Chapter 1 The Night She Left

The wind howled through the darkened halls of the Bloodfang Pack estate, tugging at velvet drapes and slipping through cracked windows like a warning whispered in the ears of those who dared to listen.

But Elira Hale wasn't listening anymore.

She moved through the corridor like a shadow, silent and resolute, one hand pressed protectively over her belly. The other clutched the edge of her cloak, pulling it tighter around her shivering body. Her hair-a waterfall of raven-black waves-was unbound, cascading past her shoulders in wild tangles. The glow of the torches caught the sheen of tears on her cheeks, but she didn't stop. Not now. Not when everything inside her screamed to run.

Behind her, the sound of her world crumbling echoed in whispers-snickers from passing omegas, the click of Rowan's boots as he gave orders in the Alpha's absence, and the final, echoing words Kael had spoken just hours before.

"You're not strong enough to be my Luna, Elira. You never were."

She had begged him to listen. To look into her eyes and see the truth-the mate bond that once pulsed so brightly between them hadn't faded. It had been drowned by whispers, poisoned by those too close, and left to rot in silence.

But Kael had chosen to turn his back on her.

And now, she was leaving.

Not because she wanted to. Goddess, she didn't. But because she had no choice.

The unborn child in her womb deserved more than this suffocating betrayal. He deserved a mother who wasn't scorned. A life not lived in the shadow of rejection and shame.

She reached the grand door and hesitated.

Her fingers hovered over the cold iron handle as memories flooded her-Kael's laugh when he first saw her. The way his lips had pressed against her mark on their mating night. The way he used to call her "my firelight" whenever the world felt too dark.

She bit back a sob.

Behind her, no one had come looking. No one had stopped her. She was invisible now-stripped of her title, silenced by politics, and exiled by pride.

A Luna in name only.

The moment she stepped outside, the night embraced her with a bitter chill. She tugged her cloak tighter and walked into the woods. No escort. No farewell. No protection.

Just a woman and the child she carried, both abandoned.

But the Moon Goddess had a cruel sense of irony. Because as she crossed the final warding lines of the territory-those sacred lines etched in magic and blood-her wolf whimpered.

Not out of fear.

But out of instinct.

It was the moment the bond severed.

She clutched her chest, falling to her knees as a searing pain erupted from her heart and shot through her spine. Her wolf howled inside her-wild, wounded, breaking.

Kael had completed the rejection.

Even without being there.

Somewhere in the estate, he must have whispered the final words, freeing himself from the bond. Choosing power. Choosing silence. Choosing anything but her.

And still... she didn't scream.

She stood, teeth clenched, eyes glassy, and walked into the night.

Elira didn't know how long she traveled-days blurred into nights, her body ached, and her energy waned. She was barely more than bone and stubbornness when she reached the human town that bordered rogue lands.

A tiny cottage with chipped paint and a broken chimney welcomed her like a sanctuary.

She paid in coin-what little she had left-and collapsed into the mattress in the corner.

That night, as her body shook with pain and exhaustion, she gave birth under a pale moon, alone, with only the stars and the wind bearing witness.

Her son's first cry tore through the silence.

She stared at him through exhausted tears, heart swelling with a love so fierce it overpowered everything else. His hair was dark like hers, but when his eyes fluttered open for the first time, she saw Kael's storm-gray gaze staring back at her.

A sob slipped past her lips.

She pressed a trembling kiss to her baby's forehead. "Lior," she whispered. "My light. My beginning."

He cooed softly in her arms, and in that moment, something inside her snapped into place.

She wasn't weak.

She was a mother.

She was a wolf.

And she would rise again-not for herself.

But for him.

Five Years Later

The wind still howled through Bloodfang's lands, but this time it carried a different weight.

Kael stood on the northern cliffs, eyes trained on the horizon, jaw clenched. His pack was thriving, his Beta loyal-on the surface.

But he hadn't heard Elira's name in five years.

And yet, he hadn't been able to stop searching for her.

Every full moon, every whisper from the patrols, every time the wind shifted and carried the scent of something familiar-his heart seized.

He didn't understand why.

He had rejected her.

He had done what was best.

Then why did his soul still feel... hollow?

A sharp breeze brushed past him.

And for a fleeting second...

He swore he smelled jasmine.