Eclipse Of The Heart: A Second Dawn

The bonfire's smoke stings my eyes, but I don't blink. Not now. Not when the entire Silver Fang Pack is staring at me like I'm a stranger. Like I'm prey.

Kael stands at the center of the stone circle, his broad shoulders rigid beneath his ceremonial furs. The alpha's crescent moon tattoo glints silver under the torchlight, the same tattoo that marks my collarbone. His scent-pine and winter frost-used to calm me. Now it chokes me.

"You dare call this *my* child?" His voice booms, raw with disgust.

My hands tremble as they hover over my swollen stomach. Five months. Five months of hiding beneath loose tunics, of lying to myself that he'd see the truth. That he'd remember the night I woke up disoriented, my skin bruised, my memories blurred. The night *someone* stole into our bed while he was on patrol.

But he doesn't remember. Or he won't.

"Kael, please," I whisper, stepping forward. The elders flanking him glare, their claws unsheathed. "You know I'd never betray you. *Someone* did this to me. I was-"

"A coward's lie." He snarls, fangs glinting. The pack murmurs, a low, hungry growl. "You think I'd believe you were attacked and didn't scream? That you didn't fight?"

My chest tightens. *I tried.* The memory claws at me-a hand clamped over my mouth, the bitter taste of wolfsbane on my tongue. The shadowed figure pinning me down while my limbs turned to lead. I open my mouth to say it, but he cuts me off.

"Enough!" His roar shakes the flames. "You've shamed this pack. Shamed *me*."

The air crackles with tension. My wolf stirs inside me, desperate to reach for our mate, but I lock her down. She doesn't understand yet. He's not ours anymore.

Kael's gaze drops to my stomach, his lip curling. "That abomination isn't mine. And you..." His voice cracks, just for a heartbeat. "You're no mate of mine."

The words slice deeper than claws. I stagger back, the truth finally sinking in. He won't listen. He's made his choice.

Beta Jace steps forward, his scarred face grim. "Lyra Moonborn, you're exiled from Silver Fang lands. By dawn, you'll be hunted as rogue if you remain."

The pack howls in approval. My knees buckle, but I dig my nails into my palms. *Stay standing. For the pup.*

Kael turns away, dismissing me like yesterday's kill.

That's when I snap.

"Look at me!" The command bursts out with a force that silences the crowd. My alpha blood-weak, diluted, but still *mine*-flares hot in my veins. Kael freezes, shoulders tense.

When he faces me, his eyes are hollow. Dead. "You lost the right to command anyone here the moment you spread your legs for a traitor."

Rage burns through the grief. "You're a fool," I hiss. "Too proud to see you're throwing away everything."

A muscle twitches in his jaw. For a second, I think I see it-the man who kissed me under the harvest moon, who promised to carve our names into the sacred oak. But then his fist slams into the altar stone, splintering it.

"Get. Out."

The crowd parts like a wound, wolves sneering as I pass. A young enforcer spits at my feet. My best friend, Selene, stares at the ground, tears streaming down her face. She doesn't follow.

I don't look back. Not when the gates clang shut behind me. Not when the first snowflake kisses my cheek. My hand rests on my stomach, feeling the faint kick beneath my palm.

"We survive," I tell the pup. "No matter what."

The forest swallows me whole.