CHAPTER THREE

SHERRY..

The crimson eyes held my gaze, unblinking and predatory. 

My heart hammered against my ribs, but for the first time in my life, I didn't curl into a ball and hide. The broken pieces of my mate's bond were still bleeding inside me, numbing me to the instinctual terror a wolf should feel when trapped by a predator.

"Who's there?" I called out, my voice cracking slightly.

The shadow shifted and the crimson eyes moved forward, stepping out from the dense line of trees into the pale, silver moonlight.

It wasn't a wolf like I had expected. it was a man.

He was massive, easily crossing six feet four, with a broad, scarred chest barely concealed by a dark, unbuttoned shirt. 

His jawline looked as though it had been carved and dark, unruly hair fell over a brow pinched with intense scrutiny. 

He didn't belong to the Blood Moon pack.

 I knew every warrior in our ranks, and none of them possessed this kind of terrifying, magnetic presence.

He stopped a few paces away, his nostrils flaring as he took in a deep, sharp breath.

"You're bleeding," he said. His voice was a low, gravelly baritone that seemed to vibrate through me.

"I'm fine," I snapped, pushing myself up against the rough bark of the  tree. My legs were shaky, but I forced myself to stand tall, wiping the back of my hand across my damp cheeks. "You're trespassing on Blood Moon territory. My brother is the Alpha. If you don't leave, the patrols will find you."

The stranger let out a low, humorless chuckle. "Your patrols couldn't find a rogue if it bit them on the tail, And you are far from fine." He took another step closer, his eyes tracking the path of my tears. "I felt the snap from the border. A rejection."

Humiliation flared hot in my chest, replacing the cold despair. "It's none of your business. Leave me alone."

"Sherry!"

Viktor’s voice echoed through the trees from the direction of the pack house, followed by the thud of running footsteps.

The stranger’s eyes shifted toward the sound, a dangerous, mocking smirk playing on his lips. He looked back at me, his gaze lingering on my face for a fraction of a second too long, sending a strange, electric shiver down my spine.

"We will finish this conversation later, Sherry," he murmured.

Before I could demand to know who he was, he turned and vanished and the suffocating pressure I felt earlier lifted from the air so fast I nearly gasped.

"Sherry! Oh thank goddess, you're here."

Viktor burst through the bush. Right behind him was Mia, her wild, curly hair a mess, her breathing ragged. The moment Mia saw me, she bypassed Viktor entirely and threw her arms around my neck, pulling me into a fierce embrace.

"I'm so sorry, Sher," Mia cried, squeezing me tight. "I was in the bathroom, I didn't see what happened until it was too late. I would have torn his eyes out. I swear to the moon, I would have killed him."

"It's okay, Mia," I whispered, though my voice sounded like it wasn’t, even to my own ears.

Viktor stopped a few feet away, his chest heaving. His eyes scanned the ground, his nose twitching as he caught a lingering scent in the air. "Sherry... was someone else out here? I smell something... foreign. Powerful."

"Just a rogue, I think," I lied smoothly, surprised by how easily the deception slipped past my lips. "He ran off when he heard you coming."

Viktor’s jaw clenched, his Alpha instincts on high alert, but his concern for me won over his duty to hunt. He stepped closer, placing a warm hand on my shoulder. "Let's get you home. Father is waiting. He heard what Eric did."

"I don't want to go back to the pack house," I said plainly. "I can't look at them. Any of them."

"You don't have to," Viktor said softly. "Father's private cabin. Just us."

***

The small wooden cabin on the edge of the pack territory was  a stark contrast to the roaring celebration I had fled. A fire crackled in the hearth, throwing warmth everywhere.

My father, Albert, sat in his leather armchair. He looked older tonight. The stress of leading the pack for decades had grayed his temples, but the sight of me walking through the door, pale and broken, seemed to age him by ten years instantly.

"My sweet girl," he breathed, standing up and pulling me into his arms. "I am so sorry. If I had known that boy would dare disrespect you like this—"

"It's fine, Father," I interrupted, pulling back gently. I couldn't handle the pity. 

It felt like salt in an open wound.

"It is not fine!" Camilla’s  voice cut through the room as she marched in from the kitchen, a teacup trembling in her hand. "The entire pack saw it, Albert! The Alpha's daughter, rejected by a Beta. Do you know what the surrounding packs will say? They will think our bloodline is fading, that we breed weak females who can't even hold the interest of our own high-ranking warriors."

"Camilla, hold your tongue," Albert roared, his voice shaking the small cabin. "Our daughter is bleeding from a broken bond, and you are worried about politics?"

"I am worried about our survival!" Camilla snapped back, her eyes flashing. "She needs to be replaced. Mated. We must find a reputable male from a neighboring pack immediately. An Alpha, or a high-ranking Beta, to erase this stain on our name."

"I am not a stain," I said.

The room went dead silent. Everyone turned to look at me. I had never spoken up against my mother before. I had always shrunk away, letting her words slide over me while I hid behind my father.

"I am not a stain, and I am not a prize to be auctioned off to the highest bidder to save your pride, Mother," I said, my voice cold, and entirely devoid of the timidity they expected.

Camilla gasped, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. "How dare you—"

"Dad," I said, turning my back on her and looking directly at my father. "You sent me away to the city schools to keep me safe. I want to go back. But not to study. I want to train. I want to leave this territory tomorrow morning."

"Sherry, you're in no condition to travel, let alone train," Viktor said, stepping forward, his brow furrowed. "The rejection trauma—"

"The rejection trauma will kill me if I stay here and watch Eric parade around with Hazel," I countered, looking my brother in the eye. "I need to get strong. I need to leave."

Albert stared at me for a long, agonizing moment. He searched my face, looking for the fragile, terrified girl he had protected all his life. 

He didn't find her. 

Slowly, a look of profound sadness, mixed with a sliver of pride, settled into his eyes.

"Okay," Albert whispered. "Viktor will arrange a driver for tomorrow morning. You will go to our private estate in the city and I  will send our best retired trainers. But you must promise me, Sherry... you will come back for your twentieth birthday next year."

"I promise," I said.