SIENNA
I yanked my arm back hard, but then—Vivianne threw herself to the ground. Yes, she threw herself, because I definitely didn't push her!
"Ow," she whimpered, and suddenly I was shoved aside violently by Adrian. My back slammed into the doorknob, and damn, that hurt like hell!
"Viev, are you okay?" he asked, clearly frantic, as he inspected Vivianne's 'injured' wrist.
"Oh, darling. I-I'm fine. It's just… don't be mad. It's normal for her to get angry, isn't it?"
Oh, come on! Was she really pinning this on me? Seriously?
"How dare you?!" Adrian started to rise, and I could see his eyes flickering with gold.
"If I pulled my wrist out of her grip, then isn't she the one at fault for grabbing me first?" I held up my reddened wrist. "And how would she fall like that if I pulled, not pushed?"
Adrian's brow twitched slightly, but his expression quickly twisted back into contempt. He helped his precious mate to her feet.
"It doesn't matter! She's hurt, and it's your fault!" He snarled. "Out of respect for you—for the years you took care of me—I won't punish you this time. But you'd better get the hell out of my pack, or I'll end you."
I wanted to argue. I wanted to tell Adrian to go screw himself. But I still wanted to live. It wasn't worth dying. Not now. Not by Adrian's hand. No… I had somewhere better to go. More important things to do.
I took one last look at Adrian, Vivianne, and Silas. These three had betrayed me in the lowest way possible. I turned and walked away, heading back to the house I'd shared with Adrian all these years.
When I opened the door, the feeling was different from every other time. Before—even when Adrian flew into his rages and we fought—I could still feel the love between those walls. It was still a home. Now, it was cold. Stepping into the entryway felt like walking into a mausoleum.
I climbed the stairs without turning on the lights, my back still throbbing from the impact minutes before. I ignored it and kept moving until I reached our bedroom. Our memories were now nothing but painful reminders—fuel for my anger. Not just at Adrian, or Vivianne, but at myself for being so blind, for not realizing how badly I'd been played.
I packed up everything I'd bought with my own money. It wasn't much—after all, I'd been living there as a rogue. I'd taken on odd jobs over those two and a half years because I never felt comfortable using Adrian's money. It always felt like I was taking advantage of him. Especially after he complained I was spending too much—just because I'd bought a few cheap dresses when I had almost nothing to wear.
But now? Now I was leaving with my dignity intact. I'd already wasted too much of it in that place, on the wrong person.
Before closing the door, I took one last look.
"Goodbye."
I started walking toward the forest, following the exact same path I'd taken when I'd dragged a wounded Adrian back with me. A faint smile tugged at my lips, fueled by something I couldn't quite name—not just sadness, but a strange kind of joy at reclaiming myself, in a way.
The Pack's town was no longer visible when I heard it—the snap of a twig. I froze, listening. Silence. A forest is never truly silent. Small animals make little noises that, over time, a wanderer learns to ignore, no longer seeing them as threats. But there was only one reason even the birds had stopped chirping: A predator was nearby. And it wasn't me.
My heart hammered wildly in my chest. I needed to think. If I ran, I had to be fast—no glancing over my shoulder. I had to get out of there. Now.
I took a few deep breaths—then another branch cracked. No more time to waste! I bolted through the trees. Running in a straight line was a mistake I'd never make again. I could hear them—not one, but at least three creatures hunting me. My sense of smell wasn't sharp (my wolf was still dormant), but I knew only one animal made others fear these woods: shifted wolves.
It'd been a while since I'd been in this kind of chase, and my lungs burned with every stride. The forest was dark, and unlike my hunters, I didn't have night vision. Thin branches lashed at my face, arms, and legs, leaving stinging cuts in their wake.
I stumbled at one point, and that's when a searing pain shot through my right shoulder. The agony was sharp, throbbing, nearly crippling. My vision blurred, but I refused to die without a fight! Even without a wolf, I'd never wander the woods unarmed.
I yanked a knife from my boot and raised it as I spun around, using my left hand—my right arm was useless. Even with adrenaline numbing me, I'd probably taken damage to a tendon.
The wolves circled me, jaws slack, staring like I was their next meal. Hunters. And they wouldn't stray into Pack territory without orders from someone high-ranking.
"Leave me alone!" I shouted, brandishing the blade. "I just want to leave!"
I couldn't mind-link them—not just because I wasn't officially Pack, but because I wasn't Adrian's true Luna. No mate mark, no shared blood. That bastard. How could I have been so stupid?
"Did Adrian send you?" I demanded, and I caught the flicker of a grin on the lead wolf's muzzle. Brown, massive—not Beta or Alpha huge, but strong enough.
The wolves seemed to reach a decision, their snarls deepening. One lunged from the left. I tried to pivot, but my strike only grazed him. He snarled louder. I staggered upright—just as two more wolves emerged from the trees. Three was bad enough. Five?
I refused to die here. Not like this.
I'd already put distance between myself and the Pack's heartland… If I could push farther, maybe I'd reach another territory. Fighting in a rival Pack's lands meant war.
I turned to run—but didn't get far. They were toying with me. One slammed into my back, claws raking deep. My head hit the ground. This is it, I thought—until the air shifted.
The wolves froze.
A shadow loomed over me. I looked up—and there it was. A monstrous beast, jet-black, its fur like liquid darkness. The wolves attacked—brave fools—but they were ripped apart in seconds.
I should have felt relieved. But the moment the beast finished with those Hunters, it turned on me.
Blood-red eyes. Glowing.
Maybe it was the madness before death, because instead of fear, I felt a strange, dizzying joy staring at that wolf. It had saved me, after all—hadn't it?
It shifted into human form where the shadows were deepest, then stepped forward. My vision blurred—I could barely make him out.
Something warm and soft touched my chin, tilting my face up. The only thing I could focus on were his gemstone-green eyes.
"You brought trouble to my territory, rogue." His voice was low, lethal. "Give me one reason not to kill you."
The words faded as he spoke, slipping further away—until the darkness swallowed me whole.