Chapter 2

Isabelle’s POV

"Move faster, you stupid car," I screamed, slamming my hand hard against the steering wheel.

I had managed to get into my car after storming off and now I was driving to goddess knew where. The windshield wipers were clicking furiously, but they could not keep up with the sheet of water blinding me.

My hands shook so hard on the wheel that the car kept drifting toward the muddy shoulder of the forest road.

I was officially inside the ancient Blackwood pack territory, surrounded by miles of dark, suffocating pine trees.

Every single breath felt like inhaling shattered glass because the image of Conall on that couch kept flashing in my mind.

He did not care. He actually looked at me like I was an annoying bug he wanted to squash under his expensive shoe.

"We are going to be okay," I whimpered, pressing my right hand flat against my stomach. "I will protect you guys, I swear."

The triplets were the only reason my heart was still beating right now.

I had to get out of New England entirely and find a place where the Blackwood name meant absolutely nothing.

Suddenly, a massive, dark shape exploded out from the thick brush on the right side of the road.

"What the hell?" I gasped, jerking the wheel to the left in pure panic.

A giant gray wolf slammed directly into the passenger door, the impact echoing like a gunshot through the small car.

The tires lost all grip on the wet asphalt, sliding sideways before plunging into a deep, muddy ditch.

My head smacked hard against the driver-side window, sending sharp bursts of white light exploding behind my eyes.

The engine sputtered and died completely, leaving me in total darkness except for the flickering dashboard lights.

"Get up, Isabelle, move," I growled to myself, fighting the sudden dizziness as I pushed against the door.

It was completely jammed against the mudbank, refusing to budge even an inch.

Outside, the shadows of the forest were moving, stretching into multiple massive figures surrounding the car.

Four giant wolves trotted out into the open rain, their eyes glowing with a sickening yellow light.

These were not wild animals, and they definitely were not lost rogues looking for a cheap meal.

They were trained pack executioners, moving in perfect military synchronization to block every single exit.

"The elders sent you, didn't they?" I yelled, scrambling into the backseat as a wolf shattered the front windshield with its paws.

Glass rained down on the leather seats, cutting into my skin, but I barely felt the pain.

Conall’s inner circle had wanted me dead for three years because they thought my bloodline was too weak for an alpha.

Now that Conall had thrown me out, they were wasting absolutely no time finishing the job permanently.

I kicked open the rear driver-side door with both feet, using every ounce of strength left in my body.

I scrambled out into the freezing mud and rain, immediately slipping and falling onto my hands and knees.

"Look at the pathetic little Luna," a gruff voice echoed through the trees as one of the wolves shifted back into a naked man.

It was Jackson, one of the head enforcers who used to sit at Conall’s meeting table and ignore my presence.

"Jackson, please," I begged, hated how pathetic I sounded as I crawled backward away from him. "I am leaving. I am never coming back."

"We can't take that risk, Isabelle," Jackson said, a cruel smile stretching across his ugly face. "The Alpha King needs a clean break, and dead ex-wives don't file for custody or talk to rival packs."

He did not know about the babies, but he was still going to murder them anyway.

The sheer horror of that realization hit me like a physical wave, sparking something deep inside my soul.

I kept backing up until the ground beneath my hands disappeared, replaced by loose rocks and a drop-off.

I was trapped right at the edge of the jagged ravine, with the roaring river echoing hundreds of feet below us.

"Finish her," Jackson ordered, shifting back into his massive gray wolf form with a terrifying snap of bones.

The biggest black wolf of the bunch lunged forward, its yellow teeth bared right at my throat.

"No," I screamed, a raw sound tearing from the deepest part of my chest.

In that exact moment of absolute terror, a strange, burning heat exploded outward from the center of my chest.

It did not feel like the regular wolf spirit I had suppressed for years; this was something ancient, heavy, and blindingly bright.

My blood felt like boiling lava as my bones cracked and reshaped in a fraction of a second.

A brilliant, pure white light erupted from my skin, so bright that it actually made the charging wolves screech and cover their eyes.

I roared, a sound that shook the pine trees and completely drowned out the noise of the thunder above us.

When the black wolf reached me, I slammed my new, massive white paw directly into his skull, sending him flying into a tree.

"What is that?" Jackson’s voice seemed to echo in my mind as the remaining three wolves hesitated in pure shock.

They had expected an easy execution, not a glowing white beast that radiated absolute dominant power.

I did not give them time to think or regroup. I lunged at the next wolf, my teeth sinking deep into its shoulder.

The taste of metallic blood filled my mouth, but the primitive rage inside me just demanded more.

I tore through them like a hurricane, fighting with a manic desperation to keep these killers away from my stomach.

But it was draining my energy fast, like pouring water into a bucket with a massive hole in the bottom.

My vision began to blur around the edges, and my white paws started to feel like heavy blocks of lead.

There were just too many of them, and my human body was already exhausted from the pregnancy and the emotional trauma.

Jackson noticed my movements slowing down and took advantage of the opening immediately.

He threw his massive weight against my side, tackling me hard right on the slippery edge of the muddy cliff.

The ground completely gave way beneath our weight, crumbling into a minor landslide of rocks and dirt.

I clawed desperately at the mud, trying to find a grip, but my weak paws just slid right off the wet stones.

"Die, you bitch," Jackson growled as he bit down hard on my front leg, using his weight to drag me further down.

With a final, violent twist, he kicked off my body and scrambled back up to the safe ledger of the cliff.

I fell backward into the open air, the feeling of weightlessness making my stomach drop in pure terror.

The freezing rain whipped past my face as I plunged down toward the raging, swollen river at the bottom of the ravine.

I shifted back into my human form mid-air, all my energy completely spent as my back smacked against the icy water.

The impact knocked every single bit of air out of my lungs, turning the world instantly black and silent.

The heavy, freezing currents dragged my limp body under, pulling me deep into the dark depths of the river.

My consciousness began to fade away rapidly, the cold water wrapping around me like a heavy winter blanket.