ELENA'S POV
I can't move.
The pregnancy test lies two feet from my face, mocking me from the floor where I've collapsed. My entire body feels like it's being torn apart from the inside. The mate bond breaking isn't like cutting a rope—it's like ripping out my spine one vertebra at a time.
"Get up," I whisper to myself. "Get up, Elena."
But I can't. The pain is eating me alive.
Footsteps echo in the hallway outside. Pack members walking past Chase's office. I hear them pause, hear the whispers.
"Is that the Luna on the floor?"
"Oh my goddess, he actually did it."
"About time. She never belonged here anyway."
They keep walking. Nobody opens the door. Nobody helps.
They knew. The whole pack knew this was coming, and nobody warned me.
I manage to lift my head. Blood drips from my nose onto the carpet—rejection hemorrhaging, my wolf dying inside me. The ultrasound picture stares at me from Chase's desk, the tiny blob that's my baby. Our baby.
The baby he saw and walked away from.
"You have to protect them," I gasp to myself. Them. The pack doctor said my hormone levels were high. Twins, maybe. "Get up. Protect your babies."
The word "babies" gives me strength I didn't know I had. I drag myself to my knees, then my feet. The world spins. My wolf is silent—not dead yet, but close. So close.
I grab the ultrasound picture and shove it in my pocket with the pregnancy test. Evidence. Proof that this happened. That he knew and didn't care.
The door suddenly slams open.
I flinch, thinking Chase came back, but it's worse. Three pack women stand there—Jessica, Miranda, and Casey. They used to smile at me during Luna meetings. Used to call me friend.
Now their faces show nothing but disgust.
"You need to leave," Jessica says. "The Alpha doesn't want you here anymore."
"This is my home." My voice cracks. "I'm still Luna—"
"You're nothing." Miranda throws a trash bag at my feet. "We packed your clothes. Well, the ones that actually belong to you. The nice dresses Chase bought? Those stay. You didn't earn them."
Casey laughs. It's a cruel sound. "Did you really think you were good enough for him? You're an orphan. No family, no pack history, no power. Lydia is everything you could never be."
"Lydia?" The name tastes like poison. "She's his friend—"
"She's his chosen mate now," Jessica interrupts. "They're probably sealing the bond right now, if you know what I mean."
The image hits me like a punch. Chase with Lydia. Touching her the way he used to touch me. Loving her while I bleed on his office floor.
"He saw the test," I whisper. "I'm pregnant. He saw it."
The three women exchange glances. Miranda's smile turns vicious.
"Oh, we know," she says. "Everyone knows. You think that changes anything? Alpha Chase wants pure bloodline heirs, not bastards from a nobody Luna. If you're smart, you'll get rid of it before you leave."
Get rid of it.
Get rid of my baby.
Something inside me snaps, but it's not breaking—it's hardening. Turning to steel.
"Get out," I say quietly.
"Excuse me?" Jessica steps forward. "You don't give orders anymore—"
"GET OUT!" My voice comes out as a command, backed by Luna authority I didn't know I still had. All three women stumble backward, their wolves forcing them to submit even though they don't want to.
I grab the trash bag and push past them into the hallway. Pack members line the walls, watching. Waiting. Like this is entertainment.
I see Malcolm, the head warrior who I helped train. He looks away.
I see Sarah, whose daughter I taught to read. She whispers something to her friend and they both laugh.
I see everyone I thought was family, and not one of them meets my eyes.
The walk to my bedroom feels like walking through fire. Every step hurts. The rejection wound is bleeding internally—I can feel it. By tomorrow, I might be dead.
But I have to try. For the babies.
I throw what little belongs to me into the trash bag. Clothes from before I met Chase. A photo of my dead parents. The necklace my mother left me.
A sound from downstairs makes me freeze.
Lydia's laugh. High and triumphant.
Then Chase's voice, lower, rumbling. He's laughing too.
My hands start shaking. I move to the bedroom door and crack it open.
From the top of the stairs, I can see into the living room. Chase sits on the couch with Lydia curled against his side, exactly where I used to sit for movie nights. His arm is around her shoulders.
"I can't believe you finally did it," Lydia purrs. "I've been waiting so long."
"I should have done it years ago," Chase says, and he sounds relieved. Happy. "You were right. Elena was holding me back. Too weak, too simple. She never understood what being Luna really meant."
"And now we can be together properly." Lydia tilts her face up to him. "The way we were always meant to be."
They kiss.
I watch my mate—my former mate—kiss another woman in our home, on our couch, probably planning to sleep in our bed.
And he looks happier than I've seen him in months.
The trash bag falls from my numb fingers.
"Oh!" Lydia's voice turns syrupy sweet. "Elena! We didn't know you were still here."
She did. They both did. This was intentional.
Chase finally looks at me. His eyes are cold, empty of the love that used to live there. "You should be gone by now."
"I'm pregnant." The words rip out of me. "Chase, I'm carrying your babies. Doesn't that mean anything?"
For just a second—one tiny second—something flickers across his face. Regret? Pain?
Then Lydia's hand touches his chest, and his expression goes blank again.
"That's not my problem," he says. "You should have thought about that before you became such a disappointment."
The world tilts. I grip the stair railing to stay upright.
"If you're still here in an hour, I'll have security remove you," Chase continues. "And Elena? If you try to claim those children are mine, I'll make sure everyone knows you're a liar looking for money."
He turns back to Lydia, dismissing me completely.
I stumble down the stairs, grab my trash bag, and run for the front door.
Behind me, I hear Lydia say sweetly: "Should we redecorate the Luna's bedroom? I've always hated those curtains."
And Chase responds: "Whatever you want, my love. It's your room now."
I burst out into the night, and the packhouse doors slam shut behind me.
Locked out.
Cast out.
Rejected and pregnant and dying from a broken mate bond.
I make it to the edge of pack territory before my legs give out. I collapse in the dirt, blood now coming from my mouth. The rejection is killing me faster than I thought.
My hand moves to my stomach. "I'm sorry," I whisper to the babies who don't know yet that their father threw them away. "I'm so sorry."
A growl rumbles from the darkness ahead.
I look up and see glowing eyes. Multiple pairs.
Rogues.
I'm alone, wounded, and bleeding on the edge of territory. Easy prey.
The largest wolf steps into the moonlight, and I see scars covering his face and body. A massive beast that looks like he's fought through hell.
"Well, well," a male voice says as he shifts to human form. "What do we have here? A rejected Luna, if I'm smelling that bond-break right."
More wolves emerge from the shadows. Six of them. All staring at me like I'm dinner.
"Please," I gasp. "I'm pregnant. Just let me—"
"Pregnant?" The scarred man tilts his head. "Then you're worth even more. Some packs pay good money for breeding females."
He reaches for me.
I close my eyes and wait for the end.
But instead of pain, I hear a massive roar that shakes the trees.
A giant black wolf explodes from the forest—bigger than any wolf I've ever seen. He crashes into the scarred man, sending him flying. The other rogues scatter, but the black wolf is faster.
In seconds, it's over. The rogues are either dead or running.
The black wolf turns to me. His eyes are amber, almost gold.
He shifts into a man who's more scars than skin, built like a mountain, with a face that's seen too much violence.
"You're dying," he says flatly. "Rejection hemorrhage. You've got maybe twelve hours."
"I know." I can barely whisper now.
"You're also pregnant. Twins, from the scent."
Tears stream down my face. "Please. Save them. I don't care what happens to me, but save my babies."
The man crouches down, studying me with sharp eyes. "Why would I do that?"
"Because..." I search for something, anything. "Because nobody saved you either. I can see it in your scars. And maybe... maybe you're tired of letting innocent things die."
His expression doesn't change, but something shifts in his eyes.
"You want to live?" he asks.
"For them. Only for them."
"Then you're going to have to fight harder than you've ever fought." He lifts me easily. "My name's Marcus Stone. And I'm about to teach a rejected Luna how to become an Alpha."
My vision goes black as he carries me into the forest.
Away from the pack that threw me away.
Away from the mate who chose another.
Into a future I never planned.
But as darkness takes me, one thought burns through the pain:
Chase will regret this. They all will.
I'll make sure of it.