She didn't mean to run this far.
The trees had grown thicker, the sky darker, and the cold had crept into her skin like it belonged there. Still, she kept moving.
Because stopping meant thinking.
And thinking meant remembering.
She didn't want to remember.
Not the pain.
Not the betrayal.
Not the look in her stepmother's eyes when she was told she wasn't wanted anymore.
---
Leaves crunched under her boots as she stumbled over a fallen branch. Her breath came in sharp bursts, her chest tightening as panic threatened to rise again.
She wasn't supposed to be here.
She didn't even know where here was.
All she knew was that her feet had brought her to the edge of the forest two nights ago—and something inside her had told her to keep going.
To escape.
To disappear.
To be free.
Now she wasn't so sure.
The air felt heavier. The shadows thicker. Like something was watching her.
No someone.
Her fingers curled tighter around the small pouch slung across her shoulder. Inside it, everything she owned: an old photograph, a locket, and a note she hadn't opened in days.
She told herself she wasn't afraid.
But when a howl shattered the silence, she stopped breathing.
---
She turned too fast.
Tripped.
Fell.
And when she looked up, he was there.
Towering. Silent. Barely human.
His eyes glowed like fire behind smoke, and the way he looked at her—
Like he could see through her soul and didn't like what he saw.
She froze.
He didn't move.
Her heartbeat thundered in her chest.
Then she did something stupid.
She spoke.
"Who… who are you?"
---
His answer was a warning.
"You're on Eclipse Pack land."
His voice was deep. Cold. Sharp as a blade against her throat.
She swallowed.
"I didn't know. I swear, I was just—"
"I don't care why you're here." He stepped closer, and for a second, she thought he might rip her apart.
But he didn't.
He just stared. Like he was confused. Like she confused him.
"I'll leave," she said, slowly rising to her feet. "Right now. I didn't mean to—"
"You should have stayed out."
He turned as if to walk away.
But stopped.
And without looking back, he said the words that made her blood run cold.
"You're not going anywhere."