Aria's POV
"I'm not going," I said, backing away from Riley as she tried to pull me toward the door.
"You have to," Riley insisted. "If you don't show up, everyone will think you're a coward. They'll think you're running away."
"Maybe I am a coward," I said, my voice cracking. "Maybe running away is exactly what I should do."
"Aria Moonstone, you listen to me." Riley grabbed my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes. "You are the strongest person I know. You survived being an orphan in this pack. You awakened moon-blessed powers that haven't been seen in a century. You healed a dying Alpha with your bare hands. You are not a coward."
"Then why do I feel so scared?" I whispered.
"Because you're about to watch the man you love promise himself to someone else," Riley said gently. "Anyone would be scared."
Through my cottage window, I could see pack members walking toward the great hall. Families with children. Elderly wolves leaning on walking sticks. Everyone was going to witness Damon's announcement.
Everyone was going to watch me get my heart broken in public.
"What if I can't handle it?" I asked. "What if I break down in front of everyone?"
"Then you break down," Riley said firmly. "But you do it with your head held high. You show them that Aria Moonstone doesn't hide in the shadows anymore."
Despite everything, her words gave me strength. She was right. I had spent my whole life being invisible, being nobody. If this was going to be my last night in the Blackwood Pack, I wouldn't spend it hiding.
"Okay," I said, taking a deep breath. "Let's go."
The great hall was packed. Every seat was taken, and people were standing along the walls. The air buzzed with nervous energy and whispered conversations.
I found a spot in the very back, hoping to blend into the crowd. But as soon as I walked in, heads started turning. Whispers followed me like a wave.
"That's her. The omega who thought she could be Luna."
"Poor thing. She actually believed the Alpha would choose her."
"I heard she has some kind of strange power. Maybe she put a spell on him."
Each comment hit me like a small knife, but I kept my back straight and my chin up. Riley stayed close beside me, glaring at anyone who looked at me with pity or cruelty.
Elder Marcus walked onto the platform at the front of the hall, and the crowd fell silent. Behind him came the other pack elders, all wearing serious expressions.
Then Damon appeared.
My heart clenched at the sight of him. He looked like a man walking to his execution. His face was pale and drawn, his golden eyes dull with pain. He moved like every step was agony.
But he was still beautiful. Still the Alpha who had held me in his arms just hours ago. Still the man who had whispered that he loved me.
Isabella Sterling entered last, and the contrast between her and Damon was striking. Where he looked broken, she looked triumphant. Her blonde hair was perfectly styled, her clothes expensive and elegant. She placed a possessive hand on her slightly rounded belly, making sure everyone could see she was pregnant.
"Pack members," Elder Marcus began, his voice carrying across the silent hall. "We are here tonight to address the crisis facing our pack. As you know, the Sterling Pack has issued an ultimatum. Marriage or war."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Everyone knew why we were here, but hearing it said out loud made it real.
"Alpha Damon has made his decision," Elder Marcus continued. "A decision that will protect our pack and secure our future."
I held my breath, even though I already knew what was coming.
"Alpha Damon Blackwood will marry Isabella Sterling in three days' time, uniting our packs in a bond of peace and cooperation."
The hall erupted in mixed reactions. Some people cheered, happy that war had been avoided. Others looked worried, unsure about joining with the Sterling Pack. A few glanced back at me with sympathy.
I felt like I was drowning, but I forced myself to keep breathing. This was what I had expected. What I had prepared for.
But then Elder Marcus raised his hand for silence, and I realized he wasn't finished.
"However," he said, and something in his tone made my blood turn cold, "pack law requires that Alpha Damon formally reject any previous mate claims before entering into this new union."
No. Oh no.
Elder Marcus turned to look directly at me across the crowded hall. "Aria Moonstone, step forward."
Every eye in the room turned to stare at me. I felt like a deer caught in headlights, frozen with terror and humiliation.
"Aria," Riley whispered urgently. "You have to go up there."
My legs felt like they were made of water, but somehow I started walking. The crowd parted in front of me, creating a path to the platform. Each step felt like walking through quicksand.
When I reached the front, I had to climb three steps to stand on the platform with Damon and the elders. Up close, I could see how much pain Damon was in. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, and his jaw was so tight I thought it might crack.
"Aria Moonstone," Elder Marcus said formally, "Alpha Damon must officially reject any mate bond between you in order to proceed with his marriage to Isabella Sterling."
I looked out at the sea of faces staring up at me. Some looked curious, some looked pitying, some looked cruel. All of them were waiting to watch me get destroyed.
Then I looked at Damon.
Our eyes met, and I saw my own pain reflected in his golden gaze. He looked like he was dying inside. His lips moved silently, and I could read the words: "I'm sorry."
"Alpha Damon," Elder Marcus prompted. "Please proceed with the rejection."
Damon cleared his throat and stepped forward. His voice was barely above a whisper when he spoke.
"Aria Moonstone," he said, and each word seemed to tear something inside him. "I, Alpha Damon Blackwood, formally reject you as my mate."
The words hit me like a physical blow. Even though I had known they were coming, hearing them out loud was devastating.
But I wouldn't let them see me break.
"I accept your rejection," I said, my voice surprisingly steady. "Alpha Damon Blackwood."
The formal words hung in the air between us like a wall. According to pack law, we were no longer mates. The bond between us was officially severed.
But I could still feel it. The connection between us hadn't disappeared just because some old man said words over us. If anything, it felt stronger, like a rubber band being stretched to its breaking point.
"The rejection is witnessed and accepted," Elder Marcus announced. "Alpha Damon is now free to marry Isabella Sterling."
Isabella smiled like she'd won a prize, but Damon looked like he'd lost everything that mattered.
"This concludes tonight's announcement," Elder Marcus said. "The wedding will take place in three days. All pack members are expected to attend and show their support for our new Luna."
People started filing out of the hall, chattering excitedly about the upcoming wedding. A few stopped to offer me awkward condolences, but most just stared as they walked past.
I stood frozen on the platform, unable to move. It was over. Really, truly over.
"Aria," Riley appeared at my elbow. "Come on. Let's get you home."
I let her guide me down the steps and toward the exit. We were almost to the door when a hand grabbed my arm.
"Wait."
It was Damon. He had followed us, leaving Isabella and the elders behind.
"Please," he said desperately. "Can we talk? Just for a minute?"
Riley looked like she wanted to punch him. "I think you've said enough for one night, Alpha."
"It's okay," I said quietly. "I'll meet you at the cottage."
Riley squeezed my hand and whispered, "If he hurts you any more, I'm going to kill him myself."
After she left, Damon and I stood in the empty hallway, not knowing what to say to each other.
"I'm sorry," he finally whispered. "I'm so sorry, Aria. I never wanted it to happen like this."
"But you did want it to happen," I said. "You chose her. You chose the baby. You chose your duty over me."
"I chose the pack!" Damon said desperately. "I chose keeping everyone alive over my own happiness. That's what being an Alpha means."
"And what does being your rejected mate mean?" I asked. "What am I supposed to do now?"
Damon was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was barely audible.
"Run away with me."
I stared at him in shock. "What?"
"Run away with me," he repeated, grabbing my hands. "Tonight. Right now. We'll leave everything behind and start over somewhere else. Just you and me."
"Are you insane?" I pulled my hands away. "You just rejected me in front of the entire pack. You just agreed to marry Isabella. You're having a baby with her!"
"The baby isn't mine," Damon said desperately.
The words hit me like lightning. "What?"
"The baby isn't mine, Aria. Isabella was already pregnant when she came here. The father is some Alpha from another pack who rejected her. She's been lying about everything."
My world tilted sideways. "Then why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you expose her?"
"Because her father threatened to destroy evidence of your royal bloodline," Damon said. "If I refused to marry Isabella, he would make sure the Pack Council learned you're Shadow Pack royalty. They would have taken you away, used you as a political weapon. I couldn't let that happen."
I felt like I couldn't breathe. "So you sacrificed yourself to protect me?"
"I sacrificed us to protect you," Damon corrected. "But I can't do it anymore. I can't marry her. I can't live without you."
"Damon," I whispered.
"Please," he begged. "Say yes. Say you'll run away with me. We'll find somewhere far from all the politics and pack wars. Somewhere we can just be together."
I looked into his desperate golden eyes and saw the man I had fallen in love with. Not the Alpha. Not the leader. Just Damon, who loved me enough to give up everything.
"Yes," I whispered.
Relief flooded his face. "Really?"
"Yes. Let's run away together."
Damon pulled me into his arms and kissed me like a drowning man coming up for air. For a moment, everything else disappeared. There was no Isabella, no wedding, no pack politics. Just us.
But when we broke apart, I saw something over his shoulder that made my heart stop.
Isabella Sterling stood in the doorway, smiling that cold, cruel smile I had learned to hate.
And she wasn't alone. Behind her stood six Sterling Pack guards, all armed with silver weapons.
"How touching," she said sweetly. "But I'm afraid no one's going anywhere."