Rin’s POVI couldn't remain motionless.I realised that every second I spent in one location was a risk the moment I left Kai behind. Every street already smelt of Thorne, and the Council's eyes were everywhere. There was no safety for me. I no longer owned any part of Verano.So I continued to move.A throwaway phone, followed by another. The old ones I shattered on the concrete, sending metal and plastic flying into the gutter. I exchanged them for fresh ones that were anonymous and unregistered. I still felt vulnerable, though, as if the Council were breathing down my neck every time one buzzed in my pocket.Apartments, too. I moved between dilapidated rooms, from cheap motels with mouldy odours to deserted lofts with windows that shook in the breeze. I never spent more than one night there. Not always.My heart pounded every time I shut a door, anticipating its sudden opening.I was cautious, I told myself. That I couldn't see. But I knew the truth in my heart.You cannot outrun u
Rin’s POVI snapped the instant his sneer got to me.Kai was slammed hard into the wall as I sprang forward and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. For once, his arrogant little whistle died on his lips as his back struck the brickwork with a resounding thud."You believe this to be a game?" I pressed the knife to his throat and growled. Anger blazed in my veins as my chest heaved. "You framed me. You destroyed me.Even with the blade against his skin, Kai's smile came back, slow and angry. "Hello, Rin, to you too. I missed you, sweetheart."Stop talking!" I gave him another, more forceful slam. The force caused the wall to crack. "Be honest with me before I cut you off."His amused and piercing eyes gleamed in the low light. "That's it," he said. "That fire." The bite. You're not so Alpha anymore? Not very Omega, though. Fascinating.I clenched my fingers. "Stop teasing me. Respond to me!Unbothered by the knife piercing his flesh, Kai laughed. "Rin, you're shaking. Not out of ter
Rin’s POVI couldn’t move.Dozens of red lights, concealed in the city like an invisible net, lit up above me. Cameras. Observing. Recording. Judging.I initially believed that Thorne might have done this. He was devoted enough to pursue me at every opportunity, and he possessed strength and reach. However, it felt colder the more I stared.Thorne wasn't here.This was larger.The Council.Like poison, the word slipped through my head. You couldn't flee from these men. Behind every pack, every ordinance, and every streetlight which I now see is more than just a streetlight were shadows that tugged threads.With my chest rising quickly, I said under my breath, "They've been watching me all along." Not him. Not only him. Them.Inside of me, my wolf snarled, restless and terrified. I dragged my hand across my face while pressing my back against the wall.Why me? Why now?Due to the person I had become. Due to the pills. Since I was no longer Alpha. Not Omega, either.I was different.The
Rin’s POVI ran like hell.Even though the night air was harsh on my lungs, I continued. I rushed through the streets of Verano, my boots slamming against the concrete. Above me, neon signs buzzed, their colours smearing on the damp tarmac. Even though the city was bustling with people yelling, cars blaring, and inebriated people staggering out of pubs, it all seemed like noise to me.I wasn't fleeing them. I was fleeing from him.You never truly forgot me.Thorne's voice burned into my chest and stuck to me like chains. I wanted to tear it out of my skull, but it reverberated louder the harder I tried to push it away.With heaving breath, I yelled at no one, "Shut up."As I pushed passed a couple, they gave me a quick look, but I ignored them. My wolf, restless beneath my skin, scratched and clawed as if it wanted to turn around and flee in the opposite direction as my heart pounded.Let's go back to him."No," I growled. My fingernails sank into my hands. "I refuse to."The link was
Rin’s POVIt was difficult to fall asleep.It wasn't calm even when my body gave out and pulled me under. Though it was dense with darkness, it wasn't empty. It drew me back into remembrance, not into sleep.The temperature was warm.After blinking, I found myself in a celebration. Golden light spilt across the streets as lanterns swayed overhead. Loud, careless music drifted through the night. The air was heavy with the aroma of sweet wine and roasting meat.People chuckled. Wolves let forth delirious screams of delight.And me? I was younger. Inconsiderate. I hadn't yet been crushed under the weight of the world. As I inhaled that freedom, my chest relaxed.There was another figure beside me.Thorne.It was a younger, less polished version of the man I knew now. His smile was less controlled, and his hair was a bit longer. The shadows he saw now were not there before.Together, we staggered through the crowd, laughing too much and getting wine on our lips.I gave him a shoulder bump
Rin’s POVI was disgusted by the mirror.I was standing there, holding the sink so tightly that the porcelain was on the verge of breaking. Strange and piercing, my reflection looked back at me like a stranger trapped within my flesh. I had a harder-looking jaw. My shoulders are slimmer and wider. My eyes—my eyes, God. They were neither Omega silver nor Alpha gold, but they shone dimly in the dim toilet light. Something in the middle, something off.The glass was fogged by my breath. My aroma, thick and complex, twisted like smoke, clung to the air. Alpha, Omega. Both. Not at all."Who are you in the hell?" I said.There was no response from the face in the mirror.I couldn't help but think of the doctor's words: Rin, you're a chimera.I pushed my hands flat against the sink, attempting to stabilise myself, but my stomach churned like I was about to puke. I didn’t feel like myself anymore. My body wasn’t mine. I didn't trust my instincts.The worst thing?There was a part of me that e