The moon hung low, silver light spilling across the grand hall.
Lila stood in the centre, her hands trembling, her heart pounding against her chest. Tonight was supposed to be her Luna ceremony. Tonight, she was meant to stand by Damon, the man she had loved since childhood, and be accepted as his mate.
But instead of devotion, she saw coldness in his eyes.
"From this moment on," Damon's deep voice echoed through the hall, "I, Damon Black, Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack, reject you, Lila Hart, as my mate."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
The rejection words hit her like blades.
"No…" Her voice cracked, her throat dry. "Damon, you can't—"
But he silenced her with a single, merciless glare.
"I can, and I will," he declared. His arm snaked around the slender figure standing beside him—her own sister, Elara.
Lila's knees threatened to give out. Elara's smirk sliced deeper than any knife.
"She's weak," Elara whispered loudly enough for the pack to hear. "She doesn't even have a wolf. How could such a wolf-less girl ever be Luna?"
Laughter broke out.
Lila's face burned. Every whisper, every sneer pressed down on her chest like a weight she couldn't carry.
"But I loved you," she choked out.
Damon's lips curled into something cruel. "Love doesn't make a Luna. Power does. And you have none."
The crowd erupted in agreement. Allies she once thought she had turned their faces away, pretending not to see her.
Her vision blurred with tears, but she refused to let them fall here, not in front of them.
Elara stepped closer, her hand sliding possessively down Damon's arm. "Don't worry, sister. I'll take care of him… and of the pack. You should thank me."
Her mocking words cracked something inside Lila.
For years, she had endured whispers, endured the shame of being wolf-less. She told herself love was enough, that Damon would stand by her. Tonight, she learned the truth—love meant nothing to him.
A sharp pain stabbed through her chest, not just from rejection, but something deeper… something inside her that twisted violently.
Her hands instinctively touched her stomach. A fleeting thought. A possibility. No… not now. She couldn't even think about it here.
"Leave," Damon ordered. His voice, once her comfort, now rang like a verdict. "You are no longer part of this pack."
Every fibre of her being screamed to stay, to fight, to demand answers. But surrounded by hostile eyes, what fight could she win tonight?
The grand hall blurred as she stumbled backward, every step echoing with humiliation.
"Elara will be my Luna," Damon announced, pulling her sister into his arms. The pack howled in approval.
Lila froze. The sound of wolves celebrating her ruin would haunt her forever.
Her tears finally spilled, hot and unrelenting.
She pushed open the heavy doors and staggered into the cold night air. The moonlight felt harsh, cruel, exposing her weakness to the world.
For a moment, she wanted to collapse. To give in. To let despair swallow her.
But then… she remembered Elara's smirk. Damon's words. The laughter of the pack.
Something inside her snapped.
"No," she whispered, her voice shaking but steadying with every breath. "This isn't the end."
She wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
"I may be wolf-less. I may be rejected. But one day, Damon Black, you will regret this night."
The wind howled around her, carrying her vow into the dark forest.
She pressed her hand once more to her stomach, her heart racing with a secret she couldn't yet face. If her suspicion was right, tonight wasn't just the night of her downfall—it was the night her future began.
And when she returned… she wouldn't return alone.