Chapter 4

Cora's POV:

I ran.

My lungs burned, legs screaming, but I couldn’t stop—not when five rogue wolves were snapping at my heels. My wolf surged beneath my skin, claws pressing into the earth, senses sharp, instincts screaming. I darted between trees, weaving through trunks, leaping over roots and rocks, trying to use the forest to my advantage.

One of them lunged, teeth grazing my arm. Pain lanced through me, sharp and immediate, and I stumbled—but then I felt it: the healing. My skin tingled, warmth spreading over the cut, stitching itself closed before my eyes.

I stumbled back, startled. “What…?” I whispered, heart still hammering. My wolf growled, curious, reveling in the new strength. I flexed my hands and flexed my legs. Everything hurt less. Everything moved faster. I could do this. I could survive.

The rogues snarled behind me, frustrated, circling, trying to cut me off. I knew the forest better than they did—or at least my wolf instincts did. I ducked low behind a fallen tree, holding my breath, listening. One circled past, teeth bared, eyes glowing in the moonlight. Another leapt for me—and I pushed off the log with all my weight, landing behind them and slashing with my claws instinctively.

A howl split the night. I didn’t stop. Not for a second. I zigzagged, climbed a steep embankment, and finally found a small stream. Water reflected the moonlight like a ribbon through the dark. I jumped in, letting the current hide my scent. The rogues slowed at the edge, sniffing the air, frustrated, unable to follow me in the water.

I sank to my knees, gasping, wolf still humming beneath my skin, heart racing so fast I thought it would explode. My body ached, but the healing was real.

Faster than it should be. Stronger. I could feel the wolf inside me stretching, flexing, learning, becoming something I hadn’t fully realized yet.

When the rogues finally gave up and disappeared into the shadows, I stayed in the water for a long moment, letting the forest absorb me, letting my wolf settle. Pain still pulsed from the bond. Cain. His refusal. His scent seared into me, warm and infuriating, and every time I inhaled, it was like a knife twisting in my chest.

I pulled myself onto the bank and limped a little, testing my legs. Bruises were forming, but the cuts were already closing. My wolf whimpered softly at the residual tension in my chest, restless and hungry.

I needed shelter. I needed food. I needed to survive.

I wandered deeper into the forest, senses stretched, hearing every rustle, smelling every creature. My stomach growled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten in hours. I found berries, not many, but enough to fill the emptiness, and drank from the stream, letting the cold water flush my lungs.

By the time the moon passed its apex, exhaustion settled over me, but my wolf refused to sleep. It prowled beneath my skin, restless, sensing everything: the wind, the shadows, the unknown predators that might still be out there. I curled into a hollow beneath an ancient tree, pulling the blanket I had brought around me. My human side shivered; my wolf side was awake and alert, stretching and flexing, learning, tasting the night air.

The bond in my chest screamed every second, a constant reminder of Cain.

Mine. Denied. Burning. Every pulse was fire, and I pressed my hands to it, pressing down against the ache, but nothing helped. I was learning what it really meant to carry a mate bond unfulfilled, to be alive and alone with it, and I hated it.

But survival… survival was possible.

I closed my eyes finally, wolf still alert beneath my skin, ears twitching, sensing movement, scents, life around me.

Tomorrow, I would hunt. I would move. I would survive. I would learn.

And maybe one day, I would be strong enough that Cain—or anyone else—would regret leaving me behind.

Sunlight filtered through the canopy, warm and golden, shaking me awake. My muscles ached slightly, but not as much as I expected. I sat up, stretching, and glanced down at my arms and legs.

The scratches from yesterday? Gone. Already. The bruises were fading before my eyes. My wolf hummed beneath my skin, curious and proud, flexing muscles that felt stronger than they had the day before.

I swallowed hard. I could heal. Faster than anyone else. Stronger. I could survive out here.

I reached for the small pack I had carried with me. Inside were a few scraps of bread, some dried meat, and a handful of nuts. I ate slowly, savoring every bite, letting my body wake fully. Each mouthful felt like fuel for something bigger than just hunger—fuel for survival, fuel for freedom.

The forest was alive around me. Birds called from the branches, the stream gurgled nearby, and the wind whispered across the leaves. No pack, no parents, no sister, no Cain. Just me. And my wolf.

I ran my fingers over my forearm, marveling at the smooth, unbroken skin.

The cuts from yesterday had vanished.

“That’s… incredible,” I whispered. My wolf purred, a soft vibration in my chest, as if agreeing. I tested it, scraping a fingernail along a fresh scratch I made on my palm. Already gone. Healed.

I leaned back against the trunk of a tree, letting the sun warm me, thinking. I could go back. I could try to beg, to apologize, to shrink myself to fit into the pack’s mold again…

But no.

Not anymore.

I was twenty. I had waited my whole life for my wolf, for this power, for a place in the world. And now I had it. Alone. Untethered. Free.

I looked at the forest stretching in every direction, felt the pulse of life beneath my feet, and made my decision.

I would live as a rogue.

No pack to control me. No Alpha or Beta dictating my life. No Cain, no Aurora. Just me, my wolf, and the forest.

The thought filled me with a strange kind of peace. My wolf shifted beneath my skin, stretching fully for the first time in human form, letting out a soft growl of approval.

I pushed myself to my feet and walked to the stream. The water was cool against my palms, refreshing, and I splashed it over my face. Each droplet felt like washing away the past—the pack, the betrayal, the heartbreak.

I could heal. I could fight. I could survive.

And I would.

My wolf whined softly in my chest, still echoing the bond I carried, still screaming Cain’s name in fire and ache.

But for the first time, I felt something else too: power. Independence. Control.

The forest was mine, and I would learn its rules. I would move silently, hunt cleverly, and test the limits of my body and my wolf.

For the first time, I wasn’t just a Beta’s daughter. I wasn’t a rejected girl. I was something new. Something dangerous. Something alive.

And I was never going back.