3

My heart plummeted.

To be "stripped of the pack's blessing" meant complete exile. It meant I would lose everything—my home, my friends, my identity.

Carlo’s gaze flickered between me and Olivia.

"Don't you think that's what should happen, Carlo?" Olivia asked sweetly, her fingers suggestively stroking his arm.

Carlo's expression turned cold as he faced me. "Rosa, you've given up your right to be Luna. According to ancient tradition..."

"If that is the Alpha's will," I said, forcing myself to sound calm, fighting back the pain in my heart.

"Then, before sunset tomorrow, you will be formally stripped of your pack mark," Carlo announced. "Prepare what you have to say, Rosa. This is your last chance."

After being kicked out of the healer's cave, I figured there wasn't much difference between that and being exiled anyway.

This pack, the one I’d dedicated my life to, had no place for me…

The next morning, I walked slowly towards the Moonstone in the center of the square.

The pack elders stood in a circle. Carlo and Olivia were at the forefront, her hand gripping his arm tightly, a triumphant smirk on her face.

"Let's begin," Elder Torvin sighed.

"Rosa," Carlo's voice echoed across the clearing. "According to ancient tradition, as you have renounced your claim to be my Luna, and have surrendered your duties as the pack's Healer and Ritual Guardian, do you consent to the judgment of being 'stripped of the pack's blessing'?"

I looked straight ahead. "I accept. But I have a few things to say first."

Olivia huffed in annoyance, but Carlo nodded his approval.

"Brothers and sisters of the Shadowmoon pack," I said, turning to the watching pack members. "I'm here to lay out what I've given, not to beg for pity, but for the truth."

I pointed towards the southern forest. "The year the Red Plague struck the young pups, it was my knowledge of Silverleaf that saved them, not standard pack healing."

My friend, Vara, called out from the crowd, "Yes! Rosa saved my two pups!"

"When the Frostfang pack encroached on our southern hunting grounds, it was my ambush strategy that drove them back into Shadowmoon territory with minimal losses," I said, looking at several warriors who lowered their heads in acknowledgment.

"For five straight winters, when prey was scarce, I personally led foraging parties to find Sunpetal herb to keep our elders alive."

Old Edwyn, a senior wolf, stood up, trembling. "That's right. Us old bones are still here thanks to Rosa's herbs."

I took a deep breath, my voice firm. "My life and soul have nourished this pack for what feels like an eternity. The pack owes me nothing; I no longer owe it anything. We're even."

Silence fell over the clearing. Even Olivia had wiped the smug look off her face for a moment.

"Are you finished?" Carlo asked coldly, but I could see a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.

"Almost," I said, turning to him. "Begin the severing ritual, Alpha."

Carlo stepped forward, Olivia close behind him.

"According to tradition," she said, her voice syrupy sweet, "you must remove all items gifted to you by the pack."

I nodded, slowly unfastening the leather bracer Carlo had given me when we were young. He’d made it himself after his first successful hunt. I placed it on the Moonstone.

Next was the carved hunting knife at my chest, a gift from old Ronin, a warrior, after I’d successfully healed his fatal wound. The blade gleamed in the moonlight. I touched it one last time and placed it on the stone too.

Olivia’s eyes greedily watched the fine knife.

One by one, I removed all the items that signified pack acceptance—my torc, armbands, and belt. Finally, only a simple linen tunic and trousers remained.

The wind in the clearing was biting, but I stood straight, my gaze calm.

"That's not enough," Olivia suddenly said. "There's one last step—severing the birth bond."

Uneasy murmurs rippled through the crowd. Severing the birth bond was the most brutal ritual, usually reserved for the worst traitors. It would cut a wolf’s spiritual connection to their birth pack, causing immense pain.

"Olivia," Torvin warned, "this is too much."

"No, it's tradition," she insisted, turning to Carlo. "Isn't it, darling?"

A flicker of hesitation crossed Carlo’s face, but he eventually nodded. "If she is to be fully stripped, the entire ritual must be performed."

He walked towards me and held out his hand.

"Kneel," he commanded.

I looked into his eyes, saw the ice there, and a tiny sliver of pain he himself barely seemed to notice. I slowly knelt before the Moonstone.

Carlo placed his hand on my head and began to chant the ancient words. Each one burned into my soul like a brand. I felt a tearing pain spread from my heart throughout my body, as if someone was skinning me alive.

I clenched my jaw, refusing to make a sound.

"I, Alpha Carlo, in the name of the Shadowmoon pack, sever all your ties to this land and this pack. You are no longer one of us, no longer under our protection, no longer share our hunts. You are an outcast, a nameless one."

As the last word fell, I felt an invisible force yanked from my body. The pain was so intense I nearly blacked out, but I bit my tongue, fighting pain with pain.

"Rise, and leave this land," Carlo commanded.

I stood, trembling, and looked around. My former packmates avoided my gaze.

I fought back tears and declared calmly.

“From this day forward, everything about the Shadowmoon pack has nothing to do with me.”