Chapter 2

Natalia's POV

I stood at the edge of our territory, my small traveling pack slung over my shoulder.

I didn't have much to bring. A few changes of clothes, some dried food, and the pendant my mother had left me before she died. Everything I owned could fit in a backpack. Eighteen years of life, and this is all I have to show for it.

The pack members who'd come to see me off weren't here out of affection. They clustered in small groups, their whispers carrying on the cool morning air.

"Good riddance," someone muttered.

"Maybe now we'll stop having such bad luck with the hunts."

"I heard she's not even Alpha Marcus's real daughter. Makes sense now."

I kept my face blank. These people had watched me grow up, had eaten at our table during pack celebrations, had called me their future Luna just yesterday. Now they looked at me like I was diseased.

You knew this would happen, I reminded myself. You lived through it once already.

"Natalia."

I turned to see Stella approaching, her steps hesitant. She looked beautiful as always, her auburn hair catching the early sunlight, but there was something troubled in her eyes.

"Stella." I managed a smile. "Come to see me off?"

"I..." She fidgeted with the edge of her dress. "I didn't know he was going to say those things. About you being... about what Damon said."

"It's fine," I said. "This is better for everyone."

"No, it's not fine." Her voice cracked. "You're my sister. And I... I got everything that should have been yours. Damon, Father's approval, the pack's respect..." She reached out like she wanted to touch my arm, then pulled back.

"Take care of yourself, Stella," I said instead. "And don't worry about me. I'll be back."

Something in my tone made her eyes widen, but before she could respond, the guards Father had assigned to escort me were calling for departure.

"Time to go, wolfless," Guard Captain Reed announced loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Sooner we get this done, sooner we can get back to real pack business."

The other two guards, Maya and Connor, snickered. I recognized them from training sessions, where they'd always made sure to pair me with the roughest opponents, claiming it would "toughen me up."

As we set off down the forest path, I could feel the pack's eyes on my back until we disappeared into the treeline.

The journey to Sacred Grove took most of the day, and my escorts made sure it was as miserable as possible.

"Stay downwind," Maya ordered when I tried to walk alongside them. "Your scent is... off. It makes my wolf uneasy."

"Maybe it's because she doesn't have a wolf," Connor added with a laugh.

"You think Alpha Marcus really isn't her father?" Reed asked, not bothering to lower his voice. "I mean, look at her. Nothing like him or Luna Elena."

"Would explain a lot," Maya said. "Remember when Luna Elena died? Right after giving birth. Maybe the real baby died too, and they replaced her with some human foundling to save face."

The casual cruelty in their voices was familiar. In my previous life, these same guards had delivered me to Sacred Grove, and they'd said these same hateful things. But back then, their words had cut deep, made me question everything about myself.

Now they just made me angry.

"You know what I heard?" Connor continued. "I heard that wolfless freaks are cursed. That they bring bad luck wherever they go. Maybe that's why the deer have been so scarce lately."

"And why the northern border has been having those attacks," Maya added. "Ever since she started training with the warriors, everything's gone to hell."

"You better hope you die in Sacred Grove," Reed said, finally addressing me directly. "Because if you come back, you'll just keep poisoning the pack with your presence."

I walked behind them in silence, letting their poison wash over me.

Sacred Grove. Where pack members go to commune with the moon goddess. Where most who enter with serious spiritual questions find answers... or don't come back at all.

Sacred Grove appeared at sunset like something from a dream. Ancient oak trees rose impossibly high, their branches forming a living cathedral that filtered the dying light into golden shafts.

The air itself felt different here. Thicker somehow, charged with an energy that made the hair on my arms stand up.

"This is as far as we go," Reed announced, dropping my pack on the ground. "Grove rules say you enter alone."

"How long do we wait?" Maya asked, though her tone suggested she already knew the answer.

"We don't," Reed replied. "If she's meant to return, she'll find her own way back. If not..." He shrugged.

Connor leaned close to me, his breath hot against my ear. "Good luck. Try not to die too quickly. The forest animals need to eat too."

They were gone within minutes, their laughter echoing through the trees until distance swallowed the sound completely.

I stood alone at the edge of Sacred Grove as darkness began to fall.

I picked up my pack and walked deeper into the grove.

The moonlight grew stronger as I moved between the trees, illuminating patches of soft grass and clusters of night-blooming flowers. Everything was beautiful and peaceful and utterly still.

Too still.

I stopped walking, suddenly aware that I couldn't hear any of the usual forest sounds. No night birds, no rustling of small animals, no insects. Even my own breathing seemed muffled.

That's when I saw him.

A figure emerged from behind one of the massive oak trees, moving with a strange, limping gait. At first glance, he looked like a vagrant, a wanderer who'd stumbled into sacred territory by accident. His clothes were worn and patched, his dark hair unkempt, and he leaned heavily on a wooden walking stick.

But there was something about the way he moved, the way he held himself, that didn't match his appearance. Despite the limp, despite the obvious disability, he moved through Sacred Grove like he belonged here.

"Wait," I called out, my voice carrying clearly in the strange stillness. "You're not supposed to be here. This is sacred land."

He paused and turned toward me, and I got my first clear look at his face. He was younger than I'd first thought, maybe mid-twenties, with sharp features and eyes that seemed to catch and hold the moonlight.

When he smiled, it was like the whole grove held its breath.

"You're not ordinary, are you?" I found myself saying, though I wasn't sure why. There was just something about him, something that made my skin tingle with awareness.

His smile widened. He turned and began walking deeper into the grove, his strange limping gait somehow graceful in the moonlight. Without really deciding to, I found myself following him.

This is crazy, the rational part of my mind warned. You don't know who he is or what he wants. For all you know, he's dangerous.

But my feet kept moving, drawn by something I couldn't name or understand.

We walked deeper and deeper into Sacred Grove, past trees that grew larger and more ancient, past clearings where the moonlight pooled like liquid silver. The air grew thicker, charged with power that raised goosebumps along my arms.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

He didn't answer, just kept walking with that strange, hypnotic gait.

And then he stopped.

We stood in a circular clearing surrounded by the largest trees I'd ever seen. Their trunks were so massive that twenty people holding hands couldn't have encircled them. Above us, their branches wove together to form a perfect circle through which the full moon shone down like a spotlight.

The stranger turned to face me, and in the direct moonlight, I could see that his eyes weren't just reflecting the light, they were glowing with it.

Power rolled off him in waves, ancient and vast and utterly alien. The walking stick fell from his hand, but he didn't stumble. Instead, he straightened to his full height, and I realized the limp had been as much a facade as the vagrant clothes.

"Don't be afraid," he said, his voice carrying harmonics that seemed to resonate in my bones. "Everything is going to be all right."

The world began to spin around me. The moonlight grew brighter and brighter until it was all I could see, all-consuming white radiance that seemed to pour directly into my soul.

What's happening to me?

But even as consciousness slipped away, I felt something I'd never experienced before. Warmth. Safety. The absolute certainty that whatever was happening, whoever this stranger was, he meant me no harm.

My legs gave out, and I felt myself falling toward the soft grass of the clearing.

The last thing I heard was his voice, gentle as a prayer: "Sleep now. When you wake, nothing will ever be the same."