ELENA'S POV
I wake up to everyone staring at me.
My silver wolf forces herself to consciousness despite the pain screaming through my body. Blood. Wounds. Exhaustion. But none of that matters compared to what I just heard.
Lydia's terrified face tells me everything I need to know.
"That you what?" I rasp, my wolf voice cutting through the shocked silence. "What truth are you so afraid I'll tell, Lydia?"
"She's delirious," Lydia says quickly, clinging to Chase. "Blood loss. She doesn't know what she's saying."
"I know exactly what I'm saying." I force myself to stand, even though my legs shake. Marcus moves closer, ready to catch me if I fall. "Tell them, Lydia. Tell them what you did."
Chase looks between us, confused. "What is she talking about?"
"Nothing! She's lying to break us apart—"
"The rejection wasn't his idea," I say, my eyes locked on Lydia. "Was it?"
Lydia's face goes white as snow.
"What?" Chase's voice drops dangerously low.
"Three months before you rejected me," I continue, strength returning to my voice with every word, "I started getting sick. Remember? I couldn't eat. Couldn't sleep. My wolf grew weaker every day."
"You said it was stress," Chase says slowly.
"Because that's what the pack doctor told me. The pack doctor who's Lydia's cousin." I take a step forward, and Lydia actually backs away. "But it wasn't stress. It was poison."
"That's insane!" Lydia shrieks. "Chase, she's making this up—"
"Wolfsbane," Marcus says quietly, understanding dawning on his face. "Small doses over time. Enough to weaken her wolf, make her seem pathetic and useless. Make her seem unworthy of being Luna."
"Why would I even—" Lydia starts.
"Because you wanted him." I shift to human form, ignoring my nakedness and wounds. "You've always wanted him. And I was in the way."
Chase stares at Lydia like he's seeing her for the first time. "You poisoned her?"
"No! She's lying! I love you, Chase. I would never—"
"You made me weak," I interrupt, anger burning away my pain. "You poisoned me for months, making me useless. Making Chase embarrassed to have me as Luna. Making him doubt the mate bond." I laugh bitterly. "And then you appeared. Strong, confident, everything I wasn't anymore. The perfect replacement."
"Chase, please," Lydia begs, "don't listen to her—"
"The night you rejected me," I continue, looking at Chase, "I was going to tell you I was pregnant. But I was also going to tell you I found empty bottles in Lydia's room. Bottles labeled 'wolfsbane tincture.'"
Chase's face goes deadly calm. "Is this true?"
"Of course not!" But Lydia's voice cracks.
"Check her room," I say. "The bottles might be gone, but wolfsbane leaves traces. Any competent healer can test for it."
Malcolm steps forward. "Alpha, I can have the pack healer run tests—"
"Don't you dare!" Lydia's mask finally cracks completely. "I did this for us, Chase! For you! That weak little nobody was making you look pathetic. The pack was laughing at you for choosing such a useless Luna!"
The silence is deafening.
"You... admitted it," Chase whispers, horror spreading across his face.
"She was wrong for you!" Lydia shouts. "I'm your equal! I understand pack politics, Alpha duties, everything she could never—"
"You poisoned my mate." Chase's voice shakes with rage. "You destroyed our bond with poison and lies."
"Ex-mate," Lydia corrects desperately. "You rejected her. You chose me. We're happy now—I'm pregnant with your heir—"
"Are you?" Roman Blackwood asks, amused by the drama. "Pregnant, I mean?"
Lydia freezes.
"Because wolfsbane doesn't just weaken wolves," Roman continues conversationally. "It also prevents pregnancy. Any wolf regularly handling it becomes temporarily sterile. It's a known side effect."
All eyes turn to Lydia.
"So if you've been using wolfsbane for months," Roman says, "how exactly are you pregnant?"
Lydia's hand moves protectively to her stomach. "I am pregnant! The pack doctor confirmed—"
"Your cousin confirmed," Marcus corrects. "The same cousin who helped you poison Elena."
The pieces fall into place on Chase's face. The betrayal. The manipulation. All of it.
"Lydia," he says quietly, "are you carrying my child?"
"Yes! Of course! How can you even ask—"
"Who's the father?" Chase's Alpha command rolls out.
Lydia tries to fight it, but Alpha commands are absolute. "His name is David. He's a warrior from my old pack. We've been together for two years."
The confession hangs in the air like smoke.
"Two years," Chase repeats. "While you were pushing me to reject Elena. While you were playing the perfect mate. You were with someone else."
"I love you—"
"You love power." Chase's eyes glow with fury. "Get out of my sight."
"Chase, please—"
"I SAID GET OUT!" His Alpha command sends every wolf to their knees except me. My silver wolf stands tall, immune to his power.
Lydia runs, sobbing.
Roman laughs. "Well, this has been entertaining. But we still have the matter of the female Alpha—"
"Take her," Chase interrupts, looking at me with broken eyes. "Marcus, take Elena and go. I have no right to stop you."
"Chase—" Malcolm starts.
"I rejected her while she was pregnant. I believed Lydia's lies. I threw away my true mate because I was too proud and stupid to see the truth." Chase's voice cracks. "The least I can do is let her go free."
I stare at him. Part of me wants to scream, to rage, to make him hurt the way he hurt me. But another part—a smaller, quieter part—sees his pain and feels nothing but emptiness.
"You're right," I say softly. "You have no right to stop me."
Marcus helps me limp toward the trees. Roman's wolves don't move to stop us—they're too shocked by everything they witnessed.
We're almost to the forest edge when Chase speaks again.
"Elena."
I don't turn around.
"I'm sorry. For everything. I know it doesn't fix anything, but—I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't raise these babies," I say without looking back. "Sorry doesn't heal broken bonds. Sorry doesn't give me back the months I spent thinking I was worthless."
"I know."
"Good." I finally glance over my shoulder. "Then live with it, Alpha Rex. Live with knowing you threw away the best thing that ever happened to you because you were too blind to see the snake in your bed."
Marcus and I disappear into the forest.
Behind us, I hear Chase's anguished howl.
But I don't look back.
Not anymore.
One week later, Marcus and I claim an abandoned territory on the outskirts of pack lands. It's small, run-down, but it's ours.
"This is it," Marcus says. "Your new beginning."
I'm four months pregnant now, my belly just starting to show. My silver wolf has fully healed, stronger than ever. The wolfsbane is completely out of my system.
"Will you be the first member of my pack?" I ask Marcus.
He looks surprised. "You want a scarred rogue as your Beta?"
"I want someone loyal. Someone real." I meet his eyes. "Someone who saved me when no one else would. So yes. Will you?"
Marcus drops to one knee. "I'll be your Beta, Alpha Elena. Help me build something worth believing in."
"Not just believing in." I help him stand. "Something that can't be destroyed. A pack for wolves like us—the rejected, the forgotten, the ones nobody wanted."
"What will you call it?"
I think about my silver wolf. About rising from ashes. About becoming something stronger.
"Northvale Pack," I say. "We're the wolves from the north valley. The ones who survived."
Marcus grins. "I like it."
We're about to start planning when a small, terrified voice calls from the trees.
"Please! Is someone there? Please help me!"
A young girl stumbles into our clearing. She's maybe sixteen, covered in bruises, her clothes torn. Blood drips from wounds on her arms.
"Help me," she sobs. "My pack—they're going to kill me—I'm rejected—please—"
Marcus catches her before she collapses.
I kneel beside her. "You're safe now. What's your name?"
"Sage," she gasps. "My name is Sage, and I'm a witch."
The forest behind her explodes with angry howls.
Her old pack is coming.
And they want her dead.