LOGINāYou were given to me?ā The words echo around the empty space and I didnāt need to ask by whom, that answer was glaring right at me.The words didnāt just echo, they settled so deep and heavy, they felt like chains wrapping around my bones.My fist clenched at my sides, nails biting into my palms as I forced myself to stay standing.āIām not yours,ā I snap my voice sharper than I feel. āI donāt belong to anyone.ā There was an exception to that, someone I was bonded with, someone I knew was out there right now searching desperately and frantically for me.Silence answers back at me until I thought the echoing voice will never speak again.āYou speak with defiance,ā the voice murmurs. āGood.āA sudden pressure builds beneath my feet.āWhat are youā¦.āThe ground beneath me glows, faint at first but then it gets brighter, lines begin to form spreading outward in intricate patterns, circling me, locking me in place before I can even move.Looking down, a symbol forms beneath me, a ritual
ZAHRA-ROSEI donāt know how long Iāve been running. Or if Iāve even been moving at all.The space around me doesnāt change.No matter how far I go⦠it stays the same.Empty and silent.Too silent.My breathing comes out uneven as I slow to a stop, my chest rising and falling rapidly. The air here is thick, heavy with incense and something older⦠something that clings to my skin like itās trying to seep into me.āEira?ā I call again.Nothing.Not even an echo of her presence.The absence of my wolf feels wrong,unnatural. Like a part of me has been ripped away and sealed somewhere I canāt reach.I know I have lived the majority of my life without her but having her and losing her is something I know I can't love without, I can't live with my wolf. My fingers curl slightly.This isnāt just separation.This is suppression and it is a very deliberate one. My heart pounds harder.No. No, no, no....I forced myself to breathe, to think of the moment I stepped out of my room today, what tra
As I approached the outskirts of the pack where Alyaanah said she was the first thing I noticed was her.She stood beside her car.From a distance, I could already see it,The way her body trembled.Whatever happened here⦠it shook her badly.āAlyaanah,ā I called, closing the distance quickly. I placed a steady hand on her shoulder before she even realized I was there.She turned to me.And the panic in her eyes,It hit hard.āI⦠Iā¦ā Her voice broke, words tangling as tears streamed down her face. āI sat in the car andā¦.āShe couldnāt finish.I tightened my grip on her shoulder slightly, grounding her.āIām here,ā I said firmly. āBreathe.āHer body continued to shake, so I gently took her hand and guided her back into the car, settling her into the seat.She slumped back, still trembling.I gave her space.For now.Stepping away from the car, I turned toward the open land surrounding us.Nothing.Just grass stretching endlessly in every direction.No structure.No trace.āCan you pick
ASHVINāS POVStanding there, watching the car pull away with my mother and Zahra-Rose inside, didnāt sit right with me.It felt wrong.Every instinct in me screamed it.I turned to her sister, my jaw tightening slightly.āYou need to follow them,ā I said, my voice firm but controlled. āKeep your distance. Let me know where they go, and everything that happens.āIt was a lot to ask.But I wouldnāt rest easy if I didnāt know Zahra-Rose was safe.āYou donāt have to ask me twice,ā she replied immediately, squeezing my shoulder in reassurance. āIāll stay on them.āI nodded once as she walked away.Zahra-Rose has been through too much.Far too much.And watching her walk into more⦠it does something to me.Something I donāt like.āShe deserves better,ā Zen muttered within me, his voice low and certain.I exhaled slowly.āI know.āSometimes, I wish I could be that better for her.But even I donāt know how.Not fully. Not in the way she needs.Sometimes, I wish we were normal, just a mated pa
Being stuck in the same car with Luna Verena and her daughter this early morning wasnāt on my radar, but here I am, trapped between the two most insufferable people I know. I never thought, in all my years of knowing her, that I would ever consider her an awful person. Yet somehow, she had become exactly that, the kind of Luna I never imagined she would be. āI told you I didnāt like her from the moment we met,ā Eira snapped through the mind link, her irritation brushing sharply against my thoughts. āAnd I still donāt understand why we are here.ā Her distaste settled deep in my chest. Eira didnāt dislike easily, she rejected. Only Luna Verena knew the real reason her daughter was here. She had told me this trip was meant for me, for my preparation as the next Luna of the pack. āI am preparing my daughter for a Luna role. That is why she is here,ā Luna Verena said calmly. I nodded, even though unease twisted in my gut. Could she hear my thoughts? No. I highly doubted it. I had s
No one told me how brutal pack training could be.Not the kind I used to do, the one I foolishly thought was enough.This, this was different.After hours under the watchful eyes of Ashvin, Maliah, and Kai, I could barely feel my body anymore.They didnāt go easy on me.There was no pity. No hesitation.Every movement demanded more.Every command pushed me harder than the last.My muscles burned, my lungs clawed for air, and even Eira felt stretched thin beneath my skin.The moment Maliah announced the end of training, my legs gave out.I collapsed onto the grass, the cool earth pressing against my overheated skin as I struggled to breathe.āAre you alright?āAshvinās voice came low and steady as he crouched beside me, his Alpha presence wrapping around me like a shield.I nodded weakly. Words felt too heavy.Turning my head, I caught the faint curve of amusement tugging at his lips. My eyes narrowed slightly at him.He twisted a bottle of water and handed it to me āYou need this.āI
ASHVIN HARVEYāS POVI rushed to her side the moment her eyes fluttered open.āAre you alright?ā I asked, my voice sharp with concern as her gaze swept the room. She rubbed her eyes, adjusting to the daylight spilling through the window.āAshvin?ā Her voice was soft, strained.āIām here.ā I took her
I donāt know how or where the rumor all started, but suddenly, I could hear the whispers, the hushed, cutting words people spoke about me throughout the pack.I tried to ignore it at first, convincing myself it was temporary. That it would pass. But I was wrong. The whispers grew louder, sharp and
ZAHRA-ROSEāS POVWhatever they have planned, Iām calling it bullshit.Iām sitting on a chair as some she-wolves apply makeup to my face. Ugh, makeup. I hated it so much.Whenever my sister, Haelyn, whoās obsessed with this stuff, would practice on my face or whatever the hell she claimed she was do
The next two days were intense, more than I had anticipated. I probably thought it was a little thing I would be learning, how foolish of me.The intense training I did pushed me beyond my limits, I worked, I learned, I sweat, and yet it never seemed to be enough. Luna Verena and the women who thou







