A Moment Of Peace

The rising moon lit the landscape in silver and shadow as Diva stepped out of the Alpha’s mansion, the cool air brushing over her fur-cloaked form. She wore nothing but a simple wrap of pelt around her, the traditional comfort of her kind. The earth beneath her bare feet felt cold but grounding, and each step away from the place that had both imprisoned and shaped her filled her chest with a strange kind of freedom—and confusion.

She needed to be alone.

Her wolf stirred within her, not in alarm, but in quiet agreement. They both needed space. Time. The Alpha’s mansion, with its stone walls and guarded entrances, no longer felt like home. She had spent too long trying to belong, trying to gain respect, trying to be loved. And now Derek—Alpha Derek—had poured out his heart, pleading for her to accept him. But could she trust him? Could she trust herself?

The forest welcomed her like an old friend, the scent of pine and damp earth rising around her. Crickets sang in the brush, and distant howls echoed faintly from the far side of the mountain range. Her long dark hair flowed freely behind her, catching the wind as her figure disappeared into the woods.

Diva had no destination in mind—just away. Away from Derek’s piercing eyes and the overwhelming silence in the mansion that followed his confession. Away from the weight of pack politics and expectations. She needed to find clarity in solitude. She needed to remember who she was before all this.

A twig snapped behind her.

She paused, ears twitching. Her nostrils flared as she tested the air.

No scent.

But the feeling didn’t leave. That crawling sensation of being watched crept up her spine. Her wolf lifted her head inside her, alert. She glanced around. Nothing moved except the rustling leaves.

"It’s just your fear," she muttered to herself. "Get a grip."

Still, her pace quickened slightly. The woods were thick, and moonlight barely touched the floor in certain parts. But she knew these lands. This was still pack territory, and though she'd wandered beyond the trails most guards patrolled, she wasn’t too far from safety. Still, with each step, her heart beat harder.

She paused again, turning sharply. Nothing.

Her breath fogged in front of her. She swallowed, then moved forward again, following an invisible thread—an inner compass.

For hours she walked, until the mansion's scent was far behind her and only raw wilderness lay ahead. She finally reached a high ridge where the forest opened to a rocky overlook. From here, the valley below spread wide, dotted with flickering village fires and the soft glimmer of a river under moonlight.

She sat.

It was quiet here, the kind of quiet she had longed for.

She wrapped her arms around herself, drawing warmth from the heat of her own body. The wind whispered across the cliffs, brushing her hair from her face.

Her mind drifted.

Was she falling for Derek?

She remembered the look in his eyes as he confessed, remembered the sincerity in his voice. It had shaken her, made her chest ache. But was it real? Or was it just another tactic to make her stay? He was her Alpha, once her captor, now her admirer. How could she trust that kind of change?

And yet… she had seen it in him. The hesitation. The vulnerability. He had opened a piece of himself to her.

She sighed deeply.

Then there was the dream. The haunting chase. The pull. The Seer’s words echoed through her mind: “Your destined mate still walks the earth.”

So why had the bond not formed? Why hadn’t he found her? Or had she missed him? Was the pull towards Derek a false hope? Or was fate being cruel—twisting paths that were never meant to intersect?

Her heart hurt. The cold wasn’t helping. But she didn’t want to shift, not yet. Her wolf was restless, but not ready to take over. She needed to process this as a woman.

A gust of wind howled through the trees, and she felt that sensation again. Being watched.

Her head turned quickly.

Still nothing.

She shook her head and laughed bitterly. “You're scaring yourself, Diva.”

She wasn’t weak anymore. She had faced Ronan and survived. Protected Derek when no one else could. Fought back. She was no longer the outcast.

But inside, she still felt fractured.

“I just need time,” she whispered into the night. “Just a little time to figure it out.”

She lay down on a flat patch of moss, her gaze fixed on the stars above. The moon had risen fully, round and bright, casting a silvery light over the land. It reminded her of stories her mother used to tell. Of mates finding each other under moonlight. Of wolves drawn to one another like gravity.

“Where are you?” she whispered, not knowing if she was asking about Derek… or the one fated by the Moon Goddess.

Her eyes fluttered shut.

The night wrapped around her like a thick pelt, and soon sleep took her, her breath falling into the rhythm of the wind, her dreams quiet for now. But her heart remained unsettled, pulled between love and destiny.

And far in the distance, under the same moon, someone stirred.