The journey took days. Every step was an exercise in agony, my body still reeling from the phantom pain of my severed soul-bond. I was weak, starved, and running on the last fumes of a desperate hope. Finally, I reached the border of the Meadowes Pack, my home.

The familiar scent of damp earth, sweetgrass, and the werewolves I'd grown up with filled the air. It was the smell of childhood, of safety. But instead of comfort, it brought a fresh wave of fear.

Two guards stepped out from the trees, their stances instantly wary. "Halt, Rogue. State your name and your purpose."

I looked up, the effort making my head spin. "It's me," I rasped, my voice raw. "Elara. Elara Meadowes. I need to see my father, Alpha Gideon."

Recognition dawned in their eyes, quickly followed by expressions of shock and distaste. One of them grunted, his eyes glazing over as he connected to the pack's mind-link.

I waited, shivering in the cold wind that cut through my torn clothes. I pictured my father's face, imagining the pain and anger he would feel when he saw me like this. He would hold me, he would rage against the Blackmoon Pack, he would bring me home. He had to. It was the only story I had left to tell myself.

But it wasn't my father who emerged from the path leading to the pack house. It was my half-sister, Brenna Croft.

She was dressed in a fine wool dress, her blonde hair perfectly coiffed. She looked at my filthy, bedraggled state, and her lips curled in a sneer of pure satisfaction. She crossed her arms, surveying me like I was a piece of vermin that had crawled onto her doorstep.

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in," Brenna said, her voice sickly sweet. "The little castoff. I heard you were rejected. In public. How utterly embarrassing for our family."

I gritted my teeth, ignoring the sting of her words. "I want to see Dad."

Brenna laughed, a shrill, ugly sound. "Dad? Oh, he doesn't want to see you. He has no interest in welcoming a *cursed* reject who brings shame to his pack."

As if on cue, my stepmother, Sabina, appeared behind her. She arranged her face into a mask of false sympathy.

"Elara, darling," Sabina said, her voice smooth as poison. "We heard what happened. It's just tragic. But you must understand, the reputation of the pack comes first."

I stared at the woman who had stolen my father's heart and turned him against his own blood. A cold fury rose within me. "This is my home! You can't keep me out!"

Sabina sighed dramatically and turned to the guards. "The Alpha has given his orders. The Meadowes Pack does not harbor unlucky Rogues. If she attempts to cross the border, you are to treat her as a threat."

The words hit me like a physical blow. No. Not my father. He wouldn't. He couldn't.

"No," I choked out, shaking my head in disbelief. "Where is he? I want to hear it from him!" I took a desperate step toward the boundary line.

Instantly, the guards moved to block me, drawing their silver daggers. The blades gleamed menacingly in the pale sunlight, and the sharp, clean scent of the metal made my stomach heave with a primal fear.

I froze.

And then I saw him.

My father, Alpha Gideon, was standing on the second-floor balcony of the pack house. He was watching. He saw my rags, my gaunt face, my desperation.

Our eyes met across the distance. I saw a flicker of something in his gaze-shame, maybe even pain-but it was drowned out by a wave of cowardice and fear. He wouldn't even come down to face me.

Under Sabina's cold, triumphant stare, my father's gaze faltered. He broke eye contact, turned, and walked back into the house, disappearing from view.

That simple act-the turning of his back-was more final than any spoken rejection. It shattered the last fragile piece of my heart.

Brenna's delighted laughter echoed in the clearing. "See? Nobody wants you, Elara. You've been thrown away. Twice."

The fight went out of me. All of it. The hope, the anger, the pain-it all drained away, leaving behind a hollow, aching numbness. I stopped pleading. I stopped fighting. I just stared at the house that was no longer my home.

In my mind, Lyra, who had been a whimpering, wounded presence, let out one last, faint cry and then fell completely silent. The connection was gone.

I turned my back on them, on the scent of home, on the memory of a father I once loved. I put one foot in front of the other, my steps heavy and mechanical, and walked back into the wilderness that didn't belong to anyone.

My eyes were dry. My face was a blank mask. There was nothing left to cry for.

From this day on, I had nothing. I was nothing.

Chapter 3

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