1. The Aftermath.

I woke up to the breathing of someone beside me and for a few seconds, I didn’t move, I was caught somewhere between sleep and consciousness.

The awareness hit me almost immediately as my eyes snapped open.

My eyes caught the sunlight spilled through the curtains. The blanket tangled around my waist wasn't mine neither was the dark gray sheet beneath me or the arm draped across my stomach.

My pulse stopped as I slowly, almost mechanically, turned my head.

Remus Lyall was asleep beside me and for one impossible second, my brain refused to process if it was him.

Remus.

Alpha of the Lyall Pack, the man everyone already called Selene’s future mate.

My sister’s future Alpha, the one my father welcomed into our home with pride, the man my mother treated like he was already family.

The man who sat beside Selene at every pack gathering while I remained quietly at the corner, unnoticed because that was how it had always been.

Selene was the daughter everyone saw, the daughter, my mother loved and the one my father introduced proudly.

And me?

I was the beta’s youngest daughter in name but the servant’s daughter in everyone’a mind.

My fingers tightened around the blanket.

But last night, everything had changed.

The memories came back in pieces.

The full moon, my first transformation, the forest, moonlight caught in silver leaves. A voice calling my name, the overwhelming pull that had felt less like a choice and more like gravity.

My stomach twisted.

Every wolf knew about fated mates, people described it like the universe choosing you but nobody ever warned me that fate could choose the one person you could never have.

My mate.

The word should have made me happy but instead, it terrified me because even if the moon had chosen me…

Remus had chosen Selene.

I looked at him sleeping beside me and for one selfish moment, I allowed myself to hope.

Maybe he felt it too and he would wake up and look at me differently and choose me as his Luna but the thought barely existed before his eyes opened.

Remus was awake instantly, his expression becoming alert the moment he saw me, for a second, I forgot how to breathe.

I was waiting and hoping for whatever he was thinking, surely he would say it

But his face gave me nothing, his gaze moved around the room; to the scattered clothes, the torn sheets. To the evidence of what happened, then he looked away and he reached for his clothes.

“Are you awake?”

That's all he said.

My fingers tightened around the blanket.

"Yeah." My voice sounded strange like it belonged to someone else.

Remus pulled the shirt over his head. There was no hesitation or  awkwardness or any sign that his entire life had just changed.

The hope inside me flickered.

"Last night..." I started.

The words immediately felt stupid. What exactly was I expecting him to say?

That he had felt it too?

That he'd spent years secretly loving me? That fate had solved everything?

Remus fastened the first button of his shirt then the second down to the third, each one felt oddly important like watching a door close.

"It was the full moon." I blinked.

I stared at him.

“That’s all?”

His jaw tightened.

“The full moon affects instincts. You were going through your first transformation.”

“But the bond…”

His eyes met mine only for a second and that was enough.

He knew and felt it but he didn’t care.

“The bond doesn’t change everything, Aria.”

My throat tightened.

I hated how he said my name like it was something he was forcing himself to remember.

“I’m with Selene.”

The room became painfully quiet, I looked down at my hands.

The same hands my mother never held.

The same hands my father never reached for unless he needed something.

I had spent eighteen years convincing myself that one day things would change, that maybe my father would finally look at me and see his daughter, that maybe someone would choose me but apparently, even fate could make a mistake.

“So you’re still marrying her?”

There was another silence but it was longer this time.

Remus didn't answer.

He didn't need to, the answer was already in his expression, the mate bond inside me felt suddenly raw like touching a bruise.

But I laughed, the sound surprised both of us not because anything was funny but because if I didn't laugh, I might actually cry.

"Right."

Remus's brows pulled together slightly, the way people react when they've expected a scene and don't get one.

I looked away. “I understand."

The lie tasted awful, but before he could answer, the bedroom door flew open, the impact slammed against the wall.

“Aria…”

Her voice broke behind her stood my mother. Vivian Hart, her expression changed the moment she saw me.

“What have you done?”

The slap came before I could answer.

My head snapped sideways.

A sharp burst of pain bloomed across my cheek and for a moment all I could hear was ringing.

“You shameless girl.”

My mother’s voice shook. “How dare you?”

I touched my cheek. “Mother…”

“Don’t call me that.”

The words hurt more than the slap because she meant them.

“I should have known,” she continued. “A girl like you would never understand your place.”

My eyes burned.

“I didn’t do anything.”

Selene cried harder.

“I trusted you.”

“Selene, I swear…”

“Enough.”

Remus’s voice cut through the room and everyone stopped. I looked at him and finally he would defend me but his expression was cold.

“What happened last night was an accident.”

My heart lifted slightly until he continued.

“It will not affect my engagement to Selene.”

The hope died instantly, the door opened again and my father stood there.

Elias Hart, the man whose approval I spent my whole life chasing.

He looked at me and all I saw was disappointment.

“If that is the case,” he said calmly, “then she will leave.”

My blood ran cold.

“Father…”

He ignored me. “Pack your things.”

I stared at him.

“What?”

“You heard me.”His eyes hardened.

Finally, he looked at me. The disappointment in his eyes felt unfamiliar. I would have preferred anger.

“And since you have embarrassed this family, I’ll have your rank revoked.”

Your beta status revoked, and for a second, I forgot about Remus, about Selene and about the humiliation.

Beta to Omega, the difference between those two ranks was the difference between being protected and being ignored.

My father wasn’t just sending me away, he was stripping away the last piece of my identity.

My breath stopped.

“No.”

“You will leave this house before sunset.”

The room went silent as my father continued before I could speak.

“From this day forward, you are no longer a member of this family.”

My chest tightened.

“No…”

“You have disgraced this family enough.”

His voice was cold and detached.

“As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a younger daughter.”

The words struck harder than any slap.

“Father, please…”

I hated how desperate I sounded.

“I didn’t plan this.”

“You should have thought about that before climbing into another woman’s bed.”

My face went white.

“Father, that’s not what happened.”

“I don’t care what happened. You will leave this house before sunset.”

His gaze hardened.

“And if you have any dignity left, you’ll never come back.”

My eyes found Remus, the last person I hoped would stand beside me.

He looked away and that was when I understood the moon Moon Goddess had given me a bond but she hadn’t given me a place to belong.

I was completely alone.