ra

amped room and finally unshackle

ll lingered, throbbing like a ghost wound. She told me I was to stay here until the Alphas dec

they d

more than a thing,

her, for dragging me into this, for disappearing, for letting me take the fall. But the anger twisted with worry, and

From her. How was I supposed to find her when

ugh those thoughts when t

this time holding a small

ht I'd bring these for you. They're the only ones I cou

thes. Her body was larger than mine, but her face

y. "Thank you, ma'a

tle, waving it o

nervous now. She leaned in

ed. "Please... don't let the

the door as if it mig

ose men... the Lycans. They behaved as if I'd wronged them. As if I were guilty of some deep betrayal I couldn't recall. Their que

ore, but I was certain

hey believed I'd done things I could

my sister had led. But I couldn't believe she'd don

to feel even a shred of modesty and control return. For a second, it helped me breathe. But the hunger, sharp, gnawing, ripped t

, I slipp

d licked at an icicle. It numbed my lips but gave me just enough moisture to keep going.

ush, heavy with sm

ere tart and sharp, but I devoured them, handful after handful, until the

, the snow would cover my tracks. No one would know. I curled

l-I coul

something in me refused to break. Maybe pride

uth. To her. To the la

nning? These Lycan

. Rulers through dominance. Loyalty forged in blood and pain. Disobedience met with claws, t

to stop the visions cr

I could feel the weight of unseen eyes tracking me. No one spoke. No one dared. Their silence sai

p, hoping to beg f

d and slammed th

was the same each time-cold eyes, tighter mou

curse they could see. O

lies. No wo

I could've hunte

girl in borrowed clothes with an

e room. Toward the sile

would co

it, the

was l

moother sentence flow. The goal is to escalate tension, give breathing room between emo

ething white caught my eye-neatly fold

My pulse

he top page was slightly creased, the kind of crease that came fro

gon. Cold

n

Li

i

to one of the Alphas. I blinked, stared harder, hoping

sed on who this peop

ts. Page after page confirming what I couldn't yet believe. Every last property tied to our mother's name, gone.

nsent. Without

They fluttered to the

nce settled

came th

heeks as the truth sank in: I wasn't a

seize what little remained of our legacy. What little our mother

en that fr

future. Even

ad no i