The Luna they threw away

Chapter 3

Hard POV

Walking back into the pack after everything felt… wrong.Like the walls were smaller, the air heavier, and everybody suddenly had something to say without actually saying it.

People didn’t even bother hiding the whispers.

“That’s her…”“The rejected one…”“Poor girl…”

I kept walking, but every whisper felt like a tiny cut. I didn’t want pity. I didn’t want attention. I just wanted to breathe without feeling like someone was watching me fall apart.

My mom hugged me the second I stepped in, squeezing me like she was trying to hold the pieces of me together. My dad looked at me the way Alphas do trying to see if I was strong enough to push through.

I told them both the same lie:“I’m okay.”

I wasn’t.

The whole week felt like torture.

Everywhere I went… he was there.Kade didn’t talk to me. Didn’t look at me. Didn’t even say sorry. He acted like rejecting me was nothing. Like breaking someone’s heart was a normal Tuesday.

And the worst part?

It wasn’t the bond that made it hurt.It was me.

Because I’d loved that man since before my wolf ever woke up. Before destiny ever said his name next to mine.

I shifted early thirteen Most girls shift atfourteen thirteen, boys at sixteen, but my wolf came out because of him.One night, he helped me during training when some older boys pushed me too far. He probably forgot. But I didn’t.

That night, my wolf woke up because she felt safe for the first time.

And he never even knew.

Astra whispered inside me, “We can’t keep doing this.”

She was right.Just seeing him walk into the room made my whole chest hurt. Not the mate bond — that was gone. It was the normal kind of hurt. The human kind.

By the seventh day, I knew I couldn’t stay.Not here. Not like this.

I couldn’t pretend to be okay.I couldn’t watch him move on like I never meant anything.I couldn’t stand the looks pity, curiosity, judgment.

I realized something simple and ugly:

I didn’t belong here anymore.

My dad always talked like I’d take over the pack one day, but the Alpha line didn’t pass to daughters. It had to go to a male heir. And he didn’t have sons.

So guess who was next in line?

The Beta’s son.Kade.

Everything in this pack would end up his anyway.

I wasn’t staying for a future that wasn’t even mine.

Early the next morning — before the sun even thought about rising I packed a small bag. Just clothes. Nothing special. I stared around my room, taking everything in.

Astra whispered, “You’re not scared?”

“I’m scared,” I admitted. “But staying here hurts more.”

I walked out quietly.No goodbyes.No explanations.No dramatic speech.

I crossed the pack border with my heart pounding, expecting someone to yell my name, expecting Kade to come running like some last-minute miracle.

Nothing.

Just silence.

The border magic brushed against me — not painful, just cold. Like the pack was saying, “If you go, that’s on you.”

I stepped into the human world for the first time.Cars. Streetlights. People who didn’t smell like wolves or know anything about me. And honestly? It felt weird. And lonely. And strangely freeing.

I took a deep breath.

For the first time in my life, no one expected anything from me.Not to be a Luna.Not to be strong.Not to be the perfect Alpha’s daughter.

Just… me.Whoever that was.

Behind me, somewhere deep in the forest, a single howl rose.Raw. Loud. Almost angry.

Astra froze.“Hart … that’s Kade.”

I looked straight ahead and kept walking.

If he was howling for me now, it didn’t matter.He should’ve chosen me when he had the chance.

And I wasn’t turning back.

The farther I walked, the quieter my mind became. No whispers, no judgment, no heavy eyes watching my every move. Just the sound of my boots on the dirt and the wind brushing past me. It felt strange, almost unreal, like stepping out of one life and slipping into another without warning.

I didn’t have a plan. No money, no apartment, no idea how humans lived day to day. But somehow, that didn’t scare me as much as staying in that pack another second. Pain can push you out of places you thought you’d die in.

Astra finally spoke, her voice soft. “We’re not weak for leaving.”

“I know,” I whispered. “We’re just… done.”

And saying that out loud felt like lifting a weight off my chest. Maybe the world ahead was messy. Maybe it’d break me too.But at least it would be my choice this time.