Chapter 10
1796 Words
Lila reached the human border just before sunrise.
She had expected fear, but what she felt most strongly was exhaustion. The mountains behind her were hidden beneath the fading darkness, and for the first time since leaving the pack, she allowed herself to believe she might actually make it out.
The border road was busier than she expected. Human traders moved between the mountain villages with carts loaded with grain, cloth, and medicine, while a few travelers hurried toward the town before the gates became crowded. Lila pulled her hood farther over her face and kept her eyes down.
She had changed her clothes before leaving the forest, hiding every trace of the Black Moon pack insignia. Even so, she couldn't stop checking behind her.
No wolves.
No Kael.
She exhaled slowly and followed the road.
The human town appeared less than an hour later, surrounded by a stone wall and crowded with people. Lila stopped outside the gate, watching the guards question travelers before letting them pass.
She had never stood among this many humans before.
Nobody looked at her twice.
That should have made her feel safe.
Instead, it made her realize how completely alone she was.
Lila entered the town and immediately headed toward the busiest street. She needed information before anything else: where the roads led, which towns were far enough from the mountains, and whether there was somewhere she could disappear without being questioned.
She found a small market near the town square and approached an elderly woman selling bread.
“Excuse me,” Lila said, keeping her voice steady. “Could you tell me how to get to the southern cities?”
The woman looked up.
“Which one?”
“I don't know yet.”
The woman laughed softly. “That's a strange way to choose a destination.”
“I just need somewhere far away.”
The woman's smile faded slightly.
“Running from someone?”
Lila hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Then don't take the main road.”
Lila's attention sharpened.
“Why?”
“Too many travelers. Too many questions.” The woman pointed toward a narrow road behind the market. “Take the old river road. It joins the southern trade route two days from here.”
“Is it safe?”
“Safer than the main road if you know what you're doing.”
Lila nodded.
“Thank you.”
She turned away, but the woman's voice stopped her.
“If you're trying to disappear, don't use your real name.”
Lila froze.
The woman shrugged.
“People remember names. Faces are easier to forget.”
Lila slowly looked back.
“Do you have a suggestion?”
The woman smiled.
“Pick one you won't mind hearing for the rest of your life.”
Lila walked away without answering.
The words stayed with her.
A new name.
She wasn't ready for that yet.
She spent the next several hours gathering information without attracting attention. She visited a small inn and asked about work, then stopped at a general store to learn which towns offered cheap rooms. She discovered that human cities were much larger than she had imagined, and that someone without family or papers could still find work if they were willing to take whatever was available.
That gave her hope.
Then she walked into an apothecary.
The shelves were filled with dried herbs, bottles, powders, and medicines she had never seen before. Lila waited until the shopkeeper finished speaking with another customer before approaching the counter.
“I need something that suppresses scent.”
The shopkeeper's eyes narrowed.
“What kind?”
“Body odor.”
“That isn't what you mean.”
Lila's fingers tightened around the edge of her cloak.
“I don't know what you mean.”
The shopkeeper studied her for another moment.
Then she leaned closer.
“Are you a wolf?”
Lila's blood ran cold.
“No.”
The woman didn't look convinced.
“Then you don't need what you're asking for.”
Lila turned to leave.
“Wait.”
The shopkeeper reached beneath the counter and pulled out a small glass bottle filled with clear liquid.
“This won't erase your scent,” she said. “Nothing does. But there are mixtures that can dull it.”
“How much?”
“More than you have.”
Lila pulled out several coins.
The woman counted them and frowned.
“You're short.”
“Please.”
Something in Lila's voice must have changed the woman's mind, because she sighed and pushed the bottle across the counter.
“Use only a few drops. Too much will make you sick.”
Lila picked it up.
“What is it?”
“A mixture of moonwort and silverleaf.”
The moment the words left the woman's mouth, Lila's fingers went numb.
Moonwort.
Silverleaf.
Both were plants wolves rarely used because they reacted strangely to wolf blood.
“Why would those suppress scent?”
The shopkeeper's expression became cautious.
“They don't suppress ordinary wolf scent.”
Lila stared at her.
“Then what do they suppress?”
The woman glanced toward the closed door behind the shop.
“Some bloodlines react differently.”
Lila's heart began beating faster.
“What bloodlines?”
“I don't know.”
“You do.”
The shopkeeper shook her head.
“I know enough to tell you this. If your blood reacts to moonwort, don't take too much.”
“Why?”
“Because the old records say certain wolves carry blood that becomes stronger under moonlight.”
Lila couldn't move.
“What kind of wolves?”
The woman lowered her voice.
“Rare ones.”
Lila looked down at her hands.
For years, she had been told she was weak.
The weakest Omega in the pack.
The girl who couldn't keep up during training.
The girl who wasn't worthy of an Alpha.
But there had always been something strange about her wolf.
She remembered the night she had been injured as a child, when moonlight had touched the blood on her arm and the wound had stopped bleeding far faster than it should have.
She remembered how her wolf sometimes became restless whenever the full moon rose.
She had always thought those things were normal.
Maybe they weren't.
“Do you know what this bloodline is called?” Lila asked.
The shopkeeper stared at her for a long moment.
“Some old wolves call it Moonlight Blood.”
Lila's breath caught.
“Is it dangerous?”
“It can be.”
“To the wolf who has it?”
“To everyone around them, if they don't know how to control it.”
Lila looked at the bottle again.
For the first time, the possibility of leaving wasn't the only thing on her mind.
What if Kael had been wrong?
What if she wasn't weak?
What if there was something inside her that nobody in the pack had ever understood?
She quickly pushed the thought away.
It didn't matter.
Even if she possessed some rare bloodline, Kael had still rejected her.
She wasn't going back.
The shopkeeper watched her slip the bottle into her pocket.
“Whatever you're planning, be careful.”
Lila gave a small nod.
“I will.”
Outside the apothecary, she found an empty alley and leaned against the wall.
Her hands were trembling.
She pulled out the bottle again.
Moonlight Blood.
The words echoed in her head.
Her wolf stirred.
Not with fear this time.
With recognition.
Lila closed her eyes.
What are you?
Her wolf gave no answer.
But warmth spread slowly through her chest, moving beneath her skin like a faint pulse.
Lila opened her eyes.
A thin beam of morning sunlight had reached the alley, yet the warmth inside her remained.
She stared at her palm.
For a brief second, pale silver lines appeared beneath her skin.
Then they vanished.
Lila stopped breathing.
She rubbed her palm hard.
Nothing.
She looked around the empty alley.
No one had seen it.
She pulled her sleeve over her hand and walked back toward the market.
She needed answers.
But more importantly, she needed to make sure nobody could track her.
The shopkeeper's warning returned to her.
Nothing erases your scent.
Lila stopped in front of a small clothing stall.
If she couldn't erase what she was, she could hide it.
She bought a thick scarf, a long coat, and several sachets of herbs whose scent would cling to her clothes. Then she purchased cheap human soap and a bottle of strong perfume.
By midday, she had created a completely different scent around herself.
It wasn't perfect.
But it was enough to confuse anyone who didn't know exactly what they were looking for.
Lila returned to the inn and rented the cheapest room upstairs.
She locked the door behind her.
Only then did she take out the small bottle from the apothecary.
She stared at the clear liquid for a long time.
If she wanted to disappear completely, she needed more than a different cloak or a false name.
She needed to bury the wolf inside her.
The wolf that carried Kael's scent.
The wolf that still reacted whenever his name entered her thoughts.
The wolf that could betray her no matter how far she ran.
Lila sat on the edge of the bed.
“I'm sorry.”
Her wolf shifted uneasily.
“I know you don't want this.”
She held the bottle tighter.
“But if they find us, they'll take us back.”
Her throat tightened.
“I won't let that happen.”
The wolf became still.
Lila looked toward the window.
The sun was beginning to set, and the first pale light of the moon was rising over the rooftops.
For a moment, the silver glow touched her face.
Her chest suddenly burned.
She gasped and dropped the bottle.
The glass hit the floor but didn't break.
Under her skin, that faint silver light appeared again.
This time it spread from her palm toward her wrist.
Lila stared at it in horror.
Her wolf lifted its head.
And somewhere deep inside her, something ancient woke up.
Lila's fingers curled into a fist as the silver light disappeared.
She looked at the bottle on the floor.
Then at the moon outside the window.
She finally understood what she had to do.
She would erase every trace of the wolf that belonged to the Black Moon pack.
Even if it meant destroying the part of herself she had never understood.
Even if it hurt.
Because if Kael could reject her once, she would make sure he never got the chance to find her again.
And this time, Lila wouldn't be the one begging to stay.
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