Chapter 2

Richard thought I was letting off steam, that I didn't really mean it.

He let out a cold laugh and turned his back on me. "You've got three days to think this over."

He laid it out like he was doing me a favor, certain that I wouldn't have the guts to walk away.

He didn't even bother to take Lily with him.

Lily was left in the smaller wing of the manor, watched over by two trusted nannies he'd brought back from the border.

The entire manor was suffocatingly tense.

The pack members all looked at me like they felt sorry for me.

As far as they were concerned, I had already lost everything, including my Alpha and my place in the pack.

Everyone in the territory saw me as nothing more than a joke, a Luna who had lost her Alpha's favor and was now stuck raising the pup he'd fathered with another she-wolf.

My personal maid, May Hunter, cried so hard that her eyes turned red and swollen. "Luna, how could you be so foolish? If you leave, what will happen to Edward? He's only three months old, so how is he supposed to survive without his mother?"

I sat quietly by the window, watching the snow fall outside while my wolf curled up in silence in my mind.

I had already started moving my assets out little by little, and I had begun planning my escape three years ago.

There were estates outside Blackwood, shops down south, and other secret assets hidden where no one would ever find them.

Over the years, I had used my position as Luna to set up an escape route for myself, a way out I could take whenever I needed to run.

Richard thought I had nothing and that I couldn't survive without him.

But he didn't know that I had never really leaned on him, because the only one I had ever truly relied on was myself.

*****

The next day, Richard didn't come home, and he sent someone to tell me he was busy with Pack business.

I knew he was trying to pressure me into submission.

He was waiting for me to break, to show up with Edward in my arms and beg him to take back his rejection.

I gave him nothing. No reaction, no fight, no tears. I got through my days the way I always had, and I fed my pup myself when he cried.

I held him close and breathed in his milky scent again and again, letting it settle something deep inside my wolf.

May stood nearby watching me, and her tears only fell harder.

She thought I had finally come around and decided to stay for Edward. "Luna, I'm so glad you see it now," she said. "As long as you're here, Edward will always be the pack's true heir. And that little bastard? We'll deal with her later."

I shook my head. "May, how long have you been with me now?"

"Five years, Luna."

"If you trust me, do what I tell you."

I reached into the hidden slot of my jewelry box and pulled out a stack of cash and a house deed. "This is enough to keep you safe and comfortable for the rest of your life.

"There's a small house on the west side of Blackwood. Go there and stay. And remember, after today, we're nothing to each other."

May lowered herself to the ground and bared her neck, crying so hard that she could barely speak. "Luna, are you really abandoning me?"

"I'm not abandoning you," I said as I helped her up. "I'm giving you a way out."

If I left, I knew Richard wouldn't stop with me. He would turn his rage on anyone close to me.

If May stayed by my side, she wouldn't stand a chance.

Letting her go was the only way to keep her safe.

*****

The third day arrived. It was the deadline my Alpha, Richard, had set for me.

I woke up before the sun had touched the sky, and for the last time, I nursed Edward.

Once he was full, he passed out in my arms, completely content.

His lashes were long like little brushes, and they'd twitch every now and then while he dreamed.

I leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.

I looked down at my pup, and as sorry as I felt for him, I couldn't take him with me.

Staying with Richard meant Edward would be the heir of the powerful Alpha of Frostveil Pack. A pack. A rank. A future. All of it was waiting for him.

But if he came with me, he'd be a rogue's pup. No pack. No name. Just running and hiding until the day he died.

I hoped he'd forgive me for being selfish.

I took the letter I had written days ago and tucked it into the blanket that swaddled Edward.

There were only two simple sentences. [I reject you. I'm not keeping the pup.]

Then I changed into the roughest, plainest clothes and slipped out through the side gate of the manor. I didn't make a sound, and no one's wolf stirred.

*****

The snow over Blackwood had finally stopped falling.

The streets were buried under deep snow that crunched beneath my feet with every step.

A plain carriage waited at the corner, and the driver was a wolf I had planted there long ago.

I climbed inside without a backward glance and rode straight toward the territory gate.

I knew that once Richard realized I was truly gone, his wolf would take over completely.

He would lock down the territory and send his pack warriors to track my scent.

But he wouldn't guess the truth. I wasn't planning to hide at all.

The carriage rolled east, and before sunrise, I reached Riverton Landing, barely beyond the pack's territory.

A large boat flying the Brookward Pack's banner had been waiting there for hours.

The wolf in charge was the leader of the Brookward Pack, and he owed my father a favor from years ago.

I showed him the token my father had given me, and without a word, he led me aboard.

The boat set sail quickly, gliding south along the river.

I stood at the bow, watching the outline of Blackwood grow smaller and smaller in the distance. I didn't miss it at all. All I felt was the relief of finally being free.

From that moment on, I wanted nothing to do with Richard. He and I were done.

Later, I heard what happened. That morning, when Richard came back to the manor and found the empty room, he crushed the cup in his hand right there.

He ordered the entire territory locked down and sent his wolves to hunt me down.

When he found the letter tucked inside the blanket, that ruthless Alpha who never hesitated in a fight showed panic on his face for the very first time.

He tore out of the manor like a wolf gone mad and led his wolves all the way to Riverton Landing himself.

But he was too late. The river was covered in nothing but thick fog. My scent had vanished completely.

They said he stood on that dock for an entire day and night, frozen solid by the wind and snow, until his wolves finally dragged him back.

Richard never could believe I could be that cruel, that I would actually leave my own pup behind.

He kept telling himself I was hiding somewhere and would come back when he cooled off.

But I never went back to Blackwood again in years.