ful guards who patrolled the inner courtyard. Each step reminded her how small and exposed she had become in a place that had once been familiar. Her stomach ac

r. She paused for a long moment, inhaling, trying to steel herself. Every nerve screamed that she

ere. The Alpha, as always, exact and composed, though there wa

oice calm but heavy

o sound desperate. "I am under threat. My child, my fath

s. Silence stretched between them l

would you

not hesitate. And if I do nothing..." Her wo

rry a dangerous child," he said slowly. "And ye

Naira said. "Only

a whisper, almost a confession.

" she said. "I seek only a way to survive. And

leaving is not simple. The pack will notice.

ill not harm the child, and I will not harm them.

ne. He seemed to weigh her words,

r path. But remember... no one walks

he could speak again. The walls of the stronghold closed in a

ood, but she ignored the exhaustion. She bent low, pressing her hands against the ground, and began her training. Every stretch, every movement, every

edge that the Luna's eyes might be upon her. She imagined the poison, the threat, the shadowed chambers where her father s

ed. She leapt over fallen logs, crouched beneath low branches, felt the chill of the river's mist against her skin. In these hour

ssion was chosen with care, nothing unnecessary, everything to preserve the fragile hope that she could leave without bloodshed

anticipation. Every sound seemed amplified: the distant caw of a raven, the crack of a branch underfoot, the faint

into shadow, drawing every ounce of strength she had cultivated over the past days. Every step

lept, unaware that one of it

th was defiance. She did not look back. She could not. The Luna's threat was still alive, her father's life still hung by a thr

spered between the trees. The stars burned cold and indifferent above. But inside her, a fire had i

lent and indifferent. Ahead lay uncertainty-but also the first taste of freedom. She press

me, she thought. The

, a shadow moved, watching bu