It had taken every ounce of courage Bella possessed to make the call. Even then, she couldn’t bring herself to dial the packhouse number. Talking to him—hearing his voice after six long years—was something she couldn’t bear. Not yet. Not after everything.
Instead, she had chosen to call Beta Benzy. His number was printed at the bottom of the letter, and that felt safer somehow, like a small buffer between her and the man who still haunted her memories.
The hours of the day had dragged on, each one filled with dread as she stared at the number, trying to summon the nerve to act. It was almost 5 p.m. now, the deadline looming like a shadow over her. The triplets were safe—Matt and Nina had agreed to take them for a few days while she was “away on a business trip.” They were her rock, her salvation.
Thank the goddess for them, she thought, silently offering a prayer of gratitude. They may have been human, but to her, they were nothing short of a divine gift.
Sitting stiffly in her office chair, her hands trembling slightly, she dialed Benzy’s number. Her heart thundered in her chest as the line connected, and then his voice came through.
Smooth. Soft. Calm. Benzy had always carried himself that way, a master at masking the chaos beneath the surface. She knew better, though—she’d grown up with him. That polished demeanor was just an act.
Then she heard him.
Luke’s voice.
The raw anger in his tone sent a chill down her spine as he yelled an order in the background. His words struck her like a physical blow.
“Send the worst of the worst and drag her a*s home!”
Bella gasped, the sound escaping her before she could stop it. Fear pierced her, raw and primal, cutting straight to her core. Tyler whimpered in her mind, echoing her terror. Without thinking, Bella disconnected the call, dropping the phone onto her desk like it had burned her.
She stared at the device, her heart pounding, her breath shallow. Every instinct in her body screamed a single word: run.
And this time, Tyler didn’t argue.
Her mind raced. He was still so angry—so full of rage. It was almost incomprehensible. How could he hate her this much? How could the man who had been her best friend, her lover, her Alpha, so easily erase 20 years of friendship?
All because of one slap.
The memory was a bitter wound, one she could never fully forget. That single act had shattered everything they had built together. For him, it seemed, only his Luna mattered now. Not their bond. Not their history. Not her.
Her phone began to ring, the sound slicing through the silence of her office like a knife. She glanced at the screen, saw Benzy’s name flash across it, and immediately hit the reject button.
Her hands clenched into fists, the pain in her chest flaring to life again. To Luke, she was nothing. After everything they had been to each other, she was nothing.
Fury erupted inside her. She slammed her fist down on the phone with all her wolf strength, and the device shattered into pieces, shards scattering across her desk and the floor.
“Time to go,” she muttered to herself, her voice trembling with emotion.
She grabbed her briefcase and headed out the door, determination hardening her resolve.
When she got home, she would tell the pups they were going on vacation. She’d get them on the first flight out of the country. They all had passports; she’d made sure of it. Singapore sounded like a good option. Wolves were rare there. It was a bustling city, far removed from pack politics and Alpha orders.
But it couldn’t just be about distance. She needed to find a place that suited Tyler too. Her wolf had suffered, unable to shift freely due to the constant vigilance required of living in the city and avoiding anything that connected them to Wolfen Society.
Running in rogue territory wasn’t an option either. No matter how fast Tyler was, the risks were too high. If something happened, it could leave her pups as orphans in the human world. That was a price neither she nor Tyler was willing to pay.
No. She would find somewhere safe. Somewhere far away. Somewhere Luke Cupper would never find them.
It was a long drive home from the office, over an hour now that Bella had moved further away. The commute, tangled in peak-hour traffic, had become a small price to pay for the safety of distance. Being on the other side of the country from him—her Alpha—felt like her only advantage. The hours it would take for him to organize flights, transport, and his men would give her a head start.
By the time they reached her, she would be gone.
This was it. No turning back now. She would have to sever ties with the pack entirely this time, permanently becoming a rogue. But she’d wait to do it until they reached the airport. The sheer volume of scents there would obscure her trail. Once she renounced her pack and went rogue, the unique scent that marked her as a member of the Red Moon Pack would vanish, and Luke would lose the ability to track her.
Tyler’s voice came through her mind, tinged with pain. “It’s going to hurt us.”
“I know,” Bella replied, her own heart aching at the thought. “But what else can we do? The worst of the worst, Tyler—that’s who he’s sending. Men who can do whatever they want to us, with no repercussions.”
Tyler shuddered, disgust rolling through her. “I’ll kill anyone who tries to touch us, Bella.”
“I know we’ll try,” Bella answered, though her voice wavered with uncertainty. Both of them knew the truth—they would likely be outnumbered and overpowered. Bella had trained all her life, even kept up a weekly routine despite her years away from the pack. But the men Luke would send wouldn’t just be trained; they’d be predators, men twice her size who reveled in violence and pain. Fighting back might only spur them on.
Her hands tightened on the steering wheel as her mind raced.
Bella parked her car outside the front of the building instead of the secure underground lot. There was no time to waste. She would only be home long enough to pack suitcases for herself and the triplets, grab their passports, and get out—an hour, tops. Hopefully less.
