Hunted

The forest swallowed me whole.

Branches clawed at my skin, tearing through fabric and flesh alike, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. The pain in my chest was worse than anything the night could do to me.

Each breath burned. Each step felt heavier than the last.

The bond,It was really gone.

A broken sound escaped my lips as I stumbled over a root, crashing hard against the cold earth. For a moment, I just lay there, trembling, trying to breathe through the hollow ache spreading inside me.

He rejected me.

The words didn’t feel real,but the pain did.

It was unbearable.

A distant howl split through the night.

My body went rigid.

Another followed.

Then another.

My eyes widened in horror.

They weren’t just howls.

They were calling… tracking.

Me.

“No…” I whispered, scrambling to my feet.

He wouldn’t.

Kael wouldn’t do this.

But deep down, I knew the truth.

I was no longer his mate.

I was nothing.

And nothing was easy to get rid of.

I forced my legs to move again, ignoring the sharp protests from my body as I ran deeper into the unfamiliar forest. The air grew colder, heavier like I had crossed into somewhere I didn’t belong.

The howls grew louder.

Closer.

Too close.

A shadow flickered between the trees.

I froze.

My heart slammed violently against my ribs as I turned slowly, my breath catching in my throat.

“Come out,” a voice called, low and dangerous.

Not Kael.

Not anyone from my pack.

Worse.

I took a step back.

Then another.

My instincts screamed at me to run—but my body was too slow, too weak.

A figure emerged from the darkness.

Tall.

Broad.

Terrifying.

His presence hit me like a physical force, knocking the air from my lungs. Power radiated off him in waves—thick, suffocating, impossible to ignore.

This wasn’t just any wolf.

This was an Alpha.

My pulse stuttered.

No…

Not just an Alpha.

An enemy.

“I can smell the rejection on you,” he said, his voice laced with something dark… something almost amused.

Humiliation burned through me, fresh and sharp.

I said nothing.

Could say nothing.

He stepped closer.

Instinctively, I backed away,until my back hit the rough bark of a tree.

Trapped.

His gaze dragged over me, slow and assessing, like he was trying to figure out what I was worth.

Or if I was worth anything at all.

“Pathetic,” he muttered.

The word cut deep,but not as deep as what came next.

“Tell me,” he continued, tilting his head slightly, “why shouldn’t I kill you and send your corpse back to your Alpha as a message?”

Fear slammed into me.

Real fear.

The kind that steals your voice and locks your body in place.

This was it.

This was how it ended.

Not as a Luna.

Not anything meaningful.

Just… a mistake being erased.

My hands clenched weakly at my sides.

“If you’re going to kill me…” My voice trembled, but I forced the words out anyway. “Then do it.”

His eyes flickered.

Interest.

Silence stretched between us.

Heavy. Dangerous.

Then,he moved.

Too fast.

Before I could react, his hand wrapped around my throat, lifting me slightly off the ground.

I gasped, fingers instinctively grabbing at his wrist, but it was useless. He was too strong.

Far too strong.

His face was closer now.

Close enough for me to see the sharp edge of his features… the cold intensity in his eyes.

But there was something else there too.

Something I couldn’t understand.

“You’re either very brave…” he murmured softly, tightening his grip just enough to make my vision blur, “or very foolish.”

Darkness began to creep in at the edges of my sight.

My strength faded.

My body went limp.

And just before everything went black—

I felt it.

Something shifted.

Something… snap into place.

His grip loosened.

Not in mercy.

In realization.

“…Interesting.”