Elis
It was that time again - the time when the curse takes charge. The one I had grown used to but never fully learned to endure. The council meeting had just concluded, the weight of pack matters still lingering in the air, when the first wave of pain struck. It came like a tide, unexpected and relentless. My skin burned with heat, my head spun with torment and the pressure of it crushed my chest.
I tried to fight it, to push it back, but there was no controlling it. It had been years, and yet every time felt like the first - excruciating, all-consuming and disorienting. This wasn't something I could allow anyone to witness. Not my Alphas, not my betas and not anyone. The last thing I needed was to appear weak in front of them.
With a sharp motion, I excused myself from the conference room, stepping into the hall as quickly as I could without drawing attention. My beta, Douglas, called after me, but I barely heard him over the thundering pulse in my veins. I didn't want him to see me like this.
I couldn't take it anymore. My feet carried me toward the woods just beyond the pack's territory, as if the trees would offer me some solace. But they didn't. Nothing ever did. The moment I stepped into the forest, the agony hit me full force.
My vision blurred and the burning in my muscles grew worse with each passing second. My wolf, the beast I had worked so hard to keep in check, thrashed inside me, desperate to break free, to howl and run. But I could barely keep hold of myself, let alone let the wolf loose.
I fought it. I tried to breathe and to steady myself, but the fire was spreading through my limbs. I didn't have a choice. I sprinted into the trees, the forest blurring around me as I ran and feeling the power of my wolf pushing through. There was no plan. I wasn't thinking. I was simply trying to outrun the pain, trying to give the beast inside me the freedom it demanded.
Minutes turned into what felt like hours. My paws hit the ground hard, but it didn't matter. The pain didn't relent. It never did. My wolf growled in frustration, fighting for release. Every muscle in my body screamed, and yet, the only thing that could soothe me - could soothe us - was to keep moving. To lose myself in the run.
But where was I headed? I didn't know. I just ran.
At every full moon, the heat appeared. Right now, it coursed through me, an unbearable ache that seized my body and twisted my mind. But the curse… the curse refused to let me feel the presence of a mate. I had been in this state countless times, but tonight, the pain was sharper and more relentless. The fire in my veins burned so fiercely that it felt like my very bones were being scorched.
Shifting into my wolf form was never easy, not under the curse. It was like a wall that blocked the bond between me and my true nature, forcing me to remain human even when every part of me screamed to run and to release the beast within. My wolf howled, trapped, a prisoner within my own body.
The curse was a nightmare no one in my lineage had ever survived. I was certain that I wouldn't be the first to break the cycle. The pain and heat tore at me, overwhelming my senses, weakening my limbs. Eventually, I collapsed to the ground, my body crumpling under the weight of it all. The forest around me blurred as I tried to focus, tried to find some release, some escape from the agony that consumed me.
And that's when I sensed it.
At first, I wasn't sure what it was. My head was spinning and the heat blurring everything. But then, the scent hit me. It was faint at first - like a whisper in the wind - but as it grew stronger, a jolt of recognition struck through me, and I froze.
The realization came crashing over me. How was this possible?
My mind struggled to comprehend it. How could I sense a female human in this condition? I had never been able to sense a she-wolf before, let alone a human. The curse had always blocked me from experiencing the mate bond. I had never been able to find my true mate, never been able to feel the warmth of that connection. So how could this be happening now?
I sniffed harder, my wolf growling restlessly inside me. The bond between us was still hindered by the curse, but the scent… the scent was undeniable. My wolf, desperate and yearning, fought against the restraints I'd put on it. There was something here. Something I couldn't ignore.
The scent was a mix of lavender, wildrose, and something else; something wild and untamed, like the forest itself. The sharpness of the scent cut through the fog of my pain, pushing me to move.
I staggered to my feet, my limbs weak but driven by the instinct of my wolf. The heat was unbearable, but this… this scent, this presence - it was a mystery that I couldn't resist. My wolf howled, eager to run and eager to track this elusive scent.
Without thinking, we began to move, crashing through the woods, the scent pulling us in. It was a strange pull, like a magnet I couldn't escape. And though I had no idea who or what this scent belonged to, I knew one thing; I was going to find out.
The scent worsened the heat, which worsened the curse's agony. My body burned, my limbs weakened and blood slipped from a wound I hadn't noticed. I collapsed onto the forest floor, struggling to breathe as pain consumed me. The scent; lavender, wildrose, and something else, pulled at my senses, dragging me deeper into madness.
And then, my wolf saw her.
A figure, standing in the moonlight, completely unaware of the storm around her. My wolf growled, the primal need to reach her surging through me. I tried to move, but my body refused to obey. The pain was unbearable, but nothing could stop the pull toward her.
She was there, and I couldn't look away.