Chapter 5

After escaping the old woman's house, Leah ran through the forest, consumed by pain, rejection, and despair. Her heart was broken; the man she desired had rejected her.

She didn't know how to cope with so much suffering. It was the first time she had ever been hurt so badly. She transformed into a wolf and quickened her pace. She needed to get as far away from that town as possible.

She promised herself that she would never return.

She would forget the alpha and start over, even if it meant traveling to other places to avoid the temptation of returning to see him.

She screamed as she ran until someone or something hit her body out of nowhere, but she wasn't hurt. When she realized what had happened, she found her furry body wrapped around another furry body.

Looking closely at the wolf that had knocked her down, she saw that it was a huge black wolf with dark eyes. She knew his scent well.

"You?" she growled.

"Leah, why did you run away from the village?" Belial was on top of her, preventing her from escaping again.

"Let me go. I don't want to be in that village or near you."

The she-wolf defended herself as best she could, biting the wolf's muzzle in an attempt to dislodge him, but she couldn't. She noticed how he watched her with a sharp gaze while she tried to break free.

"Leah, Leah..."

"I told you to leave me alone."

She gathered all her strength, bit one of his legs, and managed to free herself from his grip. She tried to run away but felt an intense, excruciating pain in her back that made it impossible.

Her furry body fell to the ground, powerless, as she felt her skull split in two. The pain in her back was disturbing. She was deaf, immobile, and in internal agony.

It was as if she had been stabbed with a poisonous dagger.

Gradually, her body returned to its human state. She writhed on the mossy grass as the thick fur on her body fell off quickly, revealing her whitish human skin.

Leah lay face down, still conscious but in pain, her back stinging horribly. It was a pain unlike anything she had ever felt.

"Everything will be all right now, Leah. You no longer have to run away and live like a savage in the forest. I will protect you from everyone, my moon."

My moon?"

She repeated it in her mind. Where had she heard that before?

She listened to the Alpha's voice in the distance until she closed her eyes and fell asleep—or at least, that's what she thought.