Chapter 2 The Wolf Within

The cold bit at Selene’s skin as she moved deeper into the forest, her bare feet cutting against rocks and roots. She didn’t care. The pain in her chest swallowed everything else. Rejected. The word echoed in her mind like a curse. It wasn’t just that Kael Thorn had denied the mate bond—it was the public shame, the humiliation, the look in his eyes. As if she were beneath him. As if the very thought of her had disgusted him. She collapsed near the banks of the Silverstream River, her dress soaked and tattered, knees scraping the earth. The bond hadn’t just broken—it had torn her open. She could still feel the phantom pull toward him, the spark that had ignited and was now fading like dying embers. “Why?” she whispered to no one. “Why would the Moon Goddess give me a mate like him… only to have him throw me away?” The forest didn’t answer. Only the wind stirred the trees, rustling leaves like murmurs of forgotten gods. For so long, Selene had dreamed of this moment—not of Kael Thorn specifically, but of belonging. Of finally being chosen. Of finding someone who saw her. Instead, she’d been reminded, in the cruelest way, that she would always be the outsider. A dull ache pulsed at the base of her skull. Her body trembled, not from cold, but from something deeper—something rising within her. Her wolf. But it was different this time. Usually, her wolf was faint, a distant whisper, barely present. Now it snarled inside her, scratching at the walls of her soul, restless and hungry. He rejected us. The words weren’t her own, but they came from within, fierce and furious. He rejected the Moon. He rejected what is ours. Selene gasped. Her vision blurred, then sharpened. The trees pulsed with life, her senses stretching beyond human limits. She could smell deer miles away, hear the heartbeat of a rabbit beneath the snow. “What’s happening to me?” she murmured. Her wolf didn’t answer in words, but in instinct. And that instinct screamed to run. So she did. She tore through the forest, her body moving faster than it ever had before. Her limbs stretched, her bones ached, and fire roared beneath her skin. A transformation had begun, not like the painful forced shifts of omegas, but something more fluid, more natural. Selene shifted for the first time. Her paws hit the earth with power and grace. Her coat was as black as the void, her eyes glowing silver under the moonlight. She was fast—faster than any wolf in her pack. The wind sang around her, and for the first time in her life, she felt alive. She wasn’t weak. She wasn’t a mistake. She was something else entirely. She ran until dawn began to stain the sky pink. Then, panting and exhilarated, she collapsed in a patch of moss near a small cave. She shifted back, breath ragged, body shaking from exhaustion. Sleep claimed her before she even realized her eyes had closed. — When Selene awoke, the sun was high above the trees, and the forest had softened with the warmth of day. She sat up slowly, muscles aching from the shift. It hadn’t been a normal transformation. It had felt… ancient. Elemental. Like the forest itself had responded. She dressed in the spare clothes she always kept in her hidden pack near the stream. Old jeans, boots, and a dark hoodie. They felt more like armor than comfort. Her first instinct was to return home—to face the stares, the whispers. But then she remembered the look in Alpha Callen’s eyes when Kael had rejected her. Pity and irritation. Like her pain was an inconvenience. No. She couldn’t go back. Not yet. She had to find out what had awakened inside her. There was one place she could start: the archives. Every pack had a library of sorts—scrolls, records, legends passed down through generations. Most of it was locked away, only accessible to ranked wolves. But Selene knew how to sneak in. She’d done it before, as a child looking for stories about her parents. She hadn’t found much then. Maybe now would be different. By twilight, Selene had slipped past the guards near the Alpha's den and crept down the narrow tunnel behind the waterfall—an old escape route few remembered. It led directly beneath the archives. Inside, the chamber smelled of dust and parchment. Shelves stretched to the ceiling, filled with tomes bound in worn leather, scrolls tied with fading ribbons, and tablets etched in ancient runes. She lit a small oil lamp and began scanning the titles. Most were mundane—histories of bloodlines, records of battles. But something on the back shelf caught her eye. A book with no title. Bound in black hide, sealed with a silver clasp. It hummed when she touched it. She opened it carefully. The text was written in an old dialect, but she could make out enough to understand: > When the Moon bleeds, and the wolf is cast aside, the true fire shall awaken within the chosen… A wolf of shadow and flame, born to challenge the old ways, bound not by fate but by power… Selene’s pulse raced. A wolf of shadow and flame. She thought of her midnight coat, her glowing silver eyes. The power she had felt while running. The ancient strength within her. This wasn’t just a rejection. It was an awakening. What am I? she wondered. She didn’t have an answer. But one thing was clear: the Moon Goddess hadn’t made a mistake. Kael Thorn had. And Selene Blackwood wasn’t going to let that rejection define her. She was going to rise.