IL

night, I woke in my tiny bed, and I traced them out with m

with everything closing in ar

tay here

had once been. The pack's whispers, the sneers, the contempt in their eyes-it was not new. The Cedar pack had

nd rules designed to suffocate, where every eye judged and criticised. If I sta

ugh. I did not simply want

the pack border. A place filled with people, with work for whoever was willing to do it. Humans, too engrossed in their own problems, w

gerous, but what did

cracks in a stone. Every jab from Marissa, every hard stare from the others, fe

d wake the walls themselves. I slipped out of bed, trembling fingers unbuttoning frayed jeans and a threadbare shirt. My shoes were

ps as I crept down the corrido

, my voice hardly lou

e smooth and steady, an anchor in the

ere two souls in one frail body, and together

a cliff. Once it was opened, we could not return. My fingers shook as I pushed,

teps. No

my toes, and the woods stretched out before me-dark,

thunder. My heartbeatcontinuously sped up, every thud a countdown. I knew patrols did not ventur

nia breathed, her voice c

throat too ti

There it was-the diner. Its dull sign hanging weakly against the black sky, alternating but unbroken, shini

in my jeans, breathed deepl

, its black-and-white checkered floor worn thin by decades of use. Red leather booths near the windows were worn soft, seams cracking in

e asked, her voice l

I forced grit into my words.

rayed clothes, the fatigue etched on e

a beat. "Our dishwasher broke d

ickly."I'll work

n us before she finally agreed.

ed me to the kitchen, a clang of banging pots, sputtering

onest," she said. "Stick with i

ed, my voice thic

, but I didn't mind. For the first time in years, I wasn't useless. For the first time, I was doing something I found myself. Every plate

latter in the kitchen, Helen sl

," she said, gentl

ing to the envelope as if it

into skin, but pride smouldered within me like fire. I had do

lness of the night as I w

their outlines taking form beneath the

going?" one taunted, his vo

. Fear overflowed, scratching at

. "The Alpha will be glad. If you can

ist, lungs burning as the woods engulfed me again. I couldn't shift-not here. No

me away, but I never stopped. The money held in my fis

d behind me until one of them tackled me. My cheek cracked into earth

clawing at the ear

by a warrior, yanking me back. B

arrior growled, his hot, bitter breath

haking it like a prize. "All this,

in my chest. I had risked everything, an

life. Amenia's tone was quiet and unmoving. "This i

fierce anger fuelled my eyes. They thought they h

night, and once felt, it

me and jailed me. I