hear a heartbeat.

Slow. Powerful. Steady.

It wasn't a deer.

It wasn't a rabbit.

It was a wolf.

A massive one.

She scrambled to her feet and backed against a tree.

The bushes parted.

A wolf stepped into the clearing.

It was huge, easily twice the size of a normal wolf.

Its fur was dark grey, like storm clouds.

Its eyes were molten gold.

An Alpha.

Arielle held her breath.

She knew the pack markings.

This wasn't one of Damian's wolves.

This wolf didn't have the Silverclaw brand.

It had a scar running down its shoulder.

The Northern Pack.

The savages of the ice lands.

Why was a Northern wolf this far south?

The wolf stared at her.

It didn't growl.

It just watched, calculating.

Then, it blurred.

Bones cracked and shifted.

Fur receded into skin.

In a second, the wolf was gone.

A man stood in its place.

He was tall. Dangerous.

He wore black tactical gear that strained against his muscles.

His face was sharp, with a jawline that could cut glass.

He looked at Arielle with zero emotion.

"You smell like death," he said.

His voice was deep.

It vibrated in Arielle's chest.

"And you smell like wet dog," Arielle shot back.

She didn't mean to say it.

It just slipped out.

The man blinked.

He wasn't used to being insulted.

"Do you know who I am, girl?"

"I assume you're lost," she said, standing her ground.

"This is Silverclaw territory. You're a long way from the snow."

The man took a step forward.

The air around him grew heavy.

"I am Lycian," he said.

"Alpha of the North."

"And I am hunting anomalies."

He looked at her left eye.

"Like you."

Arielle’s heart hammered against her ribs.

Lycian.

The Wolf King.

The only Alpha who refused to bow to the Inquisition.

Rumors said he killed his own father to take the throne.

He was a monster.

But right now, a monster was exactly what she needed.

"Kneel," Lycian commanded.

He used the Alpha Voice.

It was a magical compulsion.

When an Alpha gave an order, lower wolves had to obey.

It was the law of their blood.

The air shimmered with power.

The command hit Arielle like a physical wave.

It pushed down on her shoulders.

It tried to force her knees to bend.

But something inside her pushed back.

The Void.

The black mist in her veins surged.

It ate the command.

Arielle stood straight.

She didn't kneel.

She didn't even flinch.

Lycian’s eyes widened.

For the first time, the emotionless mask slipped.

"Impossible," he muttered.

"No wolf resists a direct command."

"I'm not a wolf," Arielle said.

She stepped away from the tree.

She walked toward him.

It was a gamble. A reckless, stupid gamble.

But she had nothing left to lose.

"I am a Glitch," she said.

"I don't follow your rules."

"And I don't follow the Moon Oath."

Lycian stared at her.

He looked at her black eye.

He looked at the hole in her dress where the dagger had pierced her heart.

He put the pieces together.

"You died," he said.

"And you came back wrong."

"I came back angry," Arielle corrected.

She stopped three feet away from him.

She had to look up to meet his gaze.

"You hate the Inquisition," she said.

"Everyone knows the Northern Pack is on the brink of war with them."

"Kaelen wants your head."

Lycian crossed his arms.

"And you are going to help me?"

"You look like you're about to collapse."

"I know Damian's schedule," Arielle said fast.

"I know Kaelen's patrol routes."

"I know where they keep their gold."

"And most importantly..."

She tapped her chest.

"I can lie to them."

"The Inquisition relies on the Oath."

"They think no wolf can deceive an Alpha."

"But I can."

"I can walk into their camp, look them in the eye, and lie straight to their faces."

"I can be your spy."

"I can be your assassin."

Lycian went silent.

He studied her face.

He was weighing her value.

Was she a threat?

Or was she a weapon?

He reached out and grabbed her chin.

His grip was strong, but not painful.

He tilted her head to look at her black eye.

"If you betray me," he whispered, "I will tear your throat out."

"It won't be a quick death."

Arielle didn't blink.

"If you betray me," she replied, "I'll come back from hell again."

"And I'll drag you down with me."

Lycian stared at her for a long second.

Then, the corner of his mouth twitched.

A smirk.

Dark and dangerous.

"Deal," he said.

He let go of her chin.

He pulled a heavy cloak from his pack and threw it at her.

"Cover that eye."

"We leave now."

"My jet is waiting at the border."

Arielle caught the cloak.

She wrapped it around her shivering shoulders.

It smelled like him.

Storms and blood.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

Lycian started walking north without waiting for her.

"To the Haven," he said over his shoulder.

"You want to kill Damian?"

"You want to hurt the Inquisition?"

"Then you need training."

"Right now, you're just a angry puppy with a dark trick."

"I'm going to turn you into a nightmare."

Arielle followed him.

She looked back one last time toward the south.

Toward the town where her old life had burned.

She didn't feel sad anymore.

She felt cold.

Focus.

She had a new master now.

But this one didn't want a sacrifice.

He wanted a soldier.

And that was a role she was happy to play.

Arielle tightened the cloak and walked into the treeline.

The hunt had begun.