Myra's POV

The first rays of dawn pierced the cracks in the stone, and with them came the sound I feared most. Hard footsteps just in front of my door.

They slammed it open.

Heavy boots stormed across the cold floor and before I could even sit up fully, rough hands grabbed my arms.

"Up. The Elders want you."

My legs buckled beneath me. Sleep hadn’t eased the ache, hadn’t dulled the agony inside me. Everything still burned my muscles, my heart, my pride.

I tried to speak, to ask why, but my lips were cracked, my voice caught somewhere in my throat.

They didn’t care. They pulled me along the stone corridors like I was a criminal, not the girl who had once been promised Luna.

The main hall felt like a cavern. Torches flickered against the high ceilings. Five stone chairs stood elevated on the dais, This was the revered Council of Elders.

I was dragged before them and pushed to my knees.

I didn’t look at anyone. I kept my head bowed.

"You fainted and ran off like a coward," Elder Karr spat, his voice sharp as a whip. "You have disgraced yourself and this pack."

"She has no wolf," said Elder Naren, one of the younger ones. "No strength. No shift. How could she ever be Luna? We need power and dignity to lead this pack."

My lip trembled. I tried not to cry, but the sobs broke through, shaking my shoulders.

"Look at her," another muttered, not even hiding his disgust. "Still weak. Still useless."

"And yet," Elder Remi, one of the older women, said coldly, "we remember who her parents were. Heroes of the last war. Beta Orion and his mate, Sunna."

"It is only because of them," Elder Naren added, "that we will not banish you, throw you out to the rogue lands."

"You’re a curse on this pack," Elder Karr snarled. "But we’ll tolerate your presence. For now, only if it is hidden. Forgotten."

I couldn’t lift my head. I couldn’t move. I barely even breathed. They were sentencing me to live like a ghost.

"That is all," Elder Remi concluded. "Take her away."

I dared a glance.

Evelyn stood to the side, arms folded, her smirk gleaming like the moonlight on a blade.

And beside her… Malik.

He didn’t look at me. Not once.

His face was carved from stone, but his eyes were cold like ice. He had once proclaimed love to me and now… now he watched me be discarded.

My soul cracked.

The guards pulled me to my feet again, dragging me down another hallway, away from the main house, away from the Luna quarters, away from the life that had once been mine.

They shoved me into a small room.

A narrow bed. A small cracked mirror. Bare grey walls. The servants’ quarters.

They didn’t say anything as they shut the door. But the message was clear.

I curled into the corner and let the tears fall. Quiet, desperate, endless.

I didn’t know how much time had passed when I heard the door creak again.

It wasn’t a guard this time.

It was Elder Lyra. The only one who hadn’t spoken during the tribunal.

She entered silently, her sharp gray eyes taking in the small space, then settling on me.

She didn’t offer pleasantries. Her first words pierced like a knife.

"You’re pregnant, girl."

I blinked, stunned. I shook my head, confused. "I—what?"

"Your scent. It’s subtle, but I’m not blind. Who is the father?"

My breath stopped.

I remembered.

The night of the full moon, during Malik’s rut. His eyes filled with endless lust… for me. The way he lost control. The way I did, too. The kiss we shouldn’t have shared. The night I gave myself up to a mate that would one day throw me aside like I meant nothing.

I hadn’t known. I hadn’t even suspected. I pressed a hand to my abdomen.

"Malik," I whispered.

Elder Lyra’s expression didn’t change.

"Then the council must know."

But I closed my eyes, the weight of the decision slamming into me. I was pregnant. Oh moon goddess why?

My baby. A child, half mine, half his. Born into a pack that hated me.

What if the child couldn’t shift?

What if they mocked it?

What if they broke it, like they had broken me?

I looked up at Elder Lyra, voice cracking. "Don’t tell anyone. Please. I will. I’ll tell them myself. When I’m ready."

Her gaze lingered on me for a long moment. Then, she nodded once. She left the room without another word.

That night, I couldn’t sleep.

The walls felt like they were closing in, choking me.

I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t bring a child into this hate.

I rose on trembling legs. With no plan, no belongings I left the room. No one stopped me.

No one noticed me slip into the trees.

Thank the goddess for me having a subtle scent and with my knowledge of how the watchers were usually stationed, I was able to slip past the patrol.

The forest was dark. The sky threatened rain. The wind whipped through my torn dress.

I walked until my legs gave out, then I crawled. I didn’t care where I went, only that it was far, far from this wretched pack. I cursed when the rain started.

Rain came in sheets. The ground turned to mud.

Thorns tore my skin. I bled. I shook. My vision blurred.

Then I heard a growl, very close to me. I stiffened, stopping every hint of motion.

I turned slowly. A wild wolf gray and massive stood just feet away, teeth bared.

My heart thundered. It lunged at me.

I stood and with a small scream slicing the air I ran. It caught me in seconds, slamming me into the ground. Its jaws opened above me. Foul smell of its breath made me shudder.

I was going to die.

My baby. My child. I hadn’t even had the chance to see them, I had killed my baby.

I gasped, lungs burning.

Everything went black.

Myra's POV

The wolf's jaws hovered inches from my throat, its teeth bared, eyes burning gold in the darkness.

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t scream. The weight of its massive body crushed me into the forest floor.

This was it.

After everything, this would be how I died, killed by a wild wolf.

I had run from the only home I’d ever known. Betrayed and rejected. Left to rot like discarded prey. And now nature would finish what my pack had started.

I blinked up at the wolf. Its breath blew hot and foul across my face. Its growl vibrated through my ribs, making the pain there pulse and throb.

No, I will not die here, sudden will sparked up in my chest.

Just as the beast lunged, that spark became a flame.

A strange light flared behind my eyes. Silver. And then I heard something in my mind not aloud.

A voice whispering.

"Speak, Chosen. Command."

My lips moved before I understood the words.

"Go. Leave me in peace."

The voice that came out of me wasn’t mine. It was layered, as if I spoke with a hundred echoes behind me. The forest itself seemed to still.

The wolf froze.

Its growl died. Its ears twitched. Its golden eyes widened. Then, slowly, it lowered its head.

And backed away.

I stared in disbelief as it slinked into the shadows, disappearing into the thicket as if it had never been.

Then the pain rushed back.

Everything crashed down again the freezing cold, the ache in my limbs, the burning in my stomach. I rolled onto my side, heaving, coughing up water and bile.

I was alive.

But I wasn’t sure that mattered.

I crawled until I couldn’t anymore.

Lightning flashed above, lighting up the forest like a terrible dream. Every crash of thunder felt like it cracked through my chest.

I found a tree with enough cover to crawl under. Barely. The branches above did little to block the rain, but it was shelter enough.

I curled into myself, wrapping my arms around my belly.

I was shaking. Not from fear this time.

From a fever.

Cramping rocked through me, fierce and relentless. I threw up again, the bitter taste sticking to my tongue. My hands shook as I wiped my mouth.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

To the baby growing inside me. To the life I hadn’t meant to create in this world of cruelty and cold.

"I'm so sorry."

The storm went on for hours. Or maybe minutes. Time was useless. All I knew was the rain, the wind, and the heat under my skin that made me feel like I was burning and freezing at once.

And then the memories came. Until I was delirious with the barrage of them. Malik’s voice as he rejected me.

Evelyn’s laugh in the hall.

The elders’ words.

The sound of my own sobs echoing in a stone cell.

The laughter of children when I failed to shift. When I stood there, on my sixteenth birthday, while everyone else transformed and I... didn’t.

My mother’s gentle hands. My father’s voice calling me brave.

"Why?" I screamed into the storm. Why had everything changed so much.

The wind carried my voice away.

"Why did you choose me? What am I supposed to be without a home, a mate, or a wolf?"

I swore I saw her again.

The Moon Goddess.

Silver light in the trees. A figure standing with eyes full of sorrow.

But she didn’t speak this time.

She only watched and then she was gone. The world slipped away and I let it.

Warmth.

That was the first thing I felt.

Softness under my head. A blanket over my body. The smell of herbs and something cooking.

I opened my eyes.

Wooden walls. Straw on the floor. A small window letting in the golden light of morning. A fire crackled softly in a nearby stove.

I was inside a house, not in the forest. Not dead.

I sat up too quickly. Pain shot through me, but I didn’t care.

Where was I?

A folded cloth dropped from my forehead to my lap. I clutched the edge of the mattress.

The door creaked open.

A tall figure stood in the doorway, a man with broad shoulders, shaggy hair and rough clothes.

Not pack.

A rogue.

And he was staring right at me.

New companion

Myra's POV

I stared at him.

The man in the doorway seemed too tall for the little shack he stood in, with shoulders that nearly brushed the sides.

He didn’t move for a while, he just stood there, staring at me.

I tensed up, felt my heart hammering in my ears.

He was not of pack. He was a godforsaken rogue.

Every story I'd ever heard about rogues screamed in my head. Beasts in human skin. Savage beings who had lost their humanity.

Unstable. Dangerous.

He stepped forward. My instincts screamed to run, but my legs refused to obey. My body was still wrecked from the night before, muscles sore and bruised, the fever still tugging at the edge of my vision.

"You’re awake," he said. His voice was rough, like gravel. He sounded unusually calm, something about him reminded me of a mountain.

I forced myself upright, back pressed to the bedpost the thin blanket clutched to my chest.

"What do you want?" My voice cracked, my throat still ached.

He ignored the question. Turned slightly, walked to the corner, and returned with a bowl. He uncovered it, steam floated above it bringing a sudden delicious aroma.

It was food. The scent hit me hard, broth and meat. My stomach growled loudly, traitorous and desperate.

He held the bowl out.

I didn’t move. "No."

He arched a brow. "You’re hungry."

"I don’t eat food from strangers. Especially rogues."

His jaw twitched, and for a moment I thought he might say something, maybe attack me for my insolence but he didn’t. He just set the bowl on the small table near the bed and stepped back.

"Suit yourself."

He leaned against the far wall, arms folded across his chest.

I stared at the food. It was steaming, fragrant, and I hadn’t eaten in a long time.

My pride battled my survival instincts for exactly thirty seconds before my shaking hand reached for the bowl.

He watched me the entire time.

I was too hungry to be ashamed of the way I rushed the food, shovelling it into my mouth despite its scorching heat.

Each bite felt like it might be my last. Not because it was bad it was actually decent but because I kept waiting for him to lunge, to shift, to prove every warning I’d ever been taught true.

But he didn’t.

He just stood there. Watching me eat silently. It was disconcerting but I was too busy shovelling food into my mouth to care.

When the bowl was empty, I finally spoke. "Why am I here?"

"You passed out at the river’s edge. I brought you in."

My fingers tightened around the empty bowl. "That doesn’t answer my question. What are you going to do with me? Eat me perhaps" I said.

He pushed off the wall.

I tensed.

He crossed the room with quiet, predatory grace. The shack seemed to shrink around him, he was utterly unreadable.

"You think I’m going to hurt you?"

He stopped in front of me.

I nodded slowly, heart hammering against my ribs.

"Aren’t you?"

“Is that what they tell you about rogues?” he asked

Eyes relentless on me.

He basically rendered me mute so I nodded.

He leaned down slightly, placing one hand on the bedpost beside me. His face was close now, so close I could feel the heat of his breath. His eyes bored into mine, and for a heartbeat I felt the air still between us.

"If I wanted to hurt you," he said softly, "you’d already be dead."

I swallowed.

His other hand lifted, reaching for me. I flinched, but he didn’t stop. He gripped my chin firm enough to hold me still.

I froze.

His thumb brushed over my jaw. "I will not hurt you, little one."

His words made my stomach twist in a strange, unfamiliar way.

He wasn’t my mate. I knew that. He didn’t feel like Malik. There was no bond. No tether. But something about the way he looked at me like he somehow understood.

His scent was woodsmoke and rain and something darker.

"Then why save me?" I whispered.

He didn’t answer. Then after a moment he tilted his head.

“What's your name little one?” He asked, stormy gray eyes fixed on my face. I swallowed

“ I'm… uh” I say in an unsteady voice. “I'm Myra”

Just stared at me, expression unreadable.

“I am Rowan of…” he trailed off

Then it hit me. A sharp pain in my belly. A Sharp, searing pain cutting through my belly like a hot blade.

I gasped and doubled over, the empty bowl falling from my hands and clattering to the floor.

A scream tore from my throat.

"Hey!" he caught me before I collapsed.