Chapter 4

When I got there, Ron was lying on the ground, covered in blood.

There was no time to summon other warriors. I rushed over to check on him.

But the moment I got close, I caught unfamiliar scents among the trees.

Five rogues stepped out of the woods and surrounded Ron and me.

Then Elena stepped out from behind them.

She raised a dagger and thrust it straight at my heart.

Using all my strength, I caught her wrist and knocked her to the ground with one punch.

Elena clutched her chest, cried out in pain, and shouted at the rogues, "Kill her. Once I'm Luna, you can have all the land and gold you want!"

All five rogues lunged at me at once. If I hadn't been injured over the past two days, I could have killed them all.

But the silver poison was suppressing my wolf, so I had to fight them in human form.

I snatched Elena's dagger and drove it into one rogue's chest.

Another rogue sank his teeth into my shoulder from behind, and blood quickly soaked my clothes.

The other three blocked every escape route.

I fought through the pain and called Cedric through the mate bond.

All I felt through the bond was Cedric's suspicion.

He had sensed my pain, yet he deliberately shut me out.

As soon as Elena saw Cedric approaching, she ordered one of the rogues to claw her.

She hit the ground just as Cedric burst into the trees and saw it happen.

The rogues scattered. Cedric's attention was all on Elena, and he didn't chase them.

He stepped past me as I lay covered in blood and picked up Elena first.

"Cassandra, you're the pack's Luna! How could you team up with rogues to hurt an Omega?"

Cedric's voice turned cold. "You've let me down, Cassandra. Whatever I felt for you is gone.

"Tomorrow, the elders will witness me formally rejecting you."

He helped Elena up. As he left, he stepped on my injured wrist.

I propped myself up with my other hand and said through gritted teeth, "Cedric, I didn't hurt Elena.

"She's the one who lured me out here, and she's the one who hired these rogues.

"If you leave me here, I'll die."

Cedric stopped, but he didn't turn around.

"You brought those rogues here. You meant to hurt Elena, but you ended up getting hurt yourself.

"Whatever happens to you, you brought it on yourself."

He carried Elena back to the home we had once shared.

The man who had once loved me more than life itself had thrown me away.

He used to shoulder the pack's burdens with me. He had even planted roses across the front of our home.

He had promised to keep every other woman at arm's length and love only me.

Now he had left me covered in wounds and walked away without a backward glance.

Footsteps sounded in the woods again. The rogues who had fled were closing in.

One of the wolves lunged at me with his jaws wide open. I didn't have the strength to dodge.

Just as I thought I would die there, a huge wolf leaped out of the brush.

It snapped the rogue's neck in its jaws and stood in front of me, shielding me.

My vision blurred. Just before I passed out, I heard a deep voice.

"Cassandra, hold on!"