"Say it," someone whispered behind me. "Claim your mate, Alpha…"
The words curled through the air like smoke, settling into the heavy silence that filled the ceremonial hall. Every eye was on us.
On me.
My heart pounded so loudly I was sure the entire Blackthorn Pack could hear it. The Blood Moon hung high above, casting a crimson glow through the open ceiling, bathing everything in red—like a warning no one else seemed to notice.
Or maybe they did.
Maybe that's why no one was smiling.
I swallowed hard, my fingers trembling at my sides as I stared at him.
Kael.
He stood a few steps away, tall and unmoving, his golden Alpha eyes locked on mine. Usually, when he looked at me like that, there was something else beneath the surface—something softer. Something that made my chest tighten in a way that didn't hurt.
Tonight… there was nothing.
Just cold.
My wolf stirred uneasily inside me, pacing, restless.
Something is wrong.
I tried to ignore it.
This was supposed to be the happiest night of my life.
The night he would finally say it.
The night everything would change.
"Alpha Kael," one of the elders urged, his voice cutting through the silence. "Your pack awaits."
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
I forced myself to breathe, to stay still, to trust him.
Because I remembered.
I remembered the night in the forest—the way his hands had felt on my skin, the way his voice had softened when he said my name.
"You are mine, Aria."
My chest tightened.
He wouldn't break that promise.
He couldn't.
"Kael…" I whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear.
His jaw clenched.
And for just a second—just one second—I saw it.
Hesitation.
Hope flared inside me.
Then it died.
"I, Alpha Kael Blackthorn…"
His voice echoed across the hall, deep and commanding.
The entire pack fell silent.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
My breath caught as I waited for the words I had dreamed of my entire life.
Say it.
Please… say it.
His eyes darkened.
And then—
"I reject you, Aria."
The world didn't shatter.
It didn't explode.
It just… stopped.
For a moment, I thought I hadn't heard him correctly.
The words didn't make sense.
They couldn't.
My lips parted, but no sound came out.
My wolf howled inside me—a broken, agonizing sound that tore through my chest like claws.
"No…" I whispered.
Pain slammed into me, sharp and unbearable, like something inside me had been ripped apart.
The bond.
I could feel it.
Breaking.
My knees buckled, but I forced myself to stay standing.
I wouldn't fall.
Not in front of them.
Not in front of him.
Gasps spread through the crowd, followed by whispers—loud, ugly whispers that felt like knives against my skin.
"She was rejected…"
"The Alpha rejected his own mate…"
"How embarrassing…"
My ears rang.
I couldn't breathe.
"Why…?" The word slipped out before I could stop it.
Kael didn't move.
Didn't step toward me.
Didn't even flinch.
His expression remained cold, unreadable.
"This bond is a mistake," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. "You are not fit to stand beside me as Luna."
Each word hit harder than the last.
Not fit.
Not worthy.
Not enough.
Something inside me cracked.
Before I could respond—before I could even process the humiliation burning through me—a soft sound echoed behind him.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
My stomach dropped.
No.
No, no, no…
A familiar figure stepped forward, her presence like poison in the air.
Selene.
Her golden hair shimmered under the Blood Moon, her emerald eyes gleaming with something I had never noticed before.
Victory.
She stopped beside Kael, her hand sliding onto his arm like she belonged there.
Like she had always belonged there.
My chest tightened painfully.
"What is this…?" My voice shook.
Selene tilted her head slightly, her lips curving into a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"You didn't really think you were the only one meant to stand beside him, did you?"
The words hit harder than the rejection itself.
My gaze snapped to Kael.
"Tell me she's lying."
Silence.
Just silence.
My heart pounded wildly, desperately.
"Kael… please."
For a moment, something flickered in his eyes again.
Guilt.
But it vanished just as quickly.
"Selene will be my Luna," he said.
Final.
Unbreakable.
The ground beneath me might as well have disappeared.
My cousin.
My own blood.
The person I trusted.
A sharp laugh bubbled up in my throat, but it came out broken.
"You planned this…" I whispered.
Selene's smile widened.
"I simply took what should have been mine all along."
My vision blurred.
The faces around me—the wolves I had grown up with, laughed with, trusted—watched me like I was nothing.
Like I had always been nothing.
"Get out," Kael said.
The words were quiet.
But they cut deeper than anything else.
I froze.
"What…?"
"You are no longer part of this pack," he continued. "You have no place here."
Each word stripped something away from me.
My home.
My identity.
My existence.
"You're banishing me?" My voice cracked.
He didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
Something inside me shattered completely.
The pain, the betrayal, the humiliation—it all twisted together until I couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.
I looked at him one last time.
Really looked.
Searching for something.
Anything.
But the man who had held me beneath the moon… wasn't there.
Only the Alpha remained.
Cold.
Distant.
Unforgiving.
My throat tightened.
"Fine," I said, my voice barely steady. "If that's what you want."
I turned before he could see the tears burning in my eyes.
I wouldn't cry here.
Not in front of them.
Not in front of her.
I walked through the crowd, ignoring the whispers, the stares, the pity.
Each step felt heavier than the last.
But I didn't stop.
I didn't look back.
Not until I reached the edge of the territory.
Only then did I pause.
My chest heaved as I struggled to breathe, the pain inside me still raw, still bleeding.
Slowly… I turned.
The pack lands stretched behind me, bathed in the red glow of the Blood Moon.
The place I had called home.
Gone.
A single tear slipped down my cheek.
Then another.
My wolf whimpered softly.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I couldn't protect us."
A strange sensation twisted in my stomach.
Sharp.
Unfamiliar.
I frowned, pressing a hand against it.
The feeling didn't go away.
If anything, it grew stronger.
My breath hitched.
Something wasn't right.
Something… had changed.
And as the wind howled through the trees, carrying the distant echoes of the ceremony I had just been cast out from…
A terrifying thought settled into my mind.
What if losing everything tonight… wasn't the worst thing that was about to happen to me?