CHAPTER EIGHT

The forest was quiet, too quiet for my liking. I staggered between the twisted roots and trees, my legs heavy as if they were made of stone. Every breath I took burned in my chest, but I forced myself to move. I can still hear the sounds of howls coming behind me. My hands tremble with the memory of what I had done. Five men, their screams still clung to my ears, their blood on my nails are a constant reminder of what went down earlier.

I didn’t mean to kill them, I’m not a murderer. My power had surged through me like a storm with no mercy overtaking all my senses, and the adrenaline washed over me.

I walked past a cluster of abandoned huts. Voices trailed behind me “She is the curse girl”. They whispered their voices laced with fear and terror, they spoke of me like I’m a monster, like their worst nightmare is coming true, now the rumors have begun.

I moved past all that heading deep inside a forest, tired and dehydrated, I pressed my back against a tree and slid down to the damp earth. Feeling weak and sleepy but the shadows around me won’t let me rest, anytime I close my eyes I see flashes of glowing light pouring from my skin, burning through bone and flesh as soldiers fall before me.

I pressed my hands to my face. “I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want this”. Exhaustion washed over me.

I heard some noise behind me, branches of trees snapping. I jerked my head up standing up to my feet, ready to strike again, my gaze swept the darkness, conscious of my surroundings, and the sound faded replaced by a soft rustle of leaves. It must have been the wind I thought to myself, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. So I decided to move further into the forest, my body aching, not knowing where I was going but I knew I couldn't stop yet. Not until I was strong enough to face my enemies hunting me, and I knew I couldn’t go back to the pack because I’m not safe there anymore so I had to find my path.

As I pushed past a thicket, my eyes caught movement, a flicker of shadow vanishing between the trees. A chill slid down my spine, I’m not alone.

The noise came again. This time it wasn’t just a trick of the trees, something was there, moving with purpose, keeping just far enough space to stay unseen but close enough to make its presence known.

My wolf stirred uneasily inside me, claws scratching at the edges of my mind. Danger lurking in the shadows.

I froze, pressing my back against the rough bark of a tree, my breath ragged. My sense sharpened, every sound amplified, the distant hoot of an owl, the whisper of wind through the branches, and the steady thud of my racing heartbeat.

“Who’s there?” My voice came out harsher than I intended, echoing into the stillness.

No answer. But the silence that followed was worse than any growl. The shadow shifted again, closer this time. My hands began to glow faintly, sparks of power bleeding through my skin. I clenched my fists, willing it back, terrified of losing control again. I couldn’t risk another outburst not here, not when I didn’t know who was watching.

A twig snapped.

My body reacted before my mind could catch up. I spun around, eyes blazing, ready to unleash the storm building inside me, and saw only darkness staring back, no figure, no soldier, no beast. Just the forest. But the Scent… it lingered, a faint trace of wolf. Not Kael, not anyone from the Black Ash. Something unfamiliar, wilder, sharper.

I took a step back, then another. My instincts screamed at me to run, yet the pull was undeniable. Whoever or whatever it was, it wanted me to know it was there.

“Show yourself!” I shouted, my voice breaking. “Stop hiding!”

The silence stretched, oppressive and suffocating. For a moment, I thought I had imagined it all, that exhaustion was playing cruel tricks on me.

Then, just as my guard faltered, a pair of eyes blinked open in the shadows golden, unblinking, fixed on me.

And they didn’t belong to a human.