CHAPTER 4:
(The Night I Chose to Run)
The night I decided to leave, the Varkryth Pack was really cold. I sat behind the Omega quarters with my back against the wooden wall staring out into the dark forest that surrounded the territory. The wind moved softly through the trees carrying the scent of my pack. The wolves I had lived beside for years. Now they looked at me like I no longer belonged among them. The moon hung above the forest, pale and distant, reminding me of the night at Lunareth Mirror. That was the night the Rite of the Silver Ascension revealed a bond that should have changed my life. Instead, it destroyed it.
My wolf existedreally uneasy beneath my ribs. She had been restless for days wounded and confused after the bond had been torn apart before it could truly exist. I pressed my hand against my chest. I tried to steady my breathing but the ache inside me refused to fade. Everywhere I went in the pack I felt it. The whispers. The stares. The pity that burned worse than mockery. Some wolves avoided me entirely, stepping aside as if my scent carried a curse. Others stared openly, their eyes filled with curiosity and cruel amusement. The Alphas rejected mate. Those words followed me everywhere. The Warriors spoke to them quietly behind my back. Omegas whispered to them when they thought I could not hear.
I kept my head down. Moved quickly through the pack halls whenever I could but there was no hiding from it. The humiliation lived in every corner of Varkryth territory. Even the scent of the pack. The scent that once felt comforting. Now my stomach twists. I squeezed my eyes shut. Leaned my head back against the wall. Draevors face flashed through my mind without warning. The way his silver eyes had looked at me across the clearing. The way his voice had sounded when he spoke the words of the Ritual of Severance. I felt the sting of tears building behind my eyes and forced them away. I refused to cry. Not for him. Not for the bond that had barely begun before it was shattered.
My wolf whimpered softly inside me remembering the connection even if it no longer existed. That was the part of everything. My wolf still recognized him. I still wanted him. No matter how painful the rejection caused, my instincts had not forgotten. I wrapped my arms around myself trying to hold back the trembling in my body. "I cannot stay here " I whispered into the darkness. The words felt strange when I said them out loud but they were true. Varkryth Pack was no longer my home. Every path I walked reminded me of the rejection. Every wolf I passed reminded me that I had been cast aside by the Alpha himself.
If I stayed the whispers would never stop. My wolf stirred again sensing the shift in my thoughts. Leave. The idea had lived quietly in my mind for days. At first, it had seemed impossible. Wolves did not abandon their pack. The pack was everything. Protection, survival, belonging. Especially for an Omega. Outside pack territory a lone Omega was nothing but prey. Rogues hunted wolves who wandered alone. Some packs enslaved them. Others simply drove them away. Without a pack, there were no laws to protect you. No warriors to guard the borders. No Betas to keep order.
The outside world was cruel to wolves who had no place to belong. My heart began to beat as I stood slowly from the ground. The decision had already been made inside me even if I had been too afraid to admit it until now. I could not stay here any longer. If I remained in Varkryth territory the pack would slowly break what pride I had left. My wolf lifted her head slightly uncertain but alert. I walked quietly back into the Omega quarters careful not to wake the others sleeping inside. The small room felt strangely unfamiliar now. This had been my home for years. I had slept in this bed and shared meals with the Omegas. I lived my quiet life beneath the protection of the pack.
Now it felt like a place that no longer belonged to me. I moved quietly through the room and gathered a few small supplies. Dried meat wrapped in cloth, a water flask, and a thick cloak for the cold nights ahead. It was not much. It would have to be enough. My hands trembled as I tied the bundle closed. Once I stepped beyond the territory borders there would be no turning back. I looked around the room one time. None of the Omegas stirred. None of them knew I was leaving. For a moment I wondered if anyone would even notice when I was gone. Then I. Walked out into the night.
The forest air felt sharp and cold against my face. I pulled the cloak tighter around my shoulders. Started down the narrow path that led away from the pack houses. My heart pounded with every step. The territory was quiet at this hour. Warrior patrols still moved through the outer paths. If one of them saw me leaving they would stop me immediately. Wolves did not simply walk away from their pack. Especially not Omegas. I kept to the trails used by hunters moving carefully through the shadows between the trees. Every sound made my wolf tense. A branch snapped beneath my foot. Leaves rustling in the wind. The distant howl of another wolf deep in the forest.
Fear curled slowly in my stomach. I had never traveled beyond Varkryth territory alone before. The farther I walked the fainter the pack scent became behind me. Soon the pack houses were gone. Then the training grounds disappeared behind the trees. The territory markers. Large stones carved with the symbol of the Varkryth Pack. Came into view ahead. My steps slowed as I reached them. This was the border. The edge of the home I had never known. Beyond this point, the protection of the pack ended. I stood there for a moment staring into the dark forest beyond the boundary line.
My wolf hesitated inside me. Fear wrapped around my chest like a tightening rope. Outside this territory, I would be alone. No warriors would protect me. No Alpha would claim me. I would be nothing more than a runaway Omega wandering through dangerous lands. Rogues could attack. Other packs might chase me away. I might not survive the winter. The truth settled heavily in my chest. I could die there. My breathing shook as I looked back over my shoulder. Somewhere behind those trees stood the pack halls. Somewhere inside them was Draevor Kaelith. The Alpha who had broken the bond between us without hesitation. The Alpha my wolf is still recognized as her mate.
Pain flickered through my chest again. I forced myself to look. Slowly I stepped past the territory marker. The moment I crossed the border something inside me shifted. The scent of the pack faded completely. My wolf lifted her head suddenly alert and aware. Freedom. The feeling was small and fragile. It was there. For the time since the rejection, I felt something other than shame pressing against my chest. The world beyond Varkryth territory stretched wide and uncertain before me. Fear still curled inside me. There was also something else now. Choice. I pulled my cloak tighter. Began walking deeper into the forest.
The trees grew thicker as the territory disappeared behind me. The sounds of the pack faded until there was only wind and distant animal calls in the darkness. Far away a wolf howled. Not a Varkryth wolf. A rogue. My heart jumped into my throat as I quickened my pace. The reality of my situation settled over me quickly. I was truly alone now. A runaway Omega with no pack to protect her. Every shadow between the trees felt like a threat. Every sound made my wolf tense, ready to run if danger appeared. Still, I kept moving. I did not know where I was going. I only knew I could never return to the life I left behind.
The forest swallowed me slowly as I walked deeper, into the night.. Somewhere far behind me beyond the territory I had abandoned the Alpha who rejected me still existed beneath the same moon. My wolf stirred quietly inside me whispering the truth I could not escape. No matter how far I ran from Varkryth Pack, Alpha Draevor Kaelith was still my mate.