Out of breath, with my back against another random pine tree, exhaustion was beginning to take over, and Johnny was clearly toying with me. He was enjoying the thrill of hunting his prey. He was the wolf, and unfortunately for me, I was the metaphorical rabbit. The claw marks across my arms, with no trace of his venom, were proof he wasn't really trying to kill me, just like the black wolf from earlier. I hated Alphas, and he knew that. Giving me no choice other than to be at his mercy was enough to put me on edge, even more than I already was. I wasn't a pushover by any means, but against an Alpha in his wolf form, I couldn't do much, especially not in my current state.

After evading five other wolves for the past three hours, I was completely spent. The only thing keeping me going now was instinct, and adrenaline. 

The sound of a branch breaking captured my attention, but I still saw nothing when I scanned the area. I knew he was watching me from somewhere. This had been going on for about twenty minutes at this point, and I was fed up. Utterly and entirely. 

"Why don't you just come out and fight me, you coward?!" I shouted into the forest through baited breaths.

"What's wrong, beautiful? Don't you like our little game?" He teased in a voice that was more like a growl. 

It always creeped me out when Luna wolves spoke while they weren't in their human form. The voice sounded doubled and extremely ominous somehow.

"What kind of Luna wolf plays hide and seek, huh? Aren't you lot supposed to just take what you want? Especially since you're an almighty Alpha?" I said in a condescending tone. "What a joke!" I scoffed. 

An angry snarl echoed around me. My taunt had served its purpose, and I quickly took a defensive stance with my gun at the ready.

A black figure came from behind one of the trees with blinding speed. I only managed to get two shots off before he knocked me into a tree. The impact was so hard that the air retreated from my lungs involuntarily, almost as if the oxygen itself were afraid, leaving me winded. 

A claw was around my throat before I could comprehend what had happened, keeping me elevated so that my feet couldn't touch the ground. His nails were deep enough to break the skin on my neck as he growled at me with bared fangs.

"You've provoked me for the last time today!" he growled angrily. "I've been playing a long waiting game with you, and it seems like it's finally paying off."

"What the hell are you talking about, you creep?!" I struggled to say through labored breaths, trying to free myself from his grasp yet again, still to no avail. "Let. Go!" I said, punching him in the face, which rolled off as if he were being hit by a child or a pillow.

I was finally able to get a good look at his werewolf form. He was huge—way bigger than any wolf I'd ever seen before. I did my best to avoid Alphas when possible; they all creeped me out. Most of his fur was black, except for the patch of white on his chest, just like his human form. His fangs were as sharp as daggers, and his claws like knives. He was the most menacing wolf I'd ever seen, to say the least. Way more intimidating than the Betas I'd been running from, which honestly shocked me. This was the first time I'd ever seen Johnny or any Alpha of the Luna in their werewolf form. The stark size difference between them and Betas was jarring, mind-boggling. 

Johnny chuckled and flashed me a large, toothy grin that showed all of his canines. "You can't be serious. You really don't know?" He closed his purple eyes and inhaled deeply against my neck. "So sweet..." he whispered against my skin.

I flinched, and a chill went down my spine from the wetness of his nose. This feeling was one I had the displeasure of being familiar with: an Alpha going into rut. What was confusing was that I seemed to be the cause. Fear started to cloud my senses, and my body was telling me to run. I felt his tongue glide from my shoulder to my neck, and he nibbled at my ear hard enough to draw blood. His eyes were still closed as he sniffed me desperately; the entire feeling was revolting and an egregious assault on my very existence. It took me back to a place of helplessness, a position I hadn't been in since before I ran away from home.

In an animalistic panic, I dug my fingers into his eyes, trying to rip them from their sockets. He howled in pain, flinging me away and freeing me from his disgusting grasp simultaneously. Air burned my lungs as I coughed violently, gasping and trying to catch my breath. Before I could even stand on my feet, he had snatched me back up by the collar of my flannel sweatshirt.

"You stupid fucking mutt!" he growled. "I planned on making this enjoyable for both of us, but now I'm going to show you your place!" He shouted, throwing me onto my stomach violently.

"I'd never enjoy anything you do to me!" I said, fighting against him as much as I could, but it was a pathetic attempt at best. Even the adrenaline coursing through my body wasn't enough to help me now. His claws were digging into my skin as he ripped my clothes off, literally tearing the fabric to shreds. The pain was incredible as his nails dug into my thighs when he pulled me towards him, separating my legs. I shrieked loudly in unbearable agony, and the tears I had been managing to hold in finally streamed down my cheeks. They left a trail on my now dirt-covered face, and my hair was flopping around in a loose, messy braid full of leaves and other debris along with my golden ribbon becoming slightly undone.

He leaned over me, getting close to my ear before speaking. I could feel his hot breath on my skin, making me shudder in utter disgust. "Scream all you want; it's not going to change anything. No matter how much you say no, your body, your scent, is saying yes. I noticed it a few years ago, and since then it's only gotten stronger. Now you simply smell irresistible," he said in that deep, repugnant voice.

My eyes went wide, and I stilled at his words. What did he mean "my scent"? Dormants don't have a scent. With no pheromones, we had no scent to give off aside from soap or fragrances like perfumes or colognes of our choosing. He yanked my braid to the side, making me grunt in pain. My lip quivered as I tried to muffle my cries. If this was going to happen, I wouldn't allow him to see me broken. My pride as a wolf, dormant or not, wouldn't allow it, and I hated feeling weak.

"Let me hear that sweet voice, darlin'?" he said, licking my neck and yanking my hair again, but harder this time. I muffled my whimper from the pain with a clenched jaw, looking at him out of the corner of my eye with a seething, visceral rage as I willed my tears to stop. "Tch... I'll fix that attitude of yours. Just you wait, mutt!" he said, frustrated as if I'd ruined his fun.

"I'll kill you," I said calmly, with an eerily apathetic tone. "I swear on my life. If you do this to me, I'll—"

"YOU AIN'T GONNA DO SHIT!" he snarled, cutting me off. "You prance around here like a dormant, but I'm gonna change that. It's going to happen with or without my help." He said, sniffing me again. "Can't you see?! I'm helping you!" he said, almost sounding crazed.

I ignored him and never took my eyes off of him as he reared back, opening his mouth and preparing to bite down on my neck to leave his mark. I don't know what nonsense he was talking about, but I'd come to terms quickly in my mind that this was going to happen. It didn't matter what I said to him or how much I resisted. What I did know was that when I killed him for doing this to me, the satisfaction of revenge wouldn't be enough to quell this burning rage inside of me. I vowed to myself that no Alpha would ever hurt me again and get away with it at a young age. Johnny was no exception. So the only thing I did was watch him, his every move, and I thought about how I'd cut him into pieces as soon as I got the chance. Starting with his dick.

The forest around us seemed to go silent again, and the only thing I could hear was the loud ringing in my ears. Time seemed to slow down, my blood started to boil, and my heart rate spiked. I was indignant but also angry at myself for being so weak when I was supposed to be strong. How could I let myself get into this position, as if I were some weak Omega?! I had denounced that life. I cursed it! So how did I still end up in such a similar situation? 

I should've trained harder, fought back harder, but now, none of that mattered. It made me feel inept, and in this moment, I'd somewhat resigned all the achievements I had thus far as a result of my strength. Just when his teeth grazed my skin, I felt a jolt, and then the thundering sound of trees breaking filled the deafening silence. Johnny's touch, his presence over me, was... gone. A jacket was gently placed on my naked skin, and the feeling I'd had since morning was so intense my heart almost beat right out of my chest.