4. Into The Wilds.

~ JOCELYN ~

I run.

Tears pour from my eyes and bathe my cheeks, but I don’t stop running. I don’t stop running when I hear Lycena’s laughter. I don’t stop running when I hear someone shout my name.

I run like the ceremony never started.

I run like I was never meant to wear this white wedding dress tonight.

I run like I was never mated to Caspian.

I run from us. From everything.

I just keep running.

Because if I stop… I will collapse.

And if I collapse…

I am afraid I may never get up again.

I have nothing left—no pack, no mate, no future.

Just the broken pieces of everything I once believed in.

The hem of my gown tangles around my ankles as I run past houses and streets, catching sight of the pack's boundary far ahead of me. The wedding dress snags on thorns, drags through the dirt, and tears inch by inch behind me like it knows my dream is dead and wants no part of it anymore.

My Caspian rejected me.

He destroyed us. He ruined everything we shared and chose that snake as his Luna. He chose her. Over me.

I dive right into the forest and take the path leading to the boundary. My heels are long gone by now, and I am running barefooted with the rocks and stones cutting into my flesh. The blood on my soles doesn’t matter.

All that matters is getting away from the Nightfall Pack and enduring the burn I feel in my lungs and the pain in my chest.

The pain of rejection and betrayal.

How could he?

How could Caspian look me in the eyes and destroy everything we had?

He rejected our bond.

Publicly.

Humiliatingly.

And worst of all…

I still love him.

Even now, I still crave his touch, his scent, his eyes. I still want to believe this is some nightmare. That I will wake up and the ceremony will be as it should have been.

But I know that is not going to happen.

Caspian King rejected me.

Not behind closed doors.

But in front of the entire pack.

He declared me unworthy like I was nothing.

And they let him.

They all let him.

Even the elders. Even Judith and Callan, his Beta, who couldn’t meet my eyes.

The Nightfall Pack may have raised me. But they never loved me. And tonight, they reminded me why I should have never believed in fairytales and happy endings.

Maybe I am meant to always be alone.

Choking on a sob, I keep running through the forest. The trees are many, growing thicker and darker along my path. I am deeper than I have ever gone. Past the training fields. Past the hunting zones.

And now, I am into the wilds.

Maybe I belong here now.

My wolf is silent in my mind, curled up and grieving. The bond that once tethered us to Caspian is gone. Destroyed. And I can feel the wound deep in my soul.

The pain of rejection.

The pain isn’t just emotional. It is far more than that and for some people, they never recover from the wound.

I wonder if I will ever recover.

My legs are getting weaker, and I am tempted to shift. But I don't want to. I am an emotional mess right now, and in my current situation, making rash decisions like shifting out of anger and pain is reckless.

Also, I am in the wild.

I don’t know how long I keep running. I left everything behind and took nothing, except this tattered wedding dress and the pieces of gold jewelry I am wearing. Every step forward is a step away from the life I thought I was destined for.

But I keep moving. All I have is my pain, the sounds of my own gasping breaths, and my choice to be anywhere else that is not the Nightfall Pack.

Somewhere along the way, my dress catches on a branch and tears so badly it hangs from me like rags. The cold wind bites my skin. My body is trembling, freezing, and weak. My throat is dry, and my stomach is twisted with hunger and humiliation.

I have eaten nothing today. I was too nervous. Too happy. Too foolish.

The moon is still up there in the night sky, shining so brightly with its lights seeping through the trees like a fog. The lights guide my path and allow me to see the mark of the boundary when I arrive.

The forest here is different.

The trees are older. The silence is heavier.

And somewhere in my guts, I know—

I have reached a line.

Not a metaphorical one.

A territorial one.

Stopping in my tracks, I find a tree trunk and rest my body against it as I try to calm my panting breaths for a while. My legs wobble under my weight.

Come on Jocelyn.

Ahead, the trees open into a narrow ravine—a dry riverbed that snakes through the ground like a bald path without any grasses.

And just beyond it, a torn metal sign hangs crookedly from two bent stakes, half-swallowed by vines.

I limp closer.

The words scribbled on the metal sign are nearly unreadable, rusted and faded by time and elements of nature.

But I see the words:

BEYOND THIS POINT — ROGUE TERRITORY

My breath catches in my throat.

But I am not that surprised.

I have lived in the Nightfall Pack for years, and I have no idea how the world outside of the Nightfall Pack works.

However, that won't discourage me.

I was raised on stories of what happens to lone she-wolves who cross into these lands, past the boundary. How they are abducted by merciless wolves who live by their own ruthless, barbaric rules—or by none at all. I heard that they are dangerous. Bloody. Wild.

However, even if I should consider turning back now, who the hell am I turning back to?

Caspian?

His new Luna bitch?

The Nightfall pack?

Or back to that altar where I was humiliated and tossed aside like trash?

Never.

There is nothing for me there.

My body is numb, but my mind is on fire. I can’t go back. I won’t return to a place where I will be pitied and gossiped about as the poor Jocelyn who was rejected at the altar during her wedding ceremony by the Alpha she loved because she was not good enough for him.

Not good enough.

A laugh bursts out of me. Bitter and choked. Not good enough. That is all I will ever be to them now.

Pressing a hand to my chest, I take one last look behind me. Maybe I was pathetically expecting to hear footsteps approaching to check on me from the Nightfall Pack.

But I hear none. I see no one.

I am alone.

And that realization… it painfully stings harder than the night cold that is sinking into my bones.

If no one is looking for me, it means they are complicit. The entire pack watched their Alpha reject me in front of the altar, and they said nothing. Did nothing.

I am not just abandoned by the man I loved with all my heart and body and soul. I am abandoned by everyone.

I have no pack.

I have no mate.

And if I stay here long enough…

I will have no strength to keep living. No heartbeat left to keep me alive.

And right there and then, I completely make my choice.

I step forward.

One foot crosses the boundary line. Then another.

Done, I find myself officially out of the Nightfall Pack.

But the forest on this side is really colder.

Also, the air feels… mysterious. So cold and a little foggy.

I take the path of the ravine and keep moving, having no fucking idea of my destination. Maybe when morning comes, I will figure that out.

Tonight, I just need to find a place where I can lay my head and—

A branch snaps nearby, followed by a long distant howl.

I pause in my tracks and whip around. My eyes dart into the trees, searching for shadows, shapes. Anything.

But I see nothing.

Another howl rings into the air. Much closer now and followed by rustling.

Movement.

This time, I try to run again, but my legs give out. My body slumps to the ground, knees first before the rest follows.

I collapse like a sprawled dump to the dirt. My palms sink into the mud. My nostrils and lungs are freezing.

I am exhausted.

Hungry.

Dehydrated.

And completely alone.

My vision spins. My lips are cracked, and my tongue is so dry and heavy. I try to rise, but my body refuses to give me the power to do so.

Everything inside me seems to be shutting down. And I have no power to resist.

There is nowhere I can go to for help. No one to save me. No Alpha to protect me.

And maybe, that is fine. Maybe death isn't such a bad idea.

I hear another howl much different than the others before I pick up another sound that is not a howl anymore.

Speech. Words.

“…I smell blood.”

“Someone’s close.”

“Over there, by the ravine.”

The voices filter faintly through the air. Low, male voices. A tiny part of me still wants to get up and run. To fight if they come for me. To survive.

But the other part of me? The broken part?

That part wants to let them take me if they find me.

I have nothing left of me. Nothing left to fight for.

I am about to close my eyes and surrender to the darkness inside me, but then, I see them. Three figures stepping through the foggy atmosphere.

One looks so huge and about 6’1 tall. His hair is a darker shade of whatever color it is, and I say so because I can't focus right now on making out the exact color of a fucking hair that won't save me from sure death. Also, the eyes of the man seem to be glowing red.

The other two men flank him, also tall and a little bit huge like him.

When they get closer to me, they halt. One of them speaks.

“It's a woman.”

“I think she crossed the boundary from another pack,” another says softly. “And she's injured.”

“Easy there, little wolf,” the man with the red eyes speaks to me when he crouches down to my level, his deep voice filtering into my head and spreading everywhere inside me.

My eyes are dimming. I am too tired, and I can’t even ask who he is.

Closing my eyes, I let the cold wind brush over my face and body, carrying the scent of mist and wildflowers.

And before I finally let the darkness take me, I hear his voice again:

“You’re safe now.”