Pregnant By The Alpha

Chandra

Boris crashes into the room with the force of a wrecking ball, his hulking frame filling the doorway. His grin is monstrous, sharp teeth gleaming under the dim light, his eyes filled with nothing but malice.

Damien doesn’t hesitate. “I won’t let you hurt her!” he snarls, summoning every ounce of strength left in his battered body. With a powerful lunge, he slams into Boris, sending them both hurtling into the hallway. Boris smashes against the wall with a grunt, momentarily stunned.

Damien doesn’t waste a second. He grabs Raven’s wrist, yanking her out of the storeroom.

“Come on!” she urges. “The tunnel is this way!”

Their feet pound against the stone floor as they race down the corridor. The sound of boots thundering behind them tells Raven that the guards are closing in fast.

“We need to put some distance between us!” she pants.

Then, an idea strikes. Instead of sprinting ahead, she suddenly stops, bracing herself before kicking her legs out behind her. The movement is so quick and unexpected that the guards don’t have time to react. Her foot catches them hard in the shins, sending them tumbling forward in a chaotic heap.

Damien lets out a breathless chuckle. “Smart thinking, Raven.”

The guards groan and scramble to untangle themselves, but by the time they regain their footing, Raven and Damien are already gone, vanishing into the dark hallways.

Damien leans heavily against the cold stone wall, his chest rising and falling in ragged breaths. His fingers dig into the surface behind him as he steadies himself, frustration clear in the furrow of his brow. His once-proud posture now wavers, his body fighting against the effects of the poison coursing through his veins.

"I'm hoping we have a better plan than just running out the front door," he says, his voice tight with exhaustion. "From what I saw when I arrived, that’s where the patrol is the strongest. We'd never make it."

Raven bites her lip, her mind racing. She knows there’s another way. A series of underground tunnels beneath the compound. She has used them before, but only for small escapes, never to flee the entire territory. Worse still, she has no idea where some of them lead.

She hesitates for only a second before meeting his gaze. "There’s another way, but it’s risky," she admits.

Damien drags a hand behind his neck, exhaling sharply. "Everything about this is risky," he mutters. "But if it’s even slightly less dangerous than running out the front, I say we take it."

Raven’s stomach twists. "It’s not," she admits. "But we don’t have a choice."

Damien pushes off the wall with a groan, swaying slightly before catching himself. He grips her shoulder for balance. "How long do you think you have?" she asks, gripping his arm to keep him steady.

His skin is burning under her touch, sweat glistening on his forehead. His breath is shallow, and she can tell he’s fighting just to stay conscious. He forces a smirk, but the exhaustion is clear in his eyes.

"I don’t know," he mutters. "Maybe a few minutes before I pass out."

Raven swallows hard. They don’t have time to hesitate. They need to move, and now.

"Come on," she urges. "We’ll take the front."

His eyes widen slightly, but he doesn’t argue. He doesn’t have the strength to. With every ounce of energy they have left, they sprint toward the massive front gates.

The moment they break into the open, a deafening alarm sounds, echoing across the compound.

Shouts ring out.

Heavy footsteps thunder behind them.

They don’t look back.

Raven hears the whoosh of a blade slicing through the air. She ducks just in time, feeling the rush of wind as a dagger narrowly misses her.

Then, pain.

Fangs sink into her shoulder, claws tear through her arm.

She stifled a scream, forcing herself to keep running despite the searing pain spreading through her body. The ground beneath her feels unstable, and she stumbles, her vision blurring for a split second.

"Raven!" Damien growls, gripping her wrist and yanking her forward. His strength is weaker than before, but his determination hasn’t faded.

She curses under her breath, forcing herself to keep going. The sharp sting of her wounds threatens to slow her down, but she refuses to stop.

"We’ve alerted the whole damn compound!" she gasps.

Damien grits his teeth. "Then we just have to outrun them."

They push forward, the weight of an entire pack chasing them down.

The trees grow denser as Raven and Damien push forward, their bodies soaked and trembling from the freezing water. The howls of Boris’s guards echo behind them, a grim reminder that they are still being hunted.

Damien stumbles, his breathing ragged. “Raven… I need to slow down.” His voice is weak, the poison taking its toll.

She glances back, knowing they don’t have time to stop. The guards will be closing in soon, tracking their scent through the woods. Her mind races for a solution. Then she spots a shallow stream cutting through the trees.

“Come on,” she says, gripping Damien’s arm and pulling him toward the water.

He doesn’t resist, barely able to keep himself upright. They wade into the icy current, the cold shocking Raven’s system, but she forces herself to focus. The water will mask their scent, buying them time. She crouches low, submerging herself briefly to make sure they’re completely washed of any traceable smell.

Damien lets out a low groan. “The current… It’s carrying me. Less effort.”

“That’s the point,” Raven says, keeping a firm grip on his wrist as they drift downstream.

Once they’ve put a safe distance between themselves and their pursuers, she guides them toward the bank. They crawl out of the water, dripping and shivering. Raven’s limbs feel heavy, her muscles burning from exhaustion. Damien collapses onto the damp ground, his breaths coming in short gasps.

“We need to keep moving,” she urges, but he doesn’t respond.

Raven kneels beside him, pressing a hand to his chest. His heartbeat is weak, and his skin is ice cold. The wolfsbane is ravaging his system, and she has no way to help him.

“Damien… Damien, stay with me!” she pleads, shaking him slightly.

His eyelids flutter, but he doesn’t have the strength to open them. Panic tightens in her throat. She looks around desperately, but all she sees is endless forest stretching into the darkness.

Then, without warning, the tree she’s leaning against glows. Light floods through the bark, illuminating the area around them with a soft, silvery radiance.

Raven’s breath catches.

A figure emerges from the glow. A woman with an ethereal presence. Her long, flowing robes shimmer like liquid moonlight, and her eyes burn with an otherworldly intensity.

Raven scrambles back, her heart hammering in her chest. “Who… who are you?” she stammers.

The woman gazes at her with an expression both gentle and powerful. “My name is Chandra,” she says, her voice resonant. “Goddess of the Moon. Protector of wolves.”

Raven’s mouth goes dry.

Chandra steps forward, her gaze shifting between Raven and Damien. “The fate of all shifters depends on you and your unborn child, Raven. Without you… wolves will be extinct forever.”