Alexandra's POV
Run! That's what my gut screamed. But I didn't know if I wanted to run from Adrian Wolfe or toward him.
His hand was still out, the offer hanging there in the cold.
A new path.
Ethan chose to break me. Adrian was giving me a choice—to get up, fight back, to be something other than a rejected mate with a broken heart.
I should've walked away.
Instead, I looked him in the eye and asked, What are you offering me?
He smiled, something hidden in his eyes. Power, freedom, and revenge, if you want it.
Revenge... The word sent a shiver down my back, waking up uncommon and dark inside.
Adrian's eyes locked on me like he could see the change. Come with me, Alexandra. Let me show you that you were never meant to be just a woman kneeling down to fate.
His words sent me an unthinkable thoughts. He was right.
I was done being at fate's mercy.
I lifted my chin, letting go of any hesitation. Show me!
Adrian's smiles got darker, almost approving. Good choice, princess.
Then, he grabbed me.
I gasped as his fingers touched my wrist, sending a weird heat through me. Not the burning pain of Ethan's rejection, but something else. Something new and electric.
Try to keep up, he said, teasing, before running into the trees.
I stopped for a second, then, I ran after him.
The night air smelled like wet earth and adrenaline. Adrian was like a shadow, fast and smooth, moving through the trees like he was part of the dark.
I wasn't slow, but he was faster, and tougher. He was seeing if I could keep up, to see if I was worth it.
And I did.
The wind rushed past as I caught up, close enough to see his smirk.
He was enjoying this.
I hated that I was too.
We ran until the forest opened up in a clearing. It was wide and lit by the moon, the air filled with something old.
I slowed down. Where are we?
Adrian stopped ahead, breathing steadily.
A place where power is earned, he said, turning to me. And where you decide if you're ready.
His voice made my heart race.
The ground wasn't just land. It was alive.
What are you talking about? I asked, narrowing my eyes.
He stepped closer. You feel it, right?
I did.
A weird energy was around us—something out of this world.
Adrian lifted his head. This is where you let go of who you were.
I swallowed, my heart pounding. What if I don't?
He grinned. Then you won't survive what's next.
Before I could ask, the ground shook.
Something was coming. Something is waiting for me.
As the shadows moved, I knew I was stepping into something I wasn't ready for.
The ground shook, a warning.
Something was waking up. Something old.
I turned to Adrian, but he wasn't surprised. He looked like he was expecting this.
What's happening? I asked, trying to stay calm.
Adrian stepped closer. You wanted to know what I'm offering? He sounded softer now, almost sweet. Then face it.
The ground rumbled again, and this time, things changed in the air. The energy got thick, like hands squeezing me.
Something inside me reacted. A heat flashed in my chest, strange but familiar, like a memory I'd forgotten.
I made fists. Face what, Adrian?
He watched me closely, making me shiver.
Your awakening.
As he said that, the ground cracked under me.
I reluctantly moved before black shadows poured out of the earth, swirling before coming at me.
I jumped back, but the dark didn't touch me. Instead, it circled me, like it was tasting me, testing me.
I gasped as something inside me reached back to it.
I should have been scared. I should have run. But I didn't.
I knew this power.
I always knew it was there.
Adrian called out, Don't fight it.
I looked at him. What is this?
He smiled. Yours.
The word hit me. Mine?
The shadows got closer, energy pulsing through me like a heartbeat. My chest got tight, my skin burning with something beyond pain.
I clenched my teeth as the force inside me pulled, wanting to be free.
Then the whispers started.
Soft at first.
Then louder.
Not words, but something older. A call from the dark.
My body froze, my breathing shallow as I saw things.
Fire. Blood. A battlefield in the moonlight.
Ethan, his face in pain, reaching for me but unable to touch me.
Adrian, next to me, his eyes glowing.
And then Lucien stood far away, watching me like he knew I'd end up here.
Waiting.
A pain shot through my head, and I gasped, grabbing it.
The shadows pulsed around me, doing what I was feeling.
Alexandra, Adrian said, strong and calm.
I forced my eyes open.
The dark pulled back a little, like it was waiting for me.
I took shaky breath. What... what did you do?
Adrian's smirk was gone. I did nothing. He stepped closer, softer now. This was always inside you.
I shivered. That's not true.
He tilted his head. You know it is.
I shook my head, backing away. No.
I wasn't like him. I wasn't like Lucien.
I was just... A rejected mate.
A broken woman who was thrown away.
But the shadows around my wrists said something different.
Adrian sighed. Stop fighting, Alexandra. You've been stuck with a fate you didn't want. Now you can break free.
My chest rose and fell, my heart pounding.
He was wrong.
He had to be wrong.
But the way the dark held on to me, how it pulsed with me...
I wasn't so sure.
Adrian looked at me for a long time before whispering, You feel it, right?
I did.
And that scared me.
Before I could answer, the ground shook again, harder.
A growl came from the trees.
My blood went cold.
Something was coming.
Adrian's eyes flicked past me, his face hard. It looks like we have company.
The growl came again, closer.
Then, a huge wolf stepped out of the dark, its eyes burning.
Not just any wolf.
A rogue.
No.
More than one.
I saw another pair of glowing eyes.
Then another and more.
I gasped as more of them came into the clearing, their bodies still, their eyes on me.
Not Adrian.
Me.
They weren't here by accident.
They had been sent.
As the first one jumped, I knew that whoever sent them knew what I'd just woken up to.