Chapter one hundred and one.

Eva's POV.

The tears had stopped, but the ache hadn’t.

I sat there, my knees hugged to my chest, as the moon’s reflection moved in the rippling stream like it was mocking me, the night was quiet now, the kind of quiet that lets your thoughts get louder, I hated that part the most, when your mind starts replaying every word, every stare, every truth you’ve tried to bury.

She’s not one of us.

She doesn’t even shift.

They weren’t wrong.

I’d tried to tell myself they didn’t matter, that I didn’t need their approval. But tonight, surrounded by a pack that was transforming under the full moon while I sat on the outside, I had never felt smaller.

Eventually, I pushed myself up, limbs stiff, heart heavier than before. I shuffled over to the wooden bench near the water’s edge and sat, closing my eyes and breathed in the scent of earth and water.

Maybe just five minutes, I told myself. Just a moment to feel like I’m not falling apart.

And for a moment, I did feel safe.

Until something moved be