The storm clouds gathered long before the rain did.
Julia felt them inside her chest first—a heavy, suffocating pressure that made it hard to breathe. She stood outside the healer's cabin, trembling, staring at the wooden door as if it were the entrance to a grave.
Maybe it was.
Her stomach churned violently. Every instinct screamed Run.Don't do this.Fight for the baby.Wait for Alan.
But waiting for Alan had already destroyed her.
She thought back to Olivia's cruel smile, the letter she claimed Alan had written:
"Abort it. I don't need a weak Luna or a weak heir."
Julia had cried until her throat burned, until her wolf curled into a silent ball of pain.Her heart had begged her to believe it was a lie.Her soul whispered that her mate wouldn't say such things.
But then she remembered…
—Alan marking Olivia in front of pack members.—Alan kissing Olivia while Julia stood frozen.—Alan leaving for battles and not telling Julia where he was going.—Alan ignoring her mind-links.—Alan calling her "responsibility," not "mate."
She couldn't breathe.
She pressed both hands against her abdomen, where tiny life fluttered like a fragile promise. "I don't want to lose you," she whispered, voice cracking. "But I can't raise you alone here."
Not in a pack that hated her.Not under a man who treated her like a curse.Not while Olivia planned to kill the child the moment it was born.
Tears blurred her vision again.
The door creaked open. Healer Mira stepped out, her expression filled with concern.
"Julia?" Her voice softened. "Are you ready…?"
The word tasted like ash.
Julia nodded, though every part of her screamed in agony. "Yes."
Mira stepped closer and lowered her voice."Child… you don't have to do this. There are forests, rogue territories—you could run, escape before anyone knows."
Julia closed her eyes.She had considered it.God, she had considered it.
But Alan was an Alpha.There was nowhere she could hide.Not pregnant.Not alone.Not like this.
"If I run," Julia whispered hoarsely, "he'll hunt me. And Olivia will finish what she started."
Mira's jaw tightened. She knew it was true.
"Then come inside," Mira whispered sadly. "Let me help you."
Julia followed her into the dimly lit room. Herbs hung from the ceiling. Potions glowed faintly on wooden shelves. The room smelled of mint, lavender, and something sharper—something meant for pain.
Or death.
Julia's knees wobbled, and Mira rushed to support her. "Sit," she said gently. "You're shaking."
Julia sat on the small cot, her hands clenched on her thighs. Mira knelt in front of her, her eyes shining with sympathy.
"You are not marked," she whispered. "Alan has not claimed you. You do not belong to him in the eyes of the Moon Goddess. This choice is yours."
Julia laughed bitterly. "If he cared about the bond, he would've been here."
Mira hesitated, then placed a warm hand over Julia's. "If he goes to war for his pack and not his mate, he does not deserve you."
Julia bit her lip hard enough to taste blood.
Mira stood, gathering ingredients with slow, heavy movements. She lit candles, murmured prayers, crushed herbs into a bowl until the room filled with a sharp, medicinal scent.
Julia's wolf whimpered inside her. Please don't… please don't…
"Lie back," Mira said gently.
Julia obeyed.Her tears slid sideways across the pillow.Her heart thudded in her ears like a dying drum.
"Before we begin," Mira whispered, voice trembling, "I must ask again. Are you certain? Once we start… there is no going back."
Julia swallowed hard.She thought of:
—Alan laughing with Olivia—Alan refusing to mark her—Alan ordering extra guards to watch her "like a prisoner"—Alan never once touching her with tenderness—Olivia threatening her daily—The pack whispering "cursed wolf," "killer," "unworthy"
And then she pictured her baby growing up in this nightmare.
Julia opened her eyes.They weren't soft now.They were steel.
"Yes," she said. "Do it."
Mira inhaled sharply… then nodded. She crushed the final herbs, mixing them with warm water until it turned a glistening, dark liquid.
"Drink," she whispered.
Julia grabbed the cup with shaking hands.
"I'm sorry," she whispered to her stomach, tears falling onto her hands. "I can't let them hurt you. I'm so sorry, my baby."
She drank.
Pain lanced through her almost immediately.
Not physical at first—emotional.A tearing.A ripping.A void swallowing something precious and irreplaceable.
Her wolf howled inside, curling into a ball of agony.
Then the physical pain came—sharp cramps, waves of nausea, hollowing emptiness spreading through her abdomen.
Julia cried out, but Mira held her hand tightly.
"I'm here. I'm here. Breathe. Let it out."
Julia sobbed until her voice cracked.Her vision blurred.Her nails dug into her palms.
Minutes felt like hours.Hours felt like a lifetime.
Finally… it ended.
And Julia felt nothing.
Nothing but cold.
The kind of cold that could kill a heart.
Mira covered her trembling body with a blanket. "It's over."
Julia stared at the ceiling.No tears left.No voice.No warmth.
"It was a boy," Mira whispered, brushing hair from Julia's forehead. "I felt the energy. You carried a strong pup."
A silent scream echoed through Julia's soul.
A boy.Her son.Her child.
Gone.
Julia turned her head toward the window. Rain began to fall—soft at first, then heavier. It matched the emptiness in her chest.
"Help me up," she whispered.
Mira froze. "Julia… you need rest—"
"I'm leaving," Julia said, her voice hollow but firm. "I will not stay in this pack another second."
Mira tried to protest, but one look at Julia's eyes silenced her. They were dead. Cold. Broken.
But also… determined.
Julia dressed slowly, every movement painful. She pulled on her cloak, hooded herself, wiped her face, and straightened her spine.
"I will never see Alan Blackthorn again," she whispered. "Not in this lifetime. Not in the next."
Mira placed a trembling hand on her shoulder. "If the Goddess is just, she will give you peace."
Julia didn't answer.She stepped outside into the rain.
Each drop felt like a final goodbye.
She walked past guards who bowed to her—not knowing she no longer belonged to their Alpha. She walked past the training grounds, where wolves practiced under the cold sky. She walked past the pack house, where Olivia watched from a window, unaware of what she had caused.
She walked.
And walked.
And walked.
Until she crossed the border.Until the bond inside her chest thinned—stretched—cracked.Until the world shifted, and she was no longer part of the Blackthorn Pack at all.
Behind her, miles away, Alan was racing home after hearing Julia had collapsed earlier. He had planned to bring her soup, sit with her, and for once try to be gentle.
But it would be too late.
By the time he reached the pack, the healer's scent of blood would hit him.
And Julia…
Julia would be gone.