Chapter 3

The forest beyond Ironclaw territory was not meant for survival. It was meant for death.

The moment I crossed the border, I felt it.

Not just in the air, but in my bones.

Everything changed. The warmth I had grown used to vanished, replaced by something colder and heavier. It pressed against my skin, my lungs, my thoughts, like the land itself was rejecting me.

Just as brutally as he had.

Good. Let it. I didn’t belong anywhere anymore.

Branches snapped beneath my feet as I pushed deeper into the wilderness, each step uneven, unsteady. My body hadn’t recovered, not from the bond, not from the rejection, not from the way it had been ripped apart like something disposable.

Every step hurts. It felt like something inside me had been hollowed out, leaving behind nothing but echoes of what used to be.

But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t, going back wasn’t an option. Not after what happened. Not after the way they looked at me.

The humiliation clung to me worse than the cold.

Night fell faster than I expected. The last traces of light disappeared behind the thick canopy above, swallowed whole by the forest.

And then the sounds began. Low growls, movement in the distance.

Predators were watching and waiting.

A lone, weakened wolf in rogue territory wasn’t a survivor. She was prey.

I should have been afraid, but fear didn’t come. Only emptiness.

A hollow, endless silence inside me where something used to exist.

“Keep moving.”

The voice again.

I clenched my jaw, forcing my legs to keep moving even as they trembled beneath me. My body screamed for rest, for warmth, for something, anything but I ignored it.

Pain didn’t matter anymore, pain was normal. Pain meant I was still here.

Hours passed or maybe days. Time stopped making sense.

Hunger clawed at my stomach until it felt like it was eating me from the inside out. My throat burned with thirst, dry and raw. My limbs grew heavier with every step, dragging behind me like they didn’t belong to me anymore.

Still… I kept going, until I couldn’t.

My foot caught on something, I didn’t even see what and suddenly, the ground rushed up to meet me.

I hit hard. The impact knocked the air from my lungs, sending a sharp wave of pain through my chest.

For a moment, I didn’t move.

The forest continued around me, alive and indifferent.

A quiet, bitter thought slipped through my mind. How fitting. My eyes fluttered shut, the darkness pulling me under.

It would be easy to just… stop. To let go. To finally rest.

“Get up.”

My breath hitched.

No.

Not again.

“Get. Up.”

Stronger this time.

My fingers twitched weakly against the dirt, nails scraping against cold earth.

“I can’t…” I whispered, my voice barely there.

“You can.”

A sudden surge of heat exploded through my body, overwhelming and impossible to ignore.

My eyes snapped open as my back arched slightly off the ground, a sharp gasp tearing from my throat.

My veins burned like fire was racing through them, scorching everything in its path. My heart slammed violently against my ribs, too fast, too strong, like it was trying to break free.

Energy flooded through me. “What… is this?” I gasped, my voice shaking.

“Yours.”

The word echoed inside me.

I pushed myself up, my arms trembling as the pain intensified, but it wasn’t the kind of pain that breaks you.

It was the kind that remakes you, a growl tore from my throat.

Something inside me snapped awake.

My wolf.

But not the one I had always known. This one was different. My body trembled as power flooded through me, chasing away the exhaustion, the hunger, the weakness. Every nerve felt alive.

For the first time in my life… I didn’t feel small.

Slowly, I pushed myself to my feet. The forest was still dark, silent and deadly. A low growl echoed nearby.

This time, I didn’t tense, I didn’t flinch.

A rogue wolf stepped into view, large and scarred, its fur matted in places, its eyes glowing faintly in the darkness. Hunger radiated from it, sharp and instinctual.

It saw me as prey.

Before… I would have run. Without thinking or fighting

But this time? I didn’t move.

“Come,” I whispered, my voice steady and cold.

The wolf lunged so fast and brutal. But I was faster.

My body moved before my mind could catch up. I twisted to the side, dodging the attack with ease. My hand shot out, gripping its fur, using its own momentum against it.

And then, I slammed it into the ground, so hard. The force shocked even me.

The wolf yelped, struggling beneath me, claws digging into the earth, teeth snapping wildly.

I didn’t hesitate, I tightened my grip stronger. The struggle weakened. Then slowed. Silence fell again.

My breathing was steady. Slowly, I released the wolf and stepped back. It scrambled away immediately, disappearing into the shadows without looking back.

I didn’t chase it. I wasn’t the girl who crossed that border anymore. I wasn’t the broken wolf they rejected.

I wasn’t weak. I wasn’t prey.

And I would never be again.