Heartache

My chest tightened at the sight, seeing the two matriarchs come together over a falsehood that threatened to spiral out of control. The weight of the lie settled heavily upon my shoulders, and I knew then that disentangling myself from this unintended web would be far more complicated than any hunt I had ever embarked upon.
Panic surged through me as the implications of their excited chatter wormed into my thoughts. The news, a wildfire sparked by misunderstanding, could reach Shadow's ears before I had the chance to douse it with truth. My heart hammered against my ribcage, each beat screaming the urgency of the situation.
"Wait," I whispered under my breath, but it was futile. The damage was done, and now I needed to intercept the spreading rumors before they found their way to him—the one whose opinion mattered most.
My feet felt rooted in place for a moment, the gravity of my predicament anchoring me. If Shadow heard about this supposed marriage from anyone but me, he'd see it as a betrayal. And Scott...poor, unsuspecting Scott, who had been caught up in a moment of weakness with me, would pay the ultimate price for a transgression he didn't even fully understand. The Alpha's wrath knew no bounds, especially when it came to matters of the heart and trust. The thought of Scott being punished for a brief lapse—a mere kiss—sent shivers down my spine.
I couldn't let that happen. I had to find Shadow, explain everything before the rumors turned into an undeniable reality. My relationship with Shadow hinged on the fragile thread of honesty, and now it was fraying at the edges, threatening to snap at any second.
"Excuse me," I murmured, slipping past clusters of people who were now buzzing with the news of an engagement that was never meant to be. My mind raced with excuses, confessions, anything that might soften the blow if Shadow had already heard, but nothing seemed sufficient. How do you explain away the expectation of a community? How do you tell your Alpha, the love of your life, that your loyalty is being questioned over a single, foolish kiss?
As I pushed open the doors to the outside world, the cool air hit my face like a slap, sobering my frantic thoughts. I had to move fast; the forest awaited, and within it, my fate with Shadow. With every step I took, the whispers of my name linked with Scott's became a chorus I desperately wanted to silence. I had to reach Shadow, to plead my case, to save us both from a fate neither of us deserved.
Leaves crunched under my frantic steps as I darted through the forest, branches clawing at my clothes and face. The pack house loomed ahead, a sanctuary now turned into a potential battleground for my heart. Shadows danced around me, mocking whispers of betrayal, but I shoved them aside, focusing on the need to see Shadow before anyone else did.
I burst into the pack house, chest heaving, only to skid to a halt. There, like a vision crafted to torment me, stood a beautiful woman with hair like spilled ink and eyes that held the depth of the night sky. Her body was perfect—every curve and angle honed to an alluring symmetry that made my own seem mundane by comparison.
"Shadow doesn't want to see you," she said, voice laced with venom. "You're nothing but a lying, cheating whelp." Her words were a blade, carving up any hope I clung to.
I swallowed hard, trying to find my voice. "There's been a mistake," I managed, but even to my ears, it sounded weak.
"Even if there wasn't," she continued with a dismissive flick of her wrist, "you could never truly claim him. You're weak, Amina. You can't shift into a wolf, and your human teeth could never mark him. His skin is strong—too strong for someone like you."
Her cruel laughter echoed in the vast room, and I felt it—a cold realization settling like ice in my blood. This had always been the unspoken truth between Shadow and me, and now it hung in the air, undeniable, suffocating. My inability to transform, to truly connect with him on that primal level—it was a chasm too wide to bridge.
"Leave, Amina," she commanded with a smirk. "It's over."
And in that moment, faced with her perfection and my own shortcomings, I believed her.
The woman's smile turned into a cruel grin, her eyes reflecting triumph as she leaned in closer. "I've just been with your precious Alpha," she whispered, the words slithering into my ears like venom. "He's resting now, satisfied in a way you could never satisfy him. So, you see, he shouldn't be disturbed—especially not by you."
The finality of her statement hit me, a physical blow that stopped my breath. I felt my heart crack, fissure by fissure, until the pain was so sharp I could barely stand it. The air in the room seemed to thicken, pressing against me, and I clutched at my chest, as if I could hold the pieces of my shattered hopes together.
My gaze dropped to the floor, unable to meet her smug satisfaction any longer. A dull ache spread through my body, as though with her words, she had branded me with an invisible mark of rejection and disdain.
"Leave now, Amina," she said, her voice softer now, but no less devastating. "There's nothing for you here."
Turning on unsteady legs, I stumbled toward the door. Each step away from the pack house took more effort than I could bear. My vision blurred, tears threatening to fall, but I refused to let them. Not here, not in front of her, not where Shadow—my Shadow—might sense my weakness.
The cool night air hit me like a wave as I stepped outside, the scent of pine and earth doing nothing to soothe the storm inside me. With each step into the darkness, the weight of my sorrow threatened to drag me down into the soil, to bury me beneath layers of loss and longing.
But I walked on, one foot in front of the other, away from the pack house, away from the beautiful woman and the life I thought I'd have. Away from Shadow, who I feared I had lost before I ever truly had him. The forest swallowed me whole, a cloak of shadows hiding my retreat, as I made my way home to nurse a heart that may never heal.