Chapter 3

Ava’s POV

I didn’t give a damn about the crowd’s whispers or their pitying stares.

Tears streamed down my face as I jabbed a trembling finger at Liam. “I gave you everything because I thought you were worth it,” I choked out, my voice cracking under the weight of my pain. “I trusted you with my heart, my body, because I believed you cherished me. I’ve loved you for years, Liam—years—and I thought you felt it too. And now you stand there and call me a fling? A mistake? Just because I gave myself to you completely?” My words rose, raw with anguish and fury.

The betrayal burned, a jagged wound in my chest. To love him so fiercely and be humiliated like this—it was unbearable.

I spun to face Freya, my so-called friend, my eyes blazing with the sting of her deceit. “Was it that night? Two days ago, when you tried to tell me something and he cut you off? Is that when you both knew you were mates?”

Freya smirked, her lips curling with smug satisfaction. “You were too lovesick to see it, weren’t you? I was trying to warn you to stay away from my man. But no, you threw yourself at him like some pathetic whore.” She rolled her eyes, and something inside me snapped.

Crack!

My hand met her cheek, the slap ringing out as the crowd gasped. I was stunned too, but my rage had boiled over—she had to be stopped.

Liam’s face darkened with fury. In an instant, he shoved me, hard. I crashed to the floor, pain radiating through my body. I looked up, desperate for him to offer a hand, to show some shred of remorse. But he just stood there, his eyes cold and unyielding.

“Who’d want a lowlife orphan like you as Luna?” he sneered, his words slicing through me. “You really thought you could stand beside me as the Oakwood Pack’s Luna? That I’d reject my fated mate for you? What could you possibly bring to the table?”

I was speechless, frozen in place. An orphan with no rank?

Did he forget that my parents died saving his family? My mother gave her life shielding his mother, and my father perished in the aftermath of that rescue.

“You know why my parents died,” I whispered, struggling to my feet, wiping tears with trembling hands. I needed him to explain, to make sense of this cruelty.

Liam’s gaze was ice. “Yeah, I know. They died saving my parents after luring them into a trap that nearly killed my father. My mother didn’t make it, but yours? They were just doing their duty.”

He turned away, addressing the pack with a clear, commanding voice. “Freya is our Luna—the only one worthy to stand by my side.” A vicious smirk twisted his lips. “As for Ava, she’s stripped of her rank and banished from the Oakwood Pack.”

The crowd erupted in cruel laughter and applause. My heart shattered, fragments scattering in the wake of his words.

Banished. I couldn’t believe it.

Tears blurred my vision as I turned and fled, humiliation and heartbreak clawing at me. I raced to my room, grabbed a few belongings, and bolted.

At the packhouse gates, Freya stood with her maids, arms crossed, her smug grin like a knife to my chest.

“How’s it feel to be tossed aside?” she taunted.

I tried to shove past, but she pushed me back, hard.

“You’ve got what you wanted, Freya,” I spat, bitterness sharpening my voice. “You have him already. Let me go—I’m already banished, I’ve got no reason to stay here.”

Her eyes narrowed as she shoved me again, but I held my ground.

“What, you think you can enjoy it while it lasts? Huh??” she hissed.

I met her gaze, a bitter smile tugging at my lips. “I mean this—your title, your so-called love—it’s all fleeting. Liam doesn’t love you, Freya. He never will.”

I pushed past her and strode through the gates. But at the edge, I paused, glancing back at the pack one last time. A desperate part of me hoped Liam would come running, beg for forgiveness, stop me.

He didn’t. He never came.

Fresh tears fell as I forced myself to walk away, refusing to look back. If I did, I might not have the strength to leave.

A FEW HOURS LATER

I stopped by the roadside, miles from the Oakwood Pack, closer to the human world. Fear gnawed at me—I couldn’t return to the pack, but rogues would tear me apart.

Exhaustion weighed me down, my body weak from hours without food or rest. The world blurred as I stepped onto the road. A blaring horn and a sudden hit were the last things I registered before darkness swallowed me.

AT THE HOSPITAL – THREE WEEKS LATER

My eyes fluttered open, heavy and sluggish. Every inch of my body ached, my wolf’s presence faint, like it was slipping away.

I turned my head and saw a man in a white coat beside me. My heart raced, a weak growl rising in my throat. Then I noticed the sterile walls, the beeping machines, the clean scent of antiseptic.

The human world?

“Where am I?” I croaked, my voice rough with disuse.

He smiled, dimples deepening in his cheeks. He was striking—dark hair, piercing blue eyes. “Easy,” he said gently. “I’m the one who hit you with my car a few weeks ago. You weren’t injured, but you’ve been in a coma. Honestly, it’s a mystery—there was nothing physically wrong with you.”

I frowned. A car couldn’t hurt me; my kind was built tougher than that.

“It is strange,” he went on. “My car was wrecked, but you? Not a scratch.”

I exhaled, my mind spinning. I had to regain my strength before anyone discovered what I was.

“How long was I out?” I asked cautiously.

He placed a report on my lap. “Three weeks.”

My breath hitched, thoughts racing, but his next words stopped me cold.

“One more thing—you’re pregnant.”

My heart seized.

“What?!”

My eyes widened, shock coursing through me like lightning.