Chapter Three

* Regina *

"This is the last time I will see you and your daughter here, Amanda! It's time for you to move out and never come back!”

I jolted upright at the sharp sting of Luna Diana's voice cutting through the stillness of the servant's quarters. Her words weren't spoken, they were thrown, harsh and heavy, echoing off across the thin walls. Around us, other omegas stirred from their rest, whispers rising like ripples in water as they listened in.

My mother stood frozen at the foot of our bed, her hands twisting together as if she could wring courage from them. She look down as her soft voice came out to answer her.

"But, Luna Diana, please. There is nowhere for us to go. We have lived in this pack for generations, ever since the birth of my ancestors. We have always served Alpha Douglas and his family."

Her voice wavered as she spoke, soft but steady, like a fragile thread she hoped would hold. I wanted to step forward, to say something and help her, but my throat was too tight and I am afraid.

Luna Diana's lips curled in disdain, her hands cradling her swollen belly with an air of arrogance. Another heir to the Southern pack is inside her womb.

"No! That's final! You and your daughter should leave this place at once. I am carrying Alpha Douglas's second child, I won't tolerate your shadow hovering over him. I am not blind, Amanda. Do you take me for a fool? I know what is happening between you and him!"

The words struck me like a blow. My chest tightened, and my hands grew cold as I clutched the blanket. Between her accusations and my mother's silence, I felt the walls of this little room close in. If we were cast out, where would we go?

My mother shook her head violently, tears glistening in her eyes. She fell to her knees before the Luna, desperation coating her every word. I wanted to stop her from humiliating herself, but like her I am powerless.

"Luna Diana, please. I beg of you, for my daughter's sake. She has done nothing wrong. She is innocent in all of this. Let us stay here, I promise to keep from seeing you or Alpha Douglas."

"I don't care about your daughter, Amanda!" Diana's snarl reverberated through the chamber, sending shivers down my spine. "Go now, before I lose every ounce of patience and have the both of you dragged out like animals by the warriors!"

A low, menacing growl rumbled behind her, and I dared to glance past her shoulder. Two warrior wolves stood at the doorway, their postures rigid, eyes gleaming with hostility as their fangs bared at us. One cracked his knuckles, eager to obey Luna Diana.

My mother choked on a sob and turned toward me. Her gaze said everything her lips could not, pack your things, quickly. My fingers trembled as I bent to pull the empty luggage from beneath our bed. Each soft scrape of wood and leather against the floor felt like a death sentence.

As I folded our meager clothes, the sound of Luna Diana's impatient stomps echoed above me.

“Both of you," she snapped at the warriors, "make sure these two are gone before Alpha Douglas returns from hunting. I don't want him to lay eyes on them ever again."

"Yes, Luna Diana!" The warriors' voices thundered in unison, sealing our fate.

My vision blurred as tears streamed freely, I don'twant to leave. The small room that had once been our only home, though modest, though filled with long days of labor and quiet nights beside my mother, now felt stripped bare, hostile, unfamiliar. We had no heirlooms, no savings, nothing to prove the years of loyalty my mother had given this pack. Just our clothes. Just we have each other.

And even that, I feared, might not be enough and above all where would we go?

The more I folded, the harder it became to see through the tears clouding my eyes. My hands fumbled clumsily with the fabric, cramming pieces of worn clothing into the bag. Every scrape of leather, every sound of cloth shifting, made the silence heavier. The two warriors loomed near the door, their presence suffocating. Their growls were low but constant, reminders that we were prisoners in what used to be our home.

My mother's sobs caught in her throat, and I saw her wipe furiously at her cheeks as though refusing to let the Luna witness her weakness. She whispered softly, barely loud enough for me to hear, "Stay strong, Regina. Don't let them see you break."

But I was already breaking. My chest burned as though something inside me had cracked wide open. I wanted to scream at them all, at Luna Diana, at the warriors, even at my mother for keeping silent when she should have fought back. But my voice betrayed me, locked inside a throat too tight to speak.

When we finished packing the little we owned, Luna Diana smirked while looking at us, satisfied. "Good. Now get out. The sooner you leave, the better this pack will be."

She turned, her silken gown swishing as she swept out of the room, one hand caressing her swollen belly like a sacred part of her.

The warriors didn't give us time to linger. One barked, "Move! And out you both go!"

Their tone was sharp, clipped, without mercy. My mother grasped my hand firmly, squeezing until her knuckles turned white. Together, we carried our bags through the dimly lit servant quarters. The air was heavy, thick with the whispers of other omegas peeking from behind cracked doors. I could feel their eyes on us, filled with pity, curiosity, and fear. No one dared to step forward. No one dared to help us. Everyone was afraid to be on the same situation as the two of us.

We stumbled into the courtyard where the moonlight spilled over the Southern Pack's grand walls. My legs ached, but I forced myself to keep up with my mother's stride. At the gates, the warriors pushed us along with little patience.

"Faster," one of them growled. "Get out of here now!"

We reached the towering iron gates that had always made me feel safe within their shadow. Tonight, they felt like prison bars opening to exile. My mother stopped just a step short, turning back to look at the pack that had been her whole life. The place where she had worked herself to the bone. The place she had given loyalty, only to be discarded like dirt.

"Please," she whispered one last time, voice breaking. But there was no one to hear her plea.

The gates creaked open. The sound was final, brutal. The warriors shoved us past the threshold without hesitation. One spat on the ground behind us before the iron slammed shut again.

The echo reverberated in my chest. I turned to face the closed gates, pressing my forehead against the cold metal bars, my tears dripping onto the earth. "Mama, where do we go now?"

My mother wrapped her arm around me, pulling me close. I felt her body shaking, but her voice carried the strength she didn't feel. "Anywhere, Regina. Anywhere but here. As long as we're together, we will survive."

But even in her embrace, I knew the world beyond those gates would not be kind. The night stretched wide and empty before us, filled with shadows and unknown dangers. With our bags dragging heavily at our sides, we stepped into the darkness, unwanted, abandoned, but still clinging to each other. I have no idea where the road will take us, but I have my mother beside me. We have each other to hang on to.