Chapter 3

The full moon hung like a cold, indifferent eye in the night sky as pack members gathered in the ceremonial clearing. I stood alone in the center, my arms wrapped around myself—not for warmth, but to hold the shattered pieces of my soul together. Three weeks had passed since the moon pool incident, and Lucas remained in his coma, his tiny body unmoving on the white sheets of the pack infirmary.

The crowd parted as Ryan approached, his Alpha aura pulsing with cold authority. Behind him walked Melissa, her eyes gleaming with triumph poorly disguised as solemnity. The pack fell silent, the only sound the whisper of wind through the pines and the distant howl of a lone wolf.

"We gather under the full moon," Ryan announced, his voice carrying across the clearing, "to witness a sacred rite. One that has not been performed in the Silvermoon Pack for generations."

My wolf whimpered, retreating further into the darkest corner of my consciousness. She knew what was coming before I could fully comprehend it.

"Katherine Morrison," Ryan continued, using my full name like a weapon, "has proven herself unworthy of the title of Luna. Her actions have endangered this pack and its heir."

I raised my eyes to meet his, searching desperately for any flicker of the man who had once loved me. There was nothing—only cold, empty resolve.

"I, Ryan Sterling, Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack, reject you, Katherine Morrison, daughter of Alpha Alistair from the Morrison Pack, as my mate and Luna."

The words sliced through me like a silver blade. A collective gasp rippled through the crowd—rejection ceremonies were rare, considered almost taboo. The pain was immediate and overwhelming, a physical agony that started where his mate mark had once burned on my neck and spread through my entire body.

I fell to my knees, a silent scream trapped in my throat. Through tear-blurred eyes, I saw Melissa step forward, placing a possessive hand on Ryan's arm. The crowd parted further, no one willing to stand near the rejected Luna.

"Your status is revoked," Ryan continued, his voice never wavering. "You will remain within pack boundaries under guard until the council determines your final fate."

With that, he turned his back on me—a final, crushing dismissal. The pack followed his lead, turning away one by one until I knelt alone in the clearing, abandoned under the cold light of the moon.

---

The guards were less vigilant that night. Perhaps they believed the rejection had broken me completely—and they weren't entirely wrong. I moved through the shadows like a ghost, my footsteps silent on the damp earth as I made my way to the main house.

The nursery window was unlocked, just as it had always been so the night breeze could carry in the scent of moonflowers. I slipped inside, my heart breaking anew at the sight of the empty crib, the mobile of silver stars hanging motionless above it.

I ran my fingers over his tiny clothes, still folded neatly in the drawer. A stuffed wolf I had made for him sat in the corner, its button eyes seeming to watch me with pity.

From my pocket, I withdrew a small piece of paper and the stub of a pencil I'd hidden beneath my mattress. My hands trembled as I wrote, tears falling onto the page and blurring the ink.

*My dearest Lucas,*

*I will always love you, even from the stars. When you look up at night, know that the brightest one is watching over you, protecting you as I could not in life.*

*Your mother, who loves you more than her own breath.*

I folded the note and tucked it inside the stuffed wolf, pressing it to my lips one last time before placing it back in the crib. Then I slipped out as silently as I had come, a final goodbye to the life that should have been mine.

---

The river roared at the edge of pack territory, swollen with spring meltwater. I stood on the rocky bank, the cold spray misting my face as I stared into the churning darkness below. The guards would discover my absence soon, but it wouldn't matter by then.

I thought of Lucas, lying still and silent in the infirmary. Of Ryan, who had once looked at me with such love, now turned cold and cruel under Melissa's influence. Of the pack that had once respected me, now believing me capable of harming my own child.

My wolf had gone silent within me, offering neither protest nor encouragement. Perhaps she, too, had given up.

I took a step forward, the wet stones slippery beneath my bare feet. The roar of the water seemed to call to me, promising an end to the pain, the betrayal, the crushing weight of a broken mate bond.

"I'm sorry, Lucas," I whispered, taking another step. The water lapped at my ankles now, ice-cold and insistent. "Forgive me for not being strong enough."

I closed my eyes and stepped fully into the current, letting the river take me. The cold shocked my system, stealing my breath as the powerful flow pulled me under. I didn't fight it. As the water closed over my head and the current dragged me deeper, a strange peace settled over me.

In the darkness behind my eyelids, I thought I saw stars—brilliant points of light reaching for me as consciousness began to fade.