Marked by the Wolf King

Zara's POV

The moment the gates closed behind us, everything changed.

The air felt strange, slipping into my lungs with every breath till it burned.

Even the wind sounded different out here, like it was trying to tell me something.

The road ahead was empty and dark.

My father rode down this same road to his death. I wonder what was on his mind; did he know he was riding to his death? Or did he think he would come back home to me?

Two days passed, and it still felt like we were nowhere close.

Elias looked more determined than ever, as if he had finally accepted it, but deep down, I wanted him to give up and go. But no matter how difficult I made things for him, he stayed.

On the third night, the road changed: trees began to appear on either side, scattered at first, then thicker, pressing in until the forest became a solid presence. Even the horses acted unusually slow, and twitched at sounds I couldn't hear.

Elias noticed it too.

"We should stop here; we will continue our journey at sunrise."

I didn't answer immediately. My finger tightened slightly on the reins instead.

Stopping felt wrong.

Nothing about this place felt natural.

"Ok, let's stop." I finally replied.

I got down from the horse, scanned the area, searching for a place where we wouldn't get caught.

Everywhere was quiet, too still, and something about that felt odd.

I fed the horse an apple, and my hands rubbed his neck briefly.

"Good boy," I murmured, more for myself than for it.

"I have set up the tent, come rest, and I will get the food ready," Elias said with a soft smile.

I stared at Elias, finding it so hard to believe that the person who hated the idea was the one doing everything to make this easier.

Safer.

And I hated that.

Elias sat across from me in silence for a long time.

Then he spoke.

"You haven't slept."

"I don't need to," I replied immediately.

"That's not true," he said.

I finally looked at him.

And saw what he was trying to hide in his eyes.

Fear.

Not for himself.

For me.

"Get some rest, Elias. I will be on night watch today." I said.

"Ok then, we will do it together," Elias said.

A pause.

I hated the silence out here.

"I know this is not the right time to say this, but," Elias said, looking down.

"To say what?" I interrupted.

"Zara..." He hesitated, then exhaled. "I... love you," he said.

For a second, everything stopped, and I felt a bit of relief.

I stared at him, trying to process what he said.

Before I could let a word out, I heard a sound. Not too close but loud enough.

I stood up slowly.

Every instinct in me shifted at once.

Elias pulled out his sword immediately.

The forest felt different again.

Like it changed while we weren't looking.

"We are not alone," he said quietly.

My heart started racing faster. This was what I wanted, but my mind wasn't prepared for it. And somewhere deep inside of me. I regretted not listening to that feeling from the very beginning.

Everywhere went silent again.

Then it broke.

Not slowly.

Not gently either.

My eyes caught something moving fast.

It was just like a blur cutting through the trees. Before I could process it all. Elias was in front of me, and he was stepping between me and the unknown.

"Stay behind me," he said low and sharp, raising his sword. "I won't let anything happen to you," he added.

My finger tightened around my own weapons, but my body betrayed me and didn't move the way it should. Something was wrong. I felt it, not just danger, not just fear. Something heavier.

I closed my eyes, trying to remind my body what they did to my father, the way they killed him without showing mercy. I was going to do the same to them.

Shapes began to form in the darkness.

One.

Two.

More.

They don't step out at once. They came out, slowly, circling. Their eyes, the faint light glowed in the dark. My breath shortens as I count them without meaning to. Too many of them surrounded us.

My heart started pounding out like it's about to escape from my chest. This was what I came here for. This was what I had always wanted since the death of my father. Then why does it feel like I have walked into doom? I always knew I would not survive it, but I cannot die in the first fight.

"Zara..." Elias said quietly, as if he could hear my heartbeat. "Don't panic," he said, not taking his eyes off them.

One of them moves in our direction.

No warning. Just speed.

It launched straight at Elias.

Everything after that happened too fast and too slow at the same time.

"ELIAS!"

I didn't even realize I was screaming.

Elias tried to block it.

He really tried.

But the impact threw him back like he weighed nothing. His body slammed into the ground hard enough that I could hear it. The wolf was on him, his claw tore through his fabric, through his skin. I could hear Elias' cry for help.

"No... No, get off him!" I rushed forward without thinking, my sword in my hands. My tears blurred my vision.

Elias struggled beneath it, his hands pressed against its neck, as he tried to protect his throat from the wolf's teeth.

"Zara, stay back!" he shouted, his breath slowing down.

But I can't.

I yanked the crossbow off my back and loaded four arrows on it, without letting fear consume me. I aimed once and fired. The bolt sliced through the air at the wolf on Elias.

I ran straight to Elias, scanned the area for the other wolves, but they just stood still with their hands behind their backs. Just watching, like it's some test.

The wolf staggered, but it didn't fall.

It stood.

And then it changed.

Its bones started cracking, its body stretching. It rose higher and higher until it was no longer a wolf but something else entirely, something they didn't tell me back home. Something worse.

It was huge, easily over eight feet tall. He was not done transforming.

I tried to move Elias away to get help.

"Elias..." My voice barely came out.

He tried to push himself up, his hands pressing against the dirt, but he was trembling violently and slipping on his own blood.

I glanced over at the other wolves. They did not move. Just watched.

Nothing about this place added up.

A broken sound slipped out of Elias' mouth, and even breathing now seems so difficult for him.

And still...he looked at me.

Always me.

He let out a painful smile.

"Zara..."

Something inside of me cracked. I didn't realize when I started crying uncontrollably. "I am here," I drop beside him instantly, my hands hovering, not knowing where to touch that wouldn't make him hurt.

"I'm here, just... just stay with me, ok?"

A weak huff of breath left him. It sounded like a laugh.

"Still... giving... Orders..."

Anger flashed through me. I am going to lose my best friend, and it was all my fault.

"Don't start now. We are leaving. I will get help. I'm sure the General is looking for us. They will appear any second."

A shadow moved fast; it was huge; it was the same wolf, but different. Before I could react, he reached for Elias.

"NO!"

I lunged forward, but I was too late.

"Let him go!" I screamed, my voice breaking as I ran towards them, falling and getting back up.

His eyes found mine. And this time...

There's no argument in them, just something quiet.

"Run..." he breathes.

"No...I'm not leaving you." I shake my head, refusing to accept it.

I stepped forward to attack it and shot three silver arrows at it.

Its claw tightened.

Then...

It pulled.

A sound rips through the air.

My mind refused to understand what I was seeing. It didn't seem real. It couldn't be.

Elias' body...

It didn't move right.

It...

It...

"No!"

His body split.

And everything stops

Everywhere went quiet, as if the entire world went still to watch it happen.

Even the wind stopped.

My body didn't move.

I could not even breathe

I was too afraid to look at his body because it would mean accepting it.

My best friend is dead.

And it was my fault.

I started crying uncontrollably. My body had forgotten how to hold it in.

The wolf charged towards me like it was my turn.

I was supposed to give up.

But instead.

Something in me snapped.

Streams of tears rolled down my cheeks as I charged towards the wolf.

I didn't care if I died.

I didn't care if I won.

I wanted it to hurt.

"STOP!" a voice behind me echoed.

The wolf stopped immediately, and I hit it.

The hit landed hard enough to push it back.

I hit it again.

And again.

"I SAID STOP!" The voice was much louder than before.

A command.

The ground below me shakes.

And then I felt it.

That voice came from another wolf behind me, bigger than the one that attacked Elias.

The air shifts.

No.

This time, I understood what true fear actually was.

I could not run. I could not even move.

Everything about him says one thing.

Power.

Real Power.

He towered over everything.

Massive.

Undeniable, 11 feet tall in his wolf form.

His body was built like something that was never meant to be fought. My father told me about wolves like him.

He...Is

The wolf king, the one who killed my father.

I can't win this.

I know it

He knows it.

Everyone here knows it.

This is what the general was protecting everyone from.

And for the first time since I left the gates.

I regretted everything.