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.
