POV: Aira | Asher | Jack
The ceremony fire blazed in golden spirals around the ceremonial stone, crackling with heat and tradition, but the world felt frozen.
Aira's breath caught in her throat, her heartbeat thundering in her ears.
"I, Alpha of the Silverstone Pack, reject Aira as my mate."
Asher's voice cut through the night like a blade.
Gasps echoed across the field. Whispers followed. Shock. Laughter. Mocking disbelief. And above all—pain.
Aira couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Her legs felt like marble, her lungs hollow.Her heart…It shattered.
The ache that followed was like fire licking through her veins—the bond, the sacred soul-tie granted by the Moon Goddess herself, was twisting painfully inside her chest.
She gritted her teeth, fighting the scream clawing up her throat. She refused to give him that satisfaction.Not here.Not now.Not ever.
The moment shattered when Jack, her older brother, stormed forward like a whirlwind. His eyes were glowing golden, filled with barely restrained fury.
Without hesitation, Jack grabbed Asher by the collar and shoved him back with a growl.
"You bastard! Why would you do this to her?!" he roared. "She's my sister!"
The pack gasped again, louder this time.
Sister?Aira… Moonstone?
Asher blinked, confusion clouding his face. "Wait… what? But she's an omega…"
Jack growled again, but before the situation exploded, Aira stepped forward.
Her voice trembled—but it held steel. "I, Aira Moonstone, accept your rejection."
Gasps became silence.
The ancient rite completed—the bond snapped.
It was like an invisible cord had been cut.A pulse of pain slammed into her chest, and her knees buckled slightly—but she stood tall.
Asher's face turned ghostly pale.
"Moonstone?" he whispered again. "She's… not an omega?"
The realization dropped on him like a ton of bricks.Kael Moonstone's daughter. Jack's sister. Beta blood.
She wasn't weak.She wasn't nothing.She was born stronger than most wolves in the entire pack. And he rejected her. Publicly. Brutally.
His wolf Orbit howled in his mind, shattering every barrier.
"What did you do?!" Orbit snarled.
Asher's stomach twisted, but it was too late.
Aira turned and ran.
POV: Aira
She ran.
The trees welcomed her, shadows weaving around her like mourners. Her breath came in ragged gasps, her muscles screaming, but she didn't stop.
Her eyes stung, her body ached.But worst of all—Nina was silent.
Her wolf… gone silent after the rejection.She was fading.
Aira's heart raced as her emotions threatened to drown her. She had never felt this much agony. Not when her mother died. Not when her father stopped looking her in the eye. This pain was beyond anything.
"Aira! Wait!" Lila's voice echoed behind her. "Please don't run like that—it's not safe!"
But Aira couldn't stop.
She didn't know where she was running.Only that she had to.
She burst through the trees into the deeper part of the forest—the air cooler, darker.
Suddenly—rustling.
But not just leaves.Not animals.Footsteps.
Low growls.
Aira skidded to a halt, heart thudding in her ears.
From the shadows, dark figures emerged.
One. Two. Five. Ten… twenty cloaked wolves, dressed in black armor, their eyes gleaming like embers.
"Rogues!" Lila screamed.
Panic bloomed in Aira's chest, stronger than the pain.
The rogues didn't lunge at the crowds, didn't brawl in bloodlust.They were hunting.They were collecting.
Only girls.
Only those around Aira's age.
Aira turned, but her legs failed her. Her body crumbled to the forest floor.
Nina…Still silent.
"No—no, please—not now," she whispered desperately.
A heavy grip wrapped around her waist, yanking her back.
"No!" Lila's voice rang out. "Let her go!"
Aira tried to fight—tried to scream—but her limbs were limp, her strength shattered.
She caught one last glimpse of her friend before Lila was tackled by two cloaked rogues, pinned and snarling.
"LILA!" Aira shouted.
A sharp crack hit the side of her skull.A blinding flash of pain.And then…
Darkness.