The air in the cramped, grimy slave quarters hung heavy with Suzanne’s worried sighs. "I don't feel good, Suzy." Athena, her golden blonde hair catching what little light filtered in, clutched the familiar pendant at her neck, her left eye twitching relentlessly.

"Calm down, Athy," Suzanne murmured, wiping dust from a vase, but her voice lacked conviction. They were slaves in the Shadow Eclipse pack, a place of lies and deceit, a hellhole they’d been trapped in for two and a half years.

“I don’t see myself going out of the pack today and nothing good ever happens in this pack. So, that left us with only one option.” Athena fisted her hands, the helplessness a familiar ache.

"You can still hope for the best, right?" Suzanne asked, her own hope focused on finding her mate and escaping this nightmare. Athena, however, scoffed. "I don't need my mate to escape this, Suzy. If I want to leave, I can do it myself." The thought of a mate angered her beyond reason.

Their conversation was cut short by the pressing duties of their enslavement. Suzanne was assigned to the office area, where the Alpha was meeting an important visitor from the North region. Athena, warned to stay away, felt a growing unease. A rogue had escaped and complained to the Crescent Mystery pack’s Alpha—a dangerous development for them all.

As Suzanne departed, Athena began her own cleaning duties in the long, open hallways. "Oh, look who is here?" A sneering voice cut through the silence. Amanda, the fake blonde, and her cruel twin cronies, Helena and Selena, blocked her path. Athena sighed, bracing herself for the inevitable confrontation.