Violet: Luna of The One-eye Alpha

They used to say the Moon Goddess created mates so no wolf would ever die alone.

That was before the world grew cruel.

Before love became something traded like land.

Before marriage became a contract of survival.

Before hearts were locked away like dangerous weapons.

Now true mates are whispered about like old ghost stories told to children at night.

But my father believed differently.

He used to tell me there would come a child born of divine blood and alpha blood—neither crowned nor trained, but chosen.

The one who would break the broken bond of this world.

The Child of the Bond Breaker.

I used to believe him.

I believed in prophecies.

I believed in happy endings.

I believed there was somewhere I could run where fear wouldn’t find me.

I huff a small, bitter laugh as I fold the last shirt into my suitcase. The fabric smells like the home I once had, like summer nights I cannot return to.

Belief in myths is probably why I spent the last ten years running.

Changing towns.

Changing names.

Learning to sleep with one ear open.

Listening for footsteps that were never meant to be heard but always were.

Because of him.

Alpha Merrin.

The one-eyed alpha who laughed when villages burned.

The man whose pack fed on fear the way others fed on meat and wine.

The shadow that swallowed my childhood.

I could pretend I am not afraid of him anymore.

But fear is tired now.

And so am I.

I close my suitcase.

My hands do not shake.

Not this time.

Luna-Light Pack territory is said to be safe.

Or at least, safer than everywhere else I’ve been.

And I have an entry.

Silvan.

My boyfriend.

Future Alpha.

He told me he would take care of everything.

A home.

A job.

A chance to finally breathe without counting the seconds.

“For you,” he said. “For us.”

I stare at the empty room one last time and whisper, “I’m going home.”

Not the home I lost.

But maybe the home I will build.

Stone by stone.

Breath by breath.

I drag the suitcase toward the door.

The wheels scrape softly across the floor like something being buried.

My heart beats slow.

Measured.

Certain.

No more running.

No more disappearing.

No more fear.

Alpha Merrin hunted me across half the territories.

But the hunt ends tonight.

I am returning to Luna-Light Pack knowing eyes will watch me.

Knowing whispers will follow.

Knowing danger may already be waiting.

But I need a life.

I need work.

I need a place where my name belongs to me.

I will stand on my choice.

And this time…

Nothing will break me again.