chapter one : the encounter
The dark, covert alleys whispered sounds of dead, reciting bloody histories of those who had stepped in them. The haunting shadows of nocturnal creatures decorated the black, crumbling walls. Except for occasional animalistic howls and growls, it was a silent, starless night.
She hugged her cloak tighter, sheathing herself from the thousand dangers she knew surrounded her. Her head was filled with despaired thoughts, a sliver of the million demanding her to shush her heartbeat, for it was too loud- perhaps, it could attract some bad attention. And that wasn't desired at all in her current state.
She never found it difficult to merge into the shadows; it was what she did for her whole life, ever since she realised that even if she tried, it would only be met with condescension. If she tried to solve a problem, 'mend' bonds, or tried to tell them a piece of her story, it resulted in a lot of emotional and physical abuse. And then she learnt it, later than she probably should have, after having bruises decorate her porcelain skin and letting on the burden of a dozen psychiatric problems. It finally hit her that no one wanted to acknowledge her existence as a fellow wolf in their community, that for them, she was just a speck of dirt on the roads, too insignificant to be noticed, and too powerless to not be stamped on casually.
All this because she was something they could never be in their dreams.
Her fists clenched in anger, frustration and trauma that was buried in for years resurfacing, as she silently crossed the muddy street stealthily, effortlessly becoming that speck of dirt again. The lurking creatures of dark seemed to be blind to the quiet intruder, and it seemed as if now, she had become one of those ignored, pitiable races who could never come out in light.
Yet, even they wouldn't recognize her of their kind. No one wanted her on their side.
Well, I fly solo, she thought dryly.
She felt her eyes burning with tears, hating herself for being this pathetic to actually cry. Kaia paced forward, defiantly looking nowhere, in vain hoping to contain the flow of emotional hormones. Her head throbbed, screaming its plea to let all the piled up garbage out through the flashes of trauma it displayed. And then, the dam broke. A hiccup escaped her, resonating the pain she endured.
She clamped her palm across her lips, silencing herself as she sobbed, letting no sound out making sure the sonic waves would not betray the secret of her fragility to the world. Her knuckles whitened, her hands still clenched as a fist as she fell to her knees, the voices of her father, wishing she was never born, accusing her of being a taboo ripped through her ears. Time seemed to stand still as she violently thrashed within herself, crouched to the ground, attempting to concrete herself strong enough that the small, vile opinions of this world wouldn't gnaw their claws in and break her.
She was not going to be broken.
Tenaciously, she stood up, drained inside but on the surface, posture straight and perfect. And then, she did something different and practically, meaningless.
Kaia tilted her head to look at the revered moon goddess. Her deep, chocolate, brimmed with hidden tears of hatred, accusingly stared at the only mother she knew. Prayers, sacred rituals, hours of devotion, what had she not done?
It was with pure disgust that Kaia, with her head raised to the moon, whispered, her voice sizzling with fury, ‘I hate you.’
She had broken the spell of silence of the twilight
Her mother, shining in her divinity, her soft luminance nothing less than sorcery, chose that moment to respond to the ‘damned’ girl.
In the form of an even more damned man.
“Turn around.”
Kaia flinched when she heard it. The voice. Rough, deep, and dangerously low. She could feel his aura, powerful and deadly enough to sow a seed of fear in her. And she swore she felt tremors through her, goosebumps all over her.
“If you do not turn around and walk to me in exactly 20 seconds, the consequences will be terrifying, omega.” The voice came from behind her, slow, calm and dangerously soft. Yet, in every syllable was a warning to not take them lightly. His deep, powerful voice made the message clear. The threat wasn't empty and that he would take pleasure in keeping up his word.
Kaia ignored the shiver she felt.
Her jaw clenched; no one commanded or threatened her. The mock he held in his words for her did not escape her, a surge of hatred rising within her, reflecting in her tightened fists. She could imagine the sneer his lips would have held as they formed the word: omega. Something lowly for the alphas, something to be played with.
Kaia realised through her fury that she was actually counting. And that 5 seconds were done.
But, then, something different was happening. The smell of blackwood, mixed with burning ash overwhelmed her senses. Her head started to feel dizzy. Izzie, her wolf and her only friend, became louder, quivering and behaving strangely,
10 seconds passed, and she still had no plan. That was unusual for her. She forced her mind to think, simultaneously feeling his deep, calm and even breathing from behind.
It was after fifteen seconds that she finally realised what was happening, the sound of her heart pounding on her chest and her rasped breathing was all she could hear, her face whitened. Her vision blurred at the anticipation and the sharp realisation. Silent anger and sheer despair coursed through her veins as she stood limply, in that second, lost to fate, unsure and nothing more than a normal nineteen year old omega.
He was her mated wolf.
And, call it instincts of a broken girl, but Kaia had a feeling that it was the alpha.
What was even worse? Well, the alpha knew that she was his mate and he was not going to leave her alone before shattering her dreams; her.
Great.
Eighteen seconds left and then, she ran.
Practically for her life.
published on 24th Oct, 2024,
hope you enjoyed that :)
