Chapter 3

Seraphina POV

Kael's broad shoulder brushed mine, leaving a trail of freezing cedar scent as the heavy mahogany door clicked shut behind him. I was left staring at the empty space he had just occupied, the phantom pain of our severed mate-bond throbbing in my chest.

Elder Elias Vance cleared his throat, drawing my attention back to the cold reality of the office. He unrolled a second, heavier parchment.

"The Writ of Exile and Bond Severance," Elias stated, his voice devoid of any pity. "Sign it, Seraphina. Relinquish the Blackwood name and formally accept the Alpha's rejection. This is the legal document that will be filed with the Council."

I stared at the paper. The rejection had already shattered our bond, but this writ would make my exile official in the eyes of every Pack in the region. It was a public branding.

"No," I whispered, my voice trembling but gaining strength. "He's being manipulated. I need to hear him say it to my face-again, with witnesses who aren't his mother's puppets."

I slapped the parchment out of Elias's hand. It clattered to the floor as I spun around and bolted out the door.

I sprinted down the familiar corridors, my bare feet slapping against the hardwood. As I neared the main foyer, two massive Pack Warriors stepped into my path, their faces like carved stone.

"Move!" I demanded, my chest heaving. "I am your Luna!"

"You are a Rogue," one of them growled, not yielding an inch. "Lady Genevieve ordered you barred from the main house."

Genevieve. The name tasted like ash on my tongue. Adrenaline surged through my wolfless veins. Driven by pure, reckless desperation, I ducked under the warrior's outstretched arm, ignoring his angry shout, and sprinted toward the clamor echoing from the Great Hall.

I burst through the heavy double doors. The room instantly fell silent, then erupted into a chorus of venom.

"Rogue's whore!" Tyler spat, stepping forward with his fists clenched.

"A stain on our bloodline," Susan sneered from the leather sofa.

Standing by the massive stone fireplace was Genevieve Blackwood. She wore a mask of aristocratic elegance, but her eyes danced with triumphant malice. "You have some nerve showing your face here, traitor," she purred.

"It was you!" I screamed, pointing a shaking finger at her. "You sent me to that hotel to meet that Rogue! You set me up!"

Genevieve merely chuckled, a delicate, dismissive sound. "Guards, drag this filth out."

"Stop."

The deep, commanding voice sent a shiver down my spine. Kael descended the grand staircase. I threw myself toward him, grabbing his forearm like a drowning woman clinging to a lifeline.

"Kael, please! It's a lie! You have to feel it, our mate-bond-"

His cyan eyes were devoid of the man who once loved me. His inner wolf, Fenrir, must have been howling in agony, but Kael used his sheer Alpha will to crush it into submission.

"It is done," he said, his voice a glacial void. He ripped his arm from my grasp as if my touch burned his skin. "You lack even the dignity to confess your crimes."

Desperation clawed at my throat. Then, I saw her. Isabelle Pruitt, my best friend, standing near the back of the hall.

"Isabelle!" I sobbed, lunging toward her. "Tell him! I texted you before I went to the hotel! I told you I was scared, that Genevieve sent me! Check your phone! "

Isabelle flinched, pulling her hands away from mine. She looked at Kael, tears spilling down her cheeks in a flawless display of heartbreak.

"Alpha... I truly wished she was telling the truth," Isabelle wept, her voice trembling. "But I never received a text from her. She must have deleted it herself to fabricate proof. I... I am so tired of defending her lies. You shouldn't be deceived by her anymore."

The betrayal hit me harder than a physical blow. The room spun. My anchor, my only witness, had just cut my throat.

"You're a liar, a traitor, and a Rogue's whore," Kael snarled, his disgust absolute.

Genevieve's eyes gleamed with final victory. "Throw her beyond the borders!"

Two Warriors seized my bruised arms, hauling me backward toward the heavy oak doors. I thrashed wildly, my boots scraping against the stone floor. I had nothing left. No mate, no pack, no friend. But I had one last, desperate truth.

"Wait!" I shrieked, tearing my throat raw. "I'm pregnant!"

The Warriors froze in their tracks. The entire Great Hall plunged into a deafening, suffocating silence.