Chapter 8:The price of power

Vanessa roused from her sleep with a sharp gasp, her throat all parched, her hands trembling against the silk sheets that covered the soft and comfortable bed.

 The room was cloaked in a pale blue glow—the moon, glowing at its peak, shining through the open window.

A cold sweat had broken on her forehead, leaving her body to tremble uncontrollably.

She gripped her belly instinctively as pain shot through her lower abdomen.

“No... no, no, no...” she whimpered, but deep down, she already knew. It was ready late, the deed was done.

"Arghhhh." She winced and moaned in pain.

The sheets were stained red.

She screamed.

---

Earlier that evening...

After the ceremony, Vanessa had finally allowed herself the comfort of rest. She curled up in Edwin’s chambers—he had not returned to his chambers since the night she sedated him so she could have her way with him—but that did not matter. Not anymore.

She closed her eyes and drifted into a deep, a deep and dark sleep.

In her dream, she stood in the woods filled with thorns, thick fog engulfing the trees, making it almost impossible for the moon to shine through.

The air was dry and freezing cold, and a silent howl pierced the silence, making the atmosphere eerie.

Vanessa spun around.

There she was.

Tiara, her biggest nightmare 

The woman before Vanessa was no longer the weak, trembling omega everyone had scorned—but instead, she was a full wolf, silver-furred, glowing with unnatural light. Her eyes shone like gold. She was beautiful, ethereal, yet, terrifying.

"How did this happen?" Words rolled out of Vanessa's mouth before she knew it

"Are you surprised to see that I am all changed?" Tiara's wolf sarcastically questioned.

Vanessa tried to respond but fear gripped her to the core. The only thing that occurred to her was to run, but her legs would not move no matter how much she tried.

Tiara approached slowly, her growl, which clapped like thunder, echoed through the dreamland.

“You stole what was rightfully mine, nearly ruining my life,” the wolf grudgingly hissed in a voice that was not human, nor fully animal.

Vanessa shook her head. “You are a lost cause, Tiara. You are nothing.”

Tiara’s lips curled back in a snarl. “That is where you got it all wrong, Vanessa. I am not gone. I have simply been waiting, Luna.”

She scoffed, grinning widely before she lunged at Vanessa.

Vanessa woke to the pain, to the blood, to the scream that would summon the entire manor.

---

Flashback_______

A few years back, 

Edwin stood tall, his wolf newly awakened, his eyes full of promise. He had just become Alpha. His pack had cheered, his elders praised his strength and vision.

But not all were pleased.

A small, starving pack had come to his borders—led by a desperate Alpha called Delvin. They had been attacked by neighboring wolves and stripped of their land.

“Please,” Delvin pleaded, bowing low despite his weakness. “We seek sanctuary, shelter." A chance to rebuild our land that lies in ruin.”

Garrett scoffed. “They are weak. If we help them, we take on their enemies too and that is no good way for you to start your reign, alpha.”

Edwin, still naïve in his power, chose pragmatism over mercy, sheepishly following Garrett's words.

“I am sorry, but you have come to the wrong place. You cannot get the help that you need here,” he coldly said. “Take your fellow rogues and go away from my land.”

Devastated and heartbroken, Delvin did not argue because he knew Edwin and his pack were way stronger than him.

But as he turned to leave, he whispered words that sank deeply into Edwin’s bones:

“You chose pride over honor. You will gain everything and still lose it just as fast as I have. One day, your pack will fall apart, but—not from an outsider’s hand, but from within. Your Luna will bleed, and your heart will break. That is the curse of a rogue in distress.”

The rogue spat blood on the ground and disappeared into the shadows.

Edwin forgot the man.

But the curse remembered him, fully in action, and slowly feeding on him.