The First Kill

The First Kill
Chapter 10

The First Kill

The nights that followed the blood oath were unlike anything Selene had ever known. Her veins no longer belonged to her; something wild ran through them, something that pulsed with untamed energy. At night, when the forest was still, she could hear it thrumming beneath her skin like a storm waiting to break. It came in bursts occasionally—her breath fogging even when the air was warm, the earth trembling imperceptibly when her temper flared, sparks skating along her palms when she clenched her fists. She could not control it, and that frightened her more than Kael's shadow.

Ronan noticed it too. His sharp eyes caught each stumble, each tremble in her stance when they trained. He pushed her harder, drove her until her muscles screamed, until her lungs pleaded for air. He assaulted her with wooden blades, had her dodge falling branches, tested her with traps hidden in the snow. Each time, Selene was not able to call upon the power at will. And when she finally did, it came like a tidal wave, overwhelming, destructive—trees cracking, stones splitting, the air vibrating with unseen force.

“You’re not ready,” Ronan warned one evening, wiping blood from a cut on his arm after a near-disastrous surge. “Control must come before strength. Otherwise, it’ll consume you.”

But there was no time. Deep in the woods, a stench had begun to taint the air—metallic, foul, with an underlying menace of attack. Rogues.

Selene smelled them first, a sharp sting that burned her throat. The howls followed, carried on the wind. She stiffened, body locked in memory, a flashback to Kael's men pursuing her, their teeth snapping inches from her flesh. Ronan stiffened, nostrils flaring, eyes narrowing to wolf-black.

"They're close," he breathed. "Too close."

Her chest tightened. "Kael?"

"No." His voice was grim, certain. "But his hand is in this. He wants proof. Proof that you still live."

The understanding hit her like a dousing of cold water. Her uncle had sent them to confirm what he suspected—and if they found her, it would be no longer rumor or suspicion. It would be war.

Ronan's hand tightened around her arm. "Stay behind me."

Yet even as he said it, the first snarl tore through the night. A blur of gray fur and red eyes tore through the underbrush, hurling itself directly at Selene with deadly intent. Ronan transformed in mid-air, his body cracking and stretching into the massive black wolf she had always known, slamming into the rogue with a bone-jarring impact. Blood splattered onto the snow.

Selene had hardly a moment to flinch when a second one came from the right, claws shredding the air where her throat had been a moment before. She recoiled backward, panic shredding her chest. Instinct screamed. Something inside her burst. Her hand flashed out, and the air around her exploded.

The rogue was hurled backward, slamming into a tree with such impact the trunk exploded open. There was quiet for a heartbeat, broken only by Selene's own ragged gasp for breath. She stared at her hand, trembling, sparks still skating along her skin.

There was no rest, no mercy. More shadows rippled through the trees, eyes glowing red in the darkness. Three. Four. Maybe more.

Ronan roared, tearing through one with savage strength, but another assaulted his flank. Selene heard the sickening rend of flesh, blood splattered against the snow, and his pained yelp cut through her like a knife.

"Ronan!" she screamed, struggling toward him.

He staggered, his great body still holding its balance, but she could see the wound, deep and seeping red. He was failing.

The rogues moved in, their snarls vibrating through the earth. One struck. Then another.

Selene's eyes stung with tears. Fear flooded her, but anger blazed hotter, brighter, than anything she'd ever known. She would not watch him die. She would not lose him too.

When the next rogue struck, Selene did not run. She moved.

Time crawled. She could hear every noise—the pounding of her heart, the snow crunching beneath the rogue's paws, the wet slurp of its breath. Her body moved before her mind had a chance to. She dodged with inhuman quickness, her hands clamping about its throat. The fur beneath her fingers was rough, warm with blood.

Something within her unleashed.

A burst of energy exploded from her hands, white and burning. The rogue convulsed, its body twisting, its eyes wide in surprise—fear. Then the light cut through it, and the body dropped at her feet.

Motionless. Dead.

Selene stiffened. Her chest swelled, her hands trembled violently. She gazed down at what she had done—the body twisted in an unnatural position, blood seeping into the snow. Her stomach revolted. She needed to scream, to tear her hands away, to tear her own flesh bare.

She had killed.

Ronan, stumbling but alive, shifted back into human, his face pale, blood streaking down his side. He reached out a hand to her, his voice rough but level.

"Selene."

She couldn't meet his gaze. "I… I didn't mean to. I didn't—" Her voice broke, a sob wrenching at her throat. "It felt like—like hunger, Ronan. Not mercy."

His hand closed over her shoulders and she turned to him. His eyes were resolute, but not cruel. "And that hunger is what will keep you alive. This is what it means to be Alpha. To defend your people. To battle, even when it rips you apart."

Her tears splashed hot against her cheeks. She shook her head, but far inside her, something moved. She had stepped across a boundary that could never be recrossed.

A low, scraping cough intruded on the moment.

Selene and Ronan whirled around. One of the fallen rogues—broken, battered, but clinging to life—hauled himself through the snow. His chest labored, his body broken, but his eyes locked on Selene with vicious satisfaction.

She moved nearer to him, her balled fists trembling. His lips twisted into a smile, blood bubbled between his teeth.

With his last bit of strength, he rasped, "He knows… you live."

Selene's breath stopped.

The rogue then went limp, the light in his eyes snuffed out.

The forest was quiet, heavy. Selene was frozen, her heart pounding in her ears.

Her secret was gone. Kael knew.

And he would come.