Despite the storm swirling inside my chest, I tried to ignore the growing fear. I didn't want to think about what might be about to happen.But the world has a cruel way of forcing us to face the truth… even when we're not ready.
A deep, guttural, and deafening roar cut through the night air. The windows of the hall vibrated. A muffled scream arose from the crowd of alphas, filled with panic.
My body reacted before my mind. Laisa stirred inside me, alert, senses sharp. Ready to attack. To defend us.
—What was that? —I asked, alarmed.
Aidan was already on his feet. His eyes shone with an unsettling golden glow. His body tensed. Something inside him had awakened. His wolf was taking control.
—They're attacking us —he said, his voice low, dangerous.
Without another word, he dashed toward the door leading outside. I followed, driven by a mix of fear and adrenaline. A part of me, the most instinctive, knew this attack was no accident. It was tied to Gabriel, the engagement… and everything Aidan had just revealed to me.
Outside, the air grew heavier, denser. The shadows beneath the trees seemed to move with a life of their own. The roars continued, accompanied by war cries and the unmistakable sound of bodies transforming. The calm was over. The night was turning into a battlefield.
Aidan didn't stop. He took off his jacket in one movement and, before my eyes, his body changed. Bones cracked, muscles expanded. His human form melted away, giving way to a majestic creature with dark fur and golden eyes blazing with fury. A wolf, yes. But not like the others. Wilder. Older. Much larger than normal.
I froze. What stood before me was neither human nor fully beast. It was something else. Something I had already sensed, even before knowing.
—Sofía! —Aidan roared. His voice, distorted by the transformation, remained clear—. Run!
I obeyed without thinking. I turned and ran, Laisa pushing hard from within. But something stopped me.
A new crash.
And a figure emerged from the shadows, swift as lightning.
Gabriel.
His wolf form was unmistakable: silver fur, eyes burning with rage. At first, I thought he was coming for me. But his gaze turned toward the attackers.
—Gabriel! —I shouted, but he didn't hear me.
Tension exploded. The attackers finally appeared from among the trees. They were wolves… but deformed, disorderly, and filthy. Their eyes burned with resentment. Renegades. Wolves without a pack. Wolves with broken bonds.
Aidan charged at them with lethal fury, his movements precise and swift. Gabriel fought too, but from another direction. Both, each in his own way, fought to protect something. Me? The pack? Themselves?
And then I saw her.
A woman among the renegades.
Light hair. Eyes full of rage. She moved with lethal grace, almost beautiful.
Elianne. She hadn't transformed, remaining in human form.
My world crumbled a little.
What was she doing… with them?
I couldn't process it. While Aidan and Gabriel fought like living storms, I could only think about her. The betrayal in her eyes. The truth I didn't understand.
Aidan knocked down a renegade, but one of them managed to injure him. A claw opened a wound on his left side. He retreated with a fierce growl but didn't fall. He didn't stop.
My wolf roared inside me, demanding action. But I remained frozen.
Then, Gabriel appeared beside me. His gaze had changed. There was no time for words. Only survival.
—Sofía, run! —he shouted, transformed back into human.
Something in his voice made me want to follow him. To trust.
But before I could move, Aidan stepped in, roaring with rage.
—Don't come near her! —his voice was a sharp blow, full of fire.
Gabriel and Aidan faced each other. Two opposing forces. Not only because of the battle. Because of me.
—She's not yours to protect —Gabriel spat, jealousy pounding in every word.
Aidan didn't back down. Though wounded, he stood firm, defiant. His gaze toward Gabriel was war itself.
I was at the center of the storm. The connection with Aidan, the attraction toward Gabriel… everything overflowed. And I didn't want to admit I couldn't choose. Not yet.
A roar from the renegades forced me to react. One lunged at me.
—Sofía! —Aidan shouted, his body a swift shadow, knocking down the attacker with overwhelming fury.
I ran.
I plunged into the trees, the sounds of battle behind me. And then I felt it. Aidan was beside me again, in human form, panting.
—Come on! —he urged, taking my hand.
We ventured down a hidden path. Behind us, roars, screams, and chaos faded. But everything disappeared when he looked at me.
His golden eyes, burning with contained emotion, both burned and froze me at once.
—Sofía —he whispered—. Don't leave me.
His words pierced me. Something in him called to me with a force impossible to ignore. The same I'd felt when I met him. The same that had haunted me ever since.
I didn't understand it. But I felt it.
He took a step closer.
—What's between us isn't simple. I won't leave you alone in this.
His gaze held a vulnerability that disarmed me. He was struggling too… just like me.
A crash made me turn. The renegades had followed us.
—Aidan! —I shouted, but he was already transforming back into a wolf.
Once again, the creature emerged. Majestic. Fierce.
And this time, it wasn't fear I felt. It was pride.
Aidan charged at the renegades with the fury of a storm. And as I watched him fight, I knew the connection between us wasn't an illusion.
But guilt hit me like a cold wave.
What was happening with Gabriel? With my engagement to the pack?
Everything was falling apart.
Gabriel continued fighting in the distance. Elianne had crossed a line. And I… was torn.
And as Aidan looked at me amid the chaos, I knew I couldn't go back.
I was trapped between two worlds.
And neither was what it seemed.