The realisation

Evie.

When I looked up, three humanoid figures emerged from the shadows. The smell was enough to tell me they were rogues, violent ones.

“Well, look what we found.” The largest one said with a grin.

One with long scraggly hair sniffed the air and smiled. “A Female, a beautiful one.”

“And alone.” The last one added. “It’s like the moon goddess delivered the perfect gift for us.”

I got up and started running again. They didn’t run but just laughed as I sped through the uneven ground of the forest, occasionally jumping over logs and falling over others.

My heart was beating so fast I was afraid it would pop out of my chest. I didn’t know where I was going in the forest and if there was hope of rescue nearby. What if the rogues actually caught up with me?

I realized just how stupid I had been to leave without a well thought out plan, without a weapon. I could only hope they were too high to realize I was a half blood.

My wolf was weaker than most full blooded wolves. These rogues didn’t care about morals or saw anything bad in hurting anyone. The thought made me run even faster.

Suddenly one started running and caught up with me in no time. He grabbed my hair, yanked me backward and threw me onto the ground. I hit the ground with a loud thud and felt as if my back bone had shattered.

“Please,” I gasped. My entire body was trembling.

The smelly rogues surrounded me, smiling widely.

“Please don’t hurt me.” I begged. “I’ll give you whatever you want. I’m the Luna of crescent pack.”

One of them crouched beside me. “That’s not how this works, sweetheart. We don’t want Alpha Rodney’s dirty money.”

I was about to die. And just like my human mother, I was about to die in the hands of rogue werewolves. My hand instinctively reached for the necklace around my neck.it had a silver pendant my mother had given me and it was the only thing I had left of her.

A memory flashed through my mind. I remembered my mother fastening the necklace around my neck on my fifteenth birthday.

“Promise me you’ll never take it off,” she had said.

“Why?”

“One day you’ll understand.”

I didn’t bother to question that. I didn’t even have time to. I ran off to welcome my friends. She died a few days later and I had never taken it off. Whenever I needed her, I just touched it and felt better.

The long haired rogue grabbed my arm and I struggled desperately

“No!” I yelled as the chain snapped and the pendant fell onto a rock.

The stone embedded inside shattered and I began to feel a lot of pain. It was unbearable. I felt like someone had stabbed my stomach and was twisting the knife and then it felt as though something very hot had been poured directly into my veins.

The rogues jumped back.

“What the hell?” One asked as I collapsed onto my knees.

Heat spread through my body. It felt like my bones were melting. My skin was burning, fingers literally looking red hot. I screamed when I saw that.

“Make it stop!” I yelled.

The largest rogue stepped forward.

“Grab her.”

The moment he touched me, a blast of heat shot outward. The force threw him several feet through the air and he screamed like a little boy.

I stared at my trembling hands. Orange light glowed beneath my skin. What was happening?

The answer came from my wolf.

“Fireheart,” my wolf said in my mind. “You’re one of them. You’re a Fireheart.”

Fireheart? What was a Fireheart? And how could I be one if I was just a half-blood, born of a human mother and wolf father?

After what happened to their colleague, the remaining rogues looked horrified.

The temperature around me suddenly climbed rapidly and I felt power growing deep inside me. It was such a weird feeling, and kind of ticklish. Had it been a different moment, I might’ve laughed and enjoyed the moment. But not this time.

A rogue lunged at me. I raised my hand immediately and a stream of fire erupted from my palm and sent him flying backwards. I found myself smiling. That was quite cool, honestly.

The others immediately turned to flee. And I just stood there, frozen. I stared in shock at the fire coming from my hands. Maybe I could even create a fireball. I was thinking about it when my body shook violently.

“Oh no...” I said, feeling nauseous. I barely managed to turn my head before vomiting onto the forest floor. The fire vanished immediately.

I sat there for several minutes trying to catch my breath. Whatever just happened was unbelievable. I was just a half-blood. Where did all that power come from?

Eventually my gaze landed on the broken necklace.

“Mom...”

The last gift she’d ever given me was now ruined. I couldn’t stop thinking about her final words. “One day you’ll understand.”

It seemed she had known about this power inside me? Had the necklace been hiding it all these years? It seemed my mother had known she would die soon. But for some reason, she didn’t want me to know about the powers I possessed.

The nausea returned. I pressed a hand against my abdomen and let out the contents of my stomach. When I was done, I went to sit down. I wondered if the nausea had come because I just unlocked my powers or something I had eaten.

Whatever it was, I had no time to think about it. I got up, grabbed my bag and started running. I had to get out of the forest before I met more rogues.

Later when I slowed down, I felt even sicker and began to wonder what was going on. I was now very tired and feeling some cramps in my lower belly. A thought began to form in my head. The possibility was scary but it was plausible. Rodney and I never used protection.

By morning, I had reached a small town. I entered the nearest convenience store and bought a pregnancy test kit.

The two minutes of waiting after peeing on the stick were the longest in my life. When I finally brought the stick to my face, two lines stared at me.

That meant only one thing.

I was carrying Alpha Rodney’s child.