Elara Wynn

Four years ago, I also planned an escape like today. I admit I was extremely reckless back then. No proper preparation. I relied solely on my wolf and ran away blindly. I thought I would finally be free, but I forgot—this was Black Hollow.

Within hours, they had caught me again. The Bloodfang clan’s elite forces dragged me back like a criminal and threw me down right at Ronan’s feet. He punished me severely. For the next three days, I was unconscious—and somehow, my wolf vanished one morning after the incident.

The pain was excruciating. The trauma, unbearable. I was furious with myself. Now, four years later, I’m twenty-two. I’m no longer a teenager. I’ve secretly trained in this forest for this very day.

Without my wolf, I had to use bandages and alcohol to treat the bullet wound in my shoulder. My backpack survived—it was all I needed. There was still some dried food in it, too.

I don’t understand who this Alpha Draven is. But finding someone in Black Hollow isn’t difficult if you have money and connections. Luckily, my scarf and clothes were common streetwear. I’m confident I left no trace behind.

At the time, my scarf also covered half my face. So there’s a good chance they didn’t get a clear look at me. As long as I can stay hidden for now, things will be fine once everything calms down.

I didn’t leave the cabin for ten days. The wound on my shoulder dried, but my body weakened. My mind kept replaying the face of the blue-eyed man. He looked at me as if he knew me. And I’m certain he let me go.

This morning I woke up in agony. My whole body ached, and I was shivering with a fever. I was also out of food. I could die here before even reaching the border.

With trembling hands and a shivering body, I grabbed my backpack and pulled out the phone I hadn’t turned on in ten days. Praying there was still battery left. I had to do something—anything—to get out of here.

Then the phone vibrated. One name appeared: Sasha.

“77, it’s been over a week since you ditched your shift. If you don’t show up tonight, I’m giving your table to someone else!”

I bit my lip. Lune Noire Club—which means “Black Moon Club”—was the gathering place for alphas and betas from all over Black Hollow. That’s where I had worked, serving alphas and betas who came to party.

Sasha was the club’s bouncer and the only one who knew I wasn’t just an ordinary girl. She’d just been promoted to manager. She called me “77” after our old registration numbers.

I was brought to Black Hollow by my uncle when I was six. There had been a massacre in our clan, and we were the only survivors. We lived in hiding on the outskirts of the city, deep in the forest. Then one day, my uncle left and never returned. They found his body a few days later in the Bloodfang clan’s silver mine. From then on, I was alone and often starving.

Ronan Voss showed up offering protection and food, of course. He claimed to have known my uncle and said he felt responsible for me. That’s how I ended up—at the Lune Noire Club, owned by the Bloodfang clan. It was also where I met Sasha. Back then, teenagers like us with no identity were assigned names based on registration numbers.

“We’ve got a VIP guest tonight, Elara. Hear me? VIP. You just have to stand there and look pretty. The pay could buy you half this bar.”

Well, who doesn’t need money? But for me, freedom means everything right now. I wanted to refuse and had started typing a reply. Then, suddenly, another message popped up.

“The boss is back!”

I froze. My fingers trembled, and I stopped typing.

The boss—she meant Alpha Ronan Voss. The man who “saved” me after I was nearly captured and killed by enemies of our clan. They had tracked my uncle and me here. After my uncle died, Ronan hid me as a lowly waitress in the Bloodfang-owned club. He let me live—but under the condition that I never forget who saved me. He made sure I owed him.

And more importantly: I could never reveal who I really was.

“The boss asked about you. He didn’t see you at the club and went berserk. Not just angry this time—he exploded. Even some of our coworkers with bad recent performances got caught in the mess. They’ve been thrown in jail! You’d better come back if you still care about them.”

My friends—thrown in jail?

Maybe Sasha didn’t know the real reason. But I did. This was Ronan’s way of sending me a message. They weren’t guilty, but now they were being punished for my escape?

Rage bubbled in my chest. I knew that wasn’t just an empty threat. “Jail” for us meant pain and punishment. It was in that place, four years ago, that I lost my wolf.

I stood outside the cabin, staring at the forest’s edge in the distance. Then my gaze shifted to the ashes of the scarf and jacket I had burned ten days ago. I couldn’t escape alone and leave them behind to suffer.

I closed my eyes and whispered through chattering teeth, “I’ll go tonight. Not to surrender and bow to him! I’ll face everything.”

I am no longer the frightened little Elara.

*

Shivering with fever, I finally made it to the city. The first thing I did was eat. I had to be strong—had to survive. I couldn’t return to the club looking weak.

That’s when I saw it—a small shop where you could get any image tattooed on your body. Without realizing it, I reached for my shoulder, still sore and throbbing. Though the wound had closed, a small pink scar remained.

Without thinking twice, I went in and sat down. I grabbed a piece of paper and pen from the table and began to draw.

“Boss, can you tattoo this image for me?” I asked, removing my jacket and pulling down my shirt slightly. “This needs to cover my scar completely.”

As she took the drawing from my hand, the woman glanced over her glasses at me. “How do you know this ancient symbol?”

I shook my head. I had no idea. I just remembered seeing the image when I was little—and had always wanted it on my body. I guess now was the right time.