Chapter 2 – The Alpha's Test
The lion's gaze pinned me where I stood.
Even without words, I understood that movement meant danger.
His aura pressed against my skin, heavy and electric, the air thickening until I could barely breathe. Somewhere inside, my new instincts whispered one command—submit—but the human in me bristled.
I forced myself to stand tall.
"You're far from any pride," the wolf said softly. "No scent mark. No claim."
Nox's golden eyes flicked to the gazelle lying between us, then back to me.
"She hunts well, though. Strong stride. Clean kill. Too clean for a rogue."
He stepped closer. I didn't move. The world narrowed to the sound of his footsteps in the grass.
When he stopped, he was close enough that I could see faint markings curling across his collarbone—dark, like ink burned into the flesh.
Five stripes.
Each one pulsed faintly with light.
The voice in my head—the same one that whispered during the hunt—murmured the meaning: Rank. Power.
My breath caught. Legendary strength.
"You know what these mean?" he asked, voice rough silk.
I shook my head. "No."
"Then you're either a cub... or a fool."
His hand lifted, slow, deliberate, claws half-bared. I tensed, ready to shift again if I had to.
But instead of striking, he touched the underside of my jaw and tilted my face toward the dying sun.
"No marks. No aura scars. You smell of dust and blood but not of clan. Strange."
The wolf—Luka, I remembered—moved beside him, expression cautious.
"Nox. She's shaking. Let her breathe."
"If she's truly lost, she won't survive the night," Nox said flatly. "The ferals move when the moons rise."
Ferals. The word vibrated through me like an echo of that golden voice.
Cold. Scaled. Watching from the dark.
My throat worked. "I can fight."
His eyes gleamed. "Then prove it."
He gestured toward the carcass behind me. "A pride doesn't waste meat. Skin it. Shift if you must."
I stared at him. "With what? My hands?"
Luka's ears twitched, amused. "You have claws, don't you?"
A low rumble vibrated in my chest before I realized it was a growl. Heat rippled through me—bones reshaping, muscles flexing—and in the next heartbeat, the lioness stood where the woman had been.
No pain. No hesitation.
Instinct moved my paws before thought could catch up.
Nox watched in silence as I worked, tearing hide from flesh with sharp precision. When it was done, I backed away, chest heaving, muzzle stained red.
The wolf nodded once. "Clean. Controlled."
Nox crouched, brushed a hand along the stripped carcass, then looked up at me.
"You're not trained, but you listen to your instincts. That might keep you alive."
He stood, towering above both of us. "Come with us. The plains are no place for a lone female tonight."
I hesitated. Every instinct screamed not to trust him, but the sun was already sinking, and the air smelled of something reptilian and wrong creeping through the grass.
"I don't even know where 'us' is," I said.
"The Pride Circle," Nox answered simply. "My territory."
Luka offered a small, reassuring smile. "Safer there than anywhere else."
Safer.
The word sounded fragile in this world.
Still, when Nox turned and began walking, I followed.
Later
The savanna turned silver under twin moons. The grass whispered secrets I couldn't yet understand. Behind us, something hissed—a sound too long, too cold to belong to mammal or bird. Luka's ears twitched, but Nox didn't slow.
"Ferals," Luka murmured.
Nox glanced over his shoulder at me. "Keep close, lioness. Let's see if you truly wish to survive this world."
I swallowed hard and matched their stride.
The scent of blood still clung to my hands, but beneath it bloomed something new—
the sharp, wild thrill of the hunt.