By morning, everyone knew.
They didn't know the truth—not fully—but packs were built on whispers, and whispers spread faster than fire. I felt it the moment I stepped outside the small cabin I shared with two other low-ranked females.
Conversations stopped.
Eyes followed me.
Some curious. Some shocked. Some sharp with envy or disbelief.
I kept my head down and walked anyway.
The bond was quieter today, not gone, just… waiting. Like a beast lying low in tall grass. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, alert and uneasy, responding to every familiar scent that drifted past.
Three of them.
Always three.
"Is it true?"
The question came from behind me. I didn't turn. I already knew who it was—someone brave enough to ask what everyone else was too afraid to say.
"They say the Moon Goddess marked you."
I paused, fingers curling slowly at my sides.
"They say a lot of things," I replied.
A soft scoff. "They say you're lying."
That one stung more than I expected.
I turned then, meeting her gaze calmly. "Then let them."
I walked away before she could ask more.
The training grounds came into view ahead, buzzing with activity. Wolves sparred, laughed, shouted orders. Life went on, as if fate hadn't cracked something open the night before.
And then I saw them.
The Alpha's sons stood apart from the others, tension written clearly in the way their bodies were angled—alert, restrained, ready. None of them looked at me directly.
But the bond reacted anyway.
A sharp pull twisted in my chest, and I stumbled slightly. One of them stiffened immediately, his head snapping up before he caught himself. His jaw clenched as he looked away again.
Good.
Let them feel it too.
I moved toward the edge of the grounds, trying to remain invisible, but invisibility had never been my gift.
"Why is she here?"
"She doesn't belong near them."
"She doesn't even deserve—"
"Enough."
The Alpha's voice cut through the noise like a blade.
Silence fell instantly.
I froze.
He stood at the center of the grounds, tall and commanding, his gaze sweeping over the pack before landing on me. His eyes narrowed—not with anger, but calculation.
"You," he said. "Come forward."
Every instinct in me screamed to run.
Instead, I stepped forward.
The Alpha studied me for a long moment. "You awakened last night."
"Yes."
"And you felt something," he continued. "Something unusual."
My heartbeat thundered.
"I felt my wolf," I said carefully.
A murmur rippled through the pack.
The Alpha's gaze flicked briefly toward his sons—just for a second—but it was enough. Their bodies tensed in unison.
Interesting.
"That will be all," he said suddenly. "Return to your duties."
Confusion spread, but no one argued. The pack slowly dispersed, though the looks didn't stop.
As I turned to leave, a voice stopped me.
"Wait."
I didn't need to look to know which one it was. The pull tightened instantly, heat flaring beneath my skin.
"We need to talk," he said quietly.
"No," I replied, not turning around.
Another voice joined in, harder this time. "You can't pretend this didn't happen."
"I'm not pretending," I said, finally facing them. "I'm surviving."
The third said nothing, but his eyes burned into mine—intense, conflicted, dangerous. He looked like a man holding himself back by sheer will alone.
"You think this changes the past?" I asked. "You think one bond erases years of cruelty?"
Silence.
"I didn't ask for this," one of them said. "None of us did."
"Neither did I," I shot back. "But I'm the one who has to live with it."
The bond pulsed—sharp, aching, alive.
For a heartbeat, none of us breathed.
Then I stepped back.
"This ends here," I said. "Publicly."
Their expressions hardened.
"But privately?" one asked softly.
I hesitated.
"That depends," I said at last, "on whether you plan to keep hurting me… or finally tell me the truth."
I turned and walked away before they could answer.
Behind me, I felt it—the pull, the tension, the unspoken promise.
The pack whispered.
The Alpha watched.
And the bond tightened.
Whatever fate had planned for us, it was no longer something that could be ignored.