Chapter 1

Mirelle’s POV

“Wait! Please, just wait!” I tried to pull back, as guards I’d known for years, men who used to bow their heads when I walked past, now held me  like I was some kind of criminal.

I could barely keep my legs steady as they dragged me into the hall. I could dare to look up. Every face turned in my direction. The entire Moonridge Pack was gathered from the warriors, omegas, to the elders. I could feel their disgust-filled looks without even looking at them.

The floor was cold. My hands shook as the guards shoved me forward until I was standing right before the raised dais. And there he was — Alpha Dominic Ravenclaw. My husband and mate. But most importantly, the man I had loved every second of my three years with him.

His jaw was tight. His expression was unreadable. But the pain in his eyes was vivid. And my heart cut as I saw it. I had done this to him. No, scratch that. Someone had done this to us.

“Dominic, please,” I choked out before I could stop myself. My throat burned. “I don’t know what’s happening. I…I know it’s hard. But you have to believe me.” I pleaded with a shaky voice, hoping he would believe me somehow.

But he didn’t answer. He just sat there, staring straight ahead like if he looked at me too long, he’d break apart.

“Please,” I begged again, my voice trembling. “I don’t know how I got there. I swear to you, I didn’t—”

“Enough.” His deep voice that had done wonders to me almost every night, growled in a manner I had never heard before. “You were found in another man’s bed, Mirelle.”

The words hit me like a knife piercing me deeply.

“I wasn’t—” My voice cracked. “Dominic, you have to listen to me. I woke up there and I don’t know how. Someone must have—”

His head snapped as his very cold red eyes finally met mine. “Stop lying!” He hollered, looking at me dangerously.

“I’m not lying!” My voice broke completely. I took a step forward, desperate. “You know me. You know I’d never betray you. I’ve never given you a reason to doubt me.”

He looked away again, his hands gripping the arms of his chair so tightly that his knuckles turned white. This was hard for me. But it hit harder seeing what this was doing to him.

“I trusted you with everything,”

“With my heart. With my pack. With my name. And you dishonored it all.”

“Dominic, please—”

“Don’t,” he cut me off sharply. “Don’t say my name like that.”

Tears streamed down my cheeks. I was shaking so badly that my knees nearly gave out. “I swear I didn’t do it,” I whispered. “I love you. You’re my mate. I’d never—”

His head snapped towards me again. For a moment, I forgot about myself and feared his head would wrong off his neck.

“Then explain,” he said with a bitter tone. “Explain how you were found in another wolf’s bed. Explain how you were found naked and tangled in his sheets. Explain everything that I saw with my own eyes.”

“I can’t,” I cried with a broken voice.  “I don’t remember anything. I just woke up there. Dominic, please… you have to believe me. Something’s wrong. Someone set me up—”

“You think I want to hear your excuses? You think this is easy for me?”

“Then don’t do this!” I cried, crawling forward on my knees. “Dominic, please. I love you. I would never—”

“You disgust me.”

Those three words hit me harder than any blow ever could. I froze, staring at him like I didn’t recognize the man in front of me. That definitely hurt more than anything he could have said

He turned his back to me. “I believed you once,” he said, his tone low. “And it cost me my peace.”

I wiped my tears with the back of my hand, shaking my head. “Dominic, look at me,” I said, my voice cracking. “Please, look at me. You know my heart. You know what we’ve been through. Don’t do this.”

He took a deep breath, his shoulders rising and falling slowly. When he finally turned around, his eyes were glistening.

“I loved you, Mirelle,” he said quietly. “More than life itself.”

Loved. He no longer did. And that tore me. Tore every hope of redemption I had left in me. I just remained on my knees, staring at the man who once gave me reason to live, with tears running down my face.

“You betrayed this pack, and you betrayed me. And as Alpha, I cannot overlook that.”

“Dominic…” I whispered weakly.

“This is my final judgment,” he said with a very firm tone. “You are hereby stripped of your Luna title, of your place in this pack, and of your bond to me.”

Gasps immediately echoed throughout the hall. But they were the least of my concern. I equally gasped as my knees gave out. Suddenly the room had begun to spin.

“No,” I whispered. “No, no, no—”

He looked away, blinking hard. I saw the tears gathering in his eyes, but he didn’t let them fall.

“I, Alpha Dominic Ravenclaw of the Moonridge Pack, hereby cast you out.”

I felt my heart cease as I struggled to breathe. He can’t be serious. Banished? Just like that?

The guards stepped forward. I barely noticed them until one of them grabbed my arm. “No!” I cried, struggling. “Dominic, please! Don’t do this to me! You know me. I would never hurt you! I have never lied to you! I have never given you a reason to doubt me! Not once! And you’re just going to throw me away?!”

He got up without a word and began heading toward the exit without looking back.

“Dominic!” I screamed again. “Please, listen to me! You’re making a mistake!”

He paused at the door, his back still turned. His hands clenched at his sides. For a second, I thought he’d turn around. He didn’t.

“Take her away,” he said quietly.

My knees were bruised as they constantly hit the floor while they dragged me backward. I didn’t even realize my knees were aching. I just kept screaming Dominic’s name in the midst of the judgemental eyes that followed me as I was being dragged. But he kept walking until he was gone.

Yet regardless I kept pleading till I was pulled out of the hall and completely out of the pack.

Outside, the cold air hit my face. The guards released me at the edge of the forest, over the pack’s border. They threw me one disgusting look and walked away.

I looked back at the packhouse through tear-blurred eyes. That was my home. And it was all gone in one day.

I stayed where they had abandoned me and wept.

“I didn’t do it,” I whispered to myself, my voice trembling. “I know I can’t do something like that. But what happened?”

I struggled to find answers, or any clues to fix the puzzle. But the more I struggled, the emptier I felt. I looked at the pack land again and picked myself up. There was no need. No one would ever believe me. I had two choices. Kill myself, or shape a new life for myself.

As tempting as the first choice seemed, I just couldn’t settle with it. So I decided to go for the latter. I got up and began walking towards the woods with no destination. And definitely no idea of something growing inside of me.