Chapter Two

The freezing rain hit my face like a thousand tiny needles.

I stumbled out of the hospital’s side exit, my boots slipping on the slick, black asphalt of the alleyway. The night was pitch-black, illuminated only by the flickering amber glow of a dying streetlamp. I pulled my heavy canvas coat tighter around myself, adjusting my grip on the precious, warm weight secured against my chest.

Maya didn't make a sound. It was as if she already knew, even at only a few hours old, that her life depended on her absolute silence.

As I hurried past the trash bins and stepped into the dense, dark woods that bordered the neutral-zone town, a sudden wave of violent nausea hit me. My stomach violently churned, and my knees buckled. I had to throw my arm against a rough pine tree to keep from collapsing onto the wet forest floor.

The suppressants.

I gasped for air, the freezing wind burning my lungs. The black-market blockers I had swallowed were designed to completely suffocate an Omega’s natural pheromones, masking the sweet, floral scent of my wolf and replacing it with the dull, flat profile of a Beta. But the formula was highly toxic, a cheap chemical cocktail that felt like acid running through my veins. My vision blurred, spots of light dancing in the darkness, and a cold sweat broke out across my forehead despite the freezing rain.

No. Not now, I screamed at myself, biting my lower lip until the metallic taste of blood cut through the chemical haze in my mouth. You can’t pass out. If you stop, you die. She dies.

Pushing off the tree, I forced my legs to move. Every step felt like wading through wet cement. My muscles ached with a deep, systemic weakness, a side effect of the suppressants forcefully shutting down my wolf's natural defense mechanisms.

I was entirely vulnerable. An Omega with no pack, no protection, and a baby that didn’t officially exist.

I pressed deeper into the woods, heading north. The neutral zone was shrinking behind me, and ahead lay the formidable borders of the Dern Pack. They were one of the largest and most dangerous territories in the region, ruled not by one, but by three incredibly powerful Alpha brothers. To cross their perimeter without permission was a declaration of war. Standard protocol for border security was to kill intruders first and ask questions later.

But I had no choice. The Ash Pack was behind me, and Spencer 's trackers would easily piece together my trail if I stayed in the neutral zone. The only place the Ash Pack wouldn't dare invade without a full-scale army was Dern territory.

As the trees grew thicker and the underbrush more tangled, the atmosphere changed. The air grew heavy, thick with a crushing, invisible pressure that made the hairs on my arms stand on end.

The border wards.

I stopped at the edge of a small clearing. Even through my suppressed senses, I could feel the raw, territorial power radiating from the invisible boundary line just yards away. The air smelled faintly of cedarwood, rain, and a sharp, metallic sting of ozone,the collective, dominant scents of the three Alphas who ruled this land. The sheer potency of their combined pheromones sent a primal shiver of submission straight down my spine. My inner wolf, already weakened by the drugs, cowered in fear.

I looked down at the tiny bundle hidden beneath my coat. Maya’s small chest rose and fell. She carried her father’s blood. Somewhere past this border, one of those three Alphas was her father. I just had to find out which one before they caught me.

Suddenly, the snapping of a twig echoed through the silent forest behind me.

My heart stopped.

I spun around, my eyes scanning the dark treeline. Through the driving rain, I caught a glimpse of a massive, dark shape moving between the pines. A wolf. A scout from the Ash Pack. They were already here. Spencer ’s tracker had found me.

Panic, hot and sharp, exploded in my chest, overriding the nausea and weakness of the suppressants. I didn't think. I didn't plan. I took a deep breath, clutched Maya tightly against my ribcage, and lunged forward, crossing the invisible boundary line directly into Dern territory.

The moment my foot touched the soil, a low, subsonic hum vibrated through the ground. The perimeter defenses had registered my intrusion.

Behind me, the Ash Pack tracker let out a furious, frustrated howl, stopping dead at the border. He didn't dare cross,to do so would mean instant death by the Dern Pack's border patrol. But he knew I had crossed, and it was only a matter of time before he reported my location to Spencer.

I kept running, my lungs screaming for oxygen, my boots sinking into the thick mud. I had to get away from the border, to find a place to hide before the Dern Pack’s patrol came to investigate the breach.

But my body was reaching its absolute limit. The suppressants were wreaking havoc on my system, and the sheer exertion of the sprint was burning through my last reserves of adrenaline. My vision began to tunnel, the dark trees blending into a chaotic swirl of gray and black.

Just a little further, I prayed, my breath hitching as my foot caught on a exposed root.

I tumbled forward, my body spinning to protect Maya as I hit the wet ground hard. I slid down a small, muddy embankment, crashing into a thick patch of ferns.

I lay there in the dark, shivering violently, my breath coming in ragged, painful gasps. The rain poured down, washing the mud over my clothes. I weakly peeled back my coat to check on Maya. She opened her tiny, dark eyes for a fraction of a second, letting out a soft, barely audible whimper before falling back asleep.

I let out a shaky, hysterical laugh. She was safe. For now.

But as the heavy, commanding sound of approaching paws echoed through the damp forest, I knew our nightmare was only just beginning.