When I walked out the back door of the Blackwood estate, I wore only my underwear.
The night air bit into my skin like a thousand tiny daggers.
My bare feet touched the cold stone pathway, sending shocks of ice through my bones.
But I didn't flinch.
I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing me break.
My wolf whimpered weakly inside me, still reeling from the loss of the moonstones that had kept her strong.
Without them, she was nothing more than a shadow of her former self.
Just like me.
Outside the estate gates, a crowd of reporters had gathered like vultures waiting for carrion.
The moment they spotted me, they surged forward with predatory excitement.
Camera flashes exploded in my face, temporarily blinding me.
"Miss Aria! Miss Aria! How does it feel to be expelled from the pack?"
"Is it true your wolf's fur was completely shaved as punishment?"
"What's your response to allegations that you tried to seduce the Alpha?"
The questions came like bullets, each one designed to wound
