Chapter 2: The Execution Order

Gianna's POV 

The gravel crunched under my feet as I stumbled down the long driveway of the Ferraro estate. My vision kept blurring, and I couldn't tell if it was from the tears or the pain still tearing through my chest where the bond used to be.

Every few steps, I pressed my hand harder against my stomach, reminding myself why I had to keep moving.

The night was cold. I hadn't brought a jacket. I hadn't brought anything. I had walked into that mansion thinking I was going to celebrate an anniversary, and I walked out with nothing but the clothes on my back and a broken bond that left a hole so deep I could feel it in my bones.

Two years. I gave him two years of my life.

I cooked for him. I cleaned for him. I stood beside him when the pack elders questioned whether a wolfless omega was worthy of their future Alpha. I swallowed every insult, every sideways glance, every cruel whisper from his mother, because I believed that he loved me.

And the whole time, he was sleeping with my sister.

A sob escaped my throat before I could stop it. I pressed my fist against my mouth and kept walking.

I couldn't go home. My parents had made it clear years ago that I was their greatest shame. My mother barely looked at me, and my father spoke about me like I was already dead. Isabella was their golden child, the daughter with the wolf, the daughter who made them proud.

They would take Marco's side. They would call me a liar. They would say I deserved it.

I had no one.

The thought settled over me like a heavy blanket, pressing down on my shoulders until I could barely stand. I stopped at the end of the driveway and looked back at the mansion one last time. The lights in Marco's bedroom were still on.

He was probably holding her right now. Telling her she was beautiful. Saying all the things he used to say to me.

I turned away and started walking toward the main road.

I needed to think. I needed a plan. I had a little money saved, barely enough for a bus ticket and a few nights at a cheap motel. But it was something. It was a start.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out with shaking hands and saw a message from a number I didn't recognize.

"Alpha Marco has issued an order. Gianna Conti is to be found and brought back to the pack for punishment. All warriors are to comply immediately."

My blood turned to ice.

I stared at the screen, reading the words over and over, hoping they would change. Hoping I was misunderstanding something. But the message was clear.

He didn't just reject me. He wanted me dead.

"No..." I whispered, my hand flying to my stomach. "No, no, no..."

I started running.

I didn't know where I was going. I just knew I had to get as far from the Red River territory as possible before his warriors caught up to me. My legs burned, my lungs screamed, and the pain from the broken bond was still pulsing through my chest like a second heartbeat.

But I kept running.

The main road was empty at this hour. No cars. No people. Just darkness stretching out in every direction. I pulled up the bus schedule on my phone and saw that the last intercity bus left from the station in twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes to save my life and my baby's life.

I ran harder.

My feet were aching by the time I reached the small bus station at the edge of town. It was barely more than a metal bench under a flickering light, but the bus was there, engine idling, the driver checking his phone behind the wheel.

"One ticket," I gasped, slapping the crumpled bills on the counter. "Anywhere. I don't care where."

The driver looked at me with tired eyes. "You okay, miss?"

"I'm fine." I forced a smile that probably looked more like a grimace. "Please. Just let me on."

He shrugged and handed me a ticket. The destination read San Ravenswood. I had never heard of it. I didn't care. As long as it was far from here.

I climbed onto the bus and collapsed into a seat near the back. There were only three other passengers, all asleep. I pressed my forehead against the cold window and closed my eyes.

Marco's voice echoed in my head. "You were always a curse."

Isabella's voice followed it. "You should be thanking me."

And then the message. The execution order. Like I was some criminal, some threat that needed to be eliminated.

All I ever did was love him. All I ever did was try to be enough.

My hand rested on my belly, and I felt the faintest flutter. It was too early for real movement, I knew that. The doctor had told me I was only eight weeks along. But something stirred inside me, something warm and alive, and it felt like the only good thing left in my entire world.

"I'm going to protect you," I whispered, so quietly even I could barely hear it. "I don't care what it takes. I don't care what I have to do. No one is ever going to hurt you."

The bus lurched forward, pulling away from the station, and I watched the lights of the Red River territory shrink in the distance until they disappeared completely.

I didn't know what was waiting for me in San Ravenswood. I didn't know if I would find shelter, or safety, or anything resembling a normal life. But I knew one thing with absolute certainty.

I was never going back.

Marco Ferraro could have his pack. He could have my sister. He could have the power and the title and everything else he sold his soul for.

But he would never have this child.

The bus rattled along the dark highway, and for the first time in hours, the pain in my chest dulled just enough for me to take a full breath. The road stretched ahead of me, long and unknown, and I pressed my palm flat against my stomach one more time.

This was my fresh start. This was my escape.

And if Marco's warriors came looking for me, they would find a woman who had nothing left to lose and everything in the world to fight for.

I closed my eyes and let the hum of the engine carry me into the darkness, leaving behind the ashes of a life that was never really mine to begin with.

I, Gianna Conti, was done being anyone's curse.

From this moment on, I would be my own salvation.