006: let the pack crumble

Selene’s POV

Luna Ivana never broke her promises.

And that was the problem. Her promises were never gifts, they were traps, wrapped in silk and sealed with poison.

The next morning, she summoned my parents.

They arrived with stiff backs and tighter expressions, every step echoing their shame. My father didn’t meet my eyes. My mother, pale and dignified, looked like a ghost of herself.

Whatever they thought of Ivana now, it didn’t matter. They had made their bargain long ago. Now they were swallowing the cost.

“You’ll have to be strong,” my mother whispered, brushing her fingers against mIne In the corridor. “Rhea may have given hIm pups, but she’ll never be you. Play your part. When you’re Luna, you can make them pay.”

I stared at her, cold. “I don’t want revenge, Mother. I want peace.”

But she didn’t hear me. Or maybe she didn’t care. To her, peace was a luxury, power was survival.

By evening, the Great Hall had been transformed into a stage. Pack members filled the rows. Reporters from allied territories glared like hungry eyes. Alphas and Betas from every major clan crowded In, drawn by the promise of spectacle.

Ivana stood at the center In a flawless midnight-blue gown, smiling like a conqueror. Damon flanked her, expression rehearsed Into calm regret. Rhea hovered to the sIde, her pups clinging to her skirts, her eyes fixed on the floor.

And me?

1 stood in the shadows, pulse steady.

If Ivana thought I would bow, she had miscalculated.

Ivana spoke first, voice honeyed, commanding.

She praised the pups. She called them blessings. She thanked Rhea for her noble sacrifice. Then, with a smile sweet enough to rot teeth, she turned toward me.

“Selene, dear. A few words?”

I walked forward slowly, ignoring the script flashing on the holo-screen. Ignoring Damon’s desperate eyes. Ignoring my mother’s frantic nod from the crowd.

I wasn’t here to play along.

1 gripped the podium. Let the truth burn through me.

“It is with a heavy heart that I stand before you today,” 1 began. My voice wasn’t loud, but It was sharp enough to slice through the noIse. The room stilled. Ivana’s smile wavered. Damon’s Jaw clenched.

“I only learned of these pups yesterday. I was told, not asked, to accept them. To smile for the cameras. To protect the illusion of a perfect Alpha family.”

Gasps rippled. Whispers swelled.

“I was told silence was the price of staying with the future Alpha.”

Ivana shifted, panic flashing in her eyes. Damon took a step forward, but I raised a hand without turning.

“Let me make myself clear,” I said, voice rising. “This arrangement was made without my knowledge. Without my consent. For four years, I have tried, we have tried, to conceive. What I didn’t know was that I was trying alone. My mate had already moved on. Already secured his heirs.”

The hall erupted. Gasps, murmurs, cameras flashing like lightning.

Ivana stood abruptly. “How dare you—”

I cut her off with a look.

“I refuse to accept these pups into my household. I will not mother them. I will not pretend. They are the result of deceit, cowardice, and manipulation. Their mother is a concubine, and I say that not out of cruelty, but clarity. That is her title. And I will not dress it up.”

Rhea flinched. Damon paled. The Alphas leaned forward, devouring every word.

Ivana hissed, “Selene, enough—”

“This pack deserves transparency,” I said firmly. “And if our future Alpha cannot be honest in his own bond, imagine what kind of leader he will become. A mate who lies. Who hides. Who betrays.”

The room shook with gasps. Some clapped. Others shouted. The reporters’ pens scratched furiously across their pages.

Tears stung my eyes, but I let them fall, not weakness, but proof. Proof of what betrayal looked like.

“And so,” I said, my voice steady, final, “I make my own announcement.”

I looked directly at Damon. At the cameras.

At the world.

“I want to sever the bond.”

Silence.

Stunned. Heavy. Explosive.

Ivana’s face drained of color. Damon stumbled forward, lips parting soundlessly.

The press erupted. Questions flew. Flashes blinded. Chaos swelled.

And then, I saw him.

Aric.

He’d slipped In quietly, unnoticed by most, sitting in the far back with hIs arms folded, one leg crossed. HIs face unreadable, carved from stone.

But hIs eyes, those piercing cerulean eyes — were locked on mIne.

He didn’t smirk. He didn’t look away.

He just held me there, steady and unshaken, like an anchor In a storm.

And In that moment, I realized I wasn’t alone.

I turned from the podium, Ignoring the chaos. Ignoring Damon’s frantic cries.

I walked out, through the flashes, through the whispers, through the storm.

I didn’t wait for applause or condemnation.

I didn’t need eIther.

Because the truth was mine.

And I had just detonated theIr perfect illusion.

Back In the Alpha’s mansion, I strode straight to my quarters.

“Diana,” I said, voice sharp and sure. “Pack our things. We’re leaving.”

Her eyes wIdened, only for a moment. Then she nodded. “Yes, Luna.”

“No, you’re not!” Damon’s voice thundered from behind. He stormed in, pale and shaking.

Diana didn’t flinch. She moved faster, efficient, loyal.

“Stop this madness!” Damon grabbed my arm. “What do you think you’re doing?”

I yanked free and laughed — sharp as glass. “I’m leaving, Damon. What does it look like?”

“You’re being irrational,” he snapped. “Where would you even go? You’ve never worked a day in your life. Your father won’t take you in.”

I turned to him slowly, smiling sweetly. Pityingly.

“You really do think so little of me,” I whispered. “All these years, I tried to be the perfect mate. The perfect Luna. But now?”

My smile sharpened. “I’ll try something new. I’ll be the perfect me.”

Something shifted in his face — panic, fear, desperation.

He lunged closer. “I won’t sever this bond.”

“Suit yourself,” I said coolly, just as Diana appeared with the first of my bags.

“I’ll bring the rest, Luna,” she said briskly.

“Ask a guard to help you,” I replied.

But Damon barked, “No one touches her bags!”

The guards froze, caught between orders.

Damon’s hands trembled as he pulled out his phone. “You’re not walking away from me,” he hissed, already dialing. “I’ll call reInforcements if 1 have to.”

And In that moment, watching him, I knew.

He wasn’t beggIng for love.

He was begging for control.

And control was the one thIng 1 would never give hIm again.

Let the pack crumble I was done holding it up.