CHAPTER 4:A Beast’s Mercy

The night air was thick with tension, its chill prickling my skin. Lucian’s training had pushed me to my limits over the past few days, his brutal methods demanding nothing less than perfection. My muscles ached, my bruises forming a painful map of my failures. Yet, something inside me had ignited—a determination I couldn’t smother.

Tonight, the moon was full, silver light pouring over the Bloodmoon territory like a curse. I was restless, my instincts sharp, aware of every shift in the air. Lucian had disappeared into the woods earlier, his expression tight and unreadable. His absence should have been a relief. Instead, it left me hollow and uneasy.

A sudden howl pierced the night, raw and guttural. Not a call of triumph, but one of warning.

I leaped from the bed, my heart thundering in my chest. Grabbing the crude dagger Lucian had allowed me to keep, I rushed to the door and yanked it open.

Chaos erupted before my eyes. Wolves clashed in a brutal dance of survival, snarling and tearing into each other with savage fury. Blood sprayed the air, its metallic scent mingling with the earth and sweat.

I spotted Lucian at the center of the carnage, his monstrous wolf form larger than the rest. His black fur gleamed like midnight, his eyes burning with raw fury as he tore through rogues like they were nothing more than fragile twigs.

But there were too many of them.

“Aria!” A familiar voice shouted from my left. I turned to see Kade, Lucian’s most trusted Beta, his expression wild with desperation.

“Get back inside!” he barked, but I couldn’t move.

The rogues were swarming. Too many for Lucian and his warriors to handle. And it was all because of me. Lucian’s words from our training session echoed in my mind. Your life depends on it.

But it wasn’t just my life at stake anymore.

My body moved before my mind caught up. I charged forward, dodging between wolves locked in combat, my eyes locked on Lucian.

A rogue lunged at him from behind. I screamed his name, but the warning came too late. The beast’s claws raked across Lucian’s side, drawing a snarl of pain from his throat.

Fury exploded inside me. I leaped forward, slashing my dagger across the rogue’s flank. The blade dug deep, hot blood spraying across my arm.

The rogue turned on me with wild, hate-filled eyes. It charged, its fangs bared, but I was ready this time. I twisted aside, plunging my dagger into its neck with a strength I didn’t know I had. The beast collapsed at my feet, its body twitching before going still.

My chest heaved with frantic breaths. But there was no time to think, no time to process the horror of what I’d done. More rogues were coming, their eyes gleaming with hunger.

Lucian shifted back into his human form, blood streaming from the wound on his side. His eyes locked onto mine, blazing with a mixture of fury and disbelief.

“I told you to stay inside,” he growled.

“And let you die out here?” I snapped back, my voice trembling but defiant. “Not a chance.”

He looked like he wanted to tear me apart for disobeying him. But then his gaze shifted, his focus sharpening beyond me.

“Behind you!” he shouted.

I spun just in time to see another rogue lunging at me, its claws swiping toward my throat.

A sudden blur of motion, and then Lucian was there, tackling the beast to the ground. His fists hammered into the rogue’s skull, his rage unleashed with brutal precision.

But his strength was waning. The injury was slowing him down.

And the rogues knew it.

The ground trembled beneath their relentless onslaught. Lucian fought with everything he had, but even his power had limits.

More rogues emerged from the shadows, their numbers overwhelming. I watched in horror as Lucian stumbled, his knees buckling under the weight of his own exhaustion.

“Lucian!” I screamed, rushing toward him. But before I could reach him, a rogue knocked me to the ground, its teeth grazing my shoulder. Pain seared through me, white-hot and blinding.

But I couldn’t give up. Not now.

I slammed the dagger into the creature’s throat, my arms shaking from the force of the strike. The rogue’s body crumpled against me, its blood soaking into my clothes.

Lucian staggered to his feet, his gaze wild as he searched for me. When our eyes met, something shifted in him. A resolve that went beyond his rage.

He reached down and grabbed my arm, pulling me to my feet. “We need to get out of here. Now.”

“But the pack—”

“They’ll fight. They’ll survive. Right now, you’re my priority.”

Before I could argue, he swept me into his arms and bolted into the darkness, his powerful strides carrying us away from the blood-soaked battleground.

But even as we ran, I couldn’t escape the echo of the rogues’ howls, their murderous hunger tearing through the night.

We crashed through the forest, branches whipping against our skin, the scent of blood and terror clinging to us like a curse.

Finally, Lucian slowed, his breathing ragged. He eased me down, his hands lingering on my arms as if to reassure himself I was still alive.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he snapped, his voice a mix of anger and something else—something like desperation.

“I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing,” I said, my own anger flaring. “You were dying, Lucian. I couldn’t—”

“I told you to stay inside,” he repeated, his voice trembling. “I can’t protect you if you keep throwing yourself into danger.”

“Maybe I don’t need protecting,” I shot back.

The silence between us was heavy, the air thick with emotions neither of us wanted to name. His gaze softened, the fire in his eyes dimming.

“Maybe you don’t,” he admitted. “But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to lose you.”

The words struck me like a physical blow. Something shifted between us then, something deeper than fear or anger. Something that felt almost like mercy.