Why me?

### Chapter 2: The Pack’s Shame

The pain didn’t stop when the ceremony ended.

It spread.

Slowly. Cruelly.

Like poison crawling through my veins.

I stayed on the floor long after the crowd began to move again, my hands pressed against the cold stone as if it were the only thing holding me together. The mate bond that had flared so violently moments ago now felt like a torn thread inside my chest—raw, bleeding, unfinished.

Above me, the hall returned to life.

Music resumed.

Laughter followed.

Because the pack had already moved on.

“Get up,” someone muttered behind me.

A hand shoved my shoulder, not hard enough to help—just enough to remind me I was in the way.

I forced my arms to push against the ground. My legs trembled as I stood, the room tilting slightly. The lanterns blurred through the moisture gathering in my eyes.

Don’t cry.

Not here.

Not in front of them.

But whispers chased me as I moved through the hall.

“Did you see her face?”

“I thought she might actually pass out.”

“She should be grateful the Alpha didn’t punish her.”

“Honestly, what did she expect?”

The words stuck to my skin like dirt.

Near the banquet tables, a group of young she-wolves stood together—dressed beautifully for the ceremony, silver jewelry glittering in their hair. When they noticed me passing, their conversation dropped into sharp laughter.

One of them stepped directly into my path.

Selene.

The Gamma’s daughter.

Tall, flawless, and always certain she belonged exactly where she stood.

Her eyes swept over me slowly.

“Well,” she said sweetly, loud enough for everyone nearby to hear, “look who survived.”

More laughter.

My throat tightened, but I tried to move past her.

She blocked me again.

“I have to admit,” Selene continued, tilting her head thoughtfully, “for a moment I thought the Moon Goddess had gone completely insane.”

A wolf beside her snorted.

“Imagine,” Selene went on, “our Alpha tied to a wolfless girl.”

The word hung in the air like poison.

My nails dug into my palms.

“I didn’t choose this,” I said quietly.

Selene leaned closer.

“But you enjoyed the attention, didn’t you?” she whispered. “Standing there like you actually belonged.”

Her smile sharpened.

“Don’t worry. Alpha Kael fixed that mistake quickly.”

The girls behind her burst into giggles.

I stepped back, heat rushing to my face.

“I just want to go home.”

“Oh, you will,” Selene said lightly. “But not before everyone gets a good look at the pack’s biggest embarrassment.”

Her hand suddenly shoved my shoulder.

Hard.

I stumbled backward, crashing into one of the wooden banquet tables. Plates clattered loudly as several cups tipped over, wine spilling across the floor.

The entire hall turned again.

My chest tightened.

For a second, nobody spoke.

Then someone laughed.

And suddenly the whole room joined.

The humiliation hit harder than the rejection itself.

I bent quickly, trying to clean the mess, but my hands shook so badly I could barely hold the cloth someone tossed at me.

“She’s crying.”

“Pathetic.”

“Someone should send her back to the nursery with the pups.”

A deep voice suddenly cut through the noise.

“That’s enough.”

Silence dropped over the room like a stone.

I froze.

Every wolf instinctively stepped aside as the scent of power filled the hall again.

Alpha Kael.

He stood only a few feet away now.

My heart twisted painfully at the sight of him.

Tall. Calm. Untouched by the chaos around us.

His gaze swept across the wolves crowding around me, and for a moment, no one dared breathe.

Selene immediately straightened. “Alpha, we were just—”

“I said enough.”

His voice was quiet, but it carried absolute authority.

The wolves dispersed quickly, retreating like shadows.

Soon the hall felt strangely empty around us.

My hands still rested against the overturned cup.

I didn’t dare look at him.

Kael’s gaze lingered on me for a long moment.

Then he spoke.

“Leave.”

The single word landed like a command.

Not cruel.

Not kind.

Just final.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and stood slowly.

For a second, I wondered if he would say anything else.

Explain.

Apologize.

But Alpha Kael had already turned away.

The message was clear.

I was nothing more than a mistake he had already erased.

The walk home felt longer than usual.

The moon hung high above the mountains, cold and bright, watching everything.

My chest still ached with every breath.

When I reached the edge of the pack territory, I finally stopped walking.

The forest was quiet here.

No wolves.

No laughter.

No whispers.

Just the wind moving softly through the pine trees.

My legs gave out beneath me.

I sank to the ground, clutching my chest as the broken mate bond throbbed painfully again.

“Why?” I whispered to the moon.

The question trembled in the cold air.

“Why would you choose me… just to let him destroy me?”

The wind carried my words away.

No answer came.

But somewhere deep inside my chest, beneath the pain and humiliation…

Something stirred.

Faint.

Restless.

Alive.

And it was getting stronger.