FELIZ'S POV

My wolf paced within me, her restlessness growing stronger with every minute. I stood in my room, scanning the mess someone had deliberately left for me. My clothes lay shredded across the floor, torn by claws. Photos of happier times were defaced with cruel scratches and inked-out faces.

My wolf growled in my mind. “Run. Let me take over. Let us be free.”

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. As tempting as it was to let her take control, I couldn’t afford to lose myself now. This wasn’t the time to succumb to primal instincts.

I knelt down, gathering the damaged photos and setting them aside. Each defaced memory felt like a fresh wound, but I refused to let the pain stop me.

“We’ll be leaving soon,” I whispered to my wolf. “Just hold on a little longer.”

As I packed what few items were still intact, I heard voices outside the walls. Vera’s familiar voice cut through, smug and mocking. “Yes, the sacred place. Elias promised to take me there tonight.”

The words hit me like a blow. The “sacred place” was a sanctuary Elias and I had discovered years ago. A hidden glade in the forest where we could escape the pack’s pressures and be honest with each other under the stars. And now, he was giving it to her.

I clenched my fists, anger bubbling up. It wasn’t just about the place—it was about the betrayal of everything it represented. The bond I once shared with Elias was gone, replaced by cold indifference.

My wolf snarled, but I silenced her with a shake of my head. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

I was almost finished picking up my clothes when the door slammed open. Vera appeared, leaning against the frame with a cruel smile. Her moonstone ring glinted under the light.

“Oh, Feliz! Still here?” she taunted. “I thought you’d slithered away by now.”

I ignored her, focusing on packing.

She stepped closer, her voice turning dangerous. “You should be grateful I’m letting you leave. If it were up to me, you’d be dragged out like the traitor you are.”

“What do you want, Luna Vera?” I asked, my patience wearing thin.

She moved closer, her expression hardening. “I want you to know your place, Feliz. You were just a stray the pack took pity on. Now, you’re nothing.”

Her words stung, but I refused to show any weakness. “Say whatever you want. It won’t change the fact that I’m leaving. You’ve already won.”

Vera’s smile turned feral. Without warning, she slashed her nails across my arm, drawing blood. I hissed in pain, stepping back as crimson stained my shirt.

She staggered backward dramatically. “Help! Help me!” she screamed. “She’s attacking me!”

The door burst open, and Elias and Kade stormed in. Their eyes went immediately to Vera, who clutched her arm like she was gravely injured.

“What the hell is going on?” Elias shouted.

“She attacked me!” Vera sobbed. “I tried to be nice, but she just—”

“No! That’s not what happened!” I shouted, but Kade’s furious growl cut me off.

“Ungrateful parasite!” Kade spat. “Is this how you repay the pack? By attacking the Luna?”

“I didn’t touch her!” I protested, but it was pointless. Their minds were made up.

Elias’s expression darkened, and before I could react, his hand struck me across the face. The slap sent me reeling, my cheek stinging with the imprint of his palm.

“Let me take over!” My wolf howled in anguish. But I held her back. This was the price I had to pay for the years of shelter they had provided.

I straightened, meeting Elias’s gaze. “Do you want to hurt me more? Was making me drink that wolfsbane earlier not enough?”

Elias didn’t respond, his eyes blank with a mask of indifference.

I turned to Kade, who looked ready to shout more insults. “You wanted me out of here, right? Don’t worry, I will.” I spoke with finality. “This is enough.”

Shouldering my bag, I walked past them, refusing to look back.

Outside, the cold night air hit my face, soothing the burning in my cheek. I paused on the steps, taking one last look at the packhouse.

“I hope you’re all happy now,” I murmured to the house. “Vera… enjoy it. You can have them all.”

As I stepped onto the forest path, I felt an unseen force pulling at me, a gentle tug in my chest. My wolf stirred, curiosity replacing the previous restlessness.

The Wildwood Pack. They were waiting for me. The pull I felt wasn’t random—it was fate. My future lay not with the people who despised me but with a new beginning, beneath the same moon that illuminated the Wildwood Pack.

I whispered a final goodbye to the life I was leaving behind and stepped into the night, ready to claim the future that awaited me.

FELIZ'S POV

The forest seemed darker than usual tonight, the towering trees swaying slightly under the weight of a restless wind. Each step I took seemed to echo louder than it should, as though the woods were amplifying my presence, ensuring I couldn’t slip through unnoticed.

Eira’s voice slithered into my thoughts, her tone low and guttural.

“Something’s wrong, Feliz. I can feel it. The air feels… off.”

“I know, Eira,” I murmured softly, more to myself than to her. “Let’s just keep moving. We’ll figure it out together.”

The undergrowth rustled as I pushed through it, the night’s silence pressing down on me like a shroud. My thoughts circled relentlessly, pulling me back to the reason I was here, the reason my feet carried me deeper into this unforgiving darkness.

I was on this path to marry the heir of the Wildwood pack.

It was a duty I had once run away from, a promise made in desperation by others but never truly mine. My parents—the Alpha and Luna of the Golden Moon Pack—had been taken from me far too soon, their lives extinguished by an attack that destroyed not only them but everything we’d ever known.

On the brink of death, with their last breaths, they gave me one final instruction: if anything happened to them, I was to seek refuge with the Wildwood pack. The Alpha there, Magnus Wilder, had been my father’s closest friend.

“They’ll protect you, Feliz,” my father had said, his voice strained and trembling. “Magnus will keep you safe.”

After their deaths, with nothing but ashes and ruins left of the Golden Moon Pack, my Aunt Fiona and I led the remaining survivors to the Wildwood estate. We arrived battered, desperate, and clinging to the faint hope that Magnus’s kindness would save us. But kindness always came with a price.

Magnus’s condition was simple yet unyielding: he would offer us safety and protection if I promised to marry the heir of the Wildwood pack.

I was too young then to understand the weight of such a promise, but I knew enough to feel the chains of obligation tightening around me. I refused.

That same night, I fled the Wildwood estate, leaving my aunt and the other remnants of the Golden Moon Pack behind. My feet carried me far away, into a life of uncertainty, danger, and unexpected allies.

That’s when I met Elias and Kade.

They became my family, my strength, and for a time, my sanctuary. But sanctuary never lasts. Now, after a decade of running from the Wildwood Pack and the promise I once spurned, I had no choice but to accept it. My aunt’s letters had made it clear: the Golden Moon survivors could no longer hold on without me. This was the only way to keep them safe.

Lost in my thoughts, I nearly missed the soft rustle ahead, the faint sound of footsteps too deliberate to belong to mere animals. I stopped, my breath hitching, and scanned the shadows. The faintest outline of figures began to emerge. A group of rogues stepped into the moonlight; their eyes gleaming with a hunger that sent a chill down my spine.

“Who are you?” I demanded, my voice steadier than I felt. No one answered. They only stared; their silence more unnerving than any threat they could have spoken.

Then, from behind them, a figure I recognized all too well stepped forward.

Vera.

Her mocking smile was sharper than any blade, her eyes alight with cruel satisfaction.

“Feliz,” she drawled, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “Did you really think you could run away from me just like that?”

My hands clenched into fists, but I forced my voice to remain calm. “What do you want, Vera? Are you not done yet? You already have Elias, Kade, and the whole pack. I’m out of your lives.”

Her smile twisted into something darker, her mask of civility slipping. “I want you dead. I want you gone forever. I want you banished from every corner of this world.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You can’t do that, Vera.”

“Oh, but I almost did,” she said with a venomous laugh. “You nearly drank the wolfsbane earlier, didn’t you?”

My stomach churned at the memory, but I held my ground. “How can you be so cruel? So evil? What did I ever do to you?”

Her expression darkened, but instead of answering, she gave a sharp wave of her hand. The rogues surged forward, their intent clear.

“Vera!” I shouted, but she was already turning away, her laughter ringing through the forest like a haunting melody.

Eira stirred within me, her energy still too weak to allow her full transformation. “Fight them, Feliz. Don’t give up.”

I swung at the first rogue, my movements fueled by desperation more than skill. Claws raked across my arm, the pain sharp and blinding. I stumbled, barely able to hold my ground as they surrounded me. My breaths came in ragged gasps, my strength waning.

This was it. My end.

Just as the rogues closed in, a commanding voice cut through the chaos.

“Stop! Touch her again, and you’ll regret it.”

The rogues hesitated, their snarls faltering as figures emerged from the shadows. My vision blurred, the pain and exhaustion overtaking me. I could barely make out the shapes of men stepping forward, their presence radiating authority.

The voice spoke again, sharper this time, but I couldn’t catch the words. My knees buckled, and the world tilted as darkness claimed me.