The days that followed the rejection were grey, even under the sun. Andreia left the pack before dawn, carrying only the essentials and a heart too shattered to look back.
She settled in an old cabin near the territory's edge — a hideout she'd used before when things got hard. Remote, forgotten by even the most attentive wolves. A place no one thought to check.
There, she tried to piece herself back together, telling herself the pain would fade with time. It didn't.
On the third night, while gathering firewood, the familiar prickle crept up her neck. Instinct screamed before her eyes caught up. Andreia spun, already in a defensive stance.
"You shouldn't be here," she said, her voice firm despite a heart threatening to burst through her ribs.
Maximo stood a few meters away, leaning against a tree as if the encounter were casual. He wore simple clothes, no pack insignia, but his presence still carried the weight of a future Alpha King.
"I needed to see you," he said. "You left without giving me a chance to explain."
Andreia let out a dry laugh.
"Explain what?" she fired back. "That you humiliated me in front of the entire pack? That you threw me away like I was nothing?"
Maximo stepped forward.
"It wasn't like that."
"It was exactly like that," she cut in. "And if you came here to ease your conscience, you wasted your time."
He exhaled, running a hand through his hair — a gesture Andreia knew all too well. It only made her angrier.
"I still want you," he said finally. "What we had isn't over."
Andreia's stomach turned.
"Have you lost your mind?"
"Not as Luna," he added quickly. "But as mine. In secret. Nothing has to change between us." He held out the necklace she'd thrown at his feet, hope flickering in his expression as if she might take it back.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
"You're asking me to be your shadow," she said slowly. "Your hidden shame."
"That's not what this is," he insisted. "It's just... complicated. Helena —"
"Don't say her name." Her eyes flashed with fury. "I don't want to hear anything about the two of you."
Maximo hesitated but pressed on.
"Helena isn't just a political match. She's the Daughter of the Moon — the she-wolf from the prophecy."
The words hung in the air like distant thunder.
"What?" Andreia frowned.
"There's a prophecy that's been passed down for generations," he explained. "A she-wolf destined to bring balance, power... someone who'll strengthen the pack and secure our dominance. She told my father that if I married her, I'd become the most powerful Alpha King who ever lived."
Something stirred deep inside Andreia — an ancient, forgotten sensation pulsing beneath her skin. She ignored it.
"So you traded me for a prophecy?" she asked, incredulous.
"I did what needed to be done," he answered. "But that doesn't erase what I feel for you."
He moved closer, close enough for Andreia to catch the familiar scent that had once calmed her. Now it only made her sick.
"Listen carefully," she said, lifting her chin. "You made your choice. And I made mine the moment I walked out."
"Andreia —"
"Don't ever come back here." Her voice came out firm, definitive, charged with something Maximo didn't recognize at first: authority. "If you still feel anything for me," she continued, "leave me in peace."
For a moment, he seemed to understand. He nodded and took a step back.
"I'll respect that," he said. "For now."
Those last two words made her shudder. In the days that followed, Andreia tried to convince herself the encounter was the end.
But the forest began to change. Footsteps that ceased whenever she turned around. Maximo's scent on the wind, always present. At night, distant howls — too long and deliberate to be mere territorial warnings. He was watching.
On the eighth night, Andreia found claw marks on the cabin door. Not aggressive, but unmistakable — too deliberate to be an innocent gesture.
"This isn't protection," she whispered to herself. "This is stalking."
Maximo appeared again two days later, at the edge of the stream where she bathed. He didn't approach this time. He just watched — like a patient predator.
"You're putting yourself in danger," he said. "Out here alone."
"The danger is you."
"My father is getting suspicious," he continued, ignoring her. "Helena senses something strange in this area. If they find out you're here..."
"I haven't done anything wrong. You're the problem — so leave," she said. "And take your prophecy with you."
"I can't. I dream about our promises, our moments together," he replied with a cruel sincerity. "And you won't be able to hide much longer either."
That night, Andreia understood. It didn't matter what she said. It didn't matter what she felt. As long as she stayed, she would be hunted — not out of hatred, but out of desire, control, and secrets she didn't yet fully comprehend.
She began packing before dawn. She buried what she couldn't carry, erased her tracks, masked her scent. Before leaving, she looked at the cabin one last time. She was leaving behind the wolf who had believed in promises.
"I won't be anyone's prize," she murmured.
As she crossed the invisible line that marked the end of that territory, Andreia felt something different stir in her womb.
A gentle warmth, protective. A new instinct — maternal. She didn't know it yet, but she was already carrying inside her the true heir of the moon.
And while Maximo believed he was pursuing an ordinary she-wolf, Andreia was running to save something far greater than herself.
The Daughter of the Moon would not be found. And someone even greater was about to be born.
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