Chapter 1

Aurenya’s POV

I never thought I would end up in a place like Heavenbrook. A small, quiet town where nothing much happened, where people only wanted to live, eat, and sleep. To the world, it might seem peaceful. To me, it was a cage I had chosen. A hiding place. A last chance to keep my daughters safe.

The diner smelled like fried onions and coffee. I had been on my feet since sunrise, and every step made my bones ache. The cheap shoes I wore had no mercy, but I smiled anyway. That was something I had learned long ago, no one cared for your pain, not really, so you learned to hide it.

“Refill, ma’am?” I asked the old woman at table three. She nodded without looking at me, her eyes fixed on her newspaper. I poured her cup full, then wiped my hands on my apron. My wrists ached, though it was not only from work.

Through the window, I caught sight of the reason I was still standing. Arinya and Lyssara. My girls. My whole heart.

They sat on the bench outside, their feet swinging as they shared a small loaf of bread I had packed from home. Arinya had the sharper movements, her little fists always curling like she was ready for a fight. I saw her shove her sister playfully, too rough, and I flinched before I could stop myself.

“Arinya,” I whispered under my breath, pressing my hand against the glass as if she could hear me. That girl had fire in her veins. Sometimes it scares me. Sometimes it reminded me too much of the wolves I had run from.

Lyssara didn’t shove back. She only laughed softly, her big eyes filled with a kind of faraway calm that never belonged in a child. She was too quiet most of the time, too thoughtful. It was like she carried words that didn’t belong to her age.

I tore my eyes away before my heart broke open in front of the customers. I couldn’t let anyone see.

As I wiped down the counter, my mind betrayed me and dragged me backward. Back to Ironclaw. Back to the place I had escaped but could never really leave.

I was no older than Arinya when my father first strapped silver to my wrists. The metal burned, seared through skin, and the smell of it still clung in my nightmares. “Summon your wolf,” he barked, voice was hard like stone against bone.

But there was no wolf. Not for me.

“Useless,” he spat. The word cut deeper than the whip that followed. The sting of leather I felt against my back had been sharper than fire. My mother had watched from the corner, lips pressed together, powerless or unwilling, I never knew which.

I blinked hard and scrubbed the counter with more force than needed, until the sound of the cloth squeaking on the wood pulled me back into the present. I wasn’t in Ironclaw anymore. I wasn’t that little girl, chained and broken.

I was Aurenya. And I had two daughters who needed me strong.

By the time my shift ended it was evening, and my body felt like it had been dragged over rocks. So I hurried home, to a small wooden cabin on the edge of the forest. It was nothing special, thin walls, creaky floorboards but it was ours. And no one here knew who I really was.

The girls had gone home and were waiting, their faces brightening the moment I walked through the door. They ran into my arms, and the weight of the world eased a little.

“Did you bring something sweet?” Arinya asked, eyes wide with hope.

I laughed and shook my head. “Not tonight. But tomorrow, maybe.”

She pouted, then flexed her small arms. “That’s okay. I’m still stronger than all the boys at the market. I beat Joren in a race today.”

Her pride stung me in a way she could never understand. Strength was not safe. Not here. Not for us.

“You don’t have to be stronger than anyone, Arinya,” I told her gently, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. But she only grinned wider, unbothered.

While Lyssara was already climbing into bed, her little voice was dreamy. “The blood moon breaks the chains…” she murmured, half-asleep.

I froze.

My heart stuttered.

“What did you say?” I asked quickly, but her eyes were already shut, her chest rising and falling in a soft rhythm.

My hands shook as I pulled the blanket over them. Where did she hear that? Who taught her those words?

After the girls fell asleep, I stood at the sink washing the few dishes we had used. The water was lukewarm, my reflection faint in the cracked window above it.

And then, like a cruel hand, the past pulled me again.

Firelight. Laughter. The smell of wine.

Three men. Three strangers who felt too familiar from the moment I met them.

Kaelor, with his calm voice that wrapped around me like a blanket. Rhydan, wild and rough, the kind of man who left bruises but also warmth. And Draven, the one with eyes like knives, commanding even in silence.

I had been reckless that night. I had wanted, just for once, to feel alive. To forget Ironclaw. To taste freedom, even if it was only for a single night.

And from that night, my daughters had come.

I pressed the plate too hard, and it slipped from my wet hands, shattering in the sink. The sharp sound cut through the silence. I gripped the counter to steady myself, guilt swirling inside me.

I loved my daughters more than anything, but that night had also cursed me. It had made me a fugitive, a woman hunted by shadows I couldn’t outrun.

A sound outside pulled me from my storm of thoughts. I turned slowly toward the window.

At first, I thought it was only the dark playing tricks. But then I saw them, two glowing eyes in the tree line. Yellow. Unblinking. Watching.

My blood ran cold.

Wolves.

No, not just wolves. Ironclaw wolves.

Fear gripped my chest, clawing at my throat until I could barely breathe. They had found me. After all these years of hiding, they had finally caught my scent.

“He’s found us,” I whispered to myself, voice shaking.

I slammed the window shut, heart racing. My legs carried me to the small bed where my girls slept. I crawled in beside them, pulling them close, holding them like I could shield them from the world.

Arinya slept with her fists curled, even in dreams as a fighter and Lyssara had murmured in her sleep again, words too heavy for a child: “The blood moon breaks the chains…”

I kissed their foreheads, my tears silent as they slid down my cheeks.

I lay there wide awake, staring at the ceiling. Every breath felt like a countdown. Shadows pressed against the windows. Memories pressed against my chest.

And I knew, deep down, that my past was no longer behind me. It was here. It was coming. And there would be no running forever.