Chapter 2

I don’t remember how I made it back to my room. I don’t remember who saw me or who laughed or who turned away like I didn’t exist.

All I remember… is the pain.

It didn’t fade, I didn't get a chance to breathe.

The pain stayed with me, burning, tearing and suffocating me.

The bond was gone, and in its place was something far worse.

I curled into myself on the cold floor, my fingers clutching at my chest as if I could somehow hold the broken pieces together.

But there was nothing left to hold.

Why…? The word slipped out, barely more than a breath.

What had I done wrong? What was so wrong with me… that even fate rejected me?

My throat tightened, and tears slid silently down my temples, disappearing into my hair. I didn’t even have the strength to cry properly. It was as if even my sorrow had been drained from me.

Time blurred, minutes, Hours, maybe more but it didn't matter.

Nothing did.

At some point, the sharpness of the pain dulled just enough for me to breathe without feeling like I was dying. But the emptiness? That stayed. It spread slowly and quietly yet consuming.

And then…I felt it.

At first, it was faint. So faint I thought I imagined it. A flicker, something unfamiliar. I froze, my breath catching.

It wasn’t the bond. It wasn’t anything I had ever felt before. It was something deeper and stronger.

A whisper brushed against my mind, soft and  ancient.

My eyes snapped open, the room felt different. The air had changed, heavier somehow, thicker, like something unseen had filled the space around me.

“Get up.”

The voice wasn’t loud, but it wasn’t mine. A chill ran down my spine. My body went still, my heart beginning to pound again, but this time, it wasn’t from pain. It was something else, something unknown.

“Get… up.”

Stronger this time. My fingers twitched against the floor. I didn’t want to move, I didn't want to feel anything, but my body… didn’t listen.

Slowly, trembling, I pushed myself upright. My legs felt weak beneath me, but they held.

Barely, my gaze lifted, drawn toward the cracked mirror across the room, and I froze.

The girl staring back at me looked like me. But she wasn’t. Her eyes were darker, colder, empty in a way mine had never been before.

Good. The thought came without hesitation. A slow breath left my lips as something deep within the stirred. The pain was still there, but it no longer controlled me. It fed me.

“They broke you,” the voice whispered.

My fingers curled into fists at my sides. Yes, I whispered back.

The word felt different this time. Not weak, not broken. Just… true.

“Then don’t stay broken.”

Silence followed. But the words didn’t fade. They settled deeply into me.

Don’t stay broken.

My breathing steadied, the trembling in my hands faded. the tears stopped.

And for the first time since the ceremony…I felt something else. Not hope, not yet. But something close to it, something stronger.

'Control.'

I stepped closer to the mirror, my reflection watching me just as carefully. I studied her, the weakness in her eyes, the softness that had made her an easy target.

The girl who waited, who hoped, who believed and slowly... I let her go.

“I don’t need you anymore,” I whispered.

The words felt final, like a door closing, like something ending.

Or maybe… Something beginning.

By morning, I had made my decision. I wouldn’t stay. I wouldn’t beg. I wouldn’t exist in a place where I meant nothing, where I was nothing.

I moved quietly, packing what little I had. There wasn’t much. A few clothes, a worn pair of boots.

Memories I refused to carry with me. The pack house was silent as I stepped into the hallway. Too silent. No one stopped me. No one asked where I was going. No one cared.

And somehow… that hurt less than it should have, or maybe I was already too far gone to feel it.

I walked through the familiar paths of Ironclaw one last time, past the training grounds, past the gathering clearing, past the place where everything had shattered.

I didn’t look at it, I didn’t slow down nor did I hesitate.

Because if I did…I might remember, and I refused to be that girl again.

By the time I reached the borders, the sun had barely risen. The light was weak, and distant. Like everything else in my life. I paused for a moment, just a moment, standing at the edge of everything I had ever known. No fear came, no doubt.

Just stillness. Because the girl who would have been afraid? She was gone without a word or a goodbye.

I stepped past the borders of Ironclaw Pack, and I didn’t look back. I didn’t feel regret.

Only one thing remained.

A quiet…

Burning…Promise.

The next time they see me, I won’t be the girl they rejected.

I’ll be the one they fear.