Elara's POV
"No!" I lunged for Kieran, but Dante's hand clamped around my wrist like iron.
"Security to my office. Now." His voice was cold and calm, like he was ordering coffee instead of destroying my entire world. Like he hadn't just told me another woman would raise our son.
My son. The baby I'd almost died bringing into this world. The child I'd loved every single second of his five years of life.
"Dante, please." I hated how my voice broke. Hated how weak I sounded. But I'd beg if it meant keeping Kieran. "We can fix this. Whatever's wrong between us, we can—"
"There's nothing to fix." He released my wrist and stepped back like touching me disgusted him. "There never was anything real to begin with. I thought I could learn to love you. I was wrong."
The words hit like a physical blow. Six years. Six years of trying to be perfect for him. Of making his favorite meals even when I was exhausted. Of nursing him through silver poisoning that nearly killed him. Of smiling through pack events while other Lunas whispered that I wasn't strong enough, wasn't wolf enough, wasn't good enough for an Alpha like Dante Blackwood.
And he'd never loved me at all.
Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway. Four massive security guards appeared, their faces carefully blank. They knew me—I'd bandaged their wounds, brought them soup when they were sick, remembered all their children's names.
Now they looked through me like I was already gone.
"Escort Elara to my office," Dante ordered. "The pack council is waiting."
Ice flooded my veins. "The council? Dante, what are you—"
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be." He nodded to the guards, and they moved forward.
I wanted to fight. Wanted to shift into my wolf and tear through them to reach Kieran. But my wolf had always been weak—barely there, really. Another failure Dante's mother loved to point out.
The guards gripped my arms, not quite gentle but not brutal either. They marched me down the hallway of the house I'd lived in for six years. Past the kitchen where I'd made thousands of meals. Past the living room where Kieran took his first steps. Past family photos that would probably be burned by tomorrow.
Selena watched from the bedroom doorway, wrapped in Dante's robe. Her smile was small and satisfied. She'd won. My best friend since childhood had taken everything, and she looked happy about it.
"I'm sorry, Elara," she called out, not sounding sorry at all. "But sometimes the Moon Goddess corrects her mistakes."
I wanted to scream at her. Wanted to ask how she could betray me like this. But the guards pulled me forward, and then we were descending the stairs to Dante's office.
The massive oak doors stood open. Inside, the entire pack council sat in a semicircle—twelve of the most powerful wolves in Shadowpine Pack. Dante's mother, former Luna Margaret, sat in the center seat, her expression cold and triumphant.
She'd never liked me. Never thought I was good enough for her precious son.
Now she finally had her wish.
The guards pushed me into the center of the room and stepped back. Dante entered behind us and took his place at the head of the council table. He looked like a king presiding over a trial.
I was about to be sentenced.
"Elara Frost," Margaret spoke first, her voice ringing through the room. "You have been called before this council to answer for your failures as Luna of the Shadowpine Pack."
"Failures?" My voice came out too small, too scared. I cleared my throat and tried again. "What failures? I've done everything—"
"You failed to provide a proper heir." Margaret's eyes were merciless. "Your son is weak. Human-weak. He shows no signs of wolf abilities at five years old, which is highly unusual and concerning."
Kieran wasn't weak. He was perfect. So what if his wolf hadn't appeared yet? Some children developed later.
"You failed to strengthen pack alliances," another council member added. "Your family has no connections, no power, nothing to offer."
"You failed to earn the pack's respect," said another. "Members openly question your authority."
They kept listing my failures, each one cutting deeper. I'd tried so hard. Worked myself to exhaustion trying to be worthy. But nothing had ever been enough.
"Most importantly," Dante spoke now, his ice-blue eyes boring into me, "you failed to be my true mate. I, Dante Blackwood, Alpha of the Shadowpine Pack, hereby reject you as my mate and Luna. The bond between us is severed. You are no longer part of this pack."
The formal words hit like silver bullets. I gasped, expecting the mate bond to tear apart, expecting agonizing pain.
But I felt... nothing. No pain. No bond breaking.
Because there had never been a bond to break.
Tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not here. Not in front of these people who'd never valued me.
"Your belongings have been packed," Margaret said with clear satisfaction. "You have one hour to leave pack lands. If you resist, you will be removed by force. If you attempt to contact anyone in this pack, especially Kieran, you will be arrested for trespassing."
"You can't keep me from my son!" The words exploded out of me. "I'm his mother!"
"Selena will be his mother now," Dante said flatly. "She's already bonded with him. He chose her, Elara. You saw it yourself."
The memory of Kieran running past me to hug Selena crashed over me. My baby. My little boy who used to reach for me first thing every morning. Who used to say I was his favorite person in the whole world.
When had that changed? How had I missed it?
"Please." I dropped to my knees, pride forgotten. "Please don't take him from me. I'll leave quietly. I'll never challenge you. Just let me see him sometimes. Let me—"
"No." Dante's voice was final. "It's cleaner this way. Better for everyone."
Better for everyone except me.
The guards hauled me to my feet. They marched me through the house one last time. My suitcases—two small bags containing six years of my life—waited by the front door.
Pack members lined the hallway, watching. Some looked uncomfortable. Most looked indifferent. A few smiled.
I'd given everything to these people. And they were watching me get thrown away like garbage.
The guards opened the front door. Bright afternoon sunlight streamed in, blinding after the darkness inside. They pushed me onto the porch, dropped my bags beside me.
"You have fifty-eight minutes," one guard said quietly. "I'm sorry, Luna."
Former Luna. I wasn't anyone's Luna anymore.
I grabbed my bags, my hands shaking so badly I almost dropped them. I had to get out. Had to leave before I completely fell apart.
But something made me look up at the house one last time.
Kieran stood in his bedroom window on the second floor. His small face pressed against the glass, amber eyes—my eyes—staring down at me.
My heart leaped. He did care. He did—
I raised my hand in a small wave, trying to smile through my tears.
Kieran looked at me for one long moment.
Then he turned away and disappeared from view.
The pain of that—of my own child rejecting me—was worse than anything the council had said. Worse than Dante's cold words. Worse than losing my home and my title.
My son had chosen her over me.
I stumbled down the porch steps, my vision blurred with tears. I had to get away. Had to reach the pack borders before I completely shattered.
The massive iron gates that marked the edge of pack lands loomed ahead. Freedom. Prison. I didn't know which anymore.
I was almost there when I heard it—a low, dangerous growl from the forest beyond the gates.
I froze.
Glowing eyes appeared in the shadows between the trees. One pair. Two. Five. Ten.
Rogue wolves.
They'd been waiting for this. Waiting for Shadowpine Pack to throw out their Luna, leaving her weak and unprotected.
The largest rogue stepped forward, lips pulled back to reveal massive fangs.
And I realized with horrible clarity that Dante hadn't just rejected me.
He'd sent me to my death.