Zane's voice echoed in the dead-silent night, each word a formal, unfeeling nail in my coffin. "...reject you, Elara Meadowes, as my mate, and my Luna."

The words weren't just sound; they were a physical force. It felt like a silver dagger, cold and sharp, plunging directly into my soul. I could feel the invisible bond that had connected us since birth-that sacred, shimmering thread-being stretched taut, straining to the breaking point.

Lyra let out a howl of such pure, primal agony that it ripped through my mind, leaving me breathless and shaking. It was the sound of a soul being torn in two.

My body trembled violently. My knees buckled, and I fought to stay upright, but my legs refused to obey.

Zane watched me, his expression impassive. "Say the words, Elara. Accept my rejection." It was a command, not a request. The ritual demanded it.

My throat was a knot of fire and ash. I couldn't speak. I wouldn't. To accept was to consent to my own destruction, to admit that everything I had ever hoped for was a lie.

Impatient murmurs rose from the crowd. "Hurry up, Omega!" someone sneered. "Don't waste the Alpha's time!"

Zane's eyes narrowed, a flicker of genuine threat in their depths. "Don't make me use my Alpha's Command."

I knew what that meant. His power would force the words from my lips, my own body betraying me. The humiliation would be absolute. The thought was more terrifying than the pain itself.

A single, hot tear escaped and traced a path through the grime on my cheek. I squeezed my eyes shut, summoning every last ounce of strength I possessed. The words were a mangled, broken whisper, forced from between gritted teeth.

"I... I, Elara Meadowes... accept your rejection."

The moment the last word left my lips, a sound like shattering glass echoed in the deepest part of my being. The bond snapped.

An indescribable pain, white-hot and blinding, tore through me. It was a physical tearing, a violent severing of something vital. My soul was being ripped apart, and I was wide awake to feel every agonizing second.

A scream clawed its way out of my throat, high and shrill, before my vision went black. I collapsed backward, my body hitting the hard-packed earth with a dull thud.

No one moved to help me. I was discarded, a piece of trash left on the ground.

I was vaguely aware of Zane turning his back on me without a second glance, as if he'd just completed a tedious chore. He pulled Cassia to his side, raising her hand in triumph.

"Blackmoon Pack!" he roared, his voice filled with pride. "This is your future Luna! Perfect, strong, and unblemished!"

The crowd erupted in a deafening cheer, their previous unease instantly forgotten. They celebrated their new, perfect Luna, their cheers washing over the broken girl lying forgotten in the dirt.

Lying there, listening to them, I felt my world collapse into a cold, empty void. The comforting scent of Zane was already fading from my senses, replaced by a nauseating emptiness that made my stomach churn.

He didn't even bother to banish me himself. He flicked his gaze to his Beta. "Get this... Rogue... out of our territory. I don't want to smell her scent on Blackmoon land by sunrise."

*Rogue*. The word sealed my fate. Packless. Homeless. Alone.

Two hulking warriors stepped forward, hauling me to my feet with rough, impersonal hands. I was a rag doll in their grip, too broken to even think of resisting.

As they dragged me past the bonfire, my eyes landed on a man I recognized-a messenger from my father's pack, the Meadowes Pack. His eyes were wide with pity, but he quickly looked away, unwilling to meet my gaze.

That fleeting look sparked a tiny, desperate ember of hope in the frozen wasteland of my heart. My father. Alpha Gideon. He wouldn't turn me away. He couldn't.

The warriors dragged me all the way to the edge of the territory, a line marked by ancient, moss-covered stones. They didn't slow down. They threw me across the boundary, and I landed hard in the mud and dead leaves of the unclaimed forest.

One of them spit on the ground near my head. "Don't come back," he growled. "Next time, we have the right to kill you on sight."

They turned and walked away, leaving me in the suffocating darkness. Behind me was the home that had cast me out. In front of me was an endless, dangerous wilderness. I was truly, utterly alone.

But I had one last hope. I struggled to my knees, then to my feet, my body screaming in protest. I turned my face toward the distant lands of my birth pack.

"Dad," I whispered into the cold night air. "Dad will take me in."

Chapter 2

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