Chapter 7

Shattered

Grace's POV

I woke to the sound of shouting, my head pounding like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my skull. The world swam in and out of focus as I tried to remember where I was. The last clear memory I had was talking to Kyle at the party, then everything became a hazy blur of spinning rooms and Kyle's panicked face as he helped me to... somewhere.

"—knew you were pathetic, but this?" Jace's voice cut through the fog in my brain like a blade. "Even I didn't think you'd stoop this low."

I tried to sit up, my body feeling heavy and uncoordinated. I was in a small bedroom I didn't recognize, lying on top of the covers fully clothed. Kyle sat in a chair beside the bed, his face pale and terrified, while Jace loomed over both of us like an avenging angel.

"What... what happened?" I managed to croak, my throat feeling like sandpaper.

"What happened?" Jace's laugh was harsh and bitter. "What happened is that my supposed mate decided to throw herself at the pack omega while drugged out of her mind."

The words hit me like ice water. "What? No, I didn't... I wouldn't..."

"Kyle already confessed," Jace snarled, his eyes blazing with fury. "Told us how you begged him to bring you back here, how you came on to him. Pathetic doesn't even begin to cover it."

I looked at Kyle in confusion, but he wouldn't meet my eyes. His hands shook as he stared at the floor, and I could smell the fear rolling off him in waves.

"That's not... Kyle, tell him that's not what happened. Tell him about the drink, about how you tried to warn me—"

"I'm sorry," Kyle whispered, so quietly I almost couldn't hear him. "I'm so sorry, Grace. But she said... she said if I told the truth, they'd blame me for everything. They'd kill me."

"Who said?" I demanded, though I already knew the answer.

"Enough," Jace cut in before Kyle could respond. "I don't want to hear any more lies. Do you have any idea what you've done? What this mean?"

I struggled to my feet, swaying slightly as the room tilted. "Jace, please, you have to listen to me. I didn't do anything with Kyle. Someone drugged me—"

"Of course someone drugged you," he sneered. "Kyle's already admitted to that, too. Said you asked him to give you something to 'loosen up' because you were nervous about finally making a move."

"That's not true!" The words came out as a broken sob. "Kyle, please, tell him the truth!"

But Kyle just shrank further into his chair, terror written across every line of his face. Whatever hold Amber had over him, it was stronger than his guilt.

"The rank games are in two weeks," Jace continued, his voice cold and merciless. "Every unmated wolf over eighteen has to participate to determine their position in the pack hierarchy. But I suppose it doesn't matter for you anymore."

My heart stopped. The rank games. In all the chaos of the past few weeks, I'd forgotten that my eighteenth birthday was only days away. And with it would come the obligation to prove my worth to the pack through combat trials that I was nowhere near prepared for.

"I'll train," I said desperately. "I'll get stronger, I'll—"

"You'll what?" Jace's voice was filled with contempt. "You're weak, Grace. You've always been weak. And now you're weak and unfaithful. Do you really think I want a mate who throws herself at other men the moment I'm not watching?"

The word 'mate' hit me like a physical blow. In my drugged confusion, I'd missed the most important piece of this nightmare. Jace had just called me his mate. Which meant...

"You knew," I whispered, the pieces falling into place. "You've known all along that we're mates."

Something flickered in his eyes—too fast for me to identify. "It doesn't matter what I knew. What matters is what you did."

"But I didn't do anything!" I was crying now, tears streaming down my face as the full horror of the situation crashed over me. "Please, Jace, you have to believe me. I would never—"

"I, Jace Storm, future Alpha of the Storm Pack, reject you, Grace Matthew, as my mate and my Luna." The words fell between us like stones, each one crushing another piece of my heart. "You are hereby banished from pack territory for the crime of infidelity and bringing shame upon your mate bond."

The formal rejection hit me like a physical force, driving me to my knees as pain exploded through every nerve in my body. It felt like my soul was being torn in half, like someone had reached into my chest and ripped out my heart. Through the agony, I heard Kyle make a sound of distress, but Jace's face remained impassive.

"You have until dawn to leave pack territory," he continued, his voice steady despite the way his hands clenched into fists. "If you're found here after sunrise, you'll be hunted as a rogue."

"Jace, please," I gasped, clutching at my chest as the mate bond shattered inside me. "Please don't do this. I'm innocent, I swear—"

"Innocent?" He laughed, but the sound was hollow. "Nothing about you has ever been innocent, Grace. You've been a burden on this pack since the day you were born, and I was a fool to think the Moon Goddess knew what she was doing when she matched us."

Each word was a dagger to my already wounded heart. Through my tears, I saw Amber standing in the doorway, her face a mask of false sympathy that couldn't quite hide her triumphant smile.

"I'm so sorry this happened, Grace," she said sweetly. "But maybe it's for the best. You'll be happier somewhere else, don't you think?"

I wanted to scream at her, to claw her eyes out, to tell everyone exactly what she'd done. But what was the point? She'd won. She'd destroyed me so completely that there was nothing left to fight with.

"I need to pack," I whispered, struggling to my feet.

"Connor will escort you," Jace said coldly. "To make sure you don't steal anything on your way out."

The final insult. As if I would steal from the pack that had been my only home. But I was too broken to protest anymore.

Three Hours Later - Grace's POV

I stood at the edge of pack territory with nothing but a backpack full of clothes and the few pictures I had of my parents. Connor had been kind during the escort, his face grim as he helped me gather my things. Even he seemed to understand that something wasn't right about the situation.

"Grace," he said quietly as we reached the border. "I want you to know... not everyone believes what happened tonight."

I looked up at him through swollen eyes. "It doesn't matter. He rejected me. It's over."

"Rejection bonds can be broken," Connor said carefully. "If the truth ever comes out..."

"The truth doesn't matter anymore," I said, shouldering my pack. "I'm nobody now. Just another rogue trying to survive."

Connor's hand landed gently on my shoulder. "You're stronger than you know, Grace Matthew. Your father raised a fighter, even if you don't see it yet."

I wanted to believe him, but as I walked into the dark forest beyond pack territory, all I felt was empty. The mate bond that should have been the foundation of my future was gone, shattered by lies and manipulation. The pack that should have protected me had cast me out without a second thought.

But as the trees closed around me and the scent of home faded behind me, something hard and cold settled in my chest. I'd been naive, trusting, weak. But I was still alive, and that meant I had a chance to become something more.

Amber thought she'd destroyed me. Jace thought he'd rid himself of an unwanted burden.

They had no idea what they'd actually unleashed.

Jace's POV

I stood in my room, staring out the window at the dark forest where Grace had disappeared hours ago. The rejection had torn through me like a physical wound, leaving me hollow and aching in ways I didn't understand.

My wolf was silent, had been since the moment I'd spoken the words that severed our mate bond. But I could feel his rage simmering beneath the surface, his fury at what I'd done.

*She was innocent,* he whispered suddenly, the first words he'd spoken since the rejection. *You know she was innocent, and you destroyed her anyway.* I know she was innocent, but my pride wouldn't let me listen to her. I said what I said because she was also weak, and I needed a strong Luna at my side.

"She was with Kyle," I said aloud, but the words tasted like ash.

*Kyle was terrified. Amber orchestrated everything, and you know it.*

I did know it. Deep down, beneath the anger and the pride and the desperate need to maintain control, I knew that Grace had been set up. But admitting that would mean admitting I'd made the biggest mistake of my life.

It would mean admitting that I'd rejected my true mate for a lie.

A soft knock interrupted my thoughts. "Come in," I called.

Amber slipped through the door, her face glowing with satisfaction. "How are you feeling? I know rejection bonds are painful..."

"Get out," I said quietly.

Her face fell. "Jace? I thought... I thought we could finally be together now. We're both free, and—"

"GET OUT!" The roar that came from my throat was pure wolf, filled with all the rage and self-hatred I couldn't direct anywhere else.

Amber fled, but her footsteps echoing down the hallway couldn't drown out the truth that was eating me alive.

I'd rejected my mate. I said the most hateful shit to her, knowing she was completely innocent. I ruined her for my own selfish reasons, and now I'm mateless.

I'd cast out the one person the Moon Goddess had chosen for me.

And I'd done it all for a woman who wasn't worth Grace's little finger.

The worst part? It was too late to take it back. Grace was gone, cast out into a world that would see her as nothing but prey. And if she died out there—when she died out there—her blood would be on my hands.

Just like her heart already was.