CHAPTER 5

Elara's POV

I couldn’t breathe.

The air in the clearing felt like liquid lead, heavy, toxic, filling my lungs until I was certain I would suffocate. 

The pack’s laughter echoed in my ears, a cruel, rhythmic chant that pulsed with every beat of my shattering heart.

I stared at the mud streaking the hem of my dress. 

The deep green fabric was ruined now. Just like me.

I can’t stay here.

The thought took root, cold and sharp. I have to go. Anywhere but here.

Hot tears blurred my vision as I scrambled to my feet and turned toward the treeline.

A hand clamped onto my shoulder and spun me around.

For one foolish heartbeat, I hoped it was Orest, my eldest brother, come to pull me away.

Instead, I faced Kaelith.

Her face shimmered in the moonlight, beautiful and serene. 

To anyone watching, she might have looked almost kind. But I saw the truth in her eyes, the sleek, predatory satisfaction of a wolf who’d won a hunt without ever lifting a claw.

“Oh, Elara,” she cooed, her voice pitched just loud enough for nearby warriors to hear.

She reached up as if to fix a loose strand of hair, her fingers pinching my skin hard enough to sting.

“Don’t look so devastated. It was bound to happen, wasn’t it? Everything that should be yours…” Her lips curved. “It always finds its way to me. First, the title. Then our parents’ love. And now—”

She leaned closer, her breath warm and poisonous against my ear.

“Even your fated mate would rather have me. They always do. The Alpha they chose… over the daughter they were stuck with.”

I tore myself away, my heart screaming.

I turned to my father, my last, desperate reach for dignity.

“Father,” I choked, my voice breaking. “Please. I haven’t… I haven’t accepted the rejection. Don’t let them do this.”

Alpha Vance didn’t move.

He looked at the High Alpha. 

Then down at me. 

Whatever duty he’d once felt burned away, leaving only stone.

“I can’t deny the truth, Elara,” he said, his voice carrying across the clearing. “If the High Heir deems you unworthy, then you are unworthy.”

My stomach dropped.

“Since you are too weak to speak for yourself,” he continued, his Alpha aura crushing what little spirit I had left, “I will do it.”

He straightened.

“As Alpha of the Silver Ridge branch, I accept this rejection on behalf of my daughter. The bond is severed. She is returned to her rank.”

Reduced.

In one sentence, I was no longer a girl who might have been High Luna.

I was the glitch again.

The servant.

The mistake.

Kaelith stepped aside with a graceful flourish, an invitation.

“Back to the kitchens, Omega!” Sarah screamed.

Dirt struck my face.

“Maybe the rogues will want you!” someone else jeered.

The shove from behind sent me sprawling. 

Then came the kicks. 

The fists.

Hands in my hair. 

Spit on my skin.

I didn’t fight back.

There was nothing left to fight for.

When space finally opened, I ran.

I didn’t think. I didn’t look back.

I ignored the tearing pain in my chest, the blood on my lip, the way my legs screamed in protest. 

I sprinted into the forest, the laughter of my family fading behind me until even the Blood Moon vanished beneath the canopy.

I didn’t know where I was going.

I didn’t care.

There was no reason to stay in a place where I was less than a shadow.

No one wanted me.

My father had traded my soul for power. 

My mate had looked at me like a disease.

I was an Omega who couldn’t shift. A daughter who wasn’t loved. A mate was rejected before the bond had even settled.

I ran until silence swallowed me whole.

Eventually, the adrenaline drained away, leaving a bone-deep exhaustion. 

My legs finally gave out, and I skidded to a halt, gasping.

I didn’t recognize a single tree.

The air here was different, colder, sharper, thick with decay.

Then I saw it.

A massive cliff loomed ahead, jutting out over a swirling black abyss. Hundreds of feet down, jagged rocks waited beside the distant roar of a river.

Perfect.

A clean ending.

No more scrubbing floors. No more whips. No more looking into my father’s eyes and seeing my worthlessness reflected.

I walked to the edge.

My heart slowed, each beat heavy and final.

I closed my eyes and leaned forward.

Snap.

A low growl vibrated through the air.

Something massive lunged from the shadows.

I barely had time to gasp before a wolf slammed into me, claws ripping through fabric and flesh as pain exploded across my shoulder.

“Arrghhh!!” 

I screamed.

The force sent me tumbling sideways, away from the cliff. I hit the ground hard, the impact jolting my spine.

I scrambled back, clutching my bleeding shoulder.

Three wolves stood before me.

Their fur was matted with filth. Their eyes burned with a feral yellow hunger.

Rogues.

The scarred gray one in the center stepped forward, saliva dripping as a low rumble vibrated from its chest.

I stared up at them, breath hitching.

Minutes ago, I had been ready to die.

But looking into their empty, cruel eyes, something old stirred deep inside me, dark and defiant.

I wanted death, yes.

But not like this.

I would not end as prey.

Fear locked my limbs in place, but as the lead rogue crouched to spring, a strange heat bloomed at the base of my neck.

Simmering.

Awakening.