Chapter 2 | Her Ruin

Rhea’s POV

The moments after he saw me in the mirror, my legs jerked back, spinning me around, and sending me sprinting. I bolted before Leon chased me. A breath caught in my chest and made me tremble.

When Leon shouted from within the space, yet I kept running and ignored him, moving ahead without a glance back.

I crashed against the iron door, shoved it wide, and ran up the stairs and back to the basement. Gasping hard and fear in every breath. Any second now, Leon might show up in front of me.

"He noticed me! He actually saw me!! Oh god. Gotta leave this place fast or die." Every inch of my skin was soaked in clammy sweat.

Out of the office, I went without glance behind. I dashed along the pavement at midnight, slipping into a tight, vacant alley right after.

Beyond the narrow passage, out of sight from any living thing, I sucked in air slow and hard till my body shook wild. The next moment, my frame twisted as bones slid and skin pulled into new shapes. Pain ripped through my limbs, panic forcing a shift against its will. It felt rough, barely held together, yet I pushed it forward anyway.

I whispered to my werewolf spirit. “I am sorry, Rora. We must run!”

In a matter of seconds, my human body transformed into a snow-white female wolf. My breath was heavy. My eyes were blue, and I immediately started running fast.

My paws pounded the ground repeatedly as I ran out of the city, through the trees, across roads lit only by the moon. I didn't care about the direction except to go home. To the Valerian Pack's territory, my home.

It would take two hours by car, but on wolf legs, it was probably only thirty minutes. Yet that evening, my body ignored how far it was. I sprinted like something awful was on my heels.

The night air sliced into my fur, sharp, cold. My ribs feel burned, breath comes heavy and ragged. Still, I pushed on.

Then outta nowhere, a quiet yet sharp tug hit my skull. Like some tiny hatch deep in my thoughts got pushed open from within. My Moonlink was vibrating again.

It was from Draven, my father. 'Rhea. Come home.' The voice was weak. Very weak. Even though it was silent, its effect made my steps falter.

“Father? What happened?” I tried to reply via Moonlink, but my mind was scattered with fear.

My moonlink vibrated again. 'Rhea, hurry. We don't have much time.'

I quickened my pace. Leaves then bushes, split open when I rushed ahead, heading straight for the valley house of the Valerian Pack.

When I got close to where the pack lived, a weird stink hit my nose. Rrotting meat, old blood, and sick animals mixed together. It was the scent of a plague, the scent of my pack dying.

The Valerian Pack's settlement looked dark from a distance. The lights that had been half-lit a week ago were now completely black, devoid of life.

I slowed down, lowering my speed. My breathing now sounded like a whimper. From the moonlink, Draven's voice came back, this time much weaker. The Valerian pack was truly on the brink of extinction.

'Rhea, we're still waiting. Please, we need to see you before we go.' The moonlink then dimmed.

I nodded even though my father couldn't see me. I ran towards the main house, the house of the Valerian Alpha.

The Valerian Alpha’s house stood silently in the middle of the dark housing complex. The windows stayed lit, though faint, like flames fading fast. As I moved toward the terrace, my pulse thudded high in my neck.

I switched form, my regular shape came back, panting hard. Not stopping to steady myself, I sprinted toward the home, shoved the door wide.

“Rhea,” a soft voice called from the main bedroom.

I turned my head and saw Draven, my father and Alpha of Valerian, lying on the bed. The once sturdy, large body now looked shriveled, his skin pale with thin black veins visible beneath the surface.

Dyana, my mother, lay beside him, holding her husband's hand. Her eyes immediately filled with tears when she saw me enter.

“Father, Mother,” I gasped as I approached.

Draven smiled faintly, a smile that conveyed more pain than calm. “Rhea, is that you?” It seemed they could no longer see clearly, an effect of the plague.

I knelt beside them, looking at the faces I loved so much, but now both were lying weak, dying.

“Why does our pack have to go through this?” My voice broke into tears. "No one is left. Why our pack? Why didn't this happen to another pack?"

Dyana shook her head slowly. “It's not just an ordinary plague, Rhea. Moon Rot slowly broke each connection in the group, piece by piece. Over weeks, we tried finding answers, yet every attempt failed to halt its spread. Since this morning, one omega and the last three members have fallen. Only we remain.”

Draven closed his eyes for a moment, groaning softly as pain shot through his chest. “Our Moonlink pulls each other when one falls, causing the others to collapse too. This parasite is intelligent.” He coughed slightly. “And we’ve lost.”

I held his hand, feeling its coldness. My chest felt heavy. “Father, don’t talk like that.”

“This plague doesn’t spread from pack to pack. It targets only one. And our pack was chosen, whether randomly or intentionally.” He took a short breath. “This isn’t a natural disaster. There’s someone behind it.”

I fell silent and this entire body tensed.

Draven gripped my hand tighter, staring at me with the clarity of an alpha until his last breath, as if he knew exactly what I regretted.

“Rhea, listen to me carefully. Whatever happens, you must survive. Don’t become a rogue. Don’t let the Valerian Pack die completely. You are the only heir of the Valerian Alpha bloodline.”

My voice broke. “But how?”

“There is one way.” He looked deeply into my eyes. “Find a new pack before our pack bond completely breaks. Enter their territory, bond with their alpha. Whatever it takes.”

He paused, his face tensing with pain. “If you're too late, the Valerian moonlink will sever from you. And you'll be considered a rogue, you know the consequences.”

I closed my eyes. Yes, I knew it. Rogues would be hunted. Rogues had no right to live in any territory. Rogues were a threat.

My mother, who had been trying to stay strong, now began to cry. “Go, dear. Before it's too late. You have to live. You are the only one who must survive. The Moon Goddess spared you for a reason.”

I grabbed their bodies at the same time, holding their weakening bodies. “I can't leave you, not now.”

But at that moment, my moonlink trembled violently, like the last wave of a dying ocean.

Draven exhaled deeply. His body slumped and he opened his eyes one last time, staring at me without blinking. “Rhea, run now!”

The moonlink between us finally snapped. As if a thin thread pulled too hard had finally broken.

Dyana choked on a small sob and soon followed her husband in death. Neither of them moved anymore.

I hugged the cold bodies of my father and mother. My shoulders shaking violently, tears broke free and shook my entire chest. My moonlink was now silent, empty, like a room without air.

The Valerian Pack was gone. Now, I'am alone.

The silence that swallowed the night should have been absolute, but between my sobs, my sense of smell caught something.

A strange scent. It wasn't the scent of the Valerian Pack, because that was impossible, all that remained now were corpses.

This scent was strong, sharp, dominant, like hot coals in the cold. It was a scent that I knew. A scent that had filled the company's secret basement moments ago. The scent of Alpha. The scent of Leon Vareth.

I froze. My heart stopped for a moment. Leon was getting closer, approaching this territory.