chapter 3

“You’re safe now, Lila,” he said gently, his voice calm and reassuring like a warm breeze after a storm. “I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”

For the first time in what felt like forever, I inhaled deeply. The air was cold and sharp, filled with pine and damp earth,but it was clean. Free. Not laced with blood or screams or the mocking laughter I had grown used to. I was finally out. Gone from that hell that had been my life for as long as I could remember. Every escape attempt had failed before,beaten back, punished, dragged home. But this time… this time I made it. Because of him.

Still, I couldn’t stop the questions spinning through my mind. Who was this man who’d risked so much for someone like me,an omega, scorned and unwanted? He moved with strength, but his eyes held something softer, something that didn’t match his muscular frame or his authoritative voice. He carried power like a silent storm,quiet, but dangerous. Steady, but always on the edge of eruption.

“Who are you… really?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, more breath than words.

He looked down at me, the corner of his lips curling slightly. “I’m Thane, Beta of the Moon Clan Pack.”

Beta? My eyes widened a little, surprised. I hadn’t expected someone of such high rank. He continued, sensing my shock.

“I came to your pack for peace talks,” he said. “To help broker calm between our clans.”

That made me even more curious. I tilted my head, watching him closely as we continued walking through the woods. The forest around us whispered in low tones, the wind catching the branches above like voices in secret conversation.

“Then… why help me escape?” I asked carefully, cautiously, still half-worried this was some elaborate trap.

Thane’s smile faded into something harder to read. His gaze flickered forward. “Let’s just say I don’t like the way your pack treats you,” he said after a pause. “You deserve better than that. No one,omega or not,should be treated like that.”

His words were gentle, but there was steel underneath them. A quiet fury.

I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to feel. Grateful? Suspicious? Overwhelmed? I glanced away, the ache of my raw wrists reminding me of where I’d come from,and how fragile this safety still felt.

We walked deeper into the woods, the canopy thickening, shadows stretching around us like long fingers. Neither of us knew exactly where we were headed. We just walked. One foot in front of the other. Breathing. Healing.

Then, suddenly, we heard it.

A low growl,faint, almost inaudible at first.

We paused, glancing at each other. Thane tensed slightly, but we kept going.

Another growl came. Louder. Closer. No longer easy to ignore.

I stopped dead in my tracks, fear bubbling back up in my chest. “Did you hear that?” I whispered.

“I did,” Thane replied, his voice more serious now. Focused. His shoulders shifted like he was preparing for a fight.

The forest fell silent. Even the wind seemed to still. The air grew heavy, thick with tension.

Then,boom. Thunderous footsteps shook the ground beneath us.

I staggered slightly, trembling. “Wh…what is th-that?”

“I don’t know,” he said, eyes scanning the darkness between trees. “But trust me. You’ll be fine.”

Then it appeared.

A massive, hulking figure emerged from the shadows,a beast, larger than any wolf I’d ever seen. Its fur was matted and dark, its eyes glowing yellow with raw fury. It wasn’t just a werewolf.

It was a lycan.

Tales of them had haunted my childhood,creatures stronger and wilder than any normal wolf, driven by primal instinct and unmatchable power. I froze, my breath catching.

“Go hide,” Thane instructed, voice low but firm. “I think it’s a lycan.”

Heart pounding, I obeyed without argument. I darted behind the thickest tree I could find, crouching low, trying to make myself invisible. But my eyes stayed fixed on the battle unfolding just beyond the bark.

The lycan snarled and lunged at Thane with terrifying speed.

Thane didn’t hesitate.

In a blink, he shifted. Bones cracked and fur burst from his skin. His wolf was massive and dark, power rippling through every movement. His eyes glowed with amber fire.

They clashed,claw against claw, strength against speed.

Thane dodged the first blow, countering with a brutal swipe of his own. But the lycan was relentless. It slashed across Thane’s side, and I watched in horror as blood sprayed across the leaves. He stumbled but didn’t fall.

They fought like titans, the forest echoing with growls, crashes, and yelps. The lycan pinned Thane for a moment, jaws snapping near his throat. My heart stopped.

“No…” I whispered, unable to look away.

Then the lycan turned its head toward me. It saw me. My cover was blown.

It began to charge, massive legs pounding the ground with terrifying speed.

I froze, too scared to run.

But just as it neared, there was a blur of motion,slam!

The lycan collapsed mid-step with a bone-crushing thud.

Thane stood over it, panting, blood soaking his fur. His eyes were wild, his chest heaving. Then with a final, primal roar, he pounced on the beast’s broken form and tore it apart,fur and muscle ripped like paper beneath his claws.

When it was over, the lycan shifted back to its human form. A man now. Bloodied. Broken. Dead.

Thane shifted back, stumbling. He muttered something I couldn’t catch,then collapsed.

I stared, heart pounding.

Who was he?

What kind of strength lived inside him?

And more importantly,was I really safe with someone like that?

Every instinct screamed at me to run. So I waited. I watched to make sure he was breathing. Then, taking one last look at the man who’d saved me, I turned and fled into the woods.

---

I ran. I didn’t know where I was going—only that I had to get far away. From Thane. From the lycan. From the pack. From the pain.

My legs ached, lungs burning as I pushed through branches and underbrush. The trees thinned as I reached what looked like the border of a new territory—different scents, different markers. A new pack. Maybe even a new kingdom.

Hope stirred faintly.

Maybe… just maybe… I could start over here.

But then—without warning—something yanked me off the ground.

A figure. Tall. Shadowy. Fast.

I screamed, kicked wildly, but he lifted me like I weighed nothing. Slung me over his shoulder like a sack of flour. My head dangled down, vision spinning. My stomach churned.

“Wh-who are y-you?” I stammered.

“You’ll find out soon enough, young woman,” he replied, his voice smooth and amused.

I fought harder, hitting his back, twisting my body, trying anything. But his grip was steel.

He carried me through the gates of a massive, fortress-like building. Dark. Imposing. Silent. The door creaked open, and he threw me into a cold, dim room with stone walls and no windows.

I scrambled to my feet, my heart hammering.

He stood there, watching me.

His eyes were dark. Hungry.

“Please,” I begged. “Let me go.”

“You’re mine now,” he growled, stepping forward. “You’ll stay with me… and you’ll do as I say.”

“Yours?” I snapped, voice rising. “What does that even mean? You must be insane!”

“Tie her up,” he barked, ignoring my protest.

“No! You can’t do this!” I cried, backing away as two guards entered.

“Watch me,” he said with a smirk.

They seized me. Rough hands tied my wrists behind my back with cruel precision. The ropes burned.

He leaned in, close enough for me to feel his breath on my skin.

“I didn’t want to do this,” he said quietly. “But you left me no choice.”

“I’ll never belong to you,” I hissed. Fury surged through me like fire. “I’ll escape. And when I do, I’ll make you regret ever touching me.”

His gaze darkened. “We’ll see about that,” he said coldly.

But in that moment, something shifted. Just for a second.

I looked into those burning eyes and saw something flicker underneath all that anger. A shadow of confusion. A crack in the armor.

And my heart—damn it—skipped.

Could I ever truly hate him?

Or was this just the beginning of another kind of war?