Chapter One

Ruth's POV

"You're nothing but a pathetic omega pretending to be something you're not."

The words hit me like physical blows as I stood in the center of the pack hall, my hands trembling at my sides. Langmore towered over me, his dark eyes cold as winter ice. The entire Bloodmoon Pack watched in silence as their Alpha tore me apart with words sharper than claws.

Three years. Three years I'd been his Luna, and now he was throwing me away like garbage.

"I gave you everything," I whispered, my voice barely audible over the pounding of my heart. "I loved you with everything I had."

Langmore's lip curled in disgust. "Your love means nothing when you can't give me an heir. The pack needs a future, and you..." He gestured at me like I was something dirty. "You're barren. Useless."

Behind him, she stepped forward. Mara. The Beta's daughter, with her perfect blonde hair and her hand resting on her swollen belly. Six months pregnant with my mate's child.

The betrayal burned through me like acid. Every night he'd come home late, every excuse, every lie—it all made sense now. While I was planning pack celebrations and managing territories, he was with her. Creating the family I couldn't give him.

"The elders have already approved it," Langmore continued, his voice carrying across the hall. "Mara will be the new Luna after the pup is born. You have until morning to leave."

My wolf howled in agony inside me. The mate bond, already frayed from his betrayal, felt like it was tearing my soul in half. I wanted to scream, to shift, to make them all pay for this humiliation. But I couldn't. Not here. Not when they were all waiting for me to break.

"You can't do this," I said, lifting my chin despite the tears threatening to fall. "I'm your fated mate. The Moon Goddess chose me for you."

Mara laughed, a tinkling sound that made my skin crawl. "The Moon Goddess made a mistake. Why else would she pair him with someone so... inadequate?"

The pack members started whispering. I could hear every word, every cruel comment about how I'd failed as Luna. How I was never good enough. How Mara would be better.

"Enough," Langmore growled, and the hall fell silent. He turned back to me, and for just a moment, I thought I saw something flicker in his eyes. Regret? Pain? But it was gone before I could be sure. "Ruth, don't make this harder than it needs to be. Accept it and leave with dignity."

Dignity? He wanted me to have dignity after destroying me in front of everyone?

"I dedicated my life to this pack," I said, my voice growing stronger. "I improved our alliances, doubled our territory, made us one of the strongest packs in the region. And this is how you repay me?"

"Those were my achievements," Langmore said coldly. "You were just following orders."

The lie was so obvious that even some pack members shifted uncomfortably. Everyone knew I'd been the one negotiating with other packs, the one who'd solved the border disputes without bloodshed. But no one would speak up. Not against their Alpha.

I looked around the room, searching for a single friendly face. These people I'd protected, helped, considered family—they all looked away. Even Sara, who I'd thought was my friend, stared at the floor.

"Fine," I said, my voice steady despite my breaking heart. "But know this, Langmore. One day you'll realize what you've lost. And when that day comes, it'll be too late."

He stepped closer, so close I could smell his familiar scent of pine and rain. "Leave. Now. Or I'll have you dragged out."

I held his gaze for three heartbeats. Then I turned and walked toward the door, my head held high even as my world crumbled around me.

Just as I reached the entrance, Mara called out, "Oh, Ruth? Leave the Luna ring. It belongs to a real Luna now."

My hand went to the silver ring on my finger, the one Langmore had placed there on our mating ceremony. The one that marked me as Luna of the Bloodmoon Pack. With shaking fingers, I pulled it off and let it fall to the floor with a metallic clink.

"You know what's funny?" I said, not turning around. "You all think you know who I am. You think I'm just some weak omega who got lucky. But you have no idea." I paused at the door. "My name isn't Ruth Carson. It's Ruth Nightshade."

The room went deadly quiet. The Nightshade name was legendary—the royal bloodline of the Silver Crown Pack, the most powerful pack in the continent. The Alpha King's family.

"You're lying," Mara gasped.

I looked over my shoulder, and for the first time in three years, I let my true aura slip through. Just a tiny bit. Just enough to make every wolf in the room instinctively want to bow. "Believe what you want. But remember this night. Remember that you threw away the Alpha King's daughter for a Beta's pregnant mistress."

Langmore's face had gone pale. "Ruth, wait—"

But I was already gone, disappearing into the night as the first drops of rain began to fall. Behind me, I heard him roar my name, but I didn't stop. I couldn't. If I stopped now, I'd never leave.

My wolf whimpered as the mate bond stretched with distance. The pain was excruciating, like my heart was being ripped from my chest. But I kept walking, even as the rain turned into a downpour, washing away my tears.

I pulled out my phone with trembling fingers and dialed a number I hadn't called in three years.

"Princess?" My brother's voice was cautious, surprised. "Is that really you?"

"Marcus," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I need you to come get me."

"Where are you? What happened?"

"Just... please. I'm at the border of Bloodmoon territory. Bring warriors."

"Ruth, you're scaring me. What—"

"Marcus!" I cut him off. "Just come. Please."

There was a pause, then his voice turned deadly serious. "I'm on my way. Twenty minutes."

As I stood there in the rain, waiting for my brother, I heard it. A howl. Langmore's howl, filled with rage and something else. Something that sounded almost like pain.

Good. Let him hurt. Let him wonder. Let him realize that the woman he'd thrown away might have been more than he ever imagined.

My phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number: "You can't be a Nightshade. I would have known."

Langmore. Already doubting, already questioning. I deleted the message without responding.

Fifteen minutes later, headlights appeared on the road. But it wasn't just one car. It was an entire convoy. Black SUVs with the Silver Crown Pack's emblem.

Marcus stepped out of the lead vehicle, and for the first time in three years, I saw my brother. Tall, powerful, with the same dark hair and blue eyes as me. The moment he saw me—soaked, shaking, broken—his expression turned murderous.

"Who did this to you?" he growled.

"It doesn't matter," I said. "Just take me home."

"Ruth—"

"Please," I begged. "Just take me home."

He pulled me into his arms, and I finally let myself break. As we drove away from Bloodmoon territory, I saw them in the distance. Langmore and his warriors, standing at the border, watching the Silver Crown Pack's convoy disappear into the night.

My phone buzzed again. Another message from Langmore: "Ruth, come back. We need to talk."

I turned off my phone. There was nothing to talk about. He'd made his choice.

But as we crossed into Silver Crown territory and I saw the familiar mountains of my homeland, one thought kept running through my mind: Why did it still hurt so much if I was finally free?