MIRA'S POV
The wine glass shatters against the wall beside my head.
I duck, but I'm not fast enough. A sharp piece slices my cheek. Blood trickles down my face, warm and sticky.
"You worthless omega!" Marcus screams. His face is red and twisted with rage. "Seven years I've kept you here, and you can't even give me a proper heir!"
My hands shake as I press them against my stomach. Our baby—our precious baby—is barely three months along. But Marcus doesn't care. He never has.
"Please," I whisper. "The doctor said—"
"I don't care what that useless doctor said!" He grabs another glass from the table. "Maybe if you weren't so weak, so pathetic, so—"
Something inside me snaps.
Not like breaking. Like waking up.
A sound rips through the air—a wolf's howl, wild and fierce. It takes me a second to realize it's coming from me. From somewhere deep inside, a place I thought died seven years ago.
My wolf. She's back.
"What—" Marcus stumbles backward, his eyes wide.
Heat explodes through my body. Not painful, but powerful. Red light bursts from my skin, bright as fire, hot as the sun. The windows around us start to crack—thin lines spreading like spider webs.
"Stop it!" Marcus shouts. "Whatever you're doing, stop it right now!"
But I can't stop it. I don't want to stop it.
The light grows brighter. Hotter. Stronger. I feel energy pouring through me like water breaking through a dam. For seven years, something has been holding my wolf down, keeping her silent, making me weak.
Now that something is gone.
Glass explodes. Not just the windows—everything. The mirrors, the picture frames, the fancy chandelier Marcus loves so much. It all bursts into a million glittering pieces, flying through the air like deadly snow.
Marcus throws his arms over his face, screaming.
I should feel scared. I should feel sorry. But all I feel is free.
Then something else happens. Something that makes the glass explosion seem like nothing.
In my chest, right where my heart beats, I feel a rope. It's thick and strong, tying me to Marcus. The mate bond—the magical connection that links wolves to their chosen partners. I've felt it every day for seven years, heavy as chains.
Now I feel it snap.
The sound is louder than the breaking glass. Louder than Marcus's screams. It echoes through my whole body—a deep, final crack that means everything has changed.
The mate bond is gone.
"No," Marcus gasps. He's staring at me with pure terror in his eyes. "That's impossible. You can't—you can't break a mate bond. Nobody can!"
But I just did.
My wolf howls again, calling me to run. To escape. To be free.
So I run.
I don't grab clothes or money or anything. I just turn and sprint toward the door. My legs feel stronger than they have in years. My whole body feels alive, powerful, like I could run forever.
"Come back here!" Marcus roars behind me. "You can't leave! I'm your Alpha! I'm your mate!"
"Not anymore," I shout back.
I crash through the front door and into the night. The forest waits ahead, dark and wild and welcoming. My wolf pushes forward, begging me to shift, to let her out completely.
But I can't. Not yet. Not until I'm far away from here.
I run deeper into the trees. Branches scratch my arms and face, but I don't slow down. Behind me, I hear Marcus calling for his guards, his warriors, everyone who might stop me.
Let them try.
The red light still glows beneath my skin, pulsing with each heartbeat. It feels like power. Like magic. Like something I was always supposed to have but never knew about.
What am I?
The thought should scare me, but it doesn't. Right now, I just need to run. To get away. To protect my baby from the monster I married.
I run until my lungs burn and my legs ache. Until Marcus's voice fades into nothing. Until I can't smell the pack house anymore.
Finally, I stop in a small clearing. Moonlight filters through the trees, painting everything silver and shadow.
That's when I notice it.
The red light under my skin isn't fading. It's getting brighter. And stranger still, symbols are forming on my arms—ancient markings that glow like hot coals, twisting and turning in patterns I've never seen before.
I stare at them in shock.
Then I hear footsteps. Slow and deliberate. Coming closer.
I spin around, ready to run again.
A figure steps from the shadows. Not Marcus. Someone else. Someone whose scent makes my wolf go absolutely still.
He's tall, with dark hair and eyes that seem to glow in the moonlight. But it's not his looks that freeze me in place.
It's his power. I can feel it rolling off him in waves—ancient and dangerous and impossibly strong.
"Hello, Mira," he says softly. His voice sends chills down my spine. "I've been waiting a very long time to meet you."
He takes another step closer, and I see his eyes flash gold.
"Welcome home, little Phoenix."