Chapter 3

They didn't just want my blessing. They wanted my wolf.

The next morning, Eira pulled me into the shadowy corners of the healing room. The High Priestess looked older today. The weight of her knowledge carved deep lines into her face.

"Aveline, you cannot do this," Eira whispered. "Your inner wolf is already fading from absorbing the Alpha's curse for five years. If you transfer your blessing now, your wolf will die."

I stared at her. Her words rang in my ears.

"You will never shift again," Eira continued. Her voice trembled. "You will be truly wolfless. The pain will stay with you forever."

My heart hammered against my ribs.

"Gideon doesn't know," I said. "He would never ask this of me if he understood what it would cost."

Eira did not answer.

The pity in her eyes made my blood turn cold.

"You told him," I whispered.

"This morning," she admitted. "Before he ordered the transfer."

I still refused to believe her.

I went to Gideon’s study and stopped outside the half-open door.

"Her wolf has been asleep for five years anyway," Gideon’s cold, dismissive voice cut through the silence.

I froze. The chill seeped into my bones.

"Losing a wolf that barely exists is better than losing my heir," he added. His tone was flat and practical.

"Will she die?" Talia’s soft voice chimed in. She did not sound worried. She sounded curious.

"No," Gideon replied lightly. "She just won't be able to shift. She was useless anyway."

Useless.

I stumbled backward. I pressed my hand over my mouth to stop a sob from escaping.

I did not go back to my room.

I went to Maris’s study to collect the official coronation register. As the current Luna, I was still required to sign the temple record before the ceremony.

The register was lying beneath a sealed piece of parchment.

I recognized Gideon’s signature before I read the first line.

It was a banishment order.

Effective immediately after the blessing transfer. Aveline Hale is to be sent to the Border Widow House. She is forbidden to approach the Alpha or the heir.

I stared at the signatures at the bottom. Maris Blackwood. Gideon Blackwood.

They never planned to keep me as a second wife. The promise of staying by his side was a lie. It was a trick to keep me obedient. They wanted to drain the very last drop of my value before throwing me away.

My tears stopped. The burning pain of betrayal turned into cold, hard ash.

I was dead to him. And now, he was dead to me.

---

That night, the Moon Goddess Temple glowed with the warm light of ceremonial fire pits. The entire pack gathered to witness the transfer.

Talia stood proudly at the center. She wore my Luna dress. It was the one I wore when Gideon mated me.

Beside her, Maris wore a glowing moonstone necklace. It was my mother’s necklace. It was the only thing I had left of my destroyed family.

They had stripped me bare.

Gideon stood tall at the altar. He looked every bit the powerful Alpha. But to me, he was just a stranger.

"Kneel, Aveline," Gideon commanded. His voice echoed through the silent temple. "Place your hands on Talia's stomach."

I slowly walked up the stone steps. Every eye in the pack watched me. They expected me to submit. They expected me to break.

Gideon had believed the temple would make my submission irreversible.

But every vow spoken before the Goddess was binding—including a rejection.

I did not walk toward Talia. I walked straight to Gideon.

He frowned. His brows pulled together. "Aveline, what are you doing? Go to Talia."

I reached behind my neck. My fingers found the silver clasp of the mate necklace he gave me five years ago. With a sharp tug, I ripped it off.

Gideon’s eyes widened in shock.

I turned and threw the silver chain straight into the raging ceremonial fire.

"Aveline, what the hell are you doing?!" he roared. His Alpha aura flared in anger.

I lifted my chin. I let my voice carry through the temple. I made sure the Moon Goddess and every single wolf heard my final truth.

"I, Aveline Hale, reject you, Gideon Blackwood, as my mate and Alpha."

The air in the temple shattered.

The mate mark on my chest erupted in blinding, searing agony. The soul-deep bond violently tore itself apart.

Before I even hit the floor, Gideon’s arrogant face twisted in sudden, absolute horror.

He gasped for air. He grabbed his own chest with both hands. His knees buckled under the backlash.

Without my soul acting as his shield, the suppressed Blood Moon curse slammed back into his body with five years of accumulated fury.

Black, venomous veins crawled up his neck and across his face. He collapsed heavily to the stone floor. He vomited dark blood directly at Talia's feet.