Chapter 2 Cast Out

They kicked me out before sunrise the next morning, no explanation, nor farewell ceremony. I barely had time to grab my belongings, the only few things I managed to take were the clothes on my back and the purse of herbs still strapped to my waist from the previous night.

"You're a disruption to the bond ceremony," Beta Nelson said, his eyes hard as stone. "Your presence is... problematic." He stuttered to say as if looking for the most demeaning words to describe the situation.

"Problematic?" I asked my eyes widening, like I was some broken artifact they didn't know how to explain to guests. Like I had ever caused trouble or dishonored any of the wolves in the park. I could feel my heart sink, like something sacred had shattered inside me.

No one would meet my gaze. Not even the healers I'd spent five years working alongside. Not even Elder Rowan nor Enchantress Mara, who once told me I had "a gift of gentle light." Maybe they saw the mark blooming over my heart when the bond ignited-a silver crescent moon etched into my skin like a drawing.

Perhaps the whispers were already spreading; that the bond was fake, that maybe I had used evil magic to trigger it, or that the Goddess had made a mistake. That a lowly girl like me, without a wolf, couldn't be chosen by someone like him; their almighty Alpha

"Keep moving, girl," the border guard yelled, interrupting my thoughts as I hesitated at the edge of Blue Crest territory.

I turned back one last time.

Castillo's black fortress sparkled against the pale blue dawn. The banners still waved from the towers. Gold and Green.

They'd celebrate him for years to come, and no one would ever speak my name and even if they did it would be speeches of mockery and hate. Tears filled my eyes as I blinked immediately to hold them back. I wouldn't want the guards or Beta Nelson to see me cry.

---

Hours Later – (At the Forest beyond the Border)

I walked until I had wounds all over my legs and my feet bled through the soles of my boots which are now old and thin

The forest here was wild and cold. The wind howled as dead branches shook harshly and little chunks of snow stung my cheeks. I was getting hungrier and my mouth was dry, but I wouldn't touch the dried roots I carried. Those were for healing. For survival, though consumable they aren't food.

My body felt like it wasn't mine anymore. The world was quiet, but my mind was in chaos. Honestly, I wasn't sure I would be able to survive.

What did I do wrong? Why didn't Alpha Castillo feel what I felt? Or did he feel it-and just chose to ignore its sensation and reject me?

Was I that easy to cast aside? So many thoughts rampaged through my head

---

*At dusk –( The Riverbank)

By nightfall, I finally found the river. It seemed a bit frozen in some places, but I could feel the water from beneath the ice. I knelt beside it, my reflection looked different, and I didn't seem like me anymore that I barely recognized myself.

My lips were cracked. My eyes were hollow and my complexion a bit darkened. The silver crescent mark still pulsed faintly over my heart-tho faded, but still there. Still real, I could feel it.

"I don't understand," I whispered, my voice spluttering. "Why did the Goddess choose me... just to break me?"

Silence was my only answer.

But then something stirred in the trees.

A rustle. A whisper. The sound of a cracked tree branch under heavy feet.

I stood up instantly, heart racing.

A wolf? No, Several of them?

I couldn't see them, but I could feel their presence. Shadows circling just beyond the clearing, too silent and too careful to be heard.

"Rogues"

I backed up slowly, reaching for the small blade hidden in my boot. My hands shook, but I refused to show fear.

The leader stepped out first.

A man who looks tall and malnourished , with dark, scattered hair and yellowish-brown eyes that glows faintly even in the fading light. His scent hit me like smoke from burning wood and rot. Not pack.

"Not safe" I mumbled

"Well, well," he said, grinning like a snake. "The little moon-girl wanders far from home."

I froze. He shouldn't know, he couldn't know.

"What did you call me?" I asked, my voice steady despite how scared I was

His grin widened. "The Moon-Blessed. We've been looking for you, Maybel"

Hearing my name pronounced fully by him felt wrong, dirty, claimed. Very few people call my name in full

"I'm nobody," I said. "You're wasting your time."

But he stepped closer, and suddenly I couldn't move. My legs were frozen in place, my body locked up.

Witchcraft!

"We saw what you did at the ceremony," he whispered, his voice like shattered ice. His breath, disgusting "You shone like a silver flame. We've waited a long time for a girl like you to appear."

More shapes shifted behind him. Wolves in half-shifted form. Red eyes. Too many to outrun.

"I don't want anything to do with you," I said, my voice steady. I had to be strong.

"Oh, but you don't get to choose, little moon," the rogue leader said, tilting his head. "The old ways are returning. The world needs balance. The packs have grown too proud, too cruel."

He stepped closer, and then I did the only thing I could think of. I leaned forward and slashed my palm with my blade, letting my blood splashed across the snow and as it flowed, the witchcraft they used to hold my legs and lower body at a place got destabilized

The rogues hissed, some of them pulling back. My blood shimmered faintly in the moonlight.

The leader let out a frown. "So it's true. The Moonfire runs in you."

I felt my leg become free as I turned and ran. The dried leaves hanging lazily on tree branches whipped against my face. The cold air affected my lungs. I had no idea where I was headed as I ran, I just knew I shouldn't stop.

I heard howls behind me as I raced blindly into the mountains, heading to a place I had once read about. It looked deadly and no pack member nor wolf dared to enter. The old maps called it cursed - 'The Cold Lands'

I finally collapsed at the foot of a big tree, my lungs almost out of breath, as my heart palpitated.

The last thing I saw were silver eyes in the dark, then a massive black wolf emerged from the shadows.

And then- Darkness.