No one spoke to me after the Nightfang Alpha left.
Not as I was lifted from the ceremonial ground.
Not as the crowd slowly dispersed, whispers following me like shadows.
Not even when I was brought before the council fire, where judgment waited with cold eyes and colder hearts.
I sat alone at the center of the circle, my hands folded tightly in my lap to hide how badly they were shaking.
Alpha Rowan stood before me, his expression unreadable.
"You have brought danger to Silvercrest," he said at last.
My chest tightened. "I didn't mean to. I didn't know—"
"You crossed into enemy territory on the night of the full moon," he interrupted. "You awakened a bond with the Alpha of Nightfang."
Gasps rippled through the council.
"Do you deny it?" he asked.
I swallowed. "No."
Silence fell heavier than any shout.
Beta Mara's voice cut through it sharply. "She's cursed us. Nightfang will see this as weakness."
"I never asked for this," I said, my voice breaking despite my effort to stay strong. "I didn't choose him."
Alpha Rowan studied me for a long moment, then turned to the elders beside him.
"The bond is real," he said quietly. "And dangerous."
One of the elders leaned forward. "If Nightfang's Alpha decides to claim her, Silvercrest becomes vulnerable."
"And if he decides to destroy us to sever the bond?" another added.
Fear flickered through the circle.
I understood then.
This wasn't about me.
It never had been.
Alpha Rowan faced me again. "The pack cannot protect you."
The words struck harder than a blow.
"Then let me leave," I whispered. "I'll go far. I won't bring trouble back to you."
Beta Mara's lips curved in a thin smile. "That was already decided."
My heart sank.
"You are to be exiled at first light," Alpha Rowan said. "You will take nothing but what you can carry. From this moment on, you are no longer a member of Silvercrest Pack."
The bond reacted violently.
Pain lanced through my chest, sharp and suffocating, as though fate itself protested the verdict. I bit back a cry, lowering my head so they wouldn't see my weakness.
"I understand," I said softly.
Because what choice did I have?
I was given until dawn.
Just enough time to pack the remnants of a life no one would miss.
My small room felt emptier than usual as I gathered my few belongings—a spare dress, worn boots, a cloak patched too many times to count. I paused when my fingers brushed the thin blanket on my bed.
No one would notice it was gone.
Outside, the pack slept peacefully.
I walked through Silvercrest one last time, committing the familiar paths to memory—the training grounds, the council fire, the border stones.
At the edge of the territory, I stopped.
The bond stirred again.
Not painfully this time.
Cautious. Watchful.
He was near.
Not close enough to see.
Close enough to feel.
Go
the bond seemed to urge.
So I did.
I stepped beyond the boundary, the air shifting the moment Silvercrest land released me.
I didn't know where I was going.
Only that fate was no longer behind me.
It waited ahead.
And somewhere in the darkness beyond the trees, the ruthless Alpha I was never meant to belong to was watching the same moon bound to me whether he wanted it or not.