The air inside was heavy with the scent of herbs and magic, the shelves lined with bottles in every size and color. My eyes scanned the labels, searching for the one I’d seen during my first visit.

And then I found it: a small vial filled with a shimmering, clear liquid.

The label read: Invisibility Potion – 3 Hours Only. Use with caution.

The immensity of what I was doing made me hesitate for a second. I couldn't go back if I left now. However, the recollection of Jacques and Fayre's treachery provided me with the necessary clarity. I was finished.

“I need to do this!” I said to myself.

I took a quick swallow of the potion after uncorking the container. It tasted metallic and harsh, like crushed leaves. My entire body started to tingle strangely almost instantly. I gazed down and marvelled at my hands and feet as they dwindled to nothing at all.

It worked!

I tucked the empty vial back onto the shelf and slipped out of the room, careful to avoid the creaky floorboards.

“I must leave now...” I whispered.

My heart raced as I moved through the hallways, my senses heightened by the adrenaline pumping through me. I passed a few servants and guards, their oblivious faces only solidifying my resolve.

Ahead was the palace's main entrance. Since the majority of the pack was still at the banquet, the big doors, which were typically guarded, were now unattended.

I felt the freezing night air as I slipped through the doors. I breathed easily for the first time in weeks.

I will be free...

I walked into the woods and the castle vanished behind me. In the moonlight, the branches of the tall trees stretched out like bony fingers. The forest seemed more cosy than the castle walls ever had, even though it was silent but for the odd rustle of leaves.

I didn’t have a concrete plan.

I didn’t know how far I would have to walk or how I would return to the human world, but I didn’t care. All I wanted was to leave this nightmare behind.

I felt lighter the farther I went, as if the bonds that held me here were gradually coming loose. By this point, my tears had dried up and been replaced by an odd resolve.

I stopped to gaze at the sky when I came to a clearing. The stars served as a constant reminder of the world's immense size.

“This is where I belong,” I whispered to myself.

I had thought I could be part of Jacques’s world, that I could find a place among the wolves. But I was wrong.