Chapter 3

Nara POV

The guards grabbed my arms, dragging me toward the exit. My vision blurred with tears, my heart shattering with every step.

I turned one last time, looking at Xander and Elle—both smiling, cruel and triumphant.

This wasn’t just betrayal. It was annihilation.

As they disappeared from view, I made a silent vow. I would find a way to escape this sinkhole of shame.

It wasn’t even five minutes before the guards threw me out of the hall. My knees scraped against the hard floor, skin peeling to reveal white flesh and thin lines of blood seeping through. I winced in pain and instinctively curled to my side, my breath coming in shallow gasps.

One of the men scoffed, catching my attention and igniting a flicker of fury.

“Oops,” he said with a mock sense of pity. Angry tears stung my eyes as he crouched to my level.

“That serves you right. In fact, I think you deserve worse,” he spat. The other guard stood still, unmoving.

“A mere omega… even the sight of you in this place makes me itch to put you in your place,” he sneered.

How had I not realized how much they all hated me? That maybe they’d always hated me—simply for existing.

As the guard’s rage flared for reasons I couldn’t understand, a familiar scent filled the air. Elle. She was close.

The guards straightened, and I began to nurse my bleeding knees as Elle emerged from the shadows. Bitterness flooded my chest—a new and foreign ache.

“Seems like that was all it took to calm you the fuck down,” she said. My lips stayed pressed together.

“What a show,” she continued, chuckling as she came closer. “You were right earlier today.” Her smile widened. “Today turned out to be historic.”

I didn’t laugh. I began gathering the strength to stand on my wobbling legs.

“I only have one question,” I said, breaking through her mocking laughter. “If you wanted Xander, why do this to me? Why not just take him and cut the bond from the start? Why make me feel special—cheer for an ‘us’ that never existed? Why humiliate me in front of everyone? Why?”

Elle smiled, cruel delight glinting in her eyes as she leaned closer.

“Because sometimes, lessons are best taught in public… so other students can pay attention.”

I frowned, her words making no sense.

Her posture shifted, her aura radiating superiority. “Now that the lesson’s been learned, I’ve got some news for you. Xander gave me a wedding present.” She squealed in delight, and my head dropped, heavy with dread.

“He gave me some of my Luna authority. And my first act is one of…” She trailed off, then grabbed my chin, forcing my eyes to meet hers. “Mercy.”

Her nails nicked my skin as she pulled away, a sharp sting marking her cruelty.

“I won’t have you killed for thinking Xander liked you or for spinning a stupid fantasy,” she said sweetly. “Instead, I’m reinstating your original title.”

My stomach turned. My original title?

“Yes!” she said brightly. “You’re back to being a slave, baby girl.”

I gasped in horror.

“B—but Xander—”

“Yes, but I’m the one in charge now,” she interrupted. “I have the right to overrule whatever happened last year. Starting tonight, you’ll return to your old duties. You’re to be my personal slave—as penance for that little performance you put on.”

My eyes were swollen from crying, but fresh tears still came.

“So, pack whatever belongings you have and go to your old room. You’ll take over every maid’s duty tonight. Finish them all, because tomorrow the real fun begins.”

Her smile turned venomous. “It disgusted me, watching a maid act like a queen. Having maids serve you? What a joke. You never deserved it.”

She turned to leave, her heels echoing on the marble floor.

I couldn’t believe my ears—couldn’t wake from this nightmare. Today had been historic, just not in the way I’d hoped.

“You heard the Luna!” one of the guards barked. “Stand up!”

But I couldn’t. My mind drifted to last year—to the endless punishments, the cruelty, the exhaustion. I knew if I went back to that life, it would kill me.

You need to run, a voice whispered inside my head. Or you’ll die as a slave.

The guard yanked me to my feet, his grip bruising my arms. Pain flared in my knees, and I screamed, collapsing again. My dress tore, fabric ripping against the floor.

“Stand up!” he shouted, but I sobbed, holding my hands out in a plea.

“Please,” I begged. “I need to see the doctor—please!”

The guard sneered. “Pathetic.”

“Please!” I cried again. “I’ll do my chores after I get some ointment. Even an omega is entitled to that much!”

Mocking laughter. But my words bought me a sliver of time.

They escorted me toward the doctor’s quarters, but they didn’t know about the secret passage I’d discovered last year. A narrow tunnel behind the office led straight into the woods.

When we reached the door, I turned to them. “It’ll only take a minute, I promise,” I said softly, forcing my voice to tremble.

“Please.”

The quieter guard hesitated. The other scoffed but stepped back.

The moment their backs were turned, I darted inside and slipped through the hidden passageway.

If I ran fast enough, I could make it out unseen.

The tunnel was dark, and the air smelled of dust and decay. My foot caught on a loose brick, and I fell with a gasp—the sound echoing loudly.

Footsteps thundered behind me.

I scrambled up, running as fast as I could. The tunnel ended in a faint glimmer of moonlight ahead. I crawled toward it, desperate, but as I emerged, a group of soldiers waited on the other side.

Their eyes glowed red with fury.

One seized me by the waist just as the palace guards reached the tunnel exit—and screamed in horror.

A piercing alarm echoed through the pack lands.

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

Before I could make sense of it, chaos erupted. The strange soldiers—wearing unfamiliar uniforms—attacked the Moon-Waters guards.

A scream tore from my throat. Something hard struck the back of my head, and darkness swallowed me whole.

The last thing I heard was one of the guards shouting:

“Moon-Waters Pack is under attack!”

---

When I came to, the air smelled clean—too clean. The ground moved beneath me.

My eyes fluttered open. I was in a carriage, and it had just rolled to a stop.

Two massive men stood at the door. My heart pounded as they opened it.

Sweat slicked my forehead as one of them climbed inside and grabbed me like I weighed nothing. My once-beautiful dress hung in tatters.

“Let me go!” I screamed, pounding his back, but he only laughed and tossed me onto a stone floor.

The room was wide and dimly lit—a throne room, empty except for shadows.

Pain radiated through my body as I tried to crawl away. The men laughed, cruel and amused.

“Who are you? What do you want?” I cried, clutching my side.

They didn’t answer.

More men entered, each carrying frightened girls over their shoulders. One of the girls screamed, earning a brutal slap.

Tears filled my eyes as I began to notice the details—the black armor, the crest etched into their uniforms.

This wasn’t the Moon-Waters Pack.

My stomach twisted as recognition hit.

“Welcome to Blackwoods!” one of them announced proudly. “All hail Alpha Rhegan!”

My breath caught as a man stepped out of the shadows. His presence was overwhelming, his aura dark and commanding.

The air itself seemed to bow to him.

Rumors of the Blackwoods had always sounded like nightmares meant to scare children—stories of cruelty, slave trade, and darkness.

I had always believed they were myths.

But as his eyes met mine, burning and unrelenting, I realized with cold certainty…

They were real.

And I was in their world now.