Tradition

Selene’s POV

 My entire body ached—every bone, every muscle, even the skin I was wrapped in. The sky outside had already faded into night, shadows painting the walls of my room.

 I’d been locked in here for hours. Maybe even the whole day.

 And I was sure by now… the entire pack knew.

 Yes.

 Selene—the disgrace.

 Selene—the shame of Moonbane.

 The girl who dared to carry the child of an enemy.

 I could almost see their faces twisted in judgment, feel their whispers crawling down my spine like insects. And honestly… I couldn’t even blame them. Because I was ashamed of myself too.

 How did I let this happen?

 How could I have been so blind?

 What kind of mistake have I made—so permanent, so life-changing—that there’s no waking up from it?

 I buried my face deeper into the pillow, hugging it tightly like it could muffle the noise inside my head. I had no clue what Uncle Malric and Aunt Ysara were planning. Maybe exile. Maybe worse.

 But whatever it was…

 I would face it.

 Because I had to.

 Because I had no choice.

 I’d survive. Somehow.

 Later, when the silence grew too loud to ignore, I crawled toward the window, pressed my hand against the cool glass, and stared up at the moon.

 She looked back at me—distant, glowing, and cold.

 Tears slipped down my cheeks as I whispered, “What will become of me? What about this child? I didn’t ask for this…”

 I wept—quiet, trembling sobs that shook my shoulders as I curled up on the floor beneath the moonlight. Alone. Terrified.

 Then—

 Click.

 My breath hitched.

 The door creaked open, and I scrambled to sit up as the harsh torchlight from the hallway poured into the room. Two guards stepped inside, their faces blank, unreadable.

 Again?

 “No, please…” I whispered, backing away as they grabbed my arms.

 “She said she doesn’t want to go—stop!” I heard Liora’s voice down the hallway. She was running. “Dad, please—stop this!”

 But the guards didn’t loosen their grip. They dragged me out anyway.

 The hallway was no longer empty. Pack members lined the walls now, watching. Whispering. Judging. My humiliation had now been put on full display.

 My feet stumbled beneath me as I was pulled toward the Alpha Hall. Liora kept close behind, still crying, still pleading.

 But no one was listening.

 Not anymore.

 And deep down, I feared... they never would.

 The hall was full—too full.

 Every member of the Moonbane Pack stood inside or spilled outside the stone-arched doors, all eyes trained on me. Their glares pierced through my cloak, my skin, my soul. I could feel every ounce of their disgust in the air—thick, suffocating, brutal.

 I stood before them, shivering, silent.

 Uncle Malric stood at the center, tall, powerful… merciless.

 His voice boomed across the hall, firm and final.

 “Selene of Moonbane is hereby exiled from this pack.”

 A murmur broke out immediately, followed by gasps. Some shifted uncomfortably, others nodded as though justice had been served.

 “She has dishonored her bloodline. Betrayed her own. She has conceived a child with our enemy—the one who has spilled our pack’s blood without mercy.”

 He didn’t look at me as he said it. Not once.

 “From this day forth,” he continued, voice cold as steel, “she is no longer under this pack’s protection. Her name, her title, and her right to call herself Moonbane… are stripped.”

 The world stopped.

 Stripped of everything. My name. My place. My worth.

 A sob tore at my throat, but I held it in… barely.

 Aunt Ysara stood to the side, her arms folded, face a blank mask carved from ice. I met her eyes once. She didn’t flinch.

 Then the guards grabbed my arms.

 “No—no, please, she’s pregnant! The child is innocent!” Liora’s voice cracked through the room as she rushed forward, her hands grabbing at mine.

 “Enough!” Ysara snapped. “The father is not. He is the Alpha of Obsidian—the man who has murdered our kind. You expect us to shelter his seed?”

 Liora dropped to her knees, hugging me tightly as they tried to pull me away. “Please, Mama, please… Selene is not a traitor. She didn’t know. She’s just a girl—”

 I couldn’t hold it in anymore. The sobs came like waves, uncontrollable and raw. My entire body trembled in her arms.

 But Uncle Malric’s words were final. Set in stone. Backed by every law of our pack.

 I turned my head toward Liora, brushing back her hair as tears streamed freely down both our faces.

 “I’ll come back for you,” I whispered shakily. “I promise, Liora. One day, when the storm clears and the world lets me breathe again… I’ll find my way home. To you.”

 She cried harder, squeezing me until the guards ripped me from her grip. Her screams echoed behind me as I was dragged through the pack gates.

 I didn’t look at anyone.

 Not until I felt something wet hit the side of my face.

 Spit.

 Someone had spit on me.

 I paused, slowly turning my head toward the source.

 A woman. Older. Harsh. She met my eyes with a sneer and then turned away like I was dirt beneath her feet.

 I didn’t speak. I just stared at her, long and quiet, burning the shape of her face into my memory.

 I would not forget.

 Then the gates opened, and cold wind sliced through my thin cloak like knives.

 Two towering guards escorted me out without a word, and behind me, the murmurs swelled again.

 “It’s late! She’ll freeze!” Liora screamed from behind the gates, still fighting. “How will she survive out there? She has no one—no home—”

 “I don’t care,” Ysara cut her off sharply. “It is tradition. We do not bend the law for sympathy.”

 The gates shut behind me with a deafening clang that echoed across the darkened woods.

 And just like that... I was alone.

 Banished. Branded. Broken.

 Carrying a life no one wanted.

 And walking into a world that had never known mercy.