Chapter 2

– ELIRA –

The Council chamber felt like a tomb, with cold stone walls, cold faces staring at me. I sat in the corner trying to make myself invisible while Garrick stood at the front like he owned the world.

Which he did. He was the Alpha and I was just his unwanted wife.

My hands shook in my lap, I kept the pregnancy test in my pocket. It was my secret, it was my weapon.

“Council members,” Garrick called out, in his loud firm voice.

"I call this meeting to address a critical matter affecting our pack's future." Here it comes, I gripped the test paper tighter.

"I, Garrick Fenmoor the Alpha of this pack, formally reject Elira Solen as my mate and Luna."

Even though I expected it, the words still hit hard.

Gasps filled the room around me, someone dropped something that chattered on the floor.

"Alpha Garrick," Elder Morrison spoke up, his voice shaky. "This is highly unusual. What grounds—"

"We all know she is less of becoming an omega with no wolf yet I choose her but then it also happened she's barren." Garrick didn't even look at me. "Two years of marriage, managing her wolf-lessness, yet, no heir. Our pack needs strong bloodlines, not empty wombs that are weak!"

Empty wombs. The bastard. I stood up so fast my chair scraped against the stone, I know I'm wolf less but not barren.

"That's a lie!"

Every head turned to me. Garrick's eyes went wide like he couldn't believe I'd spoken. Good. Time for him to be shocked for once.

“I’m pregnant.”

The words came out louder than I wanted. "I'm carrying your heir right now."

The room exploded. People talking over each other, I could hear the voices rising. Garrick's face went white then red then something dangerous.

“Prove it,” he growled.

My hands shook as I reached into my pocket and took out the test. Two pink lines, clear as day. I held it up for everyone to see.

"Here's your proof, I'm not barren, I'm three weeks pregnant with your child."

For a moment—just one—I thought I saw something in his eyes. Maybe hope. Maybe he'd realize what he was about to throw away.

Then he laughed. Cold and mean.

He walked over, snatched the test from my hands, and tore it in half. Right in front of everyone. The pieces fluttered to the floor like broken dreams.

"Anyone can fake these things." His voice was ice. "But it doesn’t matter now.”

The doors opened, Serina walked in wearing a flowing dress that showed off her perfect figure. She looked like a queen already.

My sister, my twin, standing there with her hand on her stomach.

"I'd like you all to meet my true mate," Garrick announced. "Serina, who's also carrying my child."

The world tilted, I grabbed the wall to keep me from falling.

"What?" The word barely came out.

"Serina is pregnant too, eight weeks along, she'll be your new Luna."

Eight weeks. Eight fucking weeks. They'd been planning this before I even knew I was pregnant. Before I found them together last night.

My sister stepped forward with this sad, fake expression on her face. "I'm sorry, Elira, we didn't want you to find out this way."

“You’re sorry?” I choked out, my chest tight. “You’re fucking sorry?”

“Elira!” Elder Morrison called out, his voice full of shock "Language!"

"Language? LANGUAGE?" I was screaming now and I didn't care. "My husband is rejecting me for my own sister and you care about my language?"

Serina moved closer to Garrick, he held her close, like he was protecting her. Loving her.

The same way he used to hold me… before it all fell apart.

"The decision is made," Garrick said. "Serina will be Luna, her child will be my heir."

"What about my baby?" My hand went to my stomach. "What about YOUR baby?"

"If there even is one, it doesn't matter. I chose Serina."

The words shattered something inside me. Actually, I felt it crack and fall apart in my chest.

"Guards," Garrick called out. Two massive men stepped forward. "Make sure Elira never comes back to this territory, she's banished."

Banished. The word echoed in my head. Banishment meant death for most wolves, no pack, no protection, no home.

"Garrick, please—"

"You are no longer Luna. You are no longer my mate. You are nothing."

The guards grabbed my arms. I tried to fight but they were too strong. They dragged me through the chamber while everyone watched. Some looked sad, most looked relieved.

Serina caught my eyes as they pulled me past her. For just a second, I saw the real her. Satisfied. Victorious. She'd won.

They threw me outside like garbage. The rain started immediately, cold and harsh, it soaked through my dress in seconds.

"Run," one guard said. "We'll give you a ten-minute head start. Then we hunt."

Hunt. Like I was prey.

.

Behind me, I heard howls, they'd shifted, they were coming.

My stomach cramped. Sharp, awful pain that made me double over. No. Not now. Not my baby.

But the pain got worse, wet warmth ran down my legs, I knew what it meant even before I looked down.

Blood, so much blood.

I screamed but the sound got lost in the storm, another cramp hit and I fell to my knees in the mud. My baby, my little baby was gone.

Everything hurts, my body, my heart, my soul, but I kept moving because the howls were getting closer.

Trees whipped past in a blur, I didn't know where I was going.

The howls stopped.

I looked around, confused, why had they stopped chasing me?

Then I saw the marker, a stone carved with symbols that made my blood run cold. I'd crossed into forbidden territory.

The Shadowlands. Domain of the Alpha King.

Even Garrick's strongest warriors wouldn't follow me here. Stories said Alpha King Kael Draven killed trespassers on sight, that his territory was cursed, that nothing lived here except death.

I should have been terrified, should have turned back and faced Garrick's guards instead.

But I had nothing left to lose. My mate, my sister, my pack, my baby. All gone.

Let the Alpha King kill me, at least it was almost over.

I dragged my feet through the dark, each step leaving a trail of blood in the wet mud.

The trees here were different, bigger, older. Like they'd been watching the world for centuries.

The rain got heavier, my vision blurred, I couldn't feel my fingers anymore.

Then I saw it through the storm, a massive mountain rising into the clouds. At the top, a castle made of black stone, windows glowed red like eyes.

This was it. The Alpha King's home.

I made it maybe fifty feet before my legs gave out.

I fell at the foot of the mountain, mud and blood stuck to my skin.

Everything was silent, except for my rough breaths.

Then I heard footsteps. Slow. Deliberate. Coming closer,

And then everything went black.