The Night The Alpha Found Me

I stumble through the dark streets, my cheeks still swollen, my lips split, tears running down like rivers I cannot stop. My legs feel heavy, my arms weak. I don’t even remember putting my shoes on. I barely notice the cold air or the shadows stretching across the walls.

I whisper to myself, almost in disbelief, “I… I just want to disappear.”

Maybe the pain would ease that way.

I wipe at my eyes, but the tears don’t stop. My throat burns, my chest aches, and my hands are trembling. I don’t even see where I’m walking. My feet carry me forward on autopilot, away from the house, away from the screams, the insults, the betrayal.

The streets become darker. Fewer lights. The houses fade away. The air smells damp, earthy, and wild. A shiver runs down my spine. Something feels… wrong.

*Werewolves*, I think suddenly, shivering. Stories my grandmother whispered… they were real once, people said. But not near the city—no one has seen one here for decades. Just stories.

I push the thought aside. Don’t be ridiculous, Aurelia. It’s just the wind. Just your imagination.

I don’t care. I don’t care about anything anymore. I just keep moving.

Then I hear it; a low growl carried on the wind. My stomach flips.

Maybe it isn’t just the wind… My heart pounds faster.

“Hello?” I whisper, my voice shaking. “Is someone there?”

No answer. Just the sound of heavy breathing. And then… footsteps. Not human footsteps. Heavy, predatory.

I take a step back. “I… I need to go…”

Before I can turn around properly, I see them.

Several figures emerge from the shadows, crouched low, moving like predators. Their eyes glow in the dark, gold, green, sharp. Their movements are stiff, jerky, unnatural. I blink. My stomach drops.

They are not human.

I stumble backward. “Who… who are you?” I whisper.

One of them tilts his head, sniffing the air. “She’s not human,” he hisses. “Not human at all.”

“Look at her eyes,” another growls. “Power… she’s got power.”

I take another step back, my hands raised instinctively. My mind flashes to those old stories again. The ones I laughed at as a kid… the ones everyone said were nonsense. But these… these are them. They’re real.

I back into a tree, my body pressed against rough bark, trembling. “Please… stay away…”

One of them steps forward, his voice low and cruel. “She’s special. I want her.”

Another laughs, and it’s a sound I will never forget. “Easy… too easy. She won’t even fight back.”

I shake my head, panic rising. “No… no, I don’t want this! Please!”

I feel heat rising in my chest. A strange, humming energy under my skin. My eyes sting, and I clutch at my head. My heartbeat is deafening.

What’s happening…?

The rogues hesitate. They glance at each other, uneasy now. One takes a step back. “Did you feel that?”

I look down at my hands. They’re shaking, and the air around me feels… alive. My fear, my anger, my pain, all of it floods outward. I hear a low growl in my mind. My vision blurs, and suddenly they stumble, jerking like something inside them snapped.

“What… what is this?” one of them whispers, stumbling back.

“Grab her!” another growls, but they falter. Their eyes widen in fear.

Before I can understand what’s happening, a shadow explodes from the darkness. Massive. Towering. Hair as black as midnight, muscles rippling. Teeth sharp enough to tear steel. Eyes glowing gold.

The wolf moves faster than anything I’ve ever seen. It crashes into the rogues. One screams as it’s thrown into a tree. Another lunges at the wolf, and it snaps him up in one swift motion. The air fills with snarls, yelps, and the sickening sound of claws tearing flesh.

I stumble backward, shaking violently, covering my eyes. I can’t look, but I can’t look away. My entire body is frozen.

The wolf spins, huge and terrifying, attacking without hesitation. One rogue flies through the air, hitting the ground with a sickening thud. Another tries to run, but it’s too late—the wolf catches him, and the last thing I see is its enormous jaws clamping down.

I stumble to the ground, shaking uncontrollably. “Wh… what… what are you?!” I scream, my voice raw, hoarse from crying.

The wolf turns its massive head toward me. My breath catches. Its eyes, gold, piercing, lock onto mine. My body feels like it’s being pulled, trembling from fear and something else… something I don’t understand.

Then it steps closer. Its movements are smooth now, deliberate, and it lowers its head.

“MATE.”

The word is low, deep, vibrating through the air. I freeze. My heart stops.

“M… mate?” I whisper, my voice shaking.

The wolf tilts its head, staring. There’s no anger now, no threat. Only… recognition. Something primal, undeniable.

I stumble backward, pressing against the cold ground. “I… I don’t understand…”

It steps closer, the scent hitting me—strong, sharp, commanding. My knees buckle. My chest burns. My head spins.

I try to move, but my legs refuse. My hands tremble, shaking so hard I can barely stand. My mind is a blur of everything that happened tonight—Adrian, my mother, Virelle, the betrayal, the beating.

The wolf growls softly, low, almost a purr now. My fear spikes, but it’s… different. Less alone. Less hopeless.

"Please..... don't kill me...."

Then my vision blurs completely. My legs give out. I collapse to the ground. My cheek hits the cold earth. My body shivers violently.

“M… MATE…” I whisper, the word repeating in my head.

I feel weight; immense, powerful, hover over me. I sense protection, danger, strength, and something warm beneath the fear. My body goes numb. My mind goes dark.

The last thing I hear before I lose consciousness is the low rumble of the wolf, almost human in its tone:

 “You’re mine.”

And everything goes black.