FELIZ'S POV
The forest seemed darker than usual tonight, the towering trees swaying slightly under the weight of a restless wind. Each step I took seemed to echo louder than it should, as though the woods were amplifying my presence, ensuring I couldn’t slip through unnoticed.
Eira’s voice slithered into my thoughts, her tone low and guttural.
“Something’s wrong, Feliz. I can feel it. The air feels… off.”
“I know, Eira,” I murmured softly, more to myself than to her. “Let’s just keep moving. We’ll figure it out together.”
The undergrowth rustled as I pushed through it, the night’s silence pressing down on me like a shroud. My thoughts circled relentlessly, pulling me back to the reason I was here, the reason my feet carried me deeper into this unforgiving darkness.
I was on this path to marry the heir of the Wildwood pack.
It was a duty I had once run away from, a promise made in desperation by others but never truly mine. My parents—the Alpha and Luna of the Golden Moon Pack—had been taken from me far too soon, their lives extinguished by an attack that destroyed not only them but everything we’d ever known.
On the brink of death, with their last breaths, they gave me one final instruction: if anything happened to them, I was to seek refuge with the Wildwood pack. The Alpha there, Magnus Wilder, had been my father’s closest friend.
“They’ll protect you, Feliz,” my father had said, his voice strained and trembling. “Magnus will keep you safe.”
After their deaths, with nothing but ashes and ruins left of the Golden Moon Pack, my Aunt Fiona and I led the remaining survivors to the Wildwood estate. We arrived battered, desperate, and clinging to the faint hope that Magnus’s kindness would save us. But kindness always came with a price.
Magnus’s condition was simple yet unyielding: he would offer us safety and protection if I promised to marry the heir of the Wildwood pack.
I was too young then to understand the weight of such a promise, but I knew enough to feel the chains of obligation tightening around me. I refused.
That same night, I fled the Wildwood estate, leaving my aunt and the other remnants of the Golden Moon Pack behind. My feet carried me far away, into a life of uncertainty, danger, and unexpected allies.
That’s when I met Elias and Kade.
They became my family, my strength, and for a time, my sanctuary. But sanctuary never lasts. Now, after a decade of running from the Wildwood Pack and the promise I once spurned, I had no choice but to accept it. My aunt’s letters had made it clear: the Golden Moon survivors could no longer hold on without me. This was the only way to keep them safe.
Lost in my thoughts, I nearly missed the soft rustle ahead, the faint sound of footsteps too deliberate to belong to mere animals. I stopped, my breath hitching, and scanned the shadows. The faintest outline of figures began to emerge. A group of rogues stepped into the moonlight; their eyes gleaming with a hunger that sent a chill down my spine.
“Who are you?” I demanded, my voice steadier than I felt. No one answered. They only stared; their silence more unnerving than any threat they could have spoken.
Then, from behind them, a figure I recognized all too well stepped forward.
Vera.
Her mocking smile was sharper than any blade, her eyes alight with cruel satisfaction.
“Feliz,” she drawled, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “Did you really think you could run away from me just like that?”
My hands clenched into fists, but I forced my voice to remain calm. “What do you want, Vera? Are you not done yet? You already have Elias, Kade, and the whole pack. I’m out of your lives.”
Her smile twisted into something darker, her mask of civility slipping. “I want you dead. I want you gone forever. I want you banished from every corner of this world.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You can’t do that, Vera.”
“Oh, but I almost did,” she said with a venomous laugh. “You nearly drank the wolfsbane earlier, didn’t you?”
My stomach churned at the memory, but I held my ground. “How can you be so cruel? So evil? What did I ever do to you?”
Her expression darkened, but instead of answering, she gave a sharp wave of her hand. The rogues surged forward, their intent clear.
“Vera!” I shouted, but she was already turning away, her laughter ringing through the forest like a haunting melody.
Eira stirred within me, her energy still too weak to allow her full transformation. “Fight them, Feliz. Don’t give up.”
I swung at the first rogue, my movements fueled by desperation more than skill. Claws raked across my arm, the pain sharp and blinding. I stumbled, barely able to hold my ground as they surrounded me. My breaths came in ragged gasps, my strength waning.
This was it. My end.
Just as the rogues closed in, a commanding voice cut through the chaos.
“Stop! Touch her again, and you’ll regret it.”
The rogues hesitated, their snarls faltering as figures emerged from the shadows. My vision blurred, the pain and exhaustion overtaking me. I could barely make out the shapes of men stepping forward, their presence radiating authority.
The voice spoke again, sharper this time, but I couldn’t catch the words. My knees buckled, and the world tilted as darkness claimed me.
