Aiden turned without looking back, no flinching or second thought his heart became a callous stone…
The pack saw just a wolf fall But in her blood something unknown stirred something the moon had not yet revealed in decades and time passed something too dangerous for them to see…..
The pack's agonizing mocking sounds were banging in Isla's skull louder than her own heartbeat…"Pathetic!" someone spoke. "Trash blood," another hissed in disgust " You filth"....
Selene stood Arrogant, her lips curling into a cruel smile enjoying the sight of Isla's ruin as if it were a feast laid before her.
Isla wanted to scream, to tear her throat raw with the injustice of it being stood upon her but her voice had abandoned her.
Only quietness filled her chest, heavy and overwhelming, like a rock pulling someone underwater.
The first blow came quickly. A blow from behind sent her face-first into the dirt.Her knees wounded blood bleeding out but no one cared an omega's blood which is so worthless a mud worth more than her blood..
They surrounded her like wolves circling prey,
Though she was pack, flesh of their flesh Every blow , every hit, every slap,rained with mockery and curse every kick a definition of cruelty.
Know your place, gutter rat, Cursed one, Moonless child…
Their laughter caused deeper wounds than their blows and slaps ever could Her ribs screamed of pain, her vision blurred and fading
yet the cruel sounds of her rejection never ceased…
Somewhere beyond the fog, she saw her mother Lyria frozen and trembling with tears in her eyes both feet unmoving Love chained by fear, Isla reached out with a shaking hand, a plea. Mother…But Lyria turned away.
The feel of that betrayal struck harder than any blow…
She felt an ache in her chest, her wolf cried inside, choked as if a thousand knives pierced into her soul The bond Aiden cut burned like fire raw nerve to raw nerve a rejection that went through her flesh bone and spirit.
Isla collapsed a discarded and forgotten wolf The pack roared as if justice had been served A life had been crushed and none mourned or showed remorse…
Cast her out!...Selene's voice raged like a storm Let the Forest of Doom finish what we began. Let her rot where monsters belong you piece of trash ...
The alpha's word was the final command but it was Selene's poison that crowned it. The crowd obeyed…
Two warriors hold Isla by the arms strong and tight, dragging her across the ground like a trash bag..
Her nails carried dirt, leaving desperate trails but the earth did not hold her. The sky above offered no moonlight, only shadows thick with contempt…..
Her body ached with agony, heart weeping silent rivers. Each step to the forest, her own funeral march..
The pack followed, hungry for spectacle.
Children pointed fingers of mockery Elders jeered. Some spat as she passed their venom mingling with her blood....
When the gates opened the smell of the forest rolled out a place talked about of in fireside tales where demons and spirit ate men alive,
and talk of the damned coiled in the dark…
The warrior threw her angrily inside Her body struck root and stone badly The gates slammed shut a sound final as a coffin's lid Silence…
She lay in the dirt, a broken offering to a merciless forest Shadows stretched long branches like claws above her The air itself seemed to whisper mockery, judging, waiting.
Isla tried to crawl Every limb screamed mutiny.
Her body was a ruin, her spirit so weak candle in a storm...
Why live? The question she asked herself , sharper than teeth.Why breathe when no one sees you as worthy? Why rise when even your mother lets you fall?....
Tears fell from her eyes but tears were useless here. The forest did not pity The world did not pity....
Kill me, she screamed into the dirt and end me here If the Moon ever heard me… let it strike me down now But death did not come….
Instead, the forest kept quiet.Whispers slid between the trees,ancient voices speaking around her broken form.Not words but intent.
Testing. Probing Will you break? Or will you rise?
Isla shivered. She wanted to rise but her body would not. She wanted to fight but her spirit was weak. Still her heart beat…
She crawled Each movement a scream.
Her palms tore open on jagged roots.
Her knees bled into moss Her breath rattled like chains.
But she moved one inch.Another Another.
The forest grew darker as if swallowing her.
The laughter of the pack still screamed in her head, the phantom of mockery she could not silence.
Her wolf cried inside a fragile sound,
begging not for death but for a reason to live.
She collapsed again, her vision blurred with fireflies of pain The world went black closing in.
Her chest rose shallow every inhale a battle she was losing.
And then footsteps Not pack Not humans Something heavier, edged with wildness.
Through the blur, a shadow emerged.
A man, tall, scarred, eyes like storms chained in flesh His presence carried no pack scent A rogue.
He knelt beside her calloused hands lifting her broken body with a care she had never known.
For a heartbeat, she thought him death For another salvation.
Her vision blurred completely but his voice carved through the dark "One day, they will kneel."