Chapter 4_The Proud Luna

Emily shot back, her smile widening into 

something truly ugly. She stepped closer, bending down so her face was only inches from mine. "Do you know why? Because you are boring, Lyra. You spent two years baking him bread, washing his shirts, and waiting like a helpless puppy at home. I gave him ambition. I gave him power. I showed him what a true Luna looks like."

"You lied to him," I whispered, tears of anger burning my eyes. "You manipulated him."

"And he believed every word," Emily sneered, straightening up and brushing a speck of dust off her red dress. "Because he wanted to believe it. He was looking for an excuse to dump you anyway. You were just too blind to see it."

I closed my eyes, trying desperately to follow the doctor's orders. Don't get stressed. Think of the baby. Protect the baby.

"Just leave," I said, my voice shaking with rage. "Get out of my room."

"Oh, I'll leave," Emily said smoothly. "I have a big party to plan, after all. Xavier and I are hosting our official engagement feast tonight at the main house. Everyone is coming."

She paused near the door, turning back to look at me with a fake expression of pity that made me want to scream.

"Oh, by the way... Xavier knows you collapsed at the gathering," Emily added, her voice dropping into a cruel whisper. "The guards told him you were bleeding."

My heart skipped a beat. I looked up at her, waiting for the rest.

Emily smirked. "He didn't even ask if you were okay. He just told the doctors to handle it and went back to drinking wine with my father. He didn't care enough to visit you, Lyra. Not even once."

With those final, venomous words, Emily opened the door, stepped out into the hallway, and clicked the door shut.

The silence that followed was suffocating.

He didn't care enough to visit.

Those words crushed the last tiny spark of hope hiding deep inside my soul. Xavier didn't care if I lived or died. If I told him about the baby now, what would he do? He would probably take my child away the moment it was born and let Emily raise it as her own. Or worse, he would call my baby weak, just like he called me.

I couldn't stay here. I couldn't let my child grow up in a pack where its mother was despised and its father was a monster.

I waited until night fell completely.

When the clinic became quiet and the nurses went on their evening rounds, I carefully pulled off the heavy blankets. My legs were shaky, but I forced myself to stand up. I put on my worn-out shoes and grabbed my coat.

I quietly slipped out of the clinic through the back door. The cool night air hit my face, refreshing my lungs. Down in the valley, I could hear loud music and cheerful laughter coming from the main hall. Xavier and Emily were celebrating their engagement. The whole pack was busy drinking and dancing. Nobody was paying attention to the borders.

I hurried to my old house, opened my closet, and packed a small leather bag. I took a few warm clothes, my savings from my small job at the bakery, and a silver necklace our mother had left behind.

I didn't write a letter to Xavier. I didn't write a letter to Emily. They didn't deserve my words.

I walked fast through the dark trees, keeping my hand pressed firmly over my stomach. "We are going to be okay," I whispered to the dark forest. "I will protect you."

After nearly an hour of walking through the cold woods, I reached the thick stone markers that showed the end of the Crescent Moon territory. Beyond this line was neutral land—a dangerous, wild forest where no pack ruled.

I took a deep breath and stepped over the boundary line.

I was free.

Suddenly, a loud snap broke through the quiet night.

I froze instantly.

From the dark shadows of the trees ahead, several pairs of yellow, glowing eyes appeared. Huge, dirty men stepped out into the moonlight, wearing torn clothes and carrying sharp iron daggers.

Rogues.

My blood ran cold as six dangerous men slowly surrounded me, blocking my only way forward.