Chapter 03

Michelle Morripin – The Lone Wolf

The impact sent me crashing to the ground before I could react. Air burst from my lungs as pain shot through my back.

A voice, low and laced with disdain, clicked its tongue. "Tsk. What do we have here?"

The scent hit me before I could lift my head— He was a wolf.

My pulse raced. My muscles locked in response.

That presence, that coat of arms... he was no ordinary wolf, he was the local alpha's subordinate.

I was in trouble.

Shit.  

Every instinct screamed at me to run, but I couldn’t. Not without blowing my cover.

I curled up on the ground, pulling my hood lower to hide my face, trying to make myself smaller, less threatening.

But he had already caught my scent.

"You don’t belong here," he growled, his voice laced with authority.

My heart pounded so hard I could hear it in my ears.

A strange murmur rose around us.

I needed to think. Fast. But my thoughts were a tangled mess of panic and instinct.  

Could I turn and disappear into the crowd? No—too many eyes on me. Deny it? Lie? My scent had already betrayed me. My fingers curled into fists, nails biting into my palms as if pain could snap me back into focus.

People whispered, sneaking glances. Some backed away, wary. Others edged closer, curious about the commotion.

My lips parted, a desperate excuse forming.

But before I could even open my mouth, a firm, furious voice cut through the tension.  

“What are you doing to my grandson?!”

A small figure, hunched with age, stepped forward and placed herself between me and the wolf.  

An old woman.  

Her gaze burned with rage, as if she were ready to smack the man with her bare hands.  

"He’s my grandson!" she spat, crossing her arms defiantly. "Just arrived from far away. And he’s a good boy."  

My mind scrambled to process her words.  

Grandson…?

Was she trying to help me? That's what I felt the moment she stood in front of me, the protective way she positioned herself, the tone of her voice.

The guard hesitated for a second, studying the old woman in front of him.  

Then his eyes shifted to me.  

He sniffed the air, suspicious.  

"Your grandson, huh?"He narrowed his eyes. "Then tell me… why does he smell so strange?"  

Cold sweat trickled down my neck.  

"He spent a long time in another pack," the old woman replied quickly. "His scent is still adjusting to the environment."  

The guard didn’t look convinced.  

He studied me for a few more moments, as if trying to see through my hood and figure out what I really was.  

Then, his expression twisted into something cruel.  

"So… he caused unnecessary trouble, didn’t he?"His voice carried a hint of sadistic amusement.  

The old woman tensed beside me.  

"That means someone has to pay for this mess."  

He pulled a parchment from his pocket and scribbled something down with his quill before handing it to the old woman.  

"A fine. For the inconvenience."  

My blood boiled.  

Coward.  

But I knew I couldn’t react.  

The old woman took the paper, her jaw clenched tight, holding back her anger.  

The wolf cast one last look at me before turning away, disappearing down the street.  

The people around us murmured in dissatisfaction but quickly dispersed.  

I was still on the ground when the old woman turned to me, watching me closely.  

Her eyes had a sharp glint, as if she could see right through my lie.  

"Are you all right, boy?"  

I didn’t answer.  

"What are you doing here?" she continued, her voice lower now, laced with suspicion. "You know no one can enter this village without an invitation."  

I stayed silent.  

I still looked like a cornered animal. And maybe, in some ways, I was.  

But now, I had to decide quickly… could I trust her or not? She had saved me… but deep down, I knew I couldn’t let my guard down.

My breath was still ragged, and every fiber of my body screamed for me to run.

The old woman, however, didn’t step back.  

“You don’t have a place to stay, do you?” 

She didn’t wait for an answer. She just sighed and started talking, as if she were used to understanding people with a single glance.

“Oh... Maddison's son... That Alex.” She grabbed my arm firmly, and then seemed to lose herself in her thoughts as she spoke.

“That little brat thought he had grown up to become a man, a true Alpha. He commands his wolves to do everything they want on this land, even the horrible things to little girls and boys.​​” Her lips are trembling as she tries to squeeze out the memories she wished to forget for years.

It was such a living hell!. 

“No rules, no laws, he is the dictator and the only option left for us to live is: obey his orders.” I felt tears drop down on my arm, bringing me back to reality. Her words had drawn the picture.

My jaw clenched.  

Every word she spoke hit me like I could feel the hell they were living in.  

I looked at her, with a different look this time, after listening to her. I could see how tired and battered she looked. Her brown eyes were drooping, her skin marked by a few scars that looked painful, and her clothes were worn and pitted. Her white hair showed her years of suffering.

My eyes swept over the village, taking in the worn-down houses, the exhausted faces, the way people shrank away whenever a wolf bearing the Alpha’s crest passed by.  

They weren’t just poor villagers. They were prisoners.  

Victims. Like me.  

A quiet rage burned inside me.  

I thought of my father.  

The way he spoke about a Beta’s duty, about protecting those who couldn’t fight for themselves.  

What would he have done if he saw this?  

What would he say if he saw his daughter here, hiding beneath rags and fear?  

My throat burned.  

And then, before I even realized it, my voice slipped out.  

“This is unfair.”  

The old woman’s eyes widened.  

Not because of what I said, but because of how I said it.  

My voice. My feminine voice.  

I saw the shock ripple across her face.  

Her eyes studied me more closely now, analyzing every detail.  

And then it happened.  

A gust of wind lifted a piece of the hood that concealed my face, allowing the dim light to illuminate the exposed part of my skin.  

The old woman gasped.  

Her eyes locked onto me as if she had just found something impossible.  

She saw it.  

The pale shimmer of my hair—a rare shade not seen in just any wolf.  

She saw my eyes too, a color so clear and unusual that streaks of gold seemed to weave through the wild amber.  

I had no idea how special I was.  

I had spent so many years living in the forest like an animal that I had almost completely forgotten the purity of my blood.  

Forgotten who I was. Almost even forgotten my own name.  

And that was why, in one sudden movement, the old woman grabbed my arm and yanked me off the street.  

“Come with me. Now.”  

I was taken away before I could understand anything.  

The old woman dragged me with surprising strength for someone her age.  

We slipped through narrow alleys and dark passageways until we finally entered a small, cozy house that smelled of herbs and freshly baked bread.  

The door shut behind us, and she turned to me, eyes burning with hunger for answers.  

“Who are you?” 

I hesitated.  

My entire body screamed at me to lie, to hide the truth and move forward with my plan.  

But as I looked around, taking in the misery of that village and remembering her words, I knew.  

If I truly wanted to fight for vengeance… I had to start by being honest with myself.  

She had saved me, even without knowing who I was. The least I could do was answer her.  

I swallowed hard.  

And then, I spoke.  

“My father was one of the Betas on the Council of a distant pack,” I began, my voice low but steady. “Unfortunately… he was accused of something he didn’t do, and we had to pay the price for it.” I shifted my gaze to the ground as I spoke, trying to remember. “I just… had nowhere else to go, so I survived in the forest ever since.”  

The old woman said nothing. She only watched me.  

I took a deep breath, feeling my heart pound against my ribs.  

“Now… I’ve been offered a chance at redemption.”  

My hands clenched into fists at my sides.  

“A chance to return.”  

I didn’t say how. I didn’t mention the Supreme Alpha.  

But she didn’t ask.  

She simply looked me up and down, as if she could see beyond my words.  

Then, she sighed, a small smile appearing on her lips.  

“Then maybe… maybe you’ve come to the right place. Fate didn’t send you here for nothing… I’m certain the Goddess has her hand in all of this.”  

It was then that I noticed a mirror in the corner of the room.  

The candlelight flickered against it, casting shadows that moved within its reflection.  

I turned, and for the first time in years, I saw my own face.  

I gasped.  

The woman staring back at me was someone I didn’t recognize.  

The pale strands of my hair were disheveled, yet they still gleamed like silver in the firelight. My eyes… they were wild, shaped by years of living outside civilization, yet they still held a golden glow I had long forgotten.  

Primal. Pure.  

I looked like an animal on the edge of a cliff.  

A forgotten beast.  

And yet…  

I looked like someone who could be powerful.  

I took a deep breath, letting that vision burn itself into my mind.  

If there was a way to get what I wanted…  

It was time to remember who I truly was.  

I was Michelle Morripin, daughter of Richard Morripin, the former right-hand Beta of Alpha Glen J. Baker—one of the few pureblood she-wolves of Neveryth.  

And now, I remembered who I was.