Chapter 5 Blood Awakening

The rogue’s grip on my hair tightened until I thought he would rip it out at the roots. My scalp burned. I could barely see straight through the tears and the darkness of the neutral forest. The white bonding dress that had once made me feel hopeful now hung in torn shreds around my body, dirty and stained with blood from the scratches on my arms.

“Stop fighting, little omega,” the rogue growled, his face inches from mine. His breath stank of old meat and blood. “You’re already broken. We can smell it on you. Rejected mate. Pathetic.”

I tried to push him away, but my arms had no strength left. The other two rogues laughed as they circled us. One of them kicked dirt into my face.

“Please,” I begged, my voice shaking. “I didn’t come here to cause trouble. I just… I just need to get away from my pack.”

The leader rogue laughed loudly. “Away? There’s no away for weak wolves like you. You’re meat now.”

He threw me to the ground. My knees hit the hard earth first, then my elbows. Pain exploded through my body. I tried to crawl away, but one of them grabbed my ankle and dragged me back. My dress tore further up my leg.

Memories from the ceremony flooded my mind as they beat me. Thorne’s cold voice rejecting me in front of everyone. Selene’s triumphant smile. My parents looking away in shame. The pack’s laughter. Every hit reminded me of how worthless I was to them.

One rogue punched me in the ribs. I gasped and curled into a ball.

“Hit her again,” another one said excitedly. “Make her scream. I love when they scream.”

The blows kept coming. A kick to my back. A slap across my face that split my lip. Blood filled my mouth. I tasted copper and salt from my own tears. My wolf whimpered inside me, weak and scared like always. But something else was happening too.

The pendant around my neck grew hotter and hotter. It felt like it was burning a hole through my skin, straight into my chest. The ancient voice returned, clearer this time.

“Awaken, Fenrir’s daughter. Do not die here.”

I didn’t understand. Fenrir? What was that? I was just Elara. The barren twin. The rejected one. I wasn’t supposed to have power like this.

“Fight back!” the voice urged.

I screamed as another rogue stomped on my hand. Bones cracked. The pain was blinding. But with the pain came anger. Deep, burning anger that mixed with my heartbreak.

Why did Thorne choose her? Why did my own sister betray me like that? Why was I always the one who had to suffer?

The fire in my blood grew stronger. My wolf no longer whimpered. It started pushing against something massive locked inside me. It felt like chains breaking. Like a dam cracking open.

One of the rogues grabbed me by the throat and lifted me off the ground. My feet kicked uselessly in the air. I clawed at his hand, but he only squeezed harder.

“Look at her eyes,” he said to the others. “She’s terrified. This is going to be fun.”

Black spots danced across my vision. My lungs screamed for air. This was the end. I was going to die alone in the forest wearing the dress meant for my bonding day. No one would mourn me. Thorne and Selene would probably celebrate.

In that moment of near death, everything inside me broke open.

The pendant exploded with heat. Power surged through every vein in my body. My wolf howled, but the sound mixed with something ancient and terrifying. My vision sharpened even as my body weakened. I could see every detail on the rogue’s ugly face. Every scar. Every cruel glint in his eyes.

I opened my mouth, and instead of a scream, a deep, thunderous howl tore out of me. It didn’t sound human. It didn’t even sound like a normal wolf. The sound shook the trees and vibrated through the ground.

Silver-black energy burst from my body like a violent storm. The rogue holding my throat flew backward and slammed into a thick tree trunk with a loud crack. He didn’t get up.

The other two tried to run, eyes wide with sudden fear.

“What the fuck is she?” one of them shouted.

They didn’t make it far. The energy chased them down. I watched through half-closed eyes as it wrapped around their bodies like dark lightning. Their screams filled the night before they were cut off completely. Then silence.

I dropped to my knees, breathing hard. My hands trembled as I looked at them. The three rogues lay dead on the forest floor. I had done that. Me. The weak, rejected omega.

For the first time in my life, I felt strong. Really strong. The power still hummed under my skin, waiting. Ready. It felt like I could command the forest itself if I wanted to.

But the strength didn’t last.

My body had never held anything like this before. The power drained me completely. My arms gave out and I collapsed onto the cold ground. The world spun. Every cut, every bruise, every broken bone screamed at me now that the rush was fading.

I tried to push myself up, but I couldn’t. My head felt too heavy. The forest started to blur around the edges.

Heavy footsteps approached. Not the clumsy steps of rogues. These were organized. Trained. I smelled different wolves. Stronger ones.

“Captain, over here!” a deep voice called out. “There’s blood everywhere. And bodies.”

A group of men and wolves emerged from the trees. They wore dark uniforms with the Nightfang Pack symbol. Enemy territory. I had run too far.

One of them, a tall man with sharp features and cold eyes, stepped forward. He looked at the dead rogues, then at me lying on the ground in my ruined white dress.

“What the hell happened here?” he demanded. His voice was low and dangerous.

I tried to speak but only managed a weak whisper. “Not… a spy.”

Another warrior raised his weapon, pointing it at me. “She’s wearing Moonshadow colors. Look at that dress. This has to be a trap.”

The tall one crouched down closer to me. His presence felt overwhelming, like pure power barely contained. Alpha energy. Not Thorne’s, but something colder. Darker.

“Who are you?” he asked again, his eyes narrowing. “And how did a little thing like you take down three rogues?”

I wanted to explain. I wanted to tell him about the rejection, about the power that just woke up inside me, about how my life had fallen apart in one night. But my body was shutting down.

The pendant still burned softly against my chest.

As darkness crept in from the edges of my vision, I heard the tall warrior bark orders to his men.

“Secure her. She might be dangerous. Bring her back to camp. Alpha Darius will want to see this one himself.”

Boots surrounded me. Someone lifted me roughly from the ground. Pain shot through my body again, but I barely felt it now. The last thing I saw before everything went black was the moon shining through the trees, cold and indifferent.

I had survived the rogues. But I had no idea what fresh

hell was waiting for me in Nightfang territory.