While the mansion slept, I slipped out of bed, the cold stone floor biting at my feet. The path through the forest stretched ahead, dark and unfamiliar, but anything was better than staying. I wasn’t the daughter they claimed. I wasn’t their future Luna. I wasn’t anyone but Calla, the girl desperate to escape.
I hadn’t gone far when a voice cut through the stillness. “Running away already?”
I spun around to see Hera leaning casually against a tree, her smirk as sharp as the moonlight on her cheekbones.
“I’m leaving,” I snapped, fists clenched. “You can have it all—the pack, the parents, even Jacob. I don’t care.”
Hera tilted her head, amusement dancing in her eyes. “And go where? The humans don’t want you anymore, Calla. You don’t belong here, but you certainly don’t belong there.”
I glared at her, willing my voice not to crack. “I don’t belong anywhere. But at least I’m not you.”
Her laugh followed me as I turned and walked away. I told myself her words didn’t matter, but they lingered, twisting in my chest like a thorn.
Hours later, I reached the edge of the human world. My old mansion loomed ahead, but it wasn’t the sanctuary I remembered. A "For Sale" sign leaned crookedly in the yard, and standing in front of it were Heron and Vivien. Laughing. Together. Her hand rested on her stomach, his arm draped possessively around her.
I froze, anger and hurt warring inside me. But before I could step forward, a hand clamped down on my arm, pulling me back. I spun around to find Jacob, his golden eyes blazing.
“You think you can just leave?” His voice was low, dangerous. Before I could answer, he shifted into his wolf form, and with a swift lunge, his teeth caught the fabric of my shirt. I screamed as he dragged me back into the forest, his grip unyielding.
By the time we returned to the pack, I was exhausted, my voice hoarse from shouting. Jacob shifted back into his human form, his gaze pinning me in place. “You can’t keep running, Calla,” he said, his voice calm but unrelenting. “You’re mine.”
“What are you talking about?” I hissed, backing away.
His response was a kiss—fierce, possessive, leaving no room for argument. Then his teeth grazed my neck, and a searing heat shot through me. I gasped, stumbling back as Livi’s voice screamed in my head. He’s marking us!
“Too late now,” Jacob murmured, his smirk infuriatingly smug. “You’re mine.”