Chapter 3

Ember's POV

Living in Alpha Thorne's territory has its advantages. It was so big that I rarely had to worry about crossing paths with him, and It was my intention to keep it that way. The last thing I needed was for him to discover I was the daughter of his old rival. If he ever figured that out, I had no doubt my days would end in misery, or worse.

My duties here are simple, cleaning the servants quarters and attending to the decorative flowers and trees scattered across the estate. The gardens were beautiful, a harsh contrast to the tough reality of life in this place. They reminded me of home, though that memory was fading faster than I cared to admit to myself.

Kaya, of course, never left my side and I suspected her loyalty wasn't entirely selfless. As a human among wolves, she counted on me for protection. The other werewolves in the servants camp could be brutal, and my presence kept them at bay. Not that I minded though, having someone to talk to kept the loneliness from swallowing me whole.

"I'm exhausted!" Kaya groaned dramatically as she fell to her knees in the dirt.

I took the opportunity to stop as well, brushing the soil off my hands and cleaning the dirt from under my nails. It had been a long day, but there was something else bothering me. For the past few days, I'd been restless and nervous. My skin buzzing with an unfamiliar energy, and my thoughts kept circling back to tonight.

The full moon.

It might finally happen… my first shift.

As my stomach twisted at the thought, excitement and fear tugged inside me. It was one thing to know I was a werewolf, but it was another thing to feel the wolf inside me. I'd waited for this moment for years, I always wondering what it would be like, and tonight, I'd finally find out.

"What are you thinking about?" Kaya asked, breaking into my thoughts. She was sitting cross legged now, her blond hair was tied back in a loose braid.

"I'm thinking about how I don't want to live the rest of my life here," I answered her honestly.

"Well, it's not as bad as I thought it would be," she said with an easy shrug. "Except for, you know, the harsh consequences for mistakes like trying to run away." Her voice dropped at the end, and I could see the shadow of fear flash in her eyes.

"If we keep our heads down, we might just have a good time," she added.

"I don't want to have a good time, Kaya. I want to find my brother and mother."

Her expression softened and she stretched her back as she stood up, brushing the dirt off her dress. "We've checked most of the servants quarters, Ember, and we didn't find them. You said your brother was alive when you last saw him. What if he's part of a nice pack right now, living a good life?"

Her words stung me, though I knew she meant well, the idea of Caden living peacefully without me was almost unbearable. Not because I wanted him to suffer, I wanted the exact opposite, but because the thought of him moving on without me made me feel even more alone in the world than ever.

"I won't stop looking," I said firmly, standing to gather my tools.

Kaya nodded but she didn't argue. We both knew there was nothing she could say to change my mind about finding my family.

That night, the moon rose full and bright, bathing the camp in it's silver light, and the air buzzed with energy as the wolves prepared to run. The servants camp was on the outskirts of the territory, bordered by woods that stretched on for miles. It was the only time we were allowed to experience any real freedom, brief, permitted moments in the wild.

I stood at the edge of the trees, my heart pounding. Kaya had stayed behind because she was uninterested in the chaos of a full moon run. Most of the others had already shifted too, their wolves disappearing into the shadows.

I closed my eyes and waited, willing my wolf to emerge, but nothing happened.

Minutes passed and my skin prickled with the light of the moon, but there was no pain, no fire coursing through my veins, only a deafening silence.

Panic began to creep in. Was something wrong with me? Why wasn't it happening? I clenched my fists, trying to hold back the feeling of disappointment that was threatening to swallow me whole.

I'd always believed my wolf was there, lying dormant, waiting for the right moment to emerge. But what if I was wrong? What if I wasn't a real werewolf? I was past the prime of shifting.

Tears stung my eyes, but I forced them back.

"I'm not a runt," I whispered to myself, my voice trembling. "I'm not."

The other wolves were gone now, their howls echoing faintly in the distance, and I was alone, standing beneath the full moon, feeling more human than ever.

I turned away, ready to retreat back to the camp, when a sharp pain shot through my chest. I gasped, clutching my stomach as heat exploded within me.

It was happening.

The pain increased, spreading through every nerve in my body, my bones felt like they were breaking and reforming all at once. My vision blurred, and the world spun fast around me. And then, just as suddenly as it began, it was over.

I opened my eyes and saw the world in a way I never had before. All the colors were sharper, scents more vivid, and I could hear the faintest rustle of leaves, and the soft scurry of a mouse in the underbush.

I looked down and saw paws… my paws. My fur was dark red, nearly black, with faint reddish streaks that shimmered in the moonlight.

I was a wolf.

The realization filled me with an overwhelming sense of pride and excitement. This was who I was meant to be, and for the first time in a long time, I felt so very free.

Without thinking, I ran, and forest blurred around me as I moved, faster than I ever thought was possible. The wind whipped through my fur, and the ground seemed to vanish under my paws. I felt alive in a way I never had before, my wolf reveling in the freedom of the night.

But as I ran deeper into the woods, a scent caught my attention, it was faint but unmistakable.

Blood.

I slowed to a halt with my ears pricking forward. The scent was coming from the north, where the woods thickened into a maze of shadows. My wolf urged me forward, curiosity and instinct driving me.

As I approached, the scent grew stronger, and it mingled with something else, fear. I stepped into a small clearing and froze.

There, lying in the dirt, was a young wolf, their fur matted and stained with blood. Their breaths came in shallow gasps, and their eyes flickered weakly.

My heart clenched as I stepped closer. They were from the pack, that much I could tell by their scent. 

"Who did this to you?" I thought, even though I knew they couldn't answer.

Their golden eyes met mine for a fleeting moment before they closed, their body going limp.

And in the distance, carried on the wind, I heard the faint sound of howls, hungry, predatory howls.

I wasn't alone in the woods.