Pack Is Under Attack

Rhiannon

I woke up on my birthday morning with a gnawing hole in my gut. This was supposed to be a day of celebration, a rite of passage marking my eighteenth year and the arrival of my wolf, a bond I’d been desperate for since the night everything changed.

But when I opened my eyes, there was nothing but an aching silence in my mind, a void where my wolf should have been. My heart sank as the crushing weight of what was to come began to settle over me.

Alpha Talon wouldn’t waste a second now that I was old enough, he'd made it very clear this day would be the beginning of his domination of me, physically and spiritually.

I could barely muster the energy to rise from the bed and yet I dragged myself out of the bed and disregarded the torturing aches of the past punishment, each wound, each bruise.

My bones throbbed from the memory of Talon's brutality and his relentless attempts to break me.

It had been five years of survival through his sadistic whims, five years of keeping myself intact. And yet, as the hours ticked closer to noon, the emptiness in my mind only grew heavier.

I had a gut feeling he’d be coming soon, and there was little I could do to prepare myself for what I knew would be his worst attempt yet.

I wrapped my arms around myself, my fingers digging into my flesh, trying to remind myself of my own strength, my resilience. I hadn’t broken all this time, surely, I could endure another day.

And then, I heard the heavy footsteps approaching my door.

The door flung open with such force that the walls shook.Alpha Talon staggered in, his eyes glassy and bloodshot, the stench of alcohol and rage clinging to him like a second skin.

I tensed immediately, my breath catching as his gaze settled on me with a predatory gleam.

“Oh, Rhiannon,” he slurred, a twisted smile spreading across his lips. “Finally. Today’s the day, isn’t it? No more games.”

I swallowed, pressing myself against the wall, trying to melt into it, willing it to shield me from his gaze. He moved closer, each step deliberate, savoring the fear he knew I couldn’t entirely hide.

“You can’t run from me,” he sneered, his words dripping with malice. He lunged, grabbing my wrists and pinning me tight against the hard wall, squeezing hard.

I wriggled with every fiber of my being to free myself but he only squeezed tighter, his hands grasping into me, fingernails like razors.

“Please, don’t do this,” I croaked, barely able to keep the tremor from my voice. But he laughed, a sound, deep and contemptuous.

“Begging won’t save you now,” he sneered, his voice filled with a chilling satisfaction. He leaned closer, his breath hot and reeking of alcohol against my skin. I struggled against the urge to lose my focus, to find any scrap of strength I could muster.

As his hands traveled lower, I shut my eyes, my mind screaming for help. But there was no wolf inside me to help, no power to draw from, only the cold realization that I was truly alone in this.

In that instant, an image of Alpha Kaden flashed before me, strong, calm, a force I never understood.

Something in that memory, that face, broke through the despair that had been choking me. I couldn’t explain why or how, but the sight of Kaden’s face lit a spark in me I thought had been burned out.

A surge of strength rushed through me, raw and wild, and I did the only thing I could think of. My hand shot up and grabbed Alpha Talon by the ba**s, twisting as hard as I could.

A guttural scream tore through him, a sound of shock and pain that reverberated through the room. He doubled over, clutching himself, his face a distorted mask of pain and rage.

“You... b***h!” he spat, his voice strangled with rage. “You think you’re tough, huh? I’ll s…show you!”

He lunged at me again, this time with his fists flying. I held my breath, bracing myself, refusing to scream, to give him the pleasure that he desired.

Blow after blow hit me, and with every one I felt my body breaking from inside out, but I held back from crying out. The pain was unbearable as if all my bones had been shattered, yet I held onto that spark of resistance, that image of Kaden's face.

Then, at last, Talon drew back, panting, I was exhausted, barely holding unto consciousness.

It was like every inch of my skin was … on fire. Every part of my body was battered and bruised, my vision was hazy with swollen flesh covering my eyeballs. The room tipped and I tumbled forward, my muscles giving way.

Talon fixed his hateful glare on me, his anger intermixed with something colder, something more sinister. He ran a hand through his hair, smoothing it back as he composed himself, and then he turned on his heel, leaving the room with a final snarl. “Stay here. Don’t even think about running. I’ll be back for you, and you’ll regret this.”

The door slammed shut, leaving me in the oppressive quiet. For a brief moment I considered crawling to the window, hoping to find a way out, but every single muscle in my body cried out in protest, and darkness pulled at the edges of my vision. My body shut down before my mind could and I fell unconscious.

When I finally came out of it, the faint sounds of chaos filtered through the haze in my mind. It took several seconds to orient myself, to remember where I was. Pain flared once more, a brutal reminder that Talon had somehow done his worst, but somehow I was still alive.

Groggily, I pulled myself up, wincing as every movement sent shocks of agony through my body.

I only just managed to get a shirt around my head before there was a lot of frantic banging at the door. A warrior’s voice cut through the silence. “Rhiannon! Get out here, now!”

I stumbled toward the door, pulling it open to find him waiting with an expression I couldn’t quite read. His gaze flickered over me with what appeared to be pity before he yanked my arm and pulled me down a hall.

“What… what’s happening?” I gasped, barely able to keep up with his hurried pace.

“The pack is under attack,” he said gruffly, glancing back at me as though weighing whether to explain further. “We need to get you somewhere safe.”

The words barely registered as we reached the main entrance, where the smell of smoke and the sounds of chaos hit me all at once.

Chaos was heavy in the air, and from afar I watched flames creep up the sides of the buildings, rising from the street level. People were sprinting, yelling out to one another, the environment cacophonous and confusing.

My heart pounded as I took in the sight of strange men, faces painted with symbols I didn’t recognize, charging through the pack with weapons raised. They moved with brutal efficiency, attacking anyone who crossed their path.

The warrior beside me cursed, drawing his own weapon as a group of the painted men spotted us. “Run, Rhiannon!” he shouted, pushing me behind him. He lunged at the first attacker, engaging him in a vicious struggle.

But it was over quickly, these men moved with a skill that far surpassed any of our warriors. Within seconds, the warrior lay motionless on the ground, and I found myself surrounded.

I tried to fight them off, swinging wildly, my mind a blur of panic and pain, but it was useless. One of them grabbed me from behind, holding my arms tight while another sneered down at me, with blood and paint smudged on his face.

“Looks like we found the prize,” he quipped with a leer, his fingers tracing a line down my cheek. I struggled against his grip, but my movements were weak, my body barely able to withstand the struggle.

They lifted me as though I was weightless, carrying me away from the burning buildings and the charred remainsof my pack. I didn’t stop struggling, even though I knew it was hopelessly futile, even though every movement sent new waves of pain coursing through my body.

Desperation clawed at my chest, the realization sinking in that I was truly helpless, prey to beasts who did not give a damn whether I lived or died.

I barely registered the prick of a needle in my neck before the world began to blur, my vision dimming. Panic surged in my veins, but I could do nothing to fight it as the darkness swallowed me whole, the sounds of my shattered pack fading into oblivion.