Chapter 4

"Hand over your file permissions and leave the Pack House," Blake demanded.

At the training grounds, he didn't give me a chance to speak.

Lucy stood behind him, her arm bandaged, the Moonstone hanging at her neck, her collar hiding the burn.

Julian placed the broken shell fragments on a wooden tray. "Moonshadow mineral shell, contaminated with silver. Enough to harm a wolf soul."

I picked up one of the pieces. "It's a shell. The real Moonshadow Crystal wasn't inside it. It can't harm anyone. It only records."

Adrian's voice was cold as steel. "You always have an excuse. So Lucy's arm isn't your doing?"

Lucy lowered her head. "I don't want to press charges. As long as Vivian admits she was wrong to hurt me, I'll let it go."

Murmuring rippled through the crowd.

Future Luna. Jealousy. Silver harming a wolf. Every word hit me like a blow.

Blake raised his hand. "As of today, Vivian's Pack file access is revoked. She is to move out of the Pack House. The Silvermoon Refugees' housing will be re-evaluated."

I looked at him. "You didn't investigate."

"I did," Blake replied.

"You only asked Lucy," I said.

"She wouldn't frame you," Blake insisted.

I laughed softly. "One last time. Will you look at the original records?"

Blake frowned. "You want to trick me with a fake crystal?"

"The original records can be verified before the Elders," I said.

Julian stepped up. "Alpha, don't waste time. She's stalling, trying to use the Silvermoon Refugees as leverage."

Adrian agreed, "Kicking her out is already lenient. Any other Omega would be in a silver cage."

Lucy shook her head frantically. "Don't cage her! Blake, please. Don't hurt Vivian because of me. She's been with you for so long."

She always did this, suggesting the cruelest punishment first, then begging for mercy.

Blake's anger flared. "You hear that, Vivian? Lucy is still defending you."

I removed my Shadow Pack emblem and placed it on the stone platform. "If you think I don't belong here, make your threat official. Issue a rejection."

Silence fell. Blake stared at me. "You're trying to use the Mating Bond against me?"

"I'm not," I replied.

"You think I won't?" Blake asked.

"I just want you to say what you've already decided," I said.

Through the Mindlink, Lucy's trembling voice reached him. "Blake, don't do it. What if she keeps hurting me as your mate? I can't take it anymore."

Julian looked at Blake. "Alpha, Lucy needs a stable place."

Adrian added, "Vivian no longer belongs by your side."

Blake's black wolf rumbled with a low growl.

My Mating Bond still connected us, so I felt his pain first.

He was also in pain. But there was anger in his pain, a desire to control being offended, and no hesitation at all.

Blake stood before me, each word weighed down by Alpha authority. "I, Blake Ashford, reject you, Vivian Hale, as my mate."

As the bond snapped, I fell to my knees.

The world went quiet. The pain was a raw tear from my chest to the depths of my soul. Every breath felt like glass.

Lucy hid behind Blake, her voice laced with victory. "Vivian, don't be stubborn. Say you're sorry. Blake might take it back."

Blake looked down at me. "Beg."

He thought I would. I always did. I'd bow my head, fix Julian's mistakes, cover for Adrian's failures, and hold the barrier for Blake. But this time, his thread in the Mindlink was crumbling.

I could no longer hear Lucy's sobs. I could no longer hear their excuses. I gripped the stone platform, rising to my feet. I pressed my hand to my chest. "I, Vivian Hale, accept your rejection, Blake Ashford."

The wind rushed through the training grounds.

Blake's face went pale. He stepped forward. "Vivian, do you know what you're doing?"

I stepped back, pulling away from his reach. "I know."

A murmur of shock rippled through the crowd.

With the rejection accepted, my mate-scent faded from me.

Blake's black wolf slammed against his chest, his anger turning to disbelief. "You can't leave."

"I'm no longer your mate, and I'm no longer part of this Pack," I said.

Lucy grabbed his arm. "Blake, she's just bluffing. It's freezing out there. She'll be back."

I crossed the training field, moving beyond the Pack's barrier. Every step hurt. But no Alpha command followed me.

Outside the border, a black car waited at the snow line. The door opened, the Royal Lycan Crest gleaming silver in the moonlight. A man stepped out, his black cloak subduing the powerful aura of his Alpha nature.

He didn't touch me right away. He simply held out his hand. "Vivian Hale. I'm Cassian Nightfall. The contract has answered you. Will you accept the protection of the Nightfall Pack?"

I placed my hand in his. A current of electricity trembled between our palms, and my sleeping white wolf opened her eyes in the darkness. For the first time in six years, Selene's voice came through, clear and steady. "Vivian, he carries our moonlight."