Chapter 8. Help me.

**Stella's POV**

A few minutes later I turn my back on Black River Pack and I start limping away... Every step is agony.

My body feels like it's been shattered and poorly put back together. The rejection wound in my chest throbs with each heartbeat and my legs threaten to give out every few minutes.

But I keep walking.

Because what else can I do?

This is my fault, I think numbly. I should have seen this coming because the signs were all there.

Cole coming home late, smelling like Sabrina.

The way he stopped touching me after Noah was born.

The coldness in his eyes when he looked at me.

Stupid me ignored it all like a fool in love.

I can't believe I told myself it would get better and convinced myself that if I just tried harder, loved him more, made myself smaller and quieter and less demanding, he would love me back.

But he never did.

He never even liked me.

I was just a transaction and a warm body to produce heirs for his pack.

And now that he doesn't need me anymore, he's throwing me away like garbage.

Just like everyone else will, a dark voice whispers in my head. Your parents won't want you back. You broke an important alliance for them. You're worthless now.

"Shut up," I whisper to the voice.

But I can't stop the thoughts from coming.

Where will I go?

What will I do next?

How do I survive without my wolf and pups?

The last question makes me stumble. I catch myself against a tree, my breath coming in harsh gasps.

I can't think about my pups.

If I think about Maya's face, Noah's tiny hands, and about never seeing them again—I'll break.

And if I break now, I'll never get them back.

'We'll get them back,' Piper says weakly. 'We just need time to heal and get stronger. Then we'll go back for them.'

"How?" I whisper. "I'm an Omega, Piper. I'm nothing. I have nothing. How am I supposed to fight an Alpha for custody of my pups?"

She doesn't answer because there is no answer.

---

I don't know how long I walk. Hours, maybe. The sun moves across the sky, casting long shadows through the trees.

Eventually, I hear the sound of a car approaching.

I turn, hope flaring painfully in my chest. "Please stop," I wave frantically.

A battered pickup truck rattles to a stop beside me, gravel crunching under the tires. The window rolls down, and an older human woman with soft, worried eyes leans toward me.

“Honey, are you okay?” she asks, voice warm with genuine concern. “You look like you’ve been through hell.”

I open my mouth to answer, but the words dissolve into a choked sob. My throat burns, my chest tightens, and suddenly I’m shaking again.

“Oh, sweetheart.” She shifts the truck into park without hesitation and climbs out. Her boots thud on the road as she hurries to my side. “Come on. Let me give you a ride. You shouldn’t be out here alone. Where are you headed?”

“C-Crescent Hollow town,” I whisper, wiping at my face with trembling fingers. “North of here. About thirty miles.”

The word town is the safe version instead of pack. Humans don’t know we exist.

She nods like she’s already decided to help me. “I know it. Hop in, darling.”

I climb into the passenger seat, my body protesting every movement. The woman—her name is Martha, she doesn't ask questions. Just drives.

I'm grateful for the silence.

It gives me time to think.

How will my parents react to this?

Will they'll take me in?

'They have to. We are their only daughter.' Piper chimes in weakly in the back of my mind.

But I can't help think they will be upset that their daughter just broke the most important alliance their pack has ever had, that dark voice reminds me.

I push the thought away.

It'll be fine.

It has to be fine.

---

A few hours later, Martha drops me off at the Crescent Hollow border. I thank her, watching as her truck disappears down the road.

Then I turn to face the pack entrance.

The guards recognize me immediately.

"Luna Stella?" One of them—Jacob, I think his name is—steps forward. "What are you doing here looking like that? What happened?"

"I need to see Alpha Peter," I say quietly. "It's urgent."

They exchange glances but don't argue. One of them radios ahead while the other escorts me through the pack territory.

It looks the same as I remember. Small houses. Neat gardens. Children playing in the streets. Nothing has changed much since I left and as usual, they all stop to stare as I pass.

I must look terrible. Covered in dried blood. My clothes torn. My hair matted.

I'm sure they will start to gossip about my return soon...

The familiar pack house comes into view—a modest two-story building that serves as both my parents' home and the pack headquarters.

My stepfather, Alpha Peter Carter, is waiting on the porch with a scowl.

I can tell he does not look happy.

"Stella." His voice is hard. "What are you doing here looking like that?"

"Father, I—" My voice cracks. "I need help."

"Help." He descends the steps slowly, his eyes taking in my appearance. "And why would you need help?"

"Cole and I... we're not together anymore."

Silence and then my mother, Susan, appears in the doorway. Her hand flies to her mouth when she sees me.

"Stella, what happened to you?" She hurries down the steps, reaching for me.

But Peter holds up a hand, stopping her.

"What do you mean, you're not together anymore?" His voice is dangerously quiet.

"We... I rejected him. And he accepted. The bond is broken."

My mother gasps.

Peter's face turns red.

"You did what?" he roars.

I flinch. "I had to. He was—he was hurting me. He turned my pups against me and then moved his mistress into our house—"

"I don't care what he did!" Peter's voice echoes across the pack grounds. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Father, please—"

"That alliance was the only thing protecting this pack!" He's advancing on me now, and I stumble backward. "Cole Grant agreed to leave us alone because you were his mate. Because you were Luna of his pack. And now you've thrown that away?"

"He was abusing me—"

"I don't care!" He's shouting now, his Alpha aura pressing down on me. "You were supposed to keep him happy. That was your only job, Stella. And you couldn't even do that!"

"Father, please—" My mother tries to intervene, but he waves her off.

"No." His eyes are cold. "She needs to hear this. She needs to understand what she's done."

"I understand," I whisper. "But Father, he took my pups. He won't let me see them—"

"Those pups belong to his pack," Peter interrupts. "They were always going to stay with him."

"But they're my babies—"

"They're Alpha Cole Grant's heirs." He says it slowly, like I'm stupid. "Did you really think he'd let you take them?"

"I thought—" My voice breaks. "I thought you would help me. I thought—"

"Help you do what?" He laughs, but there's no humor in it. "You destroyed the one thing keeping this pack safe? Are you stupid?!"