Serena’s POV
Michael commands as he walks up to me and holds up my chin so I am looking directly at him.
What I see in his eyes lets me know it is time to give up. I was holding up hope that maybe something, anything would make him change his mind but I was wrong. There’s nothing but rage and anger and disgust. It’s much more than my inability to shift. It’s something else and what hurts most is that I don’t know what it is.
As I say the words, absolute glee appears on his face as he realizes that he has broken me just cements what I saw. I am nothing to him. It’s over, finished.
“I, Serena Infirma,” I choke on my surname because even that portrays who I am. Weak, useless, pathetic. That’s the name they gave me when they found me abandoned as a baby at the pack border. I was so weak that they thought I wouldn’t survive my first year.
Weakness is a taboo amongst wolves. You cannot show yourself as anything but strong, competent, useful. Anything other than that gives others the room to dominate you. That’s the reason I have always been treated like a joke all my life.
Michael shifts his hand from my chin and goes to pull on my hair as I cry out in pain again.
“Be quick about it. Don’t waste my time.”
I, I Serena Infirma accept your rejection as your mate and r-renounce my position as the Luna of the Black Moon Pack. There, I said it, now please let me go.” I whimper out.
He yanks on my head harder. “Hold on, I’m not finished with you yet.”
“What more do you want?” I whisper brokenly as tears well up in my eyes from the pain.
At that moment, he orders the pack seer to come forward and she performs the rites to unbind us as mates and she declares . “You are no longer mates in the eyes of the moon goddess. Nothing binds you. This shall be a sign that you are cast out, unwanted.”
She takes out a blazing poker with the words ‘outcast’ inscribed on it and hands it over to Michael who instructs makes the wolves holding me hold out my wrist. He grins maniacally slow as realization dawns on me. No, he couldn’t, he wouldn’t.
“W-what are you doing? Please don’t. You don’t have to do this.” I turn to Dom. “ You can’t let him do this. Please help me!”
Dom goes to stand in front of me, shielding me from Michael’s view. “Alpha, is this really necessary? You already-“
Michael growls low, his wolf taking over. “Shut up and get out of my way. Or are you questioning your Alpha? You will hold out her hand and that’s an order.” He commands with his Alpha tone.
Dom tries to fight the command but can’t. He manages to grit out before going to take my hand from the wolves holding me down. “You’re making a mistake Alpha.”
Michael just narrows his eyes and repeats the order. “Hold. Out. Her. Arm. Now.”
As Michael comes closer with the blazing brand in his hands, I begin to struggle, trying to get away from the grip.
“Shhhh! Don’t move. It’ll be over soon. I’m so sorry Siri.” He whispers my childhood nickname with regret in his eyes, breaking my heart in two.
As Michael places the hot brand on my flesh, his eyes light up with delight as my howl of agony rings out in the dark, the sound causing birds around to take flight.
After he is done he puts the brand away and his next words are the nail in the coffin that finally wreck me completely.
“I, Alpha Michael reject you and banish you from the Black Moon Pack. Leave and never come back.”
“Alpha, don’t.” Beta Dom tries to stop him but the words have already been said. It wasn’t enough that he rejected me as his mate, he had to banish me from the pack with no means of protection in this sorry state. What kind of sick bastard does this?
Michael instructs the guards to drag me to the outskirts of the pack boundary and when I am tossed out, left to die, an injured, wounded Omega without the protection of a pack’s boundary and I lie on there on the forest floor beaten, broken and utterly destroyed until I finally surrender to the cold embrace of darkness.
Serena's POVTerror overtakes me at the sight in front of me. There is a tremor in my voice. “How are you still alive?” The guard that was lying in a pool of his own blood just moments ago is now standing in front of me. The wound on his neck has stopped oozing blood-thank the goddess- but his complexion still has a deathly parlor. “Luna,” He bows low in deference to me but his voice is tight with pain. “You were dead. I saw you lying down on the ground just now. How are you-”Nicholae places a gentle hand on my shoulder. “It would take much more than a vampire bite to kill our wolves, Mea Lunaria, they are the best.” Warmth blooms in my chest at the mention that they are ‘our’ wolves. Like it is a matter that is automatic. “The poison in the vampire’s fangs just slowed his healing down. That's why he bled out so quickly.”“I apologize for upsetting you, Luna but the situation is dire. The vampires have invaded the pack.” “Status report!” He orders, his tone shifting from the g
Serena's POV I blink up at him, confused. “W-what do you mean we?” “I meant exactly what I said, little one.” Orion replies with a toothy grin. “Although Nicholae is yelling at me for even suggesting such an idea, you're going to get your revenge on them for what they did to you.” Is Orion crazy? He must be crazy. Just seconds ago I was a shivering wreck because the vampires invaded the back-i still am, mind you- and now he wants me, me to somehow get me revenge?My brain is screaming at me to run in the opposite direction and never look back. I have to say, I'm inclined to agree. Panic takes over me that moment. Sweat breaks out on my skin, the air suddenly ceases to flow and I can't breathe. I can't breathe. “It's alright little one, I won't let them hurt you.” Orion rumbles but his voice is tight. I can tell he is trying to fight for control. He places his clawed hand on my back but that just makes me panic even more. “I want Nicholae.” I whimper. Strong arms wrap around me
Serena's POV:“T-the v-vampires are here.” The stuttering voice belts out before I hear the thud of a body hitting the floor.Blood flows from the body in a crimson stream swiftly towards the bed, I just stay there, wide eyed, until it gets to the foot of the bed. It feels like a terrible foreshadowing of what is going to happen to me, like a message of the inevitability of my destruction, straight from the Moon Goddess. For a second, I just sit on the bed, frozen, unmoving, the sound of screaming ringing in my ears, every other sound is muffled. It takes me a while to realize that the screaming is coming from me.“-ena, -rena, Serena!” Nicholae calls out, shaking my shoulders. I don't move, the panic overtaking me so much that I can't react. “Damnit, Serena, snap out of it.” He shakes me even harder. Then it all comes rushing in-the panic, the fear. The fact that they were able to invade the pack of the Rogue King and kill one of the warriors shows that they are not ordinary vampi
During Nicholae’s Raid……….. “She’s gone.” Raven blurts. I slowly turn, still with the bastard’s throat in my grip. “What did you say?” I whisper. My voice is unusually calm. The only indication of my rage is the hand squeezing so tightly on Michael's throat that he has lost consciousness. I drop the pathetic pile of useless meat on the ground. He doesn't get to die yet. My attention centers back on the scout who came to give me the news. “You were saying?” I arch an eyebrow upwards. Raven shifts her weight from one foot to the other, stammering and stumbling over his words. “T-the Luna, My King. S-she's missing. My expression is devoid of any expression, my voice still in that dangerously low whisper that causes my soliders to stop and stare. They know this is the calm before the storm. Orion is snarling within me, fighting to get out, my control is fraying but I hold on to it through sheer force of will. “Explain.” The word comes out as a forced growl. “When someone we
One week before Serena's Capture……Nicholae's POV As an Alpha, I pride myself on being in control at all times. It's simply in my nature. But then, everything concerning my Mea Lunaria has never involved control. All those centuries ago, she was a wild thing, testing my patience with defiant acts that would have gotten anyone else killed on the spot. This version of her however, is a mystery to me but she doesn't make me act any less crazy. Moreso, it feels like my feelings for her have grown, have become much more intense and volatile than what I ever felt. Could it be that I want to protect her more because she is an Omega? Or because of the terrible things she suffered? When I first brought her to the pack, I was mad with anger and anxious with worry. She was so frail, her body broken and bruised all over. I am seated on a tree trunk at the training grounds. My warriors give me a wide berth for fear that I would beat then up as I have been doing these past few weeks. Feelin
Daphne's POV "Serena!" He roars. I am shocked. This is the first time he has called me by my name. This can't be real. I put my head back down. Did I want to be rescued so much that I imagined him? Am I imagining things? He lets out a strangled sound deep in his throat that causes me to lift my head up again. He is chest is rising and falling rapidly. “Where are you?!” He roars. His eyes dart around the room until they land on me. He lets out another strangled, tortured sound, taking in the bruises on my body and my twisted ankle. I can't tell whether he is the one in control or Orion. The torch he is holding in his hands lights up the room, putting his face in harsh lines as the shadows dance across them. “What have they done?” He whispers. Something untamed passes through his eyes. His face is set in a harsh line With the torch still in hand, he picks me up with one hand and cradles me too his chest, holding me tightly like I could disappear at any moment. In that moment,