Chapter 5

Selene POV:

My hand shot out to reclaim what was mine, but Lycan was faster. He grabbed my wrist, his grip like steel.

"Selene, stop this nonsense!" he growled, his golden eyes flashing with anger. "Isabella would never take your things."

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "Wouldn't she?" I gestured to the necklace with my free hand. "This is the sigil of the Silvermoon Luna. The stone was harvested from our sacred lake. Its unique light patterns are recorded in the pack archives. Do you dare have an Elder verify it?"

Isabella's face crumpled. Seeing that she couldn't lie her way out of this, she burst into tears. "My mate... my dear husband," she sobbed, "he promised he would find a Moonstone for me one day. When I saw it... I was just overwhelmed with grief. I just wanted to wear it for a moment, to feel his presence again. It was wrong, I know it was wrong!"

The mention of his brother was like a magic word. Lycan's expression immediately softened, his anger melting away into misguided sympathy.

"She just misses my brother," he said, turning his gaze on me, pleading. "Forgive her this once, Selene."

I stared at him, incredulous. "No." I wrenched my arm from his grasp. "Give me back what isn't yours!"

My voice was sharp, cutting through Isabella's fake sobs. She flinched, her eyes flashing with a venomous hatred for just a second before she masked it. With trembling fingers, she began to unclasp the necklace.

Then, with a small, theatrical gasp of "Oh!", she let it slip through her fingers.

It fell to the hard marble floor.

The sound of the Moonstone shattering was deafening in the silent room. The beautiful, ethereal light died, leaving behind dull, broken shards.

Something inside me snapped.

The history, the power, the memory of my mother contained in that stone-all destroyed. My blood, dormant for so long, surged with a white-hot rage. Before I even realized what I was doing, my hand flew out and I slapped Isabella across the face, hard.

The crack of the impact echoed in the room.

Lycan saw red. Seeing his precious, grieving widow struck, he reacted on pure, animal instinct.

His hand swung back.

The force of his slap threw my head to the side. It wasn't just the strength of a man; it was the power of an Alpha. The blow sent me stumbling backward, my feet tangling, and I fell hard onto the cold floor.

My hand landed directly on the broken pieces of my heritage. Sharp edges bit into my palm.

I looked down at the blood welling up, mixing with the dust on the floor. Then I looked up at him. I saw the flicker of shock in his eyes, a dawning horror at what he had just done to his own mate.

But it was too late. So, so very late.

Lying there, broken amidst the pieces of my past, I found a strength I never knew I had. My voice was quiet, but it carried the weight of a final judgment.

"I, Selene of the Silvermoon Pack, reject you, Lycan of the Blackstone Pack, as my Mate."

The forbidden words hung in the air, thick and irreversible.

Lycan's face went white, his eyes wide with a panic I had never seen before. He opened his mouth to speak, but I was already gone. I closed my eyes, focusing my will, and sent a single, clear command through the Mind-Link.

"Jax, he hit me. He let her break my mother's stone. Bring your warriors to the Blackstone Pack. Now. I want this place torn down!"

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