CHAPTER 3

Charlotte:

The forest had never felt so suffocating. And never did I find myself feeling as alone as I felt today.

Each step through the thick underbrush was heavy, my legs aching, my body chilled from the cold bite of the wind that refused to die down. The world around me was quiet, unnervingly so, as if the trees themselves were holding their breath, watching me wander like a ghost. Like the whole world was mocking my luck, once again.

Just when I thought that maybe I had another chance, that maybe I was not alone… here I was, all alone, all over again.

Again, a rogue.

Again, forgotten.

Again, exiled.

And again, unwanted.

I didn’t know how long I’d been walking. Hours, maybe. Long enough for the pain in my chest to settle into a dull throb, and long enough for the weight of Ashton’s voice to echo one too many times in my head.

"You're not fit to be Luna."

"You were never meant to be mine."

I clenched my fists. The papers still burned in the satchel at my hip. The papers that he filed without thinking about me for a second. I didn’t even know when he had planned for this, and I didn’t know how long he’s been waiting for this chance. But I knew this, it was not just a today’s notice. He’s been planning this for a while now.

I hadn’t even had the energy to throw them away. What was the point? What was the point in me signing them? The decision was already made, and I assumed that he already had enough to break the marriage. He did not need my approval in this. But I still didn’t know what the point of carrying these papers around with me. I still didn’t know why I didn’t bother throwing them away.

I was tired. Of running. Of being accused. Of having to prove myself to people who would never see me. Tired of the same cycle playing in my mind again, and again, to no avail. Nothing was going to change. Neither one of them is going to want me. I doubted that anyone would want me anyway.

The wind shifted suddenly, bringing with it a new scent, clean, masculine, powerful.

My wolf whimpered, and then grew alert.

She was giving me a warning.

I froze.

Wolves.

Not Crescent Moon wolves.

Not ones I recognized.

I was on different grounds. Grounds that belonged to someone else…

I turned, slowly scanning the forest, but it was already too late.

A shadow stepped from between two thick pines, tall and broad and radiating authority like a second skin. Behind him came another, leaner, quicker, with sharp eyes and a calculating gaze.

Alphas.

And I was a rogue in their territory.

I stepped back, nearly tripping. My eyes widened as I tried to escape them, or at least, think of a place to run away from them.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cross your boarders. I was not aware…” again, I nearly tripped.

“Easy,” the taller one said, lifting his hands slightly. His voice was low and calm, but it carried the unmistakable edge of command. “I’m not here to hurt you. You’ve crossed the boarders, I agree, but you seem to be lost.”

I said nothing, lowering my stance just slightly, ready to run if I needed to. His voice was soft as he spoke, as if showing me that he was not here to hurt me. I wanted to run, my wolf wanted me to run, but somehow, she found it in herself to loosen. She was not afraid, not as much as I would have expected her to be.

The second one, his Beta, I guessed, tilted his head, eyes narrowing. He studied my expression for a moment too long before choosing to speak.

“You’re not just any rogue,” he muttered. “That scent. You’re… Crescent Moon. And I think that you know that you don’t belong here.”

I flinched before I could stop myself. The Alpha took a step closer, but stopped himself when he saw how timid I looked.

“Interesting.” He said, eyeing me carefully as if I was some prey that they were examining. Maybe I was…

“I’m no threat,” I said flatly. “Just passing through. As I said, I am lost and was not aware that I had crossed your boundaries, I apologize.”

“You’re alone,” the Beta said, stepping closer. “You smell like heartbreak and rejection. Tell me, did your mate cast you out, Luna?”

I stiffened. “Don’t call me that.”

The Alpha took another step forward, his gaze steady, not unkind. He looked at his beta, who nodded and took a step back. “What’s your name?”

“Charlotte.”

His eyes flickered in recognition, just a flicker, but I caught it.

Then he nodded once, slowly. “I’m Xavier. Alpha of Blackridge.”

Blackridge. Ashton’s rival pack. The one Crescent Moon whispered about like it was cursed. Ruthless. Unforgiving.

And here he was, looking at me like I wasn’t worthless. Like he was curious. Like he was showing me that he was not here to harm me.

“You’re far from home, Charlotte,” Alpha Xavier said.

“Not by choice,” I replied. “I wouldn’t be here if it was.”

The Beta looked between us, then raised a brow. “Alpha, we should keep moving. She could be trouble.”

“She’s already in trouble,” Xavier said without looking away from me. “But I don’t think she’s the one who caused it.”

I swallowed hard. “I didn’t come here to beg for help. I am going to leave once I find the right path to do so.”

“I didn’t offer any,” Xavier said calmly. “But you look like someone who’s got nowhere else to go. And I doubt that a woman like yourself should be roaming around, alone, as a rogue, in the middle of the night.”

He turned then, just slightly, nodding toward the shadows beyond the trees. “There’s a house a few miles north. Ours. It’s warm. And you’ll be safe. There’s food. You can stay the night. Decide what comes after when the sun rises.”

I didn’t move.

He didn’t wait.

Xavier and his Beta walked off, vanishing slowly into the misty trees. But just before he disappeared completely, I heard him call back…

“When you’ve lost everything, the last thing you should throw away is a second chance.”

I stared into the woods long after they were gone.

And then, slowly, I began to walk.