Chapter 2 ONE

[NYRA'S POV]

I stare at the mark on my back through the mirror and sigh. Nothing has happened since that night. It's just been dormant, and I sometimes wonder if what I witnessed that night was the truth.

But deep down, I know it was.

I can still feel my mother's pain as she hid me in the woods, clad in her cloak. The last time I set eyes on her.

I pulled down my dress, tied my hair into a bun and step out of the bathroom. Melyn stands up the moment she saw me come out.

“I thought you weren’t leaving the bathroom,” Melyn says, her brow furrowed as she steps closer. Her dark eyes scanned me, lingering on the faint shimmer of the mark I had tried so desperately to hide.

I shrug, forcing a smile I didn’t feel. “I just… needed a moment.”

She didn’t press further, but the way she studied me made my skin crawl. She always had that way of seeing too much, of reading the spaces between words. I sometimes wished I could disappear from her gaze.

The hallway beyond was quiet, too quiet. I could hear the faint rustle of leaves against the windows, the soft hum of the wind through the forest beyond the estate. It should have been calming. Instead, it makes the hair on my neck stand up.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Melyn asked softly. There is concern in her tone, but also a hint of something else—fear, maybe, or the kind of caution that comes from knowing a storm is coming.

I swallow hard and nodded. “I am ready. I'm done being Jake's pushover. I have my wolf now, I can go rogue and join the shadow wolves.”

Her eyes darken for a fleeting moment, and she reached out, brushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear. Her touch is gentle, almost protective, and yet it sent a shiver down my spine. “Then be careful. The world outside… it doesn’t forgive mistakes.”

I nod again, letting out a small smile. “I will be careful, Mel. Besides, you'll be with me.”

She nods and pulls me into a hug. Pulling apart she moves to the bed and picks up two backpacks. " I have all our stuff ready. It's best to leave while it's still dark, and everyone is asleep. We walk through the corridors of the pack house, our feet echoing softly against the cold wooden floor. I took one last look at the walls of the home I grew up in, the place that was once filled with love and laughter but has been filled with resentment in the last nine years.

This was the home my parents built. Our safe haven, our space, until it wasn't. My parents perished under the last eclipse and my uncle wasted no time in taking over and making my life miserable.

It didn't matter anymore, though. I was going rogue and leaving the pack for them. They could do whatever the hell they wanted with it.

We successfully reached the courtyard without anyone spotting us, but it seemed that was where our luck ran out.

The dark courtyard suddenly shone with several lanterns from several directions. A look of shock registered on melyn's face as she stared at whatever or whoever was behind me.

Slowly, I turn around and…fuck!

Jake stood on the stairs, hands in pocket and a smirk on his face. Beside him stood his fiancee, Jena, clinging to him like always.

“Well, he began, descending the stairs, walking towards us with slow deliberate steps. “Running away, are we?"

“Jake, please just let us go. Everyone is free to go rouge,” Melyn tells him, her voice pleading. Why the hell was she begging him?

He smirks like he's won a goddamn trophy. “Everyone is allowed to go rogue WITH the Alpha's permission. My father hasn't permitted you to leave, has he?"

I glare at him, wishing I could tear him into a thousand pieces with my bare hands. But there are so many guards here, I'll probably be killed before I even conclude on how to do it.

Instead I shake my head. “I don't need anyone's permission to live my life." .

“Oh, really? Let's see what my father has to say about it." He turned to one of the guards and nodded. " Tell my father that two of his pack nerds were trying to rub away.”

The guard bowed and left to do his master's bidding.

I scoff. Of course he’ll call his father. He had always been a daddy's boy since childhood. Pathetic.

“Do you know the short cut that leads straight into the woods?” Melyn asks under her breath, and I nod. I know it like the back of my palm. " Good. That's going to be an escape route.”

I don't need to be told I'lll have to shift. I get my wolf ready, informing her will be swapping places soon.

Jake takes another step towards me and it takes all my self control not to push him away. “You act like you don't want me, Nyra , when it's hell obvious that you do “

I scoff, the thought of having feelings for him whatsoever making me sick to my stomach. I take another step back. " Keep your distance Jake, you're disgusting.”

“What's going on here?" The voice of my uncle cuts through the night like ice. All eyes turn to him, Melyn stares at me and I know that's our opportunity to bolt.

Without warning we both take off towards the east section of the pack house, the route that leads directly into the woods .

“Get them!" The Alpha's voice thunders behind us and instantly the sound of bones cracking reaches my ears. The soldiers were shifting, and if we don't do the same they'll catch up with us.

Melyn didn't need to tell me

The instant we hit the edge of the woods, I let go.

The change ripped through me like fire and lightning, tearing apart the last fragments of the girl I used to be. My clothes shredded against my skin as bones cracked, reshaped, and fur burst along my body. My scream morphed into a snarl as my hands became claws, and the mark on my back burned brighter than ever, searing through my skin with moonlight.

The forest exploded into clarity.

Every sound sharpened—the crunch of paws behind us, the hiss of leaves in the wind, the rush of blood pounding in my ears. I could smell everything. The damp earth. The adrenaline, pouring off Melyn’s wolf. The metallic tang of rage and hunger from the pack chasing us.

Run, my wolf urged, her voice fierce and wild inside my head. Now.

And we ran.

Our paws hit the earth in perfect rhythm, thundering through the undergrowth. Branches whipped against our fur, but I barely felt them. I could see the path ahead, illuminated by silver moonlight filtering through the trees. Melyn was just ahead—a blur of golden-brown fur and determination.

Behind us, the growls grew louder. Closer.

I could feel Amy, Melyn's wolf running in sync next to me until I couldn't.

Rather, what I heard was a painful howl echoingi n the dead of the night and Melyn's voice in my ears. “Run! Don't let them find you."