Chapter six: Freedom and discovery

Thalia

The forest swallowed me whole as I ran in the dead of the night. I didn't stop till I disappeared into the woods. I've never felt so alive as I did right now but I wanted to keep that a secret. Let them assume. Let them believe what they want. Let them write tales of the cursed omega who turned to ash. They’ll never know she rose from it. She rose from the flames while they ran for their dear lives. While they ran from the fury of my innocence.

Darkness wove through the trees like a velvet veil, cloaking the world in silence and shadows. I ran until the flames were only a memory behind me. Until the scent of smoke no longer clung to my skin and hair. Until I could no longer feel the pain that came with my rejection and betrayal. From the ones I love. From the ones I called my family.

My paws thudded against the damp earth, my heart still hammering from everything I had left behind. And yet, I did not feel fear. I didn't feel pain. I felt… alive.

I could feel my wolf leaping within me. She too was energized. She was alive. It was as if she drew strength and energy from the flames and then she began to shift. To express herself. My wolf form had never felt this way before. She had never been so fluid, so fast, so free. Every time I attempted to shift in the past was always futile. I had tried and tried but it didn't work. It only ended up hurting a lot. She felt caged most of the time. Unhappy, depressed but this time , things were different. The usual pain that accompanied my shift was gone, replaced by an effortless transition that felt as natural as breathing.

My wolf was big and grey. I almost couldn't believe that this giant wolf had been trapped in my entire body for twenty years without being able to express herself. My fur shimmered, dark with glints of fire. Whenever I moved, embers danced along my back legs, leaving a trail of fading heat in my wake. My tracks left red prints of fire as I ran past the woods.

I didn’t know where I was going, only that it had to be far away from Greenwood Park. I had no plan, no map, no allies. But I had something more important now: freedom. My death had been the price of my liberation, and in return, I had been reborn.

The moon cast silver light through the canopy above, giving light my path. Branches snagged at my fur, thorns caught my legs, but I didn’t stop. The sting of open scratches was nothing compared to the pain of betrayal I had endured.

Eventually, I slowed, panting. The ground sloped downward into a ravine where a river whispered gently in the night. I walked towards the sound of the flowing river. Dawn to its promise of peace, I shifted back to my human form. My body ached. Bruises dotted my arms and legs, and I collapsed near the water’s edge, letting the cool mist hit my skin. The river always soothed me. When I still a free girl, before I got the title of a curses omega, you would always find me by the river bank. It always brought me a sense of calmness and peace.

I leaned forward and scooped the river’s water into my palms, drinking greedily. Then, I looked at my reflection. What stared back at me wasn’t the omega they tried to break. It wasn't the disgraced omega they had branded cursed and tried to silence.

My hair was wild, tangled with soot and sweat, but my eyes....my eyes glowed faintly with firelight. A molten gold hue swirled within them. There was something ancient in my gaze now. In the way it changed from brown to sharp gold resembling embers.

My hand touched my chest, finding the comforting weight of my mother’s necklace still around my neck. It had burned with me, but it didn't break. Just like me.

Tears slipped down my cheeks, mixing with the river water. I didn’t sob or cry like the girl who they subjected to slavery. The grief was more quiet now. It felt lighter. Not because it hurt any less, but because I was done letting it control me.

I lay down on a patch of moss at the riverbank, curling in on myself as my body trembled. Not from cold,— the cold never bothered me anyways— but from exhaustion. My mind drifted toward sleep, and when it came, it brought a dream.

No this was more like a vision.

I stood in a field of fire, but it didn’t burn me. The flames bowed to me. A woman stood at the center of it all, cloaked in light. Her eyes mirrored mine, gold and endless.

“You were never meant to serve,” she whispered. “You were born to rise, to rule. You are the true Luna of the wolves. Born to unite the Lycan and werewolf kingdom.”

“Who are you?” I asked. Because what she just said didn't make any sense to me.

She stepped closer, placing a warm hand on my cheek. Her touch felt like sunlight and life.

“I am the flame. The rebirth. The one who gave your mother the gift. And now, it is yours.”

I woke with a gasp.

My skin still tingled with her touch, the dream so vivid I could feel the heat lingering on my cheeks. I felt sad. I had to see her again. To ask her questions. To get directions but I couldn't. It was morning already. The forest bathed in golden light, the lazy wave of the sun as it slowly rised to the sky. The birds were chirping softly from the canopy. I sat up slowly, the ache in my bones reminding me that I was no longer dreaming.

When I reached for a dry stick nearby and focused thinking of fire it lit instantly at the tip.

My mouth fell open. I dropped the stick and watched it burn out on its own, as though my will no longer commanded it. My heart beat faster, not with fear this time, but wonder.

I could do this. I could control it. The fire was a part of me now.

I stood, feeling the shift ripple through my body again. Bones elongated, fur surfaced. I shifted into my wolf and ran. Not out of desperation, but because I could. My wolf needed to be out as much as she can so that she too could see and experience the world. I wasn't going to stop her.

Hours passed.

I raced past streams and over ridges, letting the wind blow through my fur. When I finally stopped, the land around me was unfamiliar. Greener, richer. The trees here were taller, their trunks older and knotted like ancient sentinels. I had crossed beyond Greenwood’s borders.

I had entered The rouge land. Popularly known as the no-man’s land. Not a single trace of pack scent remained here. It was just wildness. Untamed and raw.

I padded into a small glade and shifted back again, my body felt sore but satisfied. I was still getting used to shifting from my wolf and back to my human form. I needed to rest, real rest. I started to prepare my make shift home. A place to camp for the day and search for food. I was spreading dry leaves on the floor when a sound caught my attention, a faint rustling. I froze.

Was I being followed?

No. I felt him. I was being Watched.

I scanned the tree line, tension bristling across my skin. Then I saw him.

A lone figure leaned against a tree, arms folded, his silhouette barely visible beneath the shade. His presence didn’t scream threat. It whispered mystery. He said nothing, but our eyes met and something passed between us.

I blinked, and he was gone. Vanished as if the forest had swallowed him whole.

Shivers ran down my spine. Not from fear but from a strange pull. I had a feeling that I'd be seeing him again. So I didn't chase after him.

Instead, I found a nearby thicket, heavy with vines, and crawled into it. It would shield me for now. I wrapped my arms around myself, pulling my legs to my chest. The quiet around me was new. No barking orders. No whispers of disgust or name calling as I passed by. No cruel laughter. Just the chirp of birds and the rustling of wind through the trees.

For the first time in years, I felt safe. Days passed.

I hunted small animals for meat and drank from streams. I found a patch of herbs my mother once taught me about. It was called moonleaf and had healing properties. I crushed it into a paste and rubbed it on my bruises, letting her memory guide me like a compass.

Each night, I dreamed of fire. Sometimes the woman from before appeared. Sometimes my mother. And sometimes, a burning crown hovered above my head, bright and heavy. The visions were warnings. Messages. I was destined for something greater than mere survival.

I began sensing the world in ways I never could before. A heat in the earth. A hum in the air. I could feel the presence of living things around me. Sometimes I closed my eyes and listened to the heartbeat of the forest. It was alive, and it recognized me as one of its own.

One night, as I sat under the stars, a voice whispered in the wind.

"You were born of flame. The world must see you rise."

That night I decided that I needed answers. I didn't have any idea how to get them or where to go. But I couldn’t go back to Greenwood Park. A park where royalty was disgraced and stripped off her title. Not just her title, her fated mate.

They would assume I had perished. Let them believe it. It was better that way. Right now I needed to find answers. To grow stronger, smarter even. To learn to control what lived inside me. To master it because if I didn't, it would destroy me… or others.

I didn't know how, I didn't know where but I slept peacefully that night. Knowing that the moon goddess would guide me. That my mother and the woman from my dreams would help me on this quest.