Chapter 2 Ella's POV

*Two weeks later*

The rain hammered against the windows of the tiny diner like angry fists, each drop echoing the chaos in my mind. I sat in the corner booth, nursing a cup of herbal tea that had long gone cold, staring at the classified ads spread across the cracked Formica table.

*Waitress wanted. No experience necessary.*

*Night shift cleaner. Must have own transportation.*

*Receptionist. Previous pack employment preferred.*

That last one made me laugh bitterly. Previous pack employment. As what—disgraced former Luna? Publicly rejected mate? Woman carrying her ex-husband's secret child?

I pressed my hand to my stomach, now subtly rounded at eight weeks. My secret was safe for now, hidden beneath loose clothing and careful positioning. But soon, very soon, I wouldn't be able to hide anymore.

"Rough day?"

I looked up to find a woman about my age sliding into the booth across from me. She had kind eyes the color of warm honey and auburn hair that caught the diner's fluorescent lighting. Something about her seemed familiar, but I couldn't place where I might have seen her before.

"You could say that." I started gathering the newspaper pages, suddenly self-conscious about my obvious desperation.

"I'm Sage Winters," she said, extending her hand. "And you're Ella Montgomery, former Luna of Crescent Moon pack."

My blood ran cold. If word had spread this far about my rejection, then my humiliation was truly complete. "I'm sorry, have we met?"

Sage shook her head, her expression gentle but serious. "No, but I know your story. My pack has been following the political fallout from your... situation."

"My situation," I repeated flatly. "Is that what they're calling it?"

"Among other things." Sage signaled the waitress for coffee. "Look, I'm going to be direct because I think you need someone to be honest with you right now. Your ex-husband made a mistake. A big one. And my Alpha thinks there might be a way to make him realize it."

I leaned back in the booth, suddenly wary. "Your Alpha?"

"Alpha Kane Winters of the Shadowmere pack. We're... let's call us Crescent Moon's friendly rivals. We've been watching Nathaniel's political maneuvering with interest."

Shadowmere. I'd heard whispers about them—a smaller pack, but fierce and independent. They'd been steadily gaining territory and influence while staying largely out of the Council's political games.

"What does your Alpha want with me?"

Sage smiled, and there was something almost predatory about it. "He wants to offer you a job. And maybe, if you're interested, a chance for revenge."

The word hung between us like a promise. Revenge. After two weeks of rejection, abandonment, and humiliation, the idea was intoxicating.

"I'm listening."

"Kane needs someone with inside knowledge of how the major packs operate. Someone who understands their weaknesses, their secrets. You spent five years as Luna of one of the most powerful packs in the region. You know where the bodies are buried."

She wasn't wrong. Five years of pack politics had taught me things I'd never wanted to know about corruption, deal-making, and the price of power. I'd kept my mouth shut out of loyalty to Nathaniel, but that loyalty had died the moment he rejected me in front of our entire pack.

"And in exchange?"

"A place to live. A steady income. Protection." Sage leaned forward conspiratorially. "And the satisfaction of watching your ex-husband realize he threw away the best thing that ever happened to him."

The offer was tempting—dangerously so. But I had to think about more than just myself now.

"I need time to consider—"

"Ella Montgomery?"

The voice cut through the diner's ambient noise like a blade. I turned to see a tall man in an expensive suit standing by our booth, his expression carefully neutral. Beta Harrison, Nathaniel's right-hand man and the person who'd escorted me off Crescent Moon territory like a common criminal.

"Harrison." I kept my voice level despite the way my heart had started racing. "What brings you to this charming establishment?"

His eyes flicked to Sage, then back to me. "The Alpha requests a meeting."

A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. "The Alpha requests? How formal. And why, exactly, would I want to meet with the man who publicly humiliated me and threw me out of his territory?"

Harrison's jaw tightened. "There have been... developments."

"What kind of developments?" Sage asked, her tone casual but her posture alert.

"Pack business," Harrison replied curtly. "Not your concern, Miss...?"

"Winters. Sage Winters." She extended her hand with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Shadowmere pack."

Recognition flickered across Harrison's face, followed quickly by suspicion. Of course he'd know about the rival pack that had been steadily encroaching on traditional power structures.

"I see you're making new friends," he said to me, disapproval clear in his voice.

"I'm making my own choices for the first time in my life," I replied. "It's remarkably liberating."

"Ella." His tone turned almost pleading. "Please. Just come back with me. Talk to him. Things have... changed."

Changed. What could have possibly changed in two weeks? Had Vivian already started causing problems? Had the Council questioned his hasty rejection? Or—and this thought made my blood run cold—had someone discovered my secret?

I pressed my hand protectively to my stomach, praying my growing panic didn't show on my face.

"Give me one good reason why I should subject myself to more of Nathaniel's emotional manipulation."

Harrison glanced around the diner nervously, clearly uncomfortable having this conversation in public. "He's realized he made a mistake."

The words I'd dreamed of hearing for two weeks now felt hollow, meaningless. Too little, too late.

"What kind of mistake?" Sage asked, her journalist's instincts clearly engaged.

"A mistake that could cost him everything," Harrison said quietly. "The engagement to Vivian Ashworth... there have been complications."

My heart stuttered. "Complications?"

"She's not who we thought she was. Her father's been using her to gather intelligence about our pack defenses, our territories. She was a spy, Ella. The whole thing was a setup."

The revelation hit me like a physical blow. All those months of watching Nathaniel grow distant, of feeling like I was losing him to someone better, smarter, more politically valuable—and it had all been a lie. Vivian had been playing them both.

But even through my shock, I couldn't ignore the obvious question: "And he only figured this out now?"

Harrison's silence was telling.

"Let me guess," I continued, standing up from the booth. "He found out after he'd already rejected me. After he'd already humiliated me in front of the entire pack. After he'd already filed the divorce papers and thrown me out of his territory."

"Ella—"

"No." My voice carried more authority than I'd felt in months. "You don't get to 'Ella' me. You don't get to act like this is some minor misunderstanding that can be fixed with an apology and flowers."

Other diners were starting to stare, but I didn't care. Two weeks of pain and anger were pouring out of me like a dam had burst.

"He chose her over me. He chose politics over love. He chose his ambition over his mate." Each word was a dagger thrown with precision. "Those were his choices, Harrison. And choices have consequences."

"He wants to fix this."

"Some things can't be fixed."

I turned back to Sage, who'd been watching the entire exchange with fascination. "When can I meet your Alpha?"

"How about now?" She stood, tossing money on the table for her untouched coffee. "He's waiting outside."

Through the rain-streaked window, I could see a black SUV parked across the street. Even from a distance, I could make out the silhouette of someone in the driver's seat, watching.

"Ella, don't do this," Harrison said urgently. "Don't let anger make you do something you'll regret."

"The only thing I regret," I said, looking him directly in the eye, "is wasting five years of my life on someone who never deserved me."

I followed Sage toward the door, leaving Harrison standing alone by our abandoned booth. But just as I reached for the handle, he called out one last time.

"He loves you, Ella. He's always loved you."

I paused, my hand frozen on the door handle. For just a moment, the words threatened to undo all my resolve. But then I thought about the pregnancy test hidden in my purse, about the child growing inside me that its father would never know existed, about the family I'd have to build alone.

"Then he should have thought of that before he destroyed us," I said without turning around.

The rain hit me like a baptism as I stepped out into the storm, washing away the last traces of the woman I used to be. The woman who'd believed in love and loyalty and happy endings.

That woman was gone.

In her place stood someone harder, someone angrier, someone with nothing left to lose.

And as I walked toward the SUV that would take me to my new life, I felt something I hadn't experienced since the moment Nathaniel had rejected me: