(Luna's POV)
The night air clung to me as I moved through the forest, my heart heavy with the weight of everything I had lost. My breaths came in shallow gasps, the sound of leaves crunching beneath my boots echoing in the silence. Every step I took felt like I was pulling myself further away from the only life I had ever known, and yet closer to a truth I wasn't ready to face.
I didn't have a pack anymore.
The words repeated in my head like a cruel chant, each one slicing deeper into my chest. My wolf whimpered inside me, restless, confused, angry. Wolves weren't meant to be alone. We were born to belong, to fight for a family, to stand together as one. But me? I was running away from everything that had defined me since birth.
I thought of Damien, his piercing eyes, his unreadable expression, the way his presence commanded a room even when he said nothing at all. He had pushed me away, made it clear that whatever bond tied us meant nothing to him. Yet still, my heart clung to him like a desperate child holding onto broken glass. Every memory of him was sharp, cutting me even as I refused to let go.
And then there was the stranger. The cursed wolf with red eyes who had appeared in the woods and spoken words that refused to leave me. You are cursed. Marked before birth. Your fate was never to belong to Damien.
My hands trembled as I replayed his warning, over and over again. How could a stranger know so much about me? And worse, how could his words feel like they were tearing at something inside me I had always known but never wanted to accept?
I stumbled on a tree root and nearly fell. Catching myself, I looked around, realizing how deep I had wandered into the forest. The air was colder here, the shadows heavier. The pack's borders were far behind me now. For the first time in my life, I had no one at my back, no one waiting for me to return.
I was a wolf without a pack.
And it terrified me.
I leaned against a tree, trying to steady my breathing. My wolf was pacing inside me, restless and agitated. She didn't like this, being cut off, isolated. She craved the bond of the pack, the safety of belonging. But I couldn't go back. Not now. Not after everything that had happened.
Closing my eyes, I let the silence of the forest wash over me. But it wasn't silent for long.
A twig snapped.
I froze, my body tensing instantly. My ears strained, my wolf sharpening my senses. I turned slowly, my eyes darting between the trees. The darkness shifted, and I caught the faintest glimmer of movement.
Someone was here.
"Who's there?" I called out, though my voice cracked with fear.
No answer. Just the sound of another step, deliberate, heavy, too controlled to be an accident.
My wolf snarled inside me, ready to shift, but my human side hesitated. What if it was a patrol from Damien's pack? What if they had come to drag me back, to throw me in front of the Alpha who wanted nothing to do with me?
But deep down, I already knew it wasn't them. The air felt different. The scent was unfamiliar, earthy, bitter, with a faint metallic edge that reminded me too much of blood.
And then I saw them.
A figure stepped into the moonlight, tall and lean, with eyes that seemed to gleam unnaturally in the dark. Not red this time, but golden, sharp like blades. His clothes were torn, his skin marked with scars, and his presence screamed of someone who had lived too long outside of pack life.
A rogue.
My chest tightened. Rogues were dangerous, unpredictable, wolves who had abandoned their packs or been cast out. They lived on instinct and survival, no laws, no bonds, no loyalty to anyone but themselves.
"What are you doing here, little wolf?" His voice was rough, jagged, like gravel dragged across stone.
I swallowed hard, trying to stand tall even as my knees threatened to buckle. "That's none of your business."
He smirked, the expression cold and humorless. "You smell of a pack, but you're alone. That makes you either foolish… or unwanted."
Heat rushed to my cheeks, shame burning hotter than the fear in my chest. His words cut too close to the truth. "Stay away from me," I warned, my voice trembling but sharp.
The rogue tilted his head, studying me like a predator deciding if its prey was worth the chase. "A wolf without a pack doesn't last long out here. You'll starve. Or worse." His eyes glinted with cruel amusement. "Unless you've already been marked for something else."
His words reminded me of the cursed wolf, of the stranger who claimed I wasn't who I thought I was. My heart raced faster, panic clawing at me. Did all of them know? Was I walking blind into a truth that everyone else could see but me?
I shifted my stance, preparing to run if I had to. My wolf growled, her voice loud in my head, urging me to fight if it came to it. But the rogue only chuckled, the sound sending chills down my spine.
"Relax, little wolf," he said finally, turning slightly as if losing interest. "If I wanted to hurt you, you'd already be bleeding."
His words didn't comfort me. They only made me realize how vulnerable I really was. Alone. Unprotected. A target for anyone who wanted to take advantage of a wolf with no one to fight for her.
As he disappeared back into the shadows, my legs gave way beneath me. I sank to the forest floor, my hands trembling as I buried my face against my knees.
This was what it meant to be without a pack.
Every sound in the forest was a threat. Every stranger could be an enemy. Every step I took further from home was a step closer to danger.
But I couldn't go back. Not yet. Not when I didn't even know who I truly was.
I wiped at my tears and forced myself to stand again. My body ached with exhaustion, but my resolve hardened. If I had to be a wolf without a pack, then I would learn to survive. I would find answers, no matter how far I had to go.
The night stretched endlessly before me, the forest vast and merciless. But deep down, I knew this was only the beginning.
Because the more I ran, the more I realized I wasn't just escaping Damien, or the whispers of rejection, or the pain of being unwanted.
I was running straight into a destiny I couldn't avoid.
And fate was already chasing me.