LOGINThe cold stone beneath me is no different from the night before. The chill seeps into my bones, a constant reminder of where I am—where I’ve been for fifty-three days now. The air in my cell feels damp and stagnant, and I’ve grown so accustomed to the smell of stale bread and the sour tang of sweat that it’s as if they’ve become part of me. But it’s not just the walls of this prison that feel cold. The emptiness inside me, a hollow that no amount of time seems to fill, spreads like ice, thickening the air in my lungs. I lie still in the dark, wide awake, my thoughts racing faster than I can keep up with them. My body is exhausted from the endless days of captivity, but tonight, I feel restless, as though the night itself is alive with secrets begging to be uncovered.And the more I listen, the more I realize that the murmurs of my fellow prisoners are not just the usual whispered threats or quiet despair—they hold something more. Something dangerous. Something that promises to u
The cell door slammed shut behind me with a deafening clang that echoed off the stone walls. I flinched at the sound, my body stiff and trembling.The guards didn’t even spare me a second glance as they locked the heavy iron door and disappeared down the dark hallway. I was left standing there, alone, with nothing but the sound of chains rattling and low murmurs in the distance. My wrists ache terribly from the silver cuffs biting into my skin. My throat was dry, my head spinning from fear and exhaustion.I expected chaos. I expected the prisoners to rush at me, to tear into me like wolves smelling fresh blood. After all, I had been part of the system that had once hunted some of them.I had lived among the Moon Hound Pack, trained under their laws, and enforced their rules. I had betrayed them too, hadn’t I? My chest tightened painfully at the thought.But instead... they just stared.In the dim, flickering torchlight, their faces looked strange — a mixture of suspicion, indifferenc
The cold air bit at my skin as I stumbled away from Ryu’s territory, the heavy iron gates slamming shut behind me like the final nail in my coffin. I barely noticed the way the rough stones of the ground cut into my bare feet, or how the night winds howled around me like wolves mourning a lost sister. My heart was too shattered to feel anything else. Each step I took away from him, from the life I had almost built by his side, felt like a blade twisting deeper into my chest. I had gambled everything on love — and lost.I had known it would end like this.Somewhere deep inside, I had always known. From the moment I chose to hide the truth from Ryu, I understood it would come back to destroy me. I had buried the mission so deep in my past, hoping it would never surface, hoping my love for him would be enough. But the past always finds you. And Ryu’s fury, his betrayal, had struck harder than any enemy’s blade. Knowing didn’t make the pain any less. It only made it sharper, crueler.I
Ryu's POVThe moment Samantha’s figure disappeared beyond the pack gates, a hollow silence swallowed the office. It was a silence so heavy it pressed down on my chest, making it hard to breathe. I stood there, unmoving, my eyes locked on the door she had just walked through as if expecting her to turn back, to run into my arms and swear it was all a terrible lie.But she didn’t. She kept walking. She was gone. My hands curled into fists at my sides, trembling with the effort it took not to tear the whole room apart. I had done the right thing, hadn’t I? I had protected my pack, my position, my legacy. I had shown strength, the kind of strength an Alpha was supposed to have. Then why… Why did it feel like I had just ripped my own soul apart?The betrayal burned hotter than any physical wound I had ever taken in battle. I could almost feel it, a searing brand carved into my chest. Samantha—the woman I had foolishly allowed past the iron walls I had built around my heart—had been sent
I lay there, frozen, staring up at the unfamiliar wooden ceiling of the healer’s quarters, feeling more like a ghost than a living being. Memories rushed in without mercy: Craig’s betrayal, his face twisted in rage as he hurled me into the stone wall; the haunting emptiness that followed—the moment I knew, with bone-deep certainty, that the tiny life growing inside me was gone. And then, the vision of the Moon Goddess, her silver light offering me a second chance at life... a second chance I wasn’t sure I deserved anymore.Though the healers had mended my broken body, no amount of magic could piece back together the shattered remains of my heart. A hollow ache gnawed at me from the inside out, a relentless reminder that some wounds were far beyond physical. I pressed my palm against my abdomen, as if by sheer will I bring back what was lost. But there was nothing. Only silence.A bitter taste coated my mouth when I recalled what I had overheard earlier, hidden behind a crumbling pil
I wake with a start, my heart pounding in my chest, as though someone has just jolted me from a deep, suffocating sleep. The room feels off, quiet in a way that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My senses prick, sharp and alert, as though some invisible force is pressing down on me, urging me to wake fully. The air is too still, thick with an unspoken tension. The world around me feels distant, muted. I blink into the dim light of early morning, my vision hazy, my pulse racing. The silence is suffocating. I push myself upright in bed, my eyes scanning the room.And then I see it.A letter.Resting on the small desk by my bed, its presence unmistakable in the calm of the morning. A single envelope, sealed with an unmarked wax stamp. It is so simple—so subtle—but everything about it feels wrong. A chill sweeps over me, and I feel my stomach twist into a knot.The faint, familiar scent of ink and parchment reaches my nose, and I know exactly who it’s from before I even to







