Chapter 2:. Don't die
The System chimed.
[SECOND MISSION UNLOCKED]
MISSION: DO NOT DIE IN THE NEXT 60 SECONDS
The timer began to count down.
Mara didn't breathe.
The thing ahead of her didn't move. It didn't need to. Its presence pressed against her skin like cold hands.
Her heart hammered.
59… 58…
The shadows shifted.
She took one slow step back.
57…
Her wolf stayed silent.
Not afraid.
Terrified.
The canopy swallowed the moonlight whole. Depth vanished.
The forest moved — not loudly, not violently — it shifted.
Mara felt it the moment she took her third step inside. The air pressed against her skin, thick and damp, carrying the scent of rot and something sharper beneath it — metallic, like blood soaked into old earth.
Her throat tightened.
56… 55…
This wasn't just a forest.
It was it's territory.
Her wolf curled in on itself.
"Seven days," Mara whispered, forcing her breathing to slow. "I just have to survive seven days."
54…
Her voice sounded small here.
The System pulsed faintly in her vision.
[DAY 1 — TIME REMAINING: 167:59:42]
53…
She flinched.
"So you're real," she muttered. "Of course you are."
No response.
The mission timer kept falling.
52… 51… 50…
She hugged herself, fingers digging into her arms as cold crept in. The dress she'd worn for the bonfire — pretty, useless — did nothing to block the night air.
She should move.
Standing still felt wrong.
Like prey freezing before the strike.
49…
"Mara," she whispered to herself, "move."
She took a step.
Then another.
The forest watched.
The System chimed again.
[THREAT DETECTED]
Her pulse spiked.
48… 47…
A low growl rolled through the trees.
Not close.
Not far.
Her heart slammed.
She didn't run.
Running made noise.
Noise got you killed.
46…
She forced herself forward instead, each step deliberate, each breath controlled, every sound suddenly too loud.
Her senses felt dulled — no pack bond, no shared awareness.
Just her.
And whatever was watching.
45… 44…
The System flickered.
[WARNING: HOST BODY CONDITION — SUBOPTIMAL]
"You don't say," she whispered.
[RECOMMENDED ACTION: SEEK SHELTER]
"I'm trying."
The timer fell.
43… 42…
She spotted a shallow dip between two massive tree roots, half-hidden under vines and dead leaves.
Not ideal.
But hidden.
She crawled inside, chest tight, shoulders scraping bark.
The darkness swallowed her.
41… 40…
Her breathing sounded too loud.
She pressed a hand over her mouth.
Silence stretched.
Then—
A snap.
Her body went rigid.
Footsteps?
No.
Heavier.
Claws.
39… 38…
Something large moved to her left. She heard it breathing — wet, deliberate. Something scraped bark.
Her wolf whimpered.
"Please don't," she breathed.
The System chimed.
[ANALYSIS: LOW-RANK PREDATOR — NIGHT HOWLER]
[THREAT LEVEL: MODERATE]
37…
"Moderate?" she mouthed. "You're insane."
Leaves rustled.
The shape passed directly in front of her hiding place.
Close enough that she smelled it.
Rot.
Blood.
Hunger.
36…
The world narrowed to sound.
The creature paused.
Sniffed.
Her lungs burned.
35… 34… 33…
Then—
It moved on.
Branches brushed its hide as it disappeared into deeper dark.
Mara didn't move.
Didn't blink.
Only when her lungs screamed did she inhale again.
32…
The timer bled down.
31… 30…
Her heartbeat slowed.
Very slowly.
She rested her forehead against the roots.
"I just have to live," she whispered. "That's all."
29…
The System chimed.
[MISSION UPDATE: SURVIVE REMAINING 29 SECONDS]
Branches creaked.
Something shrieked far away.
Her entire body trembled.
This was real.
This was happening.
She wasn't waking up.
28… 27… 26…
The sound faded.
The forest settled.
The air loosened its grip.
25… 24… 23…
The timer ran out like sand.
22… 21… 20…
Mara swallowed.
"I'm not dying," she whispered. "Do you hear me? I'm not—"
19… 18… 17…
Her mind flashed back to Lucien.
His eyes.
His voice.
I will not take an omega.
Her chest hurt.
16… 15… 14…
She didn't cry.
She wouldn't.
The forest didn't care.
13… 12… 11…
She waited.
10…
9…
8…
The last seconds fell without ceremony.
7…
6…
5…
4…
3…
2…
1—
The System chimed.
[MISSION COMPLETE]
[REWARD ISSUED]
[PASSIVE UNLOCKED: BASIC SURVIVAL SENSE]
Warmth spread faintly through her veins.
Mara exhaled.
"…Okay," she whispered. "Okay."
The mission window closed.
But the forest didn't relax.
And neither did she.
Seven days.
She crawled out slowly.
The gray light of predawn threaded through the canopy. The world looked softer but not safer.
She moved downslope toward water, toward life, toward anything.
Thorns scratched her ankle.
Blood welled.
[INJURY DETECTED: MINOR]
"Thank you," she muttered dryly.
The sound of running water reached her.
She dropped beside the stream and drank greedily.
Cold.
Clean.
She gasped.
The System flickered.
[HYDRATION RESTORED: 18%]
"That's depressing."
A shadow fell over the water.
Her skin prickled.
Before she thought—
She rolled.
Teeth snapped where her throat had been.
A Night Howler crashed onto the bank, snarling, eyes yellow and wrong.
Her heart exploded in her chest.
She scrambled back, hands slipping in mud.
"I don't have a weapon!"
The System blared.
[COMBAT DETECTED]
[EMERGENCY MODULE UNLOCKED]
[OMEGA INSTINCT — ACTIVATED]
The world snapped into sharpness.
Every breath.
Every twitch of muscle.
Every intent.
The creature lunged.
She moved.
Not beautifully.
Not gracefully.
But correctly.
She grabbed a rock and slammed it into its jaw.
A yelp.
She didn't stop.
She hit again.
And again.
She screamed as she did it.
Survival drowned everything else.
The Night Howler fell.
Twitched.
Stilled.
Silence crashed down.
The System chimed softly.
[THREAT ELIMINATED]
[MISSION BONUS GRANTED]
Her hands shook.
"I did that?"
[OMEGA INSTINCT — DEACTIVATED]
Clarity faded.
Pain returned.
She collapsed to her knees, breathing in ragged bursts.
[REWARD GRANTED]
A faint blue glow enveloped her.
[PASSIVE UNLOCKED: BASIC SURVIVAL SENSE]
[SKILL ACQUIRED: ENHANCED PERCEPTION]
Host awareness increased in hostile environments.
Mara laughed weakly. "You could've led with that."
No response.
She forced herself to stand, backing away from the corpse.
Something wasn't right.
The forest was too quiet.
Then....
Clapping.
Slow. Deliberate.
Mara spun.
A figure stepped out from between the trees, tall and relaxed, eyes glowing faintly as they flicked from the dead howler to her bloodied hands.
A smile curved his lips.
"Well," he drawled. "Didn't expect to see an omega kill one of those alone."
Her blood ran cold.
He tilted his head.
"And you smell like rejection."
The system flared violently.
[WARNING: UNKNOWN ENTITY]
[THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME]
Mara took a step back.
The stranger's smile widened.
"Oh," he said softly. "This just became fun."