Chapter 2

Chapter 2

My apartment felt more like a cage than a home. I walked back and forth across my living room, what felt like the hundredth time that hour, my wolf practically bursting beneath my skin, aching to break free and run. But pack protocol was clear – we had to wait for the Alpha's summons. Had to let Tom humiliate me properly in front of everyone.

My phone buzzed again. Another message from Maria: “Are you okay?”

No. I wasn't okay. I'd never be okay again.

The mate bond throbbed like an open wound in my chest. Each pulse reminded me of what I'd seen: Tom and Lily, tangled together, six months of lies exposed in one brutal moment.

I grabbed my phone, pulling up my photos. There we were – Tom, Lily, and me at the last pack gathering. Tom's arm around my waist, Lily smiling beside us. Both of them were probably laughing at how stupid I was.

“Delete.”

Tom and me at our mate ceremony.

“Delete.”

Lily and me as kids, training to be warriors together.

“Delete.”

My finger hovered over the last photo – my Beta ceremony. I'd been so proud that day, becoming the youngest female Beta in pack history. Now I wondered if Tom had already been sleeping with Lily then.

A howl cut through the evening air – Alpha Jensen calling the pack to gather. My phone exploded with messages.

“Is it true?”

“Did Tom really…?”

“OMG Sophie check your messages!”

“The Alpha's calling everyone!”

I ignored them all, squaring my shoulders. Time to face my execution.

The walk to the meeting grounds felt like a death march. Pack members streamed past me, carefully avoiding eye contact. Mothers pulled their pups closer, like rejection was contagious. Yesterday they bowed their heads respectfully to their Beta. Today I was already nothing.

The traditional circle formed quickly, but gaps appeared around me. No one wanted to stand too close to the rejected mate. I caught whispers floating through the crowd:

“She should have known…”

“Too focused on her career…”

“No male wants a mate stronger than him…”

“Lily will make a better Beta female…”

My wolf snarled, wanting to challenge every one of them. I forced her down. Breaking down in front of the pack wouldn't help anything.

Alpha Jensen stood on the ceremonial rock, his expression grave. The Alpha was old-school, big on tradition and proper pack dynamics. He'd never approved of a female Beta.

The crowd parted as Tom and Lily approached. They walked together, Tom's hand possessively on Lily's lower back. Their scents were mingled – they hadn't even bothered to shower after I caught them.

“Members of the Silver Moon Pack,” Alpha Jensen's voice carried across the grounds. “We gather tonight for a serious matter.”

My legs trembled. The mate bond twisted painfully, knowing what was coming.

“Beta Thomas Bennett has called for a formal rejection of his mate bond.”

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Mate rejections were rare – practically taboo. The Moon Goddess herself blessed mate bonds. Rejecting one was like spitting in her face.

Tom stepped forward, every inch the powerful Beta. He didn't look at me as he spoke the ritual words:

“I, Thomas Bennett, reject Sophie Turner as my mate.”

The bond shattered.

Pain exploded through my chest like someone had ripped out my heart with bare hands. My knees buckled and I hit the ground hard. Someone screamed – maybe me, maybe my wolf, maybe both.

Through the haze of agony, I heard Tom continue: “I choose Lily Adams as my true mate.”

The pack's shock was palpable. Choosing a new mate minutes after rejection? Even Alpha Jensen looked uncomfortable.

“The Moon Goddess blessed your bond with Sophie,” one of the pack elders spoke up. “To reject it is—”

“The Goddess's will is mysterious,” Tom cut in smoothly. “Perhaps she showed me Sophie first so I would recognize my true mate when I found her.”

I wanted to vomit. How many times had he fed me those same sweet lines?

Lily stepped forward, radiant in a white dress. I suddenly remembered helping her pick out last week. Had she bought it for this moment?

“I accept Thomas Bennett as my mate,” she said clearly. “And I accept the position of Luna of the Silver Moon Pack.”

Luna. Of course. Tom hadn't just wanted to humiliate me – he'd wanted to replace me entirely.

The pack's hierarchy shifted instantly. I felt my Beta power strip away, leaving me raw and exposed. Pack members began turning their backs – the traditional gesture of rejection.

I saw Maria try to push through the crowd toward me, but Alpha Jensen waved her back. No one was allowed to help the rejected. It was pack law.

The whispers grew louder, bolder:

“Too strong for her own good…”

“Should have focused more on being a proper Luna…”

“Always knew she wasn't right for him…”

“Trying to work in the human world like some lone wolf…”

My warrior training crumbled. All those years learning to be strong, to never show weakness, and here I was – broken on the ground while my ex-mate and former best friend completed their bond in front of everyone.

I ran.

No strategic retreat this time. No dignity. Just blind panic and pain as I fled the pack grounds.

Trees blurred past as I ran faster than I ever had before. My wolf pushed me on, away from the pain, away from the betrayal, away from everything I'd ever known.

The city lights beckoned in the distance – anonymous, safe, human. A place where pack politics couldn't touch me.

My phone buzzed one last time. A message from Lily:

“Don't worry about packing your things, bestie. I'll take care of everything. After all, isn't that what friends are for? 😘”

I hurled the phone against a tree, watching it shatter like my life had.

The mate bond was gone. My pack status was gone. My best friend was gone.

And somewhere in the city ahead, a stranger nursed his bourbon, not knowing that fate was about to throw us both a curveball neither of us saw coming.

But that's the thing about rock bottom – once you hit it, there's nowhere to go but up.