Chasing back his Rejected Mate

With the weight of the night pressing down on me, I was on my knees with the cold soil digging into my flesh and my breathing shallow. The moon was low in the sky, hardly showing through the dense tree canopy with its weak light. Although I could feel its attraction, it didn't provide me with any solace tonight. The Moon Goddess felt more distant than ever tonight.

All I had left was nothing. Not a pack. Not a house. Not a family. I had been deceived by my sister, expelled by Alpha Zane, and called a murderer by the Crescent Moon pack. I had almost died in that rogue encounter, and now here I was, lost, damaged, and alone. I had to try even though I wasn't sure if the Moon Goddess would still hear me. This was my final opportunity, my final hope.

My hands trembled as I raised my face to the heavens. I spoke a tiny whisper, "Moon Goddess," barely heard above the gentle sound of the wind rustling. "Please, if you're hearing this and have ever kept an eye on me, please... Right now, I need you.

The silence was only broken by the sound of my breath. I waited, waiting for some indication, for a glimmer of comfort, but nothing came of it. Unrelenting and brutal, desperation gnawed at me. I was unable to give up. Not quite yet.

I pleaded again, my voice quivering, "Please, I've done everything I could." "I did not murder Lila. You are aware of that. I was expelled for nothing that I did, having been set up. Everyone, I've lost everything. I'm unable to- Emotion tightening my throat, I struggled to speak. "I can't handle this by myself. Assist me, lead the way out."

My spine tingled as the wind increased and swirled about me. My inner wolf began to stir restlessly, but I got no response. Nothing to indicate the Moon Goddess had heeded my request.

I bent down and rested my forehead on the cold earth. I was reminded of how near I was to sink into the darkness by the scent of rot and earth in the dirt. This was my last chance. And that hope was evaporating even now, like sand through my fingers. The silence was crushing and terrible as it continued.

The whole globe seemed to be holding its breath, waiting for something, anything at all. However, nothing materialized. No supernatural help, no miracle escape.

With tears blazing in my eyes, I muttered, "I'm not ready to die." "Not in this manner."

I heard it as I knelt there, the weight of my failures bearing down on me. A distant stir, so faint as to be unnoticeable. My chest pounded with my heart. Was it one more rogue? Or much worse?

Inside, my wolf grew alert but wary. Wiping the tears from my face, I stood up, prepared to face the impending situation. A tall, shrouded person emerged from the darkness, their presence both strange and commanding.

My heartbeat became faster. They were not a member of the Crescent Moon pack, whomever they were. However, they were also not outlaws.

The figure came to a stop near the edge of the clearing, their face covered in unsettling shadows from the moonlight. A female. Her eyes, which were gleaming silver in the dim light, locked into mine with such intensity that I shuddered.

"Who are you?" With a voice louder than I felt, I demanded. Her smile was not comforting at all, a gradual, purposeful curl of her lips.

"You made a call, didn't you?" Her voice had the smooth, velvety quality of a menacing lullaby.

I became motionless. "It was the Moon Goddess that I summoned, not you."

She moved in closer, her steps elegant yet menacing. "You were heard by the Moon Goddess." Her eyes glimmered, and there was something about the way she stared at me that gave me a shiver down my spine.

"However, the assistance you ask for doesn't always appear in the way you anticipate."

I took a step back, but my feet wouldn't move despite my instincts telling me to run. I felt rooted to the spot by something about her, something strong and old.

"What is it that you want?" I asked, attempting to maintain a steady tone.

The woman grinned broadly, flashing her pointed teeth. Little Wolf, it has nothing to do with what I want. It concerns what you require.

She gently circled me, her gaze piercing me as if she could see all of my hidden doubts and fears.

"You're in a desperate situation. By yourself. Betrayed by the people you most trusted.

Her comments were truthful, and I felt their impact like a kick to the gut. I yelled, "I didn't ask for this," with unmistakable resentment.

"No," she replied, halting in front of me once more and staring directly into my eyes.

But you did make an assistance request. And I'm extending that to you.

With a thumping heart, I scowled. "What sort of assistance?"

Her head was cocked, her look blank. "Power," she murmured in a hushed, seductive voice.

"The kind of power with which everything could be altered. The kind that might elevate you above the status of mere outcast or victim of events.

The mention of strength and retribution aroused my wolf, causing it to stir. However, I wavered.

What would it cost me?

The woman's smile vanished, and her cold, calculating look took over. "Nixie, everything has a cost. But what are you willing to spend, exactly?

With a dry throat, I took a hard swallow. This mystery figure, claiming to be sent by the Moon Goddess, was someone I wasn't sure I could trust. However, what option did I have? I had nowhere else to turn. Time was not on my side. It was intolerable to consider going back to a life of vulnerability and being pursued.

With a shaky but determined voice, I responded, "I'll do whatever it takes." "Just... assist me."

With a satisfied flicker in her eyes, the woman took a step towards me and put her palm on my cheek. Her skin felt almost abnormally chilly to the touch, and I felt a surge of energy.

"After that, it's finished," she muttered in a threatening low voice.

Before I could respond, I felt a searing pain that began at her fingertips and quickly spread throughout my veins like wildfire. With my wolf roaring in my head, I gasped and doubled over as the pain tore through my body. Something dark, primordial, and uncontrollable was moving and transforming inside of me. The woman took a step back and watched me fall to the ground, writhing in agony, with a deformed sort of enjoyment.

Despite the mayhem inside of me, she whispered, almost soothingly, "Don't worry, Nixie." "This is only the start."

I wanted to yell and talk, but the pain was too great. My vision became hazy as darkness began to encroach.

And then everything turned dark.

Just when I thought I could handle one more thing. The woman was gone when I woke up. However, something had altered. I felt it deep down, a raw, uncontrolled strength that I was unfamiliar with coursing through my body. It cracked the air around me.

I had changed. Not any longer. But what had I become into?