"B-beast?"
The word stuttered out of Delilah, trapped in her throat. She couldn't tear her eyes away from his.
Her entire body trembled with primal fear. Then, a deafening growl erupted from him, vibrating through her bones and forcing her knees to buckle in instinctive submission. The sound was so powerful, so overwhelming, that her vision blurred. Darkness swallowed her whole.
***
The next morning,
Delilah sensed light behind her eyelids. When she tried to open them, she immediately squeezed them shut again. Sunlight streamed directly onto her face, too bright and harsh to bear.
She sat up gradually, forcing her eyes open slowly this time. Her gaze swept across the surroundings, and she gasped.
She was in the dark forest.
The trees here were massive, their leaves a deep, shadowy green. Shafts of sunlight filtered through the canopy, dancing across her face.
Memory crashed back into her. Her eyes widened. She shook her head and attempted to stand, but winced as sharp pain shot through her knees.
Yesterday, her stepmother had pushed her. She had injured her knees then. Last night, when the Beast growled, she had slammed onto the ground with a thud, injuring them a second time.
*The Beast...*
She thought of him. The way those orange eyes had locked onto hers... he had looked truly offended by her presence.
"No, no. I can't stay here," she whispered to herself.
She scanned the area for a path, desperate to get out. She took a step, but something caught her eye.
The lantern she had brought with her.
It lay broken on the forest floor. Had it shattered when she fell? Or was it the force of the Beast's growl that had destroyed it?
It had been foolish to come here. She was a fool. Why else would she have ventured into these woods? She could have died.
Suddenly, she remembered a woman who had lived beside her home when she was fourteen. The woman had lost her son. She had told everyone how he went into the forest and was hunted by the Beast. He never came back.
At the time, everyone in the pack had shaken with fear.
"He will kill me. He will kill me. He will kill me."
She chanted the words like a mantra as she stumbled away.
Her brow furrowed as she realized she couldn't recall the path.
"I forgot the way!"
Panic surged through her chest. "How could I forget the way? No, no. I can't have forgotten that. How do I go back? Where do I go? What if the Beast hunts me again? This time, he'll kill me for sure."
She cursed herself for stepping into the forest without thinking. She should have known better.
The chill in the air made her quiver.
Being an Omega was hard enough in their pack, especially since her rank was the lowest among them. Omegas were born to be slaves. Some Alphas bought them for sexual pleasure. Occasionally, a buyer would discover the Omega was their fated mate and accept them, but that wasn't going to happen for Delilah.
Her stepmother wanted to sell her to men. She would let them use Delilah's body however they wanted. Delilah's 'no' meant nothing to her or her second husband.
Delilah tightened her fists. "No, I can't go back there. She'll complain to the Alpha and find me soon. The Alpha will scold her and tell her to take care of me as her own child. But what happens after that? She'll sell me in the dead of night, without anyone knowing."
Delilah knew exactly what that woman was capable of. She had tried to tell the Alpha about her mother beating her when she asked about the money her father had saved for her. The Alpha had only scolded Naomi, telling her she should take care of Delilah since she had no children of her own, and that it was Delilah's right to use the money for her living. Naomi had nodded obediently to his face. But after coming back home, she had beaten Delilah even harder and warned her never to tell anyone again.
The pack never gave Delilah any respect because of her rank, and men often tried to use her because she had no parents to protect her. Most of the time, it was because of her scent, too.
So why would she go back? She couldn't. Her relatives didn't have a strong bond with her either, since both her father and mother were dead.
She looked around and chose a path her heart told her to follow.
Soon, she heard muffled voices in the distance. Hope flared; maybe they could help her. She headed toward the sound.
She was almost there. She saw a few young men who looked like woodcutters, axes in hand.
Delilah's eyes lit up. She was on the right path. She was close to the edge of the forest. She didn't know where she would go afterward, but right now, she just didn't want to be killed by the Beast.
As she passed along the path, one of the men noticed her.
"Hey! Who are you?"
Delilah stopped. She looked at them and replied softly, "I'm sorry to disturb you. Please, keep doing your work."
She was about to step forward when she heard the command.
"Grab the girl. She's an Omega."
Her heart pounded. *No, no. Not this again.*
She saw them coming toward her.
Delilah looked at the path she wanted to take, then turned in the opposite direction.
It looked like she couldn't go back anymore.
She started to run. She glanced behind them; they were following her.
She tried to run faster.
She didn't know where she was going. After a long run, she didn't realize they had lost her in the dark forest.
She kept running until she felt her strength fading.
Suddenly, she saw a man standing in her way. His back was facing her.
His broad shoulders and muscular arms suggested he was a warrior.
She couldn't stop her momentum and bumped into him.
He turned around, and she was stunned.
She was about to fall backward, but he grabbed her waist to support her.
She looked at him carefully.
He was a handsome man with a few scratches on his face. Dark bangs covered his forehead, partially hiding his beautiful eyes.
From afar, people would say he looked dangerous, but up close, he was strikingly handsome.
She was lost in his facial features, but his deep voice brought her back to her senses.
"Who are you?"