Chapter 2 - The Morning After

Lila’s POV

It was quiet when I woke up. Just silence.

Not the calm peaceful kind, but the heavy kind that weighs on your chest until having to breathe feels like sinning.

Dawn light spilled through my curtains across the cool stone of the floor, soft and gold, almost taunting. Outside, the Silverfang estate stirred, voices drifted in, gates creaked open, the hum of a pack that witnessed my humiliation and still went on living like nothing happened.

The Moon-Choosing banners still fluttered outside my window, gold, white and mocking. Someone had left them up, as though yesterday’s events hadn't broken things completely.

Pain flared behind my ribs as I shifted up. It felt like the invisible thread binding me to Kael still existed, just torn raw and open now.

I'd read about rejection bonds before — the way the body reacts like it’s dying, desperately reaching for someone who’s already turned away. I used to think those accounts were dramatized, exaggerated.

They weren't.

I dragged myself out of bed stopping infront of my floor length mirror. My reflection stared back at me pale and ghost like. My luminiscent silvery eyes had faded to a dull grey, red rimmed from all the crying. My pale white hair resembled a bird’s abandoned nest. Even the usual pink tone that flushed my cheeks a nose and lips had faded away. Mother would call it weakness.

Just at the thought - the door creaked open.

“You’re awake.” She said her tone not one of concern. Not even a question. Just….observation, almost as if nothing happened last night.

“Yes,” I whispered, my voice hoarse from crying.

Her eyes cut over me, assessing the red around my eyes, the trembling of my hands. “Good. You have a meeting with the council in an hour. They’ll expect you to explain what happened.”

“Explain?” I choked out a laugh. “Should I tell them the truth? That Kael rejected me because of you because I'm an illegitimate child. Did you think you could keep it a secret forever?”

“Watch your tone.” Her voice sharpened. “You embarrassed this pack before our strongest ally. Do you have the slightest idea what this means for us?”

I stared at her. Us. It's always us. Never me. Not even when I'm hurt.

"The Nightbanes will capitalize on this. They never wanted this arrangement they only went through with it because Kael’s father insisted as it was your father's dying wish." she continued. "Their Alpha will claim insult. Moreover, our trade routes through the north were already strained before now. Kael’s rejection isn’t just about hurt feelings. It may cost us more than your injured pride, Lila. People could die because of it."

A hollow laugh escaped me. “So what now? I should apologize for being rejected?”

"You should and you will. She walked to the window, her tone cold as ice. "You will attend the council meeting and you will do it with your head held high. Once the Nightbane envoys return to their home, you will write to Kael’s father — thanking him for hosting the ceremony."

“Thank him?”

“Yes,” she said flatly. “For choosing his pride and the need to save face over exposing my lie. Politics require composure, not tears.”

I stared at her again, at the Luna, not Mother — wondering if she'd ever been rejected if her heart was made from something stronger than mine.

The door clicked shut behind her, the silence filled the room again.

Outside, Nightbane flags were being lowered. Kael stood among his warriors dressed in black leather, dark messy hair shadowing his face. He stood stiffly, expression unreadable as he talked with his father. Even from the distance, I could still feel a trace of the bond, weak, fraying, but still holding on.

I stared fighting back angry tears as a burning rage rose within me. I wanted to curse him. Destroy him. Obliterate him from my thoughts. Forget him.

“You can’t erase me that easily, Kael Nightbane.”

Sunlight shifted catching and glintng off the surface of the ceremonial pendant I had worn last night, engraved with the Silverfang crest. I closed my hand around it gripping it so tight, it's edjes dug into the skin of my palm.

The Moon may have chosen wrong.

But I refuse to let that be the end of my story.