Chapter 2

2

When I walked out of the pack’s main gates, the night guards glanced at me but said nothing.

They didn't need to.

A female wolf publicly rejected by the Alpha was a disgrace to the entire territory.

I only had one small bundle of belongings.

It held two changes of clothes and a bone whistle Lukas had given me six years ago.

I had forgotten why I was still carrying it.

The Forbidden Forest sat two miles north of the Moon Shadow territory.

Signs were posted along the border: DANGER, DO NOT ENTER.

I crossed the line anyway.

The forest was pitch black.

The moonlight was blocked by layers of thick canopy, and the fallen leaves were deep enough to cover my ankles.

I walked for about two hours until my feet were covered in blisters.

I leaned against a dead oak tree to rest.

Then, I heard a sound.

It wasn't footsteps.

It was a low, vibrating growl coming from deep within a chest.

A massive gray wolf emerged from the darkness.

Then a second one appeared, and a third.

Their eyes glowed with a sickly green light in the night, and saliva dripped from their fangs.

Rogues.

Exiled wolves who had lost their minds, driven only by hunger.

I couldn't shift into a full wolf. I never could.

At most, I could grow ears and a tail.

My combat power was roughly the same as an angry Pomeranian.

When the first rogue lunged, I closed my eyes.

Then, I heard an even louder roar.

It wasn't a howl.

It was a sound that made the earth tremble and shook my very soul.

I opened my eyes.

A massive black wolf stood before me.

He wasn't gray or brown.

He was pure, solid black, like the midnight sky itself.

His body was larger than all three rogues combined.

His shoulders were nearly level with my head, and every breath he took felt like a small storm.

The most terrifying part was his eyes.

Gold.

They weren't green or amber.

They were the color of pure gold, like two suns embedded in a coat of shadow.

The three rogues tucked their tails and fled.

The black wolf turned around.

He lowered his head, bringing that massive skull close to my face.

I could feel the heat of his breath.

I could see my own reflection in his golden pupils―bloody and pathetic.

Then, he did something I never expected.

He tilted his head and gently sniffed my neck.