Wrath Unleashed
Aurora's pov
The ropes bit into my wrists. I stood
on the wooden podium in the center of the village square, my hands bound behind my back, my heart pounding so loudly I could barely hear anything else.
The entire village had gathered faces I had known my whole life now staring at me like I was something... other. Something dangerous.
Something to be feared. A traitor.
My gaze shifted slowly through the crowd until it landed on my parents.
My chest tightened.
My mother looked pale, her hands clasped tightly together, her eyes glossy with unshed tears.
My father...he wouldn't look at me.
The weight of that hurt more than the ropes.
"Aurora Hayes," Rowan's voice rang out, cutting through the murmurs like a blade.
I stiffened slightly as the elder stepped forward, his presence commanding and cold.
"You stand accused of conspiring with the Beast."
A ripple moved through the crowd.
My throat tightened, but I said nothing because no matter what I said
They had already decided.
Rowan turned slightly, his gaze swept over the villagers before he spoke again.
"Bring forth the proof."
My stomach dropped.
A hunter stepped onto the podium beside me.
I recognized him vaguely the one who had been in the forest last night, the one who had killed the Vampire.
My pulse quickened as he reached into his coat and pulled something out.
A photograph.
My breath caught.
"No..." I whispered under my breath.
He lifted it high for everyone to see.
And just like that the world seemed to stop.
Gasps echoed through the square.
My eyes burned as I stared at it.
In the photo Roman was holding me, close. I remember that day it was the night at the Bonfire. The day he first kissed me and the day I started falling for him.
I forced myself to look at my parents again.
My mother's face crumpled slightly, tears slipping down her cheeks.
My father...
His expression was worse. He was disappointed.
I felt something inside me break.
"Aurora," Rowan's voice came again, louder now, final. "For conspiring with the Beast, for betraying your people-"
I closed my eyes briefly.
"-you will be dealt with accordingly."
I didn't fight and didn't plead. Because what was the point?
Instead, my thoughts drifted. To him.
Roman.
A sharp ache filled my chest.
I had run from him, from his protection and from everything he tried to give me.
And now I stood here, bound and condemned. I thought returning to Eldermist I'd be safe but the truth was I would've been safer with him.
Safer in his world than in my own.
My fingers curled slightly against the ropes as a single thought echoed through my mind-
Please...
I swallowed hard, my gaze lifting just slightly toward the edge of the forest in the distance.
Come for me.
Because if he didn't I knew exactly how this would end.
And this time...
There would be no escape.
__________________________________________________
The night air was cold against my skin. It clung to me as I stood bound to the wooden pole in the center of the village square, my arms stretched painfully above me, wrists tied tight with coarse rope.
Torches burned all around, their flames flickering wildly in the darkness, casting long, shifting shadows over the crowd that had gathered.
Everyone was watching no one looked away and the silence was suffocating.
A sharp crack split the air.
Pain exploded across my back.
A gasp tore from my lips, my body jerked forward against the restraints as the impact burned through me.
I bit down hard on my lower lip, forcing the scream back.
Another strike and the sound echoed louder this time.
My vision blurred as the pain deepened, spreading, tearing through me like fire.
Tears streamed silently down my cheeks, but I refused to cry out. I wouldn’t give them that.
“Let this be a lesson,” Rowan’s voice carried over the square, cold and commanding. “To all who dare conspire with the Beast… with vampires… with any creature beyond our kind—”
Another crack.
My breath hitched violently.
“—this,” he said, pointing toward me, “will be your fate.”
The villagers murmured, fear rippling through them.
But I barely heard it because the pain was everywhere now.
My back throbbed relentlessly, each strike making it worse, making it harder to breathe, harder to think.
I felt something warm trickle down my skin. Blood.
My legs trembled beneath me, barely able to hold my weight as weakness began to creep in.
I was fading.
The world around me started to blur, the torches melting into streaks of gold and orange.
This is it…this is how I'm going to die.
I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, my body sagging against the ropes.
I couldn’t take it anymore, it wasn't the pain and not the weight of their hatred and definitely not the crushing realization that I had nowhere left to go. It wasn't like I was going to live after this.
My lips parted slightly, a soft, broken breath escaping.
Roman…
A part of me still hoped, still believed
Even after everything that happened between us he'd come rescue me but I knew that was impossible. He doesn't even know where I am in the first place.
My head fell forward slightly as darkness began to pull me under, my strength slipping away with every second.
And then a sound deep and furious It rolled through the forest like thunder.
My eyes fluttered open weakly.
Another roar followed louder this time, shaking the very air around us.
The crowd stirred in fear and panic.
My heart stuttered in my chest.
I knew that sound. Even in my weakened state… I knew it.
My lips trembled as I lifted my head just enough to look toward the forest.
“Roman…” I whispered.
And for the first time since this began
Hope burned through the pain.
__________________________________________________
Roman’s pov
The pain hit again and sharper this time. It tore through my chest, stealing my breath, flooding my senses with something that wasn’t mine it was hers.
I staggered, leaning against the wall for support as fury ignited beneath my skin.
“They’re hurting her,” I growled.
Kael was already behind me.
“Gather the others,” I ordered over my shoulder. “Now.”
I stepped outside and shifted. My bones snapped. Muscles tore and rebuilt as my Lycan form took over, larger, stronger, driven by pure instinct.
A roar ripped from my chest furious and primal.
I sprinted into the woods.
The forest blurred around me as I tore through it at full speed, each step fueled by the bond, by her pain that pulsed violently inside me.
Mine.
She was mine and they were hurting her.
More howls rose behind me. It was
Kael and the others.
Eldermist came into view.
I didn’t slow.
We stormed into the village like a force of nature.
Screams erupted, panic spread instantly as villagers scattered, fear flooded the air.
I let out another roar more louder this time, shaking the ground beneath us.
I smelt her scent Jasmine and sandalwood. I followed it, leading straight to the village square.
And when I saw her everything
inside me snapped. She was tied to a pole, blood stained her back, her body limp, her head fallen forward. She was unconscious.
Something dark and violent surged through me.
Rage unlike anything I had ever felt before.
They did this, they dared to touch her.
Figures moved to block my path and
I didn’t stop and didn't hesitate.
I tore through them.
Claws slashed.
Bodies fell.
The world became nothing but red and fury as I cleared everything between me and her.
Nothing mattered no one mattered.
Except her.
I reached her in seconds.
My chest heaved as I looked at her really looked at her and something inside me shattered.
“Aurora…”
My voice came out as a low, broken growl.
Carefully so carefully I raised a claw and sliced through the ropes binding her.
They fell away instantly. Her body collapsed forward and I gently caught her.
So gently it felt at odds with the monster I had just become.
I pulled her into my arms, holding her close against me, shielding her from everything.
A low, protective rumble built in my chest as I held her tighter, my fury still simmering just beneath the surface.
No one would touch her again and no one would ever hurt her like this again. Not while I'm breathing and standing.
Because anyone who tried would
die.