Sera's POV
The mate bond burned like acid in my chest.
I pressed both hands against my stomach—six weeks pregnant, barely showing—and tried not to scream. Through the bond, I felt him. Marcus. My fated mate who wasn't mine anymore. He was happy. So incredibly happy it made me want to vomit.
Music and laughter drifted through my cottage windows from the grand celebration happening across the pack lands. The Blackthorn Pack was announcing their new Luna tonight.
Celeste. My stepsister. The woman carrying Marcus's heir while I hid in the dark like something shameful.
Another wave of his joy crashed through the bond, and I doubled over. The baby—our baby, the one he didn't know about—kicked weakly. Or maybe that was just my imagination. Six weeks was too early to feel movement.
"I should've accepted the rejection," I whispered to the empty room. "I should've let him go."
But I couldn't. Some pathetic part of me still believed the mate bond meant something. That the Moon Goddess wouldn't be so cruel as to give me a fated mate just to watch him choose someone else.
I was wrong.
A sharp knock made me jump.
My heart lifted. "Luna?" My only friend, the one person who didn't treat me like garbage for being wolfless. She'd promised to bring me food from the celebration.
I rushed to the door and yanked it open.
Five guards in Storm Guard armor stood on my doorstep. Commander Drake's scarred face looked grim in the torchlight. Behind them, I saw movement—pack members gathering, their eyes gleaming in the darkness.
"Sera Ashwood," Drake's voice boomed. "You're under arrest."
The world tilted sideways. "What?"
He shoved past me into my tiny cottage, and the other guards followed. Their boots tracked mud across my clean floors. They moved like wolves hunting prey, fast and vicious.
"Wait!" I backed up, hands raised. "There's been a mistake—"
"No mistake." Drake grabbed my arm hard enough to bruise. "Alpha's grandson was poisoned tonight. Wolfsbane. And all evidence points to you."
My blood turned to ice. "That's impossible! I didn't—I would never—"
"Search the cottage," Drake ordered.
Guards tore through my home. They ripped open cabinets, overturned my bed, shattered my mother's tea set. I watched in horror as they destroyed everything I owned.
"Please," I begged. "I don't even have access to wolfsbane! I can't afford it, and nobody would sell it to someone wolfless—"
"Found it!" A guard emerged from my tiny kitchen holding a glass vial. Dark liquid sloshed inside. Even from across the room, I recognized the sick-sweet smell.
Wolfsbane. Deadly poison to werewolves.
"That's not mine!" My voice cracked. "Someone planted it! I've never seen that before!"
Drake yanked me toward the door. "Tell it to the Alpha."
"No! Please!" I struggled, but he was so much stronger. All of them were. I was just a wolfless girl, weak and powerless. "I'm pregnant! You're hurting—"
His hand clamped over my mouth. "Pregnant? With whose pup? Your mate rejected you six weeks ago."
Shame burned through me. The pack knew. Everyone knew Marcus had thrown me away.
They dragged me outside into the cold night. Pack members lined the path to the pack center—dozens of them, maybe hundreds. Their faces twisted with disgust and rage.
"Poisoner!" someone screamed.
"How could you hurt a child?"
"She's always been jealous of Celeste!"
The accusations hit like physical blows. I tried to explain, to tell them I was innocent, but Drake's hand still covered my mouth. My feet scraped against rough ground as they hauled me forward.
Through the mate bond, I felt Marcus's happiness vanish. Confusion replaced it, then shock.
He knew something was wrong.
Part of me—the stupid, desperate part—hoped he'd come for me. That he'd defend me, prove my innocence, remember that we were supposed to be fated.
The pack center came into view. Torches blazed around the massive stone platform where Alphas delivered judgment. My stomach twisted when I saw who waited there.
Alpha Blackthorn sat on his throne, face carved from granite. Beside him, Marcus stood rigid in his ceremonial clothes. And next to Marcus—
Celeste. My stepsister. Beautiful, powerful, perfect Celeste with her hand on her pregnant belly and tears streaming down her face.
But it was the people standing behind Alpha Blackthorn that made my knees buckle.
My father. Beta Rowan Ashwood. His eyes met mine for one second before he looked away.
And my stepmother Vivienne, her red lips curved in the smallest smile.
They threw me onto the platform. I crashed to my knees, pain shooting through my legs. The baby—I had to protect the baby.
"Sera Ashwood." Alpha Blackthorn's voice echoed across the silent crowd. "You stand accused of poisoning my grandson with wolfsbane. How do you plead?"
"Not guilty!" I gasped. "Alpha, please, I didn't do this! Someone framed me—"
"Evidence was found in your cottage," Drake interrupted. "Wolfsbane residue on your kitchen counter. This vial with your scent all over it." He held up the glass bottle like a trophy. "And witnesses."
My heart stopped. "Witnesses?"
A servant girl stepped forward—Margaret, who worked in the pack kitchens. She wouldn't meet my eyes. "I... I saw Miss Sera near the food preparation area this afternoon. She was acting strange. Nervous."
"I was getting herbs for tea!" I protested. "That's all! Margaret, tell them—"
But she'd already stepped back, shaking her head.
Then Celeste moved forward. Fresh tears poured down her beautiful face as she placed one hand on her belly protectively.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, voice breaking. "I'm so sorry, Sera. I tried to protect you. I tried to give you time to confess. But I can't let an innocent child's attempted murder go unpunished."
Ice flooded my veins. "Celeste, what are you—"
"I saw you." Her voice grew stronger, carrying across the crowd. "This afternoon. You were near the kitchen before the Alpha's grandson got sick. And you've been so angry since Marcus chose me. So jealous. You said..." She sobbed dramatically. "You said you'd make everyone pay for rejecting you."
"That's a lie!" I screamed. "I never said that! Celeste, please, you're my sister—"
"Half-sister," Vivienne corrected coldly from behind the Alpha. "And blood doesn't protect poisoners."
I looked at my father desperately. "Dad. Please. You know me. You know I couldn't—"
But Rowan Ashwood kept his eyes on the ground. His jaw clenched. His hands fisted at his sides.
He said nothing.
"The evidence is clear," Alpha Blackthorn declared. "Sera Ashwood, you are guilty of attempted murder through wolfsbane poisoning. The sentence is—"
"Wait." Marcus's voice cut through the judgment.
Hope exploded in my chest. He was going to save me. My mate, my fated—
Marcus stepped forward and looked at me with eyes colder than winter. "Before sentencing, I have something to say."
He took a breath. And then spoke the words that shattered my world completely.
"I, Marcus Blackthorn, reject you as my mate, Sera Ashwood. You are wolfless. Broken. Unworthy of my mark or my name. And I reject whatever you claim grows in your belly—it's not mine, and I want nothing to do with it or you."
The rejection hit like a physical blow. I gasped, clutching my stomach as pain tore through the bond. The baby—
"Liar," I whispered. "You know it's yours. We were together six weeks ago, right before you—"
"Prove it," Vivienne said smoothly. "Oh wait. You can't. You're wolfless. No pack would accept your word over an Alpha's son."
The crowd murmured in agreement.
I looked around at hundreds of faces—people I'd known my whole life. Not one of them showed sympathy. Not one believed me.
Alpha Blackthorn stood. "The sentence is scarring and exile. Three marks for three crimes: poisoning, bearing false witness, and attempting to trap an Alpha heir with lies of pregnancy."
Guards grabbed my arms.
"No!" I screamed. "No, please! I'm innocent! The baby is real—someone examine me, please!"
But nobody listened.
They dragged me toward the silver blades heating in ceremonial fire. The smell of burning metal filled my nose.
Through my terror, I caught Celeste's eye.
And my stepsister smiled.