Dusk bled across Ironfang Keep, setting the place aglow with streaks of crimson and gold. The sun was barely hanging on when the guards reappeared, those same stone-faced men from the trial. They didn't waste words, just hauled me upright with hands that felt cold as iron.
I'd been sitting in silence since the verdict, numb and hollowed out. Millie had come to me, sobbing as she pressed a bundle into my hands, a little food, a water flask, a rough cloak. She held me, her voice a desperate hush. "Once you're out, run. Don't look back."
But where would I even go? Exiled, pregnant, and wolf-less, no one would shelter a Luna whose own pack had branded her a traitor.
With every passing hour, the mate bond frayed a little more. By the time the last light faded, it was hardly more than a ghost in my chest.
The courtyard was packed, a sea of faces eager for the spectacle. They'd raised a black stone platform for the occasion, ringed with torches, every eye fixed on me. The full moon stared down, cold and watchful.
Jasper was already there, gleaming in his ceremonial armor, looking every inch the Alpha. Serenya stood beside him, draped in crimson, already wearing the victory she'd stolen.
I was marched up the steps, my legs barely holding me. The guards let me go and I staggered, catching myself by sheer instinct.
The crowd buzzed, hungry for my humiliation.
"Araya Varrow," Jasper intoned, voice sharp as a blade. "You have been found guilty, of adultery, of betrayal, of disgracing the pack."
I felt the echo of his feelings, icy resolve, a hint of regret, but nothing that softened the blow.
"Your punishment is exile," he said, looming over me. "Do you wish to say anything before I pass sentence?"
Everyone expected me to break down, to plead for mercy, to beg for my child's life.
But I stood tall and met his gaze.
"Yes," I said, letting my voice carry. "I do."
He looked almost startled, he'd expected surrender.
"You're a coward, Jasper. Hiding behind lies because you can't admit you never wanted me. Too worried about your image to speak the truth."
Gasps rippled through the crowd. Even Serenya looked shaken.
He tried to cut me off, but I barrelled on.
"You've already taken everything. My name, my child's future. What's left?"
His Alpha dominance flooded the space, a weight pressing me down. But I'd been ground into dust already. I wasn't giving him the satisfaction.
"The truth is, you're scared," I said, voice trembling but clear. "Scared to admit you can't love your mate, scared Selene made a mistake, scared that it's you who's broken—not me."
He roared, raw and furious. "You don't speak to me that way!"
I just laughed, brittle. "What will you do, cast me out? You're doing that already. I won't make it easy."
He seized my chin, squeezing until I tasted blood. "Kneel," he snarled, voice cutting to my very bones. "Kneel, or I'll destroy you."
His dominance battered me, but I stayed standing.
"No," I whispered, and for a heartbeat, he just stared.
"No?" he repeated, incredulous.
"No," I said again, stronger. "I won't kneel. I won't let you rewrite my story."
He pressed harder, fury radiating from him.
"You forget yourself—"
"No, I remember," I shot back, voice rising. "I remember the girl who hoped for respect, the woman who bore your child and was called a whore, the mate who stood here and told the truth."
"Enough!" He grabbed the back of my neck and tried to force me down.
His Alpha power crashed over me, but I locked my knees, hands on my belly, refusing to bow.
"Kneel!" he thundered.
"Make me!" I screamed, and the crowd fell silent.
For a second, I saw something flicker in his eyes, something almost human.
He pressed his palm to my chest, and I felt the heat of his power gathering.
"So be it," he said, low and savage. "If you won't yield, I'll break the bond myself."
Suddenly I understood. "No—"
"I, Jasper Drevyn, Alpha, reject you, Araya Varrow. I break the mate bond. You are nothing to me, nothing to this pack."
Pain tore through me. The mate bond shattered, ripping me open. I screamed, hitting the stone, clutching my chest, blood in my mouth.
The crowd roared, delighted by my agony. Jasper stepped back, already gone in every way that mattered.
"Araya Varrow," his voice rang out, "you are cast out. Not even worthy of pity."
I lay there, arms wrapped around my stomach, desperate to survive for the child I carried.
Rough hands dragged me up. The crowd was a blur of cruel faces, some familiar, some not.
I saw my father, Eldric, at the edge of the platform, face like a wall. Marisol, eyes bright with triumph. Dorian, openly gloating.
Marisol spat at me, the insult landing with a wet smack. "Your mother would be ashamed."
The words landed like a knife. It was a cruelty I hadn't braced for.
Dorian sneered, "Good riddance, whore."
I met my father's eyes, searching for anything, love, regret, memory. He just turned away.
Only Millie tried to reach me, struggling against the guards, weeping. Her grief was the only grief for me in that place.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, but it was lost to the noise.
The guards dragged me out, pain radiating from the place where the bond had been, emptiness blooming in its wake.
The gates loomed, iron and final, opening onto wilderness. The world beyond was dark and wild and full of threat.
At the threshold, a guard sliced my bindings and shoved me. "Run, Luna. The rogues can smell blood tonight."
Serenya's voice drifted out, smug and sweet. "Goodbye, sister. Don't die too quickly."
I glanced back, one last look at the keep—torchlight, stone, Jasper and Serenya side by side as the pack's new royalty.
The moon watched, silent.
I pressed my hand to my belly, feeling a faint flutter, my child, my reason to keep moving.
A jolt of pain shot through me. Too soon, too dangerous. But I gritted my teeth and stepped forward.
Another step. Then another.
The gates clanged shut behind me, sealing me out.
Alone, wounded, and carrying what hope I had left, I walked into the darkness.
And somehow, I knew: this was only the beginning.