chapter 2

Cast Out

Pain. That was all Aria could register at first.

Her body slammed against the damp forest floor as the guards hurled her past the boundary of the pack lands. The ground felt like stone beneath her, cold and brutal. The sharp sting of broken twigs pierced her skin, but it was nothing compared to the hollow ache in her chest.

Rejection.

The word echoed inside her, cruel and final.

She groaned and rolled onto her side, the world spinning around her. Her throat was raw from screaming. Her hands were scraped and bloodied. Her limbs felt like they didn’t belong to her anymore. Still, she dragged herself to the base of a massive pine tree and slumped against it, gasping.

The guards didn’t look back. She heard their footsteps fade into the shadows like they couldn’t get away from her fast enough. She was no longer part of their world. She was something less than rogue. Something not worth protecting.

Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them back. She refused to break. Not here. Not like this.

She wrapped her arms around her knees, trying to breathe through the tightness in her chest. Everything was quiet too quiet. The night air held no comfort, only tension. The trees around her felt like silent sentinels, watching.

She wanted to scream. To fight. To beg.

But what was the point?

“I don’t belong here,” she whispered, her voice hoarse. “I don’t belong anywhere.”

Her words vanished into the dark, unheard.

Then came the heat.

It started in her spine, like a pulse of molten fire. Aria froze, her breath catching. The warmth spread, slow but powerful, wrapping around her ribs, curling into her fingers and toes. Her skin tingled. Her heart skipped a beat.

A vision flashed behind her eyes.

Flames. Silver flames. A circle glowing with ancient light. And in the middle of it stood a woman tall, regal, with glowing eyes like the moon. Her lips didn’t move, but Aria felt the words in her bones.

Awaken.

Her eyes snapped open. She was no longer just cold and hurt. She was burning from the inside out.

“What’s happening to me?” she gasped, clutching her chest. Her fingertips glowed faintly, just like in the vision. Her heartbeat slowed, steadied. Her breathing calmed. The pain dulled.

She pushed herself upright.

The forest looked different now brighter, sharper. She could hear everything. The rustle of a fox in the brush. The flap of an owl’s wings. The far-off snarl of a rogue wolf.

But instead of fear, she felt something else rise inside her.

Power.

Not borrowed. Not gifted. Hers.

A rustle in the trees made her turn. Glowing yellow eyes blinked at her from the darkness. A rogue. It crept closer, low and feral.

Aria didn’t run.

She stood tall, her chin lifted, her fingers still faintly aglow. She didn’t understand what was happening yet. But she knew one thing for sure.

She wasn’t weak.

Not anymore.