ya'

t swallowe

cate fabric of my ruined dress. My lungs burned with every breath as I ran, f

person who was supporting to a

ouder than the snappin

ect thi

he weakness

y to have a fated mate like me, how it's so sad my father's only heir is a latent. They didn't have the right

nd me across the ballroom - cold, impassive. As if my shame confirmed something he belie

I fell hard, palms scraping open against the hard surface of stones. For a moment, I didn't move. I presse

. Should've refused to hope, even in secret. Latents

harp branches. Mud streaked my skin, blood starting to bead on the surface of my palms that were scratc

upposed to b

pposed to pro

n mind replaying words I have ever only dreamt of because

way, it

then, exhaustion pressed down and my bones became heavy. My limbs shook with the effort to keep moving. Every

oods, with no food, no shelter, no idea where I was headed - only a c

couldn't

disgraced him at the Ball. Even if I returned, begging forgiveness, he would cast me out for good th

No family.

d my journey t

me see a little clearer. My breath fogged the air. My body ached, but so

ri

the official setting. My wolf mourned the bond, yes, b

ne. A person who would see my flaws as irrelevant and love me

led into a clearing ringed by ancient trees, their branches twisting up like fingers

my cheeks with

ifferent sky. My hands fisted in the dirt as if I c

at n

re do

hrough leaves, the distant call of some night creatur

tion. Dreamless, empty sleep that gave no comfort but

er wo

er for a bit too long. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. My limbs protested every m

ogue, a stray, a broken thing - but alive. Willing to work. Willing to serve. Wolves respected

y scratches, and tied my hair back in a loose ponytail with sh

e. No birdsong. No rustle of prey in the underbrus

f my neck long before I saw it - a presence circling

w

ying to assess the location of the wolf, but my

present myself to them. Explain the circumstances that led to my presence in their territory

was all I

owl cam

I froze. Slowly and carefully so as not to trig

med from the shad

Dark.

something barely held in check by an almost non-existent human restraint. Foam crus

oted me

ws sinking into the soil with i

t run. I

s how I die

ting me. Snarling soft beneath it

udy

or the pain and screwed my eyes shut as I di

me open. Teeth did not

ey too pitiful to kill. Dragged me through the dirt and leaves that li

art of the C

alpha. A rough terrain littered with stones and earth and timber, rough structures rising like fortresses to the sky and shielding t

ransformed so I was now st

io

l. Mad, they whispered.

mirrored his beast's. No pity. No surprise

ravel, low with disuse or disdain. "Or a spy." Accompan

meone growled behind him.

e a predator regarding prey, something beneath no

me from the ground littered with dirt and stones

iron door slam shut behind me before I ev

No water.

I had escaped one hell on