Chapter 1: Rejected and banished

Evania's POV

  I walked through the crowd gracefully, my heart was soaring, every step a burst of joy, as I moved closer to Caleb. 

  The moment I had dreamed of for so long was finally here. The night I would stand by his side, become the Luna of Midnight Ridge, and be officially bound to him, my mate. 

  The cheers of the pack surrounded us, resounding in the air, but nothing could drown out the beat of my heart. I could feel it, thundering in my chest, rushing in my veins. I won, won the game Madison was trying to play. Now she will always be the other woman, a substitute! 

  Caleb reached out for me, his face filled with love and tenderness and I felt a rush of warmth surged through me as I stepped toward him, my eyes never leaving his. This was it. The moment we had waited for. He was mine, and I was his. 

  “Evania,” Caleb called my name, his voice soft and full of affection, just like it always was when he spoke to me. I moved toward him eagerly, feeling weightless, like I could float right into his arms. 

  But then, everything changed. 

  Caleb’s eyes, once warm, turned cold—icy, empty, and then he dusted my hand off his as though I was nothing.

  His hand fell from the air, his posture stiffening, and a chill raced through me, piercing through the warmth that had once surrounded us. 

  “Evania Grace Calloway,” Caleb’s voice rang out, loud and sharp, cutting through the buzz of excitement. It didn’t sound like the man I knew. His words were filled with too much sternness that made my blood run cold. 

  “I, Caleb Knight, Alpha of the Midnight Ridge pack,” he continued, his voice stronger, colder, “reject you.” “You're a human and a weakling, you are not worthy to be my mate.”

  The world around me froze. The murmurs now evading among the pack members all faded into a distant hum, like a muffled noise in the background. My heart didn’t just drop—it shattered, splintering into jagged pieces. 

  His words knocked the air from my lungs.

  “I know who the Luna of the Midnight Ridge pack is” He added.

  My world crumbled.

  The woman I had called my cousin—the woman I had trusted, the one I had shared everything with—was the one Caleb had chosen.

  Even when I saw them together just hours ago in bed; when I caught Caleb in the act with Madison, my own cousin, and I had chosen to forgive him. I had chosen to give him a second chance, to think that maybe I had misjudged him, that maybe I was overreacting. 

  But now... now, standing here in front of everyone, I realized just how wrong I had been. 

  I had believed in him. I had believed that he loved me. But Caleb didn’t just reject me—he humiliated me. He had shown me how little I truly meant to him.

  And Madison? She didn't look like anyone remorseful; she always resented me, claiming I snatched her mother's love from her, but why take up my only hope? I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. 

  Caleb... Caleb, my mate, the man I trusted, the one I loved... he…he just rejected me. 

  I opened my mouth, but no words came. I couldn’t speak. The only thing I could do was stand there, frozen, trying to comprehend what was happening. 

  “Madison Bridget, kindly come up here”, Caleb ordered, and I felt everything come to a standstill. 

  I slowly turned backwards and my heart broke even further as I saw Madison as she walked toward Caleb, her steps slow and deliberate, a look of smug satisfaction written across her face.

  My vision blurred as she placed her hand in his, and without a second of hesitation, Caleb kissed her hand in front of the whole pack. 

  “I, Caleb Knight, Alpha of the Midnight Ridge pack, accept Madison Bridget as my mate.” He declared her as his true mate. “She'll now be Luna.”

  She had a smug expression that only deepened the wound. She didn’t even try to hide her satisfaction, her eyes gleaming with triumph as she stood there, basking in the attention. She was Luna now. She was Caleb’s chosen one, and I was nothing.

  “Madison,” Caleb spoke, his voice calm, as though he were handing out an order. “As Luna, you should make your first command.”

  Madison’s smile widened, and she turned to face the crowd, her gaze sweeping over them as she lifted her chin in a gesture of authority. 

  She was relishing the moment, and I could see the cruelty in her eyes. She didn’t care that she was tearing me apart—no, she was enjoying it.

  “I banish Evania Grace Calloway from Midnight Ridge,” Madison said, her voice loud and cutting, every word laced with venom. “She is no longer welcome here. We cannot have a human in our midst.”

  I stood rooted to the spot, the shock paralyzing me. My body trembled as tears began to roll down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe what was happening. It felt like a nightmare, a cruel, twisted nightmare. 

  The humiliation of being discarded so carelessly, the way Madison declared my banishment as though I were nothing more than an inconvenience, was suffocating. 

  The pack was silent, their eyes on me, but no one spoke. Caleb didn’t speak either. He stood there, his face cold and emotionless, as though he had never known me at all. 

  Just when I thought I couldn’t bear it anymore, a voice rang out.

  “You can’t do this!” a yell came from the crowd, her voice sharp and desperate. “She’s your cousin! You can’t just banish her!”

  I blinked, my eyes frantic as I turned toward the voice. It was my aunt—Madison's mother—standing up for me, for her niece. 

  But Madison didn’t even acknowledge her. She turned her back on her mother without a second glance, ignoring her entirely. 

  And then, Caleb, without even a hint of remorse, spoke.

  “It is done,” Caleb confirmed, his tone unyielding. “Evania is banished from Midnight Ridge. This is final.”