Chapter 2

The dagger lay at my feet, glinting. And Justin's negative words echoed nothing but threats. Each breath was a scream.

Not only him.

Not only the pack members scorned me.

A shadow fell over me. The air filled with a cloying sweet scent, Lyra Thorne's perfume. I flinched, trying to shrink further into myself.

“See you!” Lyra said, laughing but with a bad frown on her face. “Crying like the pathetic omega she is. Alpha Justin would never choose such a filthy, weak creature. It's an insult to his bloodline.”

I was mute.

Her wickedness was true, so hurting and bitter to my soul. "This is what happens when you think you're something you're not, Elara," Lyra continued, her voice rising in false lament. "An omega trying to claim an Alpha. The Moon Goddess herself rejects you, clearly."

“Huh…” I sighed.

I felt a kick on my feet. It was Lyra again. "Get up, omega. Don't make a scene."

My body trembled. I wanted to disappear. I wanted everything to just end there.

Then, another voice, surprisingly gentle, cut through the height of my pain. "Alpha Justin. Lyra. This… this is enough."

I opened my eyes, trying to bring down all the tears. A big figure stood over me.

Rylan.

Justin's Beta.

His face was usually unclear, his eyes cold and blank. But now, they held a flash of what looked like pity. "She's clearly in pain," Rylan said, his voice surprisingly soft. "It would be… merciful… to allow her to leave the pack lands without further."

He looked at Justin, then at Lyra. "Alpha Justin, with all due respect, the pack has seen your decision. Let her go. This pack has no place for a rejected Omega."

Justin, still fuming, seemed to consider this. He looked at Lyra, who nodded slowly, a frown on her brows. "Very well, Rylan," Justin said, his voice clear. "Take her. Get her out of my sight! And ensure she never returns. Not even a shadow."

Rylan nodded, then quickly knelt beside me. "Elara," he said, his voice low, "I know you're in pain. But you need to get up. I can go with you… out of here. Before… before things get worse." He offered a hand.

I hesitated, distrust clawing at me.

Why was he being kind?

Rylan was wicked. But his eyes, for a few minutes, seemed really concerned.

The thought of staying, of facing more humiliation, more pain, was unbearable.

It was a chance.

My only chance. "Where… where will I go?" I whispered, my voice hoarse.

"Out of the territory," Rylan replied, his voice firm. "Away from here. You'll be safer, away from… from all of this." He motioned me to the hall, silently, watching wolves. "Justin won't follow you once you're gone. It's a matter of pride."

My mind was full of both pain and desperate hope.

He was offering escape. An escape from the pack that had always scorned me, from the Alpha who had just shattered me. It was a lifeline, no matter how thin.

I clutched at it.

I took his hand. He grabbed me strangely—also in a gentle way, as he pulled me to my feet.

Every muscle made a cracking sound. My legs were weak. I staggered, beating my chest.

"Walk with me," Rylan instructed, his voice a low murmur. He moved quickly, leading me through a side exit, away from the main hall. We passed through empty corridors, the sounds of the ceremony fading behind us. I didn't look back. I couldn't.

…

The night air hit me, cold and sharp, a stark contrast to the singing heat of the hall. We were outside, moving through the quieter paths of the pack grounds. The woods were a dark, imposing wall around us.

"Where are we going?" I managed, my voice almost fading away.

"The old logging trail," Rylan replied, not looking at me. "It leads deep into the woods, away from any patrols. You'll be unseen. Just keep going. Don't stop."

He walked fast, his strides so long I had to half-run to keep up. My chest ached, my lungs seared. The pain of rejection was a constant beat in my heart, an empty, hurt—an emptiness. The mate bond used to be. Every step was painful, but the crushing need to escape moved me on.

"Thank you, Rylan," I panted, in earnest.

He was saving me. To give me a chance.

He grunted, a strange sound. His pace didn't shake.

As we reached the edge of the Moonstone lands, a thin, hardly visible path led into the dense forest. "This is it," Rylan suddenly stopped. "Keep walking. Don't look back. Don't come back." His voice was no longer soft. It was flat and cold.

A wave of fear crossed my stomach. "But… where does it lead? What will I do?"

"That's no longer my concern," he said, and something in the air around him shifted. The sweet, indirect scent of dry mud that I'd noted half-way earlier now changed to something sharp, threatening.

His eyes, normally empty, held a spark of something cold and completely empty of pity.

My heart pounded within my ribs. This wasn't kindness.

It was a trap.

"Go!" He commanded, his voice not too loud a shout, pushing me in front of him. "Go, Omega. You are no longer of use."

My face wore fear. "What are you talking about?"

He laughed, a cold sound. "Did you really believe Justin would let a rejected mate, one with a hidden heritage at that, simply walk away? No. Your bond, your very existence, is a threat to his complete rule. He wants you dead. Permanently."He stepped nearer, his bulk blocking the path behind me.

I saw it immediately.

The evil spark in his eye. The cold smile that spread at his lips.

It was all an act.

"He wants me dead," I whispered, the reality a punch to the gut.

"That's right," Rylan said. He raised his hand.

And I noticed a heavy, dark shape in his fist. A blunt weapon.

"No!" I screamed, trying to run, but he was too fast.

His hand struck my back, pushing me ahead with a force. I stumbled, my feet disturbed by roots.

And the ground vanished from under me.

I was in darkness. A burning pain as my head hit something hard. Roots. Rocks. Down, down I dropped, hitting each and every one of them.

My own cries voiced out. The smell of my own blood on the dry earth was overwhelming. Each sound knocked the breath from me, shattering my body.

This was it. It was the end.

Betrayed. Broken.

And alone.

My eyesight blurred.

Darkness fell, shattered by brief flashes of white pain. I dropped, at last, with a sickening thud, to the floor of what felt like a bottomless pit.

My body screamed. I couldn't move. Everything hurt. My last thought was of Justin's mockery, Lyra's wicked smile, Rylan's betrayal.

They wanted me dead. And they'd done it, as planned.

Then, I sighted a symbol close to where I was, my back pasted towards the wall.

The Lumina Mark.

A whisper, like wind through ancient trees, brushed against my mind. ‘Not yet. You are not broken. You will be reborn.’

Then, everything went black.