Aria's Point Of View.

“Where am I?”

I didn’t know how long I had run.

The forest blurred around me.

The rain had stopped, but everything was slick, heavy, and cold, but I didn’t stop until my legs gave out beneath me.

My knees hit the roots of an ancient tree with a dull thud, and I collapsed against its trunk. My chest heaved, and my whole body trembled from the cold.

I glanced at my hands as my eyes were already puffy from crying.

The cuffs had cut into my wrists and blood had dried on my skin.

My throat still burned from where Kael tore the Luna insignia away.

My ribs ached, and my arms were bruised.

“Kael!” I muttered in pain.

I sat there at the base of a tree, unable to hold it in any longer. I buried my face in my hands and wept bitterly.

“What will I do now?”

“Where do I go from here?”

Sobs wracked my chest, loud and unrelenting as I let the tears pour.

“Moon Goddess,” I whispered, voice raw, “what did I do wrong?”

I had nothing.

No pack, home or a title, not even a future.

The surrounding silence was vast.

I didn’t know where to go as I had no allies or shelter. All I had was just woods and the sound of crickets.

Hours went by and soon it was nightfall.

The moon hung high and full above me, glowing behind the trees.

“Aria, pull yourself together.” I said to myself as I wiped my face with a shaky hand, but I was too dehydrated to cry anymore.

Suddenly, I heard a sound coming from behind the trees in front of me.

My head snapped around. “Who’s there?” I shouted, my voice breaking. “Show yourself!”

There was no response but immediately, I heard movements and figures began to appear from behind the trees.

Six shapes stepped into the clearing, their silhouettes framed by the moonlight.

They were tall and then I saw their faces.

“What!” I said, in disbelief.

Standing in front of me were Kael’s men.

Panic punched through me like ice and I scrambled backward on bloody hands and knees.

“What do you want?” I yelled. “Why are you here?! He banished me, he got what he wanted!”

One of them, a lean warrior named Varek, was one of Kael's close men. He sneered down at me, his eyes gleamed cruelly in the moonlight.

“He did,” he said. “But he changed his mind.”

I blinked. “What… what are you talking about because I am not returning to that monster or to his pack!”

The men burst out laughing in mockery.

Varek chuckled. “Alpha Kael sends his regards, he said, to make sure the bitch doesn’t crawl back from the woods.”

I stared at him, heart pounding. “He ordered you to kill me?”

“You’re a rogue now,” he shrugged. “No rules for traitors.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could react, the first blow came fast.

I barely rolled out of the way as a knife slashed past my face, cutting my shoulder.

“Argh!” I screamed in pain as blood oozed out of the open wound.

Adrenaline surged through me and knowing that if I should stay a second more, I would die.

At once, I bolted to my feet and ran away, deeper into the woods.

“You can't run away, Luna!” one of the men snarred.

“You are dead!”

I didn't stop running. I knew that I could easily fight them off if it was before, but right now, I had bruises and my body was weak enough to fight six hefty soldiers.

“Let me out!” Nyra snarred.

“I want to fight for us, Aria, let me out, now!” She screamed but I kept on running.

My wolf was weak due to the wolfbane, and it wouldn't help us both.

Branches tore at my skin as I pushed through the trees. I could hear their laughter turning into snarls.

Suddenly, I heard their bones snapping accompanied by loud howls and I knew that they were shifting.

The six wolves burst into form, fur covering their human skin and fangs.

“Aria!” My wolf screamed.

I stumbled forward, still human. My limbs were too slow, too weak and my head was spinning from blood loss.

“Aria, now!”

Nyra’s voice returned, faint but fierce.

Having no other choice as I knew that my human strength couldn't match up with their werewolf strength the moment they pounced on me.

“Take over me, nyra, now!” I said, and immediately, I began to shift. My bones broke, and my skin began to split, making my spine arched and cracked.

“Argh!”

My scream turned into a howl as fur exploded from the flesh, claws burst through my fingers, and my vision sharpened with the silver hue of a wolf’s sight.

Pain laced through every nerve, but it was nothing compared to the surge of raw, wild power.

I hit the ground in wolf form with my heart racing.

“It's no use running Luna!” One of them cried out behind me.

“We aren't leaving these woods until you are dead.”

I was scared and, knowing that it was useless to keep running.

I stopped and turned to face them.

“Leave me alone! Please!” I screamed as I panted heavily.

The pack of wolves circled around me, their teeth bared, and they all stared at me with gleaming eyes.

“Look at her,” Varek snarled, his voice in wolf-tongue. “Still think she’s worth something. Do you think that you can defeat us?"

“You want to die on your feet?” another mocked. “Fine, let’s help her die like she should have three years ago.”

Immediately, one of them launched at me, but I wasn't ready to die without a fight even though I was weak.

I slashed one across the snout and a bit into another’s shoulder as blood sprayed all around.

They all began to attack me, and soon I was outnumbered and covered in blood.

They pinned me against the rocks, claws digging into my flanks. I staggered, collapsed, breath coming in sharp bursts.

“Aria, we can't die.” My wolf growls in pain.

“Let's fight back.”

“We can't die like this!”

I tried to get up, but my strength was gone and tears began to roll down my eyes.

"This is it,” Varek growled. “Alpha Kael will be very pleased.” He smirked and raised his claws to strike me, but before he could, we all heard a growl deeper than any of theirs.

Varek panicked and as I looked up, I saw a massive silver-grey wolf stepping out of the trees, its eyes glowing.

At once, he lunged towards Varek and hit him hard on his face, blood splattered all over the grass.

At once, the other wolves began to run toward him, but one could barely turn before the silver wolf tore into him, ripping him from throat to belly.

Another wolf leaped, but he met fangs midair and was crushed beneath paws the size of my head.

I watched as I was frozen in fear.

Screams filled the night and the rest of the wolves tried to flee, but he caught up to each of them.

One by one, I watched as Kael’s men fell, their necks snapped with their dead bodies covered in the pool of blood.

The clearing reeked of blood.

I lay there, barely breathing, pain clouding my vision, but I saw him.

The silver wolf stood above the corpses, blood dripping from his muzzle. His chest rose and fell with steady, unshaken power.

Seeing that there was no wolf left, he turned to me and began to walk towards where I lay.

I was scared, afraid that he might kill me too, but I watched as his eyes softened at the sight of me.

“Who are you?” he asked, his voice deep.

I blinked my eyes and tried to speak, but the pain was too much.

I raised my head slowly, but before I could utter a word, my body gave in, and I lost consciousness, thick darkness overwhelmed me.