The shift back happens without my conscious effort, fueled by my desperation.

I slam myself against the barrier again. And again. And again.

My knuckles split open, blood smearing across the invisible wall that won’t—won’t—let me pass. I can feel the magic humming beneath my hands, mocking me with every futile blow.

“Please…” I sob, hitting it harder. “Please, please!”

It should have worked. The bond is broken. I felt it snap, felt Theron’s agony as the soul-tie severed.

The debt should be paid. The brands on my wrists burned during the rejection, flared with silver light like they were acknowledging the ritual.

I did everything right. I followed the old laws. I freed myself.

So why am I still trapped?

“It should have worked,” I whispered to no one. To the moon. To the empty forest that offers no answers. “It should have…”

But it didn’t.

I curl into myself, arms wrapped around my knees, and something inside me just… stops. The fight drains out like water through cupped hands. What’s the point?

I rejected the bond. I shifted for the first time. I did the impossible. And I’m still here.

Still bound. Still trapped in this pack that hates me, serving wolves who see me as less than nothing.

What’s left? What do I even do now?

The sound of footsteps doesn’t make me move. Doesn’t even make me look up.

“Get up.” Malik’s voice. Flat. Professional.

Like he’s discussing training schedules instead of finding me naked and bleeding at the border.

“No.”

There’s a pause. Then fabric settles over my shoulders—his cloak, heavy and warm and smelling of leather and pine. “You’re injured. The pack is in chaos. You need to—”

“I need to disappear.” My voice sounds hollow even to my own ears. “But I can’t do that either, can I? Can’t leave. Can’t die… my wolf won’t let me. Can’t even hide properly because someone always finds me.”

I finally looked up at him, into his cold and steady eyes.

“So tell me, Malik. Why should I get up? Why should I go back and heal and keep breathing when everything in my life is designed to hurt me?”

Something flickers across his face. Surprise, maybe. Or something softer that I can’t name.

He’s silent for a long moment, just staring at me with those obsidian eyes. Then, slowly, he lowers himself to his knees in front of me. The movement is careful, deliberate. Like he’s approaching something wild that might bolt.

“Because giving up now would be the stupidest thing you’ve ever done,” he says bluntly.

I almost laughed. “That’s your motivational speech?”

“I’m not here to coddle you.” His voice is hard, but his eyes—his eyes are something else. “You want to know why you should get up? Fine. Look at yourself. Really look.”

“I don’t—”

“You were there as nobody,” he cuts me off. “Omega blood. Traitor’s daughter. Couldn’t shift. Couldn’t defend yourself. Got discarded by your mate in front of the entire pack.”

Each word is a hammer blow, straight to my spine. Straight to my dignity.

“And if you stay here, broken and bleeding at the border? If you give up now? Then that’s all you’ll ever be. Nobody. Nothing. A cautionary tale mothers tell their pups.”

“I’m already that…” I whisper.

“No.” The word cracks like a whip. “You were that. Past tense. Do you know what you did tonight?”

He leans closer, and there’s something almost fierce in his expression.

“You walked into a Luna ceremony wearing the black dress. You officially rejected an Alpha in front of his entire pack. You shifted for the first time into something that scared every wolf watching. You proved them all wrong.”

“You already proved you’re not helpless,” he continues. “Not the weakest girl who couldn’t shift, who let herself be walked over. So don’t you dare stop now just because it’s hard. Just because you’re scared.”

‘Endure it.’

My wolf. My wolf, speaking clearly for the first time in my life. Not just the feelings inside my head or chest. Not the shimmering presence in the back of my mind. Clear words formed into sentences.

‘I know you can. I know what you’re capable of. Don’t go down without a fight!’

‘We’re not done yet,’ she says, and there’s steel in her voice. ‘Get up. Now.’

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