The sky shouldn't look this beautiful on the night my life ends.
A silver moon hung above the Midnight Fang Pack's courtyard, the light reflecting off the stone ground where I stood — alone, trembling, and seconds away from losing everything.
My fingers curled over my stomach — over him. My baby. The only reason I was still breathing.
My voice came out as a whisper. "Riven… please don't do this."
Alpha Riven Valtoria — my fated mate, my lawful husband — stared at me with eyes colder than death. Once, I would have sworn the moon blessed me when it chose him for me. Now… the moon felt like a curse.
We stood before the pack members gathered as witnesses — no, not witnesses — vultures waiting for me to break. Wolves who once bowed to me as their Luna now smirked, satisfied that a wolfless, pathetic she-wolf like me was finally being thrown away.
Riven took a single step closer. The blue glow of the moon caught the edges of his sharp jaw, hardening his expression. His voice was a verdict slicing through my chest:
"I, Alpha Riven Valtoria, reject you, Liora Hale, as my mate and Luna."
My knees nearly buckled.
I had known he didn't love me.
I had known he married me only because my family arranged it.
I had known he wanted another.
But hearing those words…
It was like claws ripping through my heart.
"No…" My breath fractured. "Not like this. I love you, Riven. I—"
"Love?" He scoffed. "You think that's enough? You've brought nothing but weakness to me."
His gaze dropped to my stomach — to the child we created on our wedding night. His expression twisted into disgust.
"And that pup — how am I supposed to know it's even mine?"
Gasps echoed through the wolves gathered.
The humiliation burned hotter than fire.
I staggered backward, shaking my head. "You know it's yours. I would never—"
"Would you like to tell them," a poison-sweet voice cut in, "or should I?"
Serena Nightbane stepped from the crowd. She moved like a serpent — seductive, deadly, wearing a victorious smirk. Riven's Beta's sister. My cousin. The woman who always wanted everything that belonged to me.
She wrapped her arm through his, claiming him openly, proudly.
"She thought getting pregnant would force you to claim her," she said loudly to the crowd. "Pathetic."
My heart cracked, sharp and merciless.
Even worse — Riven didn't push Serena away.
He didn't deny her words.
He didn't defend me.
I begged again, quieter now, my pride bleeding out beneath me.
"Riven… I'm carrying your heir. Don't do this. Please."
He looked down at me with triumph and cruel satisfaction — as if breaking me made him stronger.
"You are weak. Wolfless. Worthless." His voice was cold steel.
"You were a mistake — one I will no longer tolerate."
Something inside me shattered beyond repair.
Before I could breathe again, he turned to the guards:
"Exile her. Immediately. And ensure she never steps foot into Midnight Fang territory again."
A pause. A darker command.
"If she returns — kill her."
A sound escaped me — part cry, part disbelief.
They were going to throw me out. Pregnant. Defenseless.
A death sentence.
"Riven!" I reached for him desperately.
He stepped back as if touching me would stain him.
Serena smiled wide, victorious.
"You hear that, cousin? Only the strong survive."
Anger rushed through me, fierce and hot, but grief drowned it just as fast.
All around me, wolves who once bowed their heads to me now sneered, whispering.
"She never deserved him."
"Wolfless freak."
"She can't even shift — why did the Moon Goddess choose her?"
"Good riddance."
Their words stung — but not as much as his silence.
I looked at Riven — one final, broken look — and I realized something:
The man fate bound me to was never my salvation.
He was my destroyer.
I wiped my tears with a shaking hand.
"Someday," I whispered, my voice hollowed by agony,
"you will regret this."
Riven didn't even blink.
Guards grabbed my arms. I stumbled, clutching my belly instinctively, terrified they'd hurt the pup inside.
No — not my child.
Not my only reason to live.
I twisted, screaming, "I will protect him! I will—"
A hard shove knocked the breath from me. Cold wind hit my face as they dragged me through the iron gates and onto the dirt road leading into the forbidden forest.
The gates slammed shut behind me.
Everything I had ever known…
gone.
The night swallowed me whole — icy air chilling my bones.
My baby kicked, as if sensing my fear.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, tears dripping onto my shaking hands.
"I'll keep you safe. I promise."
But the forest was dark, dangerous. Rogues lurked in the shadows. I was slow, weak, pregnant — easy prey.
Thunder rolled as if the sky mourned with me.
Lightning flashed — revealing eyes in the bushes.
A low growl vibrated through the trees.
No. Not now. Please not now—
I forced myself forward, pain stabbing my abdomen.
"Just… a little more…" I gasped.
But then — agony unlike anything I had ever felt tore through my stomach. I collapsed to my knees, screaming.
Not labor. Not yet. Too soon—
The world spun violently. Dirt pressed against my cheek as I fought to stay conscious.
My vision blurred.
My limbs trembled.
I tasted blood.
This couldn't be the end.
Not like this.
Not before I met the little life I'd given everything for.
A shape emerged from the shadows — tall, imposing, glowing amber eyes locked onto me.
Footsteps approached — confident, powerful. Not a rogue. Not a guard.
A deep voice broke through my fading consciousness:
"Moon help us… she's carrying the Alpha's heir."
I tried to lift my head — to see the man the Moon had sent to find me.
But darkness pulled me under before I could speak a word.