My Fated Alpha's Cruel Game (Elena and Marcus) novel Chapter 213

Chapter 213: Chapter 213 Alpha Growl Echoes

Briar’s POV

The sound of slamming doors echoed behind us. Angry voices cut through the night air. Heavy footfalls pounded against the forest floor.

But these weren’t the clumsy steps of humans.

These were something else entirely.

I allowed my wolf to surface, not completely, just enough to give me what I needed. My legs stretched longer, my stride devoured the distance between trees. Every sound became crystal clear, each footstep behind us sharp and deliberate, placed with predatory precision.

"Asher," I breathed as we pushed through the underbrush. "They’re keeping pace."

"I hear them too."

We veered left through a cluster of pines, then sharp right, threading between massive oak trunks, backtracking over our own path the way my instructors had drilled into me during training. Cold mud splattered up my shins. Tree branches caught my jacket, tearing at the fabric. The forest seemed to pulse around us, watching our every move.

Something twisted in my gut, using those hard-learned skills now. Turning them against creatures that carried the same wild scent I recognized in myself.

We launched over a massive fallen trunk. I hit the ground running, barely missing a beat. My chest burned with each breath, but it felt good. Electric. The kind of fire that reminded me I was still free, still fighting.

Behind us, the pursuit wavered.

They hadn’t given up. But something had made them uncertain.

I slowed my pace deliberately.

Then I spun around to face them.

Asher stumbled to a stop next to me, his breathing ragged, eyes flashing with alarm. "Briar, don’t."

I didn’t answer him.

Instead, I let the change rise higher through my body. Not the full transformation. Not yet. Heat raced down my spine as strength flooded through me, making my hands shake with barely contained power. My canines elongated just enough to feel lethal.

A growl built in my throat.

It erupted from somewhere primal, deep and commanding, rolling through the forest like thunder. The sound reverberated through every tree trunk, through my own ribcage, carrying an unmistakable message into the darkness.

This territory was claimed.

The entire forest fell silent.

Not deserted. Never that. But still in the way only apex predators could command. Even the night insects seemed to freeze, the world itself holding its breath.

I drew in a slow breath, letting the truth wash over me.

Wolf scent. Multiple signatures.

Not wild ones. Not rogues either. These carried the structured hierarchy of pack training, discipline and rank woven into their very essence like second nature.

Asher cursed under his breath beside me. "They can sense what you are."

"They understand now," I said.

The footsteps shifted position. I could feel their attention fixed on me now, no longer just tracking but evaluating. Measuring my strength.

Probing for weaknesses. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

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