Chapter 3

Tearing pain in my flesh jolted me awake. I opened my eyes to find a pack of Rogues dragging me deeper into the Nightwood, far from home.

I fought them off with everything I had left and stumbled back toward the pack, falling with nearly every step.

I thought about leaving the pack before. But without my father's approval, I couldn't get the papers to release me.

I tried running before too, but the Obsidian Pack mark made it easy for my father to track me down and drag me back for more punishment.

I was like a bug caught in a spider's web with no way out, just waiting to die.

By the time I got home, my father was already asleep. My stepsisters looked at me like I disgusted them and covered their noses.

"Just stay in your room and behave. Don't make Dad angry again."

They took my phone too.

"It won't matter who you call. If you don't want another beating, stop wasting your time."

I went back to my room without a word and tended to my own wounds alone.

I'd given up fighting back, but then my maternal grandfather, Cedric Reed, showed up. He couldn't reach me, so he came looking for me in person.

He barged into my room. When he saw the state I was in, he slapped my father across the face.

"This is how you take care of my granddaughter? She's your only blood! If you don't want her, don't force her to stay here either. Willow, come with me. I'm taking you away from the Obsidian Pack."

My grandpa was the Alpha of the Nightwind Pack, and his territory was twice the size of my father's.

He was the most respected Alpha in the entire southern territory. Even my father didn't dare cross him.

But when he stood up for me, my expression went pale.

"Grandpa, I'm fine. Please just go home."

A bone-deep fear had taken over. All I wanted was for the grandpa I loved most to never set foot in the Obsidian Pack again.

He gripped my hand tightly.

"Sweetheart, what are you talking about? Your father did this to you. Why are you still protecting him?"

He lifted his head and looked at my father coldly.

"You owe me an explanation. Why would you do this to your own daughter?"

"Grandpa!"

I cut off whatever my father was about to say and threw my arms around my grandpa.

"I know you're doing this for me, but promise me one thing, and you have to keep it. Promise me you'll never go into the Moon Temple in the Obsidian Pack."

He patted my trembling shoulder gently.

"Don't worry, I won't go anywhere near that temple. All I care about is whether my granddaughter is safe."

He let out a long, heavy sigh, his eyes rimmed red.

"My daughter never got the life she deserved. She met the Moon Goddess far too young. You're all I have left of her. I'll protect you no matter what."

I clung to him and sobbed, years of buried pain pouring out all at once.

With his promise, I fell asleep that night for the first time in years actually feeling safe.

But the next morning, the house was dead quiet, and that silence set my nerves on edge.

My father and my two stepsisters were waiting outside my door with chains. The second I stepped out, they had me bound tight.

"I underestimated you. You actually ran and told on me."

One of my stepsisters yanked hard on my hair, a smirk on her lips.

"Dad, it's time we dealt with her."

I shoved my stepsister off me and bolted for the door, running for my life.

The killing intent coming off them was too strong. If I didn't run now, I wouldn't survive this.

The second I reached the door, I spotted my grandpa. I ran straight to him and threw my arms around his leg.

"Grandpa, help me, Dad's going to kill me!"

But the grandpa who'd always been so gentle with me shook me off in disgust.

"You had this coming."

His words hit me like ice water.

"Grandpa... you went to the Moon Temple?"

No. He'd promised me he wouldn't!

He looked down at me, his eyes cold and terrifying.

"I'm glad I did. Otherwise, how would I have ever seen what you really are?"

I finally broke down completely.

"What's in that temple? Please just tell me. Let me at least understand why I have to die."

My father walked toward me slowly. He exchanged a look with my grandpa, gave a single nod, and led me inside the Moon Temple himself.

I walked step by step toward the altar, my eyes widening further with every step, until I couldn't speak at all.

"So that's what this is..."