Chapter 4

Ludovica's POV

I stood frozen in the middle of the pack grounds, my whole body shaking as I watched the man I loved banish me from the only home I had ever known.

"By the authority given to me as Alpha of the Red Moon Pack, I hereby banish Ludovica from this pack and strip her of her title as Luna."

Marcello's words hit me like a heavy stone against my chest. For a few seconds, everything around me went completely silent. I could see the pack members moving their mouths, but I could not hear what they were saying. Then the mating bond between Marcello and me suddenly tightened.

The pain was so strong that I almost fell to my knees.

It felt as though someone had reached inside my chest and was tearing a piece of my soul away. I pressed a hand against my heart as tears filled my eyes, struggling to remain standing while the bond between us fought against the rejection.

But as painful as that was, the look in Marcello's eyes hurt even more.

There was no trust left in them.

He did not believe me.

Not even a little.

He had chosen to believe the words of a guard he had tortured instead of believing the woman who had loved him for five years. He had believed a few photographs over everything we had shared. He had forgotten the woman who had cried in his arms when the pack called her barren, the woman who had stood beside him through difficult times, and the woman who was carrying his child at that very moment.

All around me, the pack members began shouting.

"Traitor!"

"Cheating whore!"

"The Barren Luna has finally shown her true colors!"

"Get out! We don't need you here!"

Their voices came from every direction, growing louder until they sounded like angry waves crashing over me. Tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall in front of them. I would not give these people the satisfaction of watching me break.

I lifted my chin and looked at the man standing on the raised platform.

This cold and angry stranger could not be the same Marcello who used to hold me gently in his arms at night and whisper that I was enough for him. He could not be the same man who had promised me that he would always stand beside me, no matter what anyone else said.

Where had that man gone?

"You have one hour to leave the pack," Marcello said, his voice hard enough for everyone to hear.

He did not even look at me when he said those words.

I swallowed the pain in my throat and turned away from him. My legs felt heavy, as though they could barely carry me, but I forced myself to keep walking. The crowd parted just enough for me to pass through, yet the hateful words followed me with every step.

I kept my eyes straight ahead, refusing to look back.

Without thinking, I placed one hand over my stomach.

No one knew about my baby.

No one knew that the Luna they were calling barren was carrying the heir they had wanted for years.

And right then, I was too broken to tell them.

I could not even find the strength to defend myself, let alone explain that I had gone to see Doctor Vittoria that afternoon because I had discovered I was pregnant.

I walked toward my parents, who were standing near the back of the crowd. Maybe they would believe me. Maybe my mother would look at me and remember that I was her daughter before she remembered what the pack was saying.

But the moment I reached them, I knew there was no comfort waiting for me.

My mother's face was tight with shame, and my father's expression was cold. I stopped in front of them, my voice barely more than a whisper.

"Father... Mother..."

"Don't," my father said sharply before I could say anything else. "You have brought nothing but disgrace to this family. We are ashamed of you, and from today, you are no longer our daughter."

His words hurt almost as much as Marcello's.

I stared at him, unable to understand how the father who had once held my hand and told me that he would always protect me could now look at me as if I were a stranger.

My mother looked away. Her lips were pressed tightly together, as though she was fighting back tears, but she did not say a single word to me.

My heart felt as though it were bleeding.

Everything I had ever loved was being taken from me one piece at a time. First, Marcello had taken away my place beside him. Then the pack had taken away my home, and now my own parents had turned their backs on me.

I wanted to scream.

I wanted to tell them they were all wrong.

I wanted to tell them that I was pregnant with Marcello's child and that I had never betrayed him.

But I knew no one would listen.

So I simply nodded once and walked past them.

There was no point begging people who had already decided I was guilty.

I had one hour to leave, and that was all the time I had.

When I reached our room, I stopped outside the door for a moment. I almost wanted to laugh at the thought that I still called it our room. It was no longer mine. Marcello had made that clear.

I pushed the door open, and the familiar scent of him immediately surrounded me.

Pine and rain.

For years, that scent had made me feel safe. It had been the scent I looked for whenever I was afraid, the scent that made me feel as though I had finally found my home.

Now it only made my heart hurt.

I moved quickly because I knew I could not stay there for long. I took a small bag from the closet and packed only the things I truly needed. A few clothes, some money I had managed to save, my mother's old necklace, and the small ultrasound picture Doctor Vittoria had given me.

I held the ultrasound picture in my hands for a moment before carefully folding it and placing it deep inside the bag.

No one could see it.

No one could know about my baby yet.

I had just finished packing when a soft knock came from the door.

I quickly wiped my tears and looked toward it.

"Come in," I said quietly.

The door opened, and Manfredi stepped inside before closing it behind him. He looked tired and sad, and for a moment, simply seeing a familiar face made my chest ache. Manfredi had always been kind to me, even when the rest of the pack treated me badly.

"Ludovica..." he began, but he stopped as if he did not know what to say.

He rubbed the back of his neck before looking at me again.

"I don't know what to believe," he admitted quietly. "The pictures and the guard's confession make everything look bad, but deep down, I still don't believe you did this. You have never been the kind of person who would betray Marcello."

My eyes filled with tears again.

"But I have to stand with my Alpha," he continued. "He's not only my Alpha. He's my best friend."

I nodded slowly because I understood what he meant. Pack loyalty was not something Manfredi could simply throw away because he felt sorry for me. Still, hearing him say that he believed there was more to the story gave me a small amount of comfort.

"I understand, Manfredi," I said softly. "Thank you for coming."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thick envelope and a small silver key. He held them out to me.

"Take these," he said.

I stared at them before slowly taking them from his hand.

"There is some cash inside the envelope. It should be enough to help you get started somewhere safe. The key is for my old cabin near the human town, just outside the neutral territory. No one from the pack goes there anymore, so you should be safe for a while."

I looked at him in surprise.

"Why are you helping me?"

Manfredi's expression softened.

"Because I've seen how much you love him," he said. "And because something about this whole situation doesn't feel right to me. I don't know what is wrong yet, and I can't prove that you're innocent, but I don't think you deserve to be thrown out with nothing."

Tears finally slipped down my cheeks.

"Please, just be careful," he added. "Stay at the cabin until you figure out what you're going to do. Don't trust anyone too easily."

I nodded as I held the envelope and key tightly in my hands.

"Thank you," I whispered.

I stepped forward and hugged him quickly. He seemed surprised for a moment before gently patting my back.

When we pulled apart, he looked toward the clock.

"You have to go now. Your time is almost up."

I nodded and picked up my small bag.

Before leaving, I turned around and looked at the room one last time. I looked at the bed where Marcello and I had shared so many nights, the chair where he used to sit while I talked about my day, and the window where we had once stood together watching the rain.

Those memories felt like they belonged to another life.

I forced myself to turn away and walked out.

The drive away from the pack felt like a nightmare.

I sat behind the wheel of the small car I had been allowed to take, gripping the steering wheel so tightly that my fingers began to hurt. I kept looking into the rear-view mirror, secretly hoping that I would see Marcello running after me.

Maybe he would realize that he had made a mistake.

Maybe he would finally believe me.

Maybe he would stop me, pull me into his arms, and tell me that he was sorry.

But the road behind me remained empty.

No one came.

Not Marcello.

Not my parents.

Not even a single person from the pack.

When I finally crossed the border and left Bluestone Pack territory behind, I could no longer hold my tears back. I pulled the car over to the side of the road and let myself cry.

The sobs came hard and shook my entire body.

I cried for the love I had lost. I cried for the home that had turned its back on me. I cried for the family that had disowned me, and I cried for the future I had dreamed about for so long.

Only a few hours earlier, I had imagined myself telling Marcello that he was going to be a father. I had imagined the happiness on his face, his arms around me, and the two of us raising our child together.

None of that would happen now.

After a long time, I wiped my face and started the car again. The road stretched ahead of me into unfamiliar territory, and I had no idea where I would end up or how I would survive on my own with a baby on the way.

I placed one hand gently over my stomach.

"Baby," I whispered, my voice still rough from crying, "we are going to be okay. Mommy is going to take care of you, I promise. No matter what happens, I will protect you."

For the first time since leaving the pack, I felt a small spark of strength inside me.

I took a deep breath and continued driving.

Behind me, the pack I had once called home became smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared from sight.