AVA’S POV

The night air hit me like ice as I stepped out of the packhouse, carrying the last of the boxes filled with my old clothes. My hands trembled slightly, but I didn’t care enough to steady them. Each

box held fragments of a past that no longer belonged here, pieces of a life I was done pretending

still fit. I dragged them toward the rusted trash can near the back gate and threw them in, the

metal ringing with a heavy, final clatter.

I struck a match and tossed it onto the pile. Flames rose instantly, eager and unforgiving,

devouring everything I wanted gone. Fabric curled, memories blackened, and for a brief moment, I felt free, free from the shadows Xavier had cast over me, free from the suffocating gaze of a man who had never truly seen me, no matter how close I stood to him.

Then footsteps stopped me cold.

I didn’t need to turn around. His presence was unmistakable, pressing into the air like a warning.

Alpha Xavier.

Cruel. Powerful. Dangerous. The darkness clung to him like a second skin. I felt his eyes on me before I even faced him, sharp and assessing, as if weighing my worth.

“You,” he said sharply. “What are you doing here?”

I turned slowly, forcing my spine straight, refusing to let fear show. “Throwing away things I no

longer need.”

He stepped closer, the night itself seeming to bend around him, shadows deepening at his feet.

“And what else are you hiding, Ava?”

I stiffened despite myself. Every word I had practiced dissolved. I shook my head once. “I’m not hiding anything.”

He laughed, cold, sharp, humorless. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not,” I said quietly, my voice steady despite the storm inside me. “And I don’t owe you anything, Xavier.”

Something in his eyes snapped.

His hand struck my face without warning, fast, brutal. Pain flared across my cheek, bright and

burning, but I didn’t cry out. Rage surged hotter than the sting, swallowing the shock.

“You made me invisible,” I spat. “You chose her over me every single time. And you’ll never understand what it’s like to fight for air in a world where you don’t exist at all.”

“How dare you-” he snarled.

“Don’t,” I hissed, stepping back only an inch. “I owe you nothing. Not now. Not ever.”

Liezel emerged from the shadows like a predator answering a call. She grabbed my hair and

yanked hard, forcing my head back. “You’re only a Luna by title,” she sneered. “Learn your

place. Do not disrespect the Alpha.”

I stumbled, fingers clawing at her grip. Fury surged through me, raw and desperate. With a

violent shove, I tore free and pushed her back. She staggered, sparks leaping dangerously close as my dress brushed the fire. My chest heaved as heat kissed my skin.

Xavier caught her instantly, steadying her as if she were fragile.

“She tried to push me into the fire!” Liezel cried, pointing at me. “She’s

jealous, unstable, dangerous-”

His eyes burned as they locked onto me. I opened my mouth to explain, to speak the truth, but it was already too late.

His hand struck me again, harder this time. Pain exploded across my face, white and blinding, and my knees buckled beneath me.

“Guards!” he roared. “Take her. Now!”

My stomach dropped. The fire. The trash can. I realized too late where they were dragging me.

Panic surged as I clutched my stomach instinctively, terror flooding my veins.

“No!” I screamed, struggling as hands seized me. “Please! I’ve done nothing wrong! Stop please, Alpha Xavier!”

He didn’t even look at me. “You’ve forgotten your place,” he said coldly. “Perhaps this will

remind you.”

“I love you!” I cried, tears spilling freely now. “I’ve loved you! I thought I always would, no matter how much it hurt me!”

The guards shoved me closer. Heat licked my skin. Wolves circled, teeth bared, holding me fast as sparks clung to my dress and smoke curled upward.

“Enough,” Xavier growled. “You’ve defied me long enough.”

“You think yourself clever,” he continued, his voice merciless, “but you are nothing. You will

learn your place.”

Liezel stepped forward, eyes gleaming with cruel delight. “It would be a scandal if the Council found out,” she said sweetly. “Perhaps it’s best if she burns somewhere hidden.”

Xavier smiled. Soft. Terrifying. Final.

“Yes. Turn her around.”

My heart froze solid.

A burning stick was torn from the trash and pressed hard against my back.

Agony exploded, white-hot, blinding, unbearable. My scream ripped free as sparks caught, smoke stinging my eyes and filling my lungs.

“Alpha… please…” I sobbed.

“You’ll remember this,” Xavier said calmly. “This will remind you who you are, and who you serve.”

The fire consumed my dress. Pain wracked my body. Smoke blurred my vision. The night

dissolved into flames, faces, betrayal, until nothing existed but agony.

“I… did nothing… wrong…” I whispered.

Then everything went black.

Ava’s POV

Pain ripped me awake.

It burned across my back, raw, merciless, like the fire had never truly gone out. I gasped, the

sound tearing from my chest before I could stop it, my fingers curling into the sheets as heat

flared through my nerves. Every breath scraped. Every heartbeat sent a fresh surge of agony racing along my spine. The burns throbbed angrily, alive beneath my skin, each pulse a reminder that I had not been meant to survive that night.

I stayed still, jaw clenched, staring into the dark ceiling as sweat cooled against my temples.

The room smelled faintly of smoke and antiseptic. Shadows clung to the corners, heavy and watchful. Somewhere deep in the packhouse, the silence felt deliberate, as if the walls themselves were waiting to see whether I would break.

Then memory surged.

The call.

Magnus Sharpfang.

The image of his name lighting up my phone struck me with brutal clarity. His

voice, controlled, tense, threaded with warning, echoed in my head. My pulse spiked.

Whatever fear had pinned me moments ago shattered instantly, replaced by a sharp urgency enough to cut through the pain.

I forced myself upright.

My body protested violently. Fire exploded across my back, stealing my breath, but I refused to

fall. I pushed through it, staggering toward my room and shutting the door behind me. My hands

shook as I leaned against the wall, grounding myself for a heartbeat before reaching for my

phone.

I dialed.

Once.

Twice.

He answered immediately.

“Ava?” Magnus said. His voice was alert, tight with concern. “What’s wrong?”

The sound of him nearly undid me.

My throat closed. My vision blurred. I swallowed hard, forcing the sobs down before they could

surface. I would not collapse, not now, not when I was finally choosing myself.

“They killed Maribel,” I said. My voice trembled, but the words landed with deadly clarity. “And they planned to erase me next.”

The silence that followed was vast and terrifying.

“They were never going to let me live,” I continued, something cold and resolute locking into

place inside my chest. “Not if I know too much.”

“Ava,” Magnus said quietly.

“I need help,” I cut in, the last remnants of hesitation burning away. “Get me out of here. And

help me ruin Alpha Xavier Blackthorn.”

There was no pause. No question.

“I’m coming,” Magnus replied, his voice turning lethal in its calm. “You have one hour. Be

ready.”

The call ended.

And just like that, the life I had endured split cleanly in two.

I moved on instinct.

Pain faded into background noise as survival took over. I crossed the room and packed quickly,

efficiently, only what mattered. Clothes. Identification. A few things that still felt like me.

Everything else stayed behind. I was done carrying pieces of a life built on fear and obedience.

From the hidden compartment in my drawer, I retrieved the red velvet box.

Inside lay the pregnancy test.

Positive.

Once, it had been hope. A fragile dream I planned to use to save my marriage, proof that I still

mattered, that I still belonged.

Now, it was the truth. Proof of everything Xavier had gambled away.

I closed the box carefully and slipped it into my bag, my hand hovering over my stomach for a

single, fragile heartbeat. Fear flickered there, but it didn’t rule me anymore. Not after everything I had learned. Not everything I had endured.

Next came the folder.

Bond severance papers. Divorce documents.

I had prepared them long ago, the night Liezel returned and tore open wounds I had spent years pretending didn’t exist. Back then, I had been too afraid to leave. Afraid no pack would accept

someone like me. Afraid of becoming nothing.

That fear was gone.

Everything I knew now, every secret, every betrayal, burned the last trace of love from my chest, leaving only fury behind.

Not yet, I promised silently. But soon.

Alpha Xavier Blackthorn would pay.

I left my room without hesitation and walked the familiar corridor to Xavier’s office. Each step

felt lighter than the last. The door creaked softly as I entered.

The room smelled the same: power, arrogance, lies.

I placed the velvet box and the folder neatly on his desk, positioning them where his eyes would

land immediately. Then I reached for a pen and wrote a note, my hand steady despite the storm raging inside me.

I thought I could endure more.

You chose heaven in another woman’s arms.

I choose my safety, and the child inside me.

Goodbye, Alpha.

I slipped my wedding ring from my finger.

The bond it represented had already been shattered by his choices. I set the ring gently on top of

the velvet box, where it belonged, with everything else he had destroyed.

And walked away.

The packhouse was silent as I stepped outside.

Cold night air filled my lungs, sharp and clean, cutting through the haze of pain and smoke.

Freedom tasted like frost and truth. I didn’t look back at the towering structure behind me, not at the place that had promised belonging and delivered only suffering.

I took one step forward.

Then another.

Headlights flared suddenly, slicing through the darkness.

A black Mustang rolled to a stop in front of me, smooth and controlled. The engine hummed

low, dangerous. The driver’s door opened, and Magnus Sharpfang stepped out.

He was night given form.

Power radiated from him effortlessly, pressing into the air without a single word spoken. He

didn’t need to assert dominance, it existed naturally, like gravity. He looked like someone no one challenged lightly.

Not even Alpha Xavier.

And that was enough.

Magnus crossed the distance and helped me into the car with careful hands, his touch precise and

steady. He didn’t ask questions. He didn’t demand explanations. His presence alone felt like

armor settling over my skin.

The door closed.

The Mustang pulled away.

As the packhouse vanished behind us, something inside me hardened, sharp, alive.

One day, I would return.

And when I did...

Alpha Xavier Blackthorn would answer for everything.