Into the Deadwoods

POV: ARIA FROST

I hit the cold ground on all fours, my claws digging deep into the wet mud. 

Rain was pouring down from the sky, soaking my dress and plastering my dark hair against my face, but I didn't care. I scrambled to my feet and ran as fast as my legs could carry me, tearing through the heavy trees surrounding the pack lands.

My wolf form wasn't a full shift…it was something wilder, something half-human and half-beast that I had never felt before. 

My muscles burned, but the strength pushing through my legs was terrifying. 

Without twenty-two years of bitter herbal suppressants choking my system, my mind was screaming. 

Everything hit me all at once. The "Three Bleeds" inside my blood were exploding, completely overloading my senses. 

I could hear everything. The sound of heavy raindrops hitting individual leaves miles away, the snap of twigs under my own claws, and worst of all, the rapid beating of hearts. I could hear every single enforcer behind me, their hearts hammering against their ribs like distant, frantic drums. 

My skin felt like it was on fire from the witch magic boiling under my flesh, making a static leap between my fingers every time I brushed against a tree trunk. And my mouth… God, my mouth was watering so bad it hurt. My vampire blood was starving, my throat burning for something hot and copper to swallow down.

"She went toward the river!" a harsh voice shouted through the trees behind me. 

"Don't let the abomination escape!" another enforcer yelled, the sound of their heavy boots tearing through the wet brush. 

"Alpha Kellen wants her dead! Shoot to kill!"

I pushed myself harder, my heart slamming against my ribs as I leaped over a fallen log. 

The Frost Pack enforcers were closing in, their shouts echoing through the dark woods. They didn't see me as Aria anymore. They didn't see the quiet Omega who had cooked their meals and stayed out of their way. To them, I was just a monster that needed to be put down.

Up ahead, the heavy rushing sound of water filled my ears. 

The Raven River. 

It was the border line. Beyond the dark, raging water lay The Deadwoods, a lawless, toxic neutral territory where no single pack held control. A place where outcasts, rogues, and dangerous things went to disappear.

I didn't slow down. I threw myself straight off the muddy bank, plunging into the freezing, violent river. 

The cold water hit my burning skin like a shock, but I kicked with all my strength, fighting the heavy current as arrows whistled through the dark air above my head, splashing into the water around me. 

I dragged myself up onto the far bank, my breath coming out in ragged, frantic gasps as I collapsed onto the dark earth.

Behind me, across the wide river, the enforcers stopped at the edge of the water. None of them dared to cross into the Deadwoods. 

"She's dead anyway!" one of them spat across the river before they finally turned back.

I crawled through the dark trees, my strength fading fast. The wild adrenaline was wearing off, leaving my body exhausted, bleeding, and bruised. I made it to the base of a massive, ancient  tree and slid down against the rough bark, my knees giving out entirely.

I closed my eyes, resting my head against the wood as I tried to force my gasping lungs to calm down.

Then, the wind shifted. Like everything in the air was different.

A brand-new scent drifted through the dark forest, carrying on the cold rain. 

It wasn't pine or cedar. It was sweet, rich, and so brutally intense that my eyes snapped open instantly. 

Sweet mint, dark chocolate, and warm roasted coffee beans. 

It was an Alpha wolf's scent, but it was nothing like Nolan or Kellen. It was so overwhelmingly powerful, so deep and commanding, that it hit my chest like a physical blow. 

My wolf lifted her head instantly, letting out a soft, helpless whimper. The pure, sweet power of that single scent rushed through my blood, locking my knees and pulling at something deep inside my soul so strongly that I couldn't even move.