Branded a Flawed Luna,I Severed Our Sacred Bond

The oak door of our honeymoon suite burst inward. I woke with the wedding silks twisted around my legs. Alpha Kaelen stood in the doorway. Selena hid behind his shoulder, crying hard enough to stain the front of her dress. Only a few hours earlier, Kaelen had promised to protect me before the whole pack. Now his eyes held none of the warmth from our wedding night. Behind him, the strange healer wore an expression of practiced concern, the sort meant for a patient who could no longer be trusted to speak for herself. “She tried to poison me,” Selena said. Her finger shook as she pointed at me. “She called me a disease. She said she would cleanse the pack of me.” For a second, I could only stare. White Wolf blood heals. Every wolf in the room knew that. “Kaelen.” I reached through our mate bond. The golden thread between us had always carried truth more cleanly than words. *Tell me you don’t believe her.* His warmth touched me, then vanished behind a wall. He stepped into the room. A wolf in a healer’s white coat followed him, someone I had never met. “Your jealousy has become a sickness, Elara,” Kaelen said. “Elder Thorne diagnosed you with Jealousy Delusion Disorder. The flaw is in your bloodline. It needs correcting.” I pushed the sheets aside. My wolf paced under my skin, searching for the mate she knew. “You met this human days ago. I’m your bonded mate. Which one of us can you feel through the bond?” “Enough.” Alpha power struck before I could stand. Air left my lungs. My knees hit the stone floor, and pain shot up both legs. Kaelen watched me stay there. The command kept pressing after I was down. My wolf snarled inside my chest, but my body would not rise. He had used the bond and his rank together, making sure I understood that kneeling was the point. Two guards came in. Neither looked at my face as they hauled me up by the arms. “This is temporary,” Kaelen said. His gaze moved over my torn nightdress without a trace of embarrassment. “You’ll receive therapy at the Luna Correction Center. Once your mind is clear, you’ll understand why this is good for the pack. You always do.” *You always do.* He expected the same ending as every argument before it: I would calm down, forgive him, and make his decision work. The guards took me north before sunrise. By the time the wagon reached the mountains, mist covered the road and frost had formed inside the iron window. The Luna Correction Center stood at the bottom of a narrow valley. Grey walls, one gate, no village nearby. It looked built to keep people from being found. Mist covered the walls and swallowed the mountain road behind us. Nothing about the place resembled a healer’s lodge. The gate shut once the wagon entered, and the sound carried across the whole courtyard. Elder Thorne met me inside. “Welcome, Luna Elara.” His smile never reached his eyes. “We’ll help you find peace. Once the wildness is gone, you’ll feel much better.” He led me to a white room with a narrow bed and a small table. There were no windows. He set down a cup of blue liquid that turned slowly on its own. “Drink.” I wanted to throw it at him. Kaelen’s command still sat in my bones, holding every muscle tight. I managed to lift the cup and swallow. The room lost its edges. My arms grew heavy. When I called for my wolf, I heard only a faint whine somewhere far away. Thorne drew up a chair and took my hand. “We’ll begin with a small sample. It lets us measure the impurity.” A crystal needle pierced my fingertip. One white drop rose from the cut, bright enough to shine through the drugged haze. Thorne caught it in a vial. The drop hung in the air for a second before the crystal pulled it in. I watched it settle at the bottom, still glowing. Thorne followed it with his eyes and forgot to look sympathetic. He held the vial toward the ceiling light. His smile changed. For the first time that morning, he looked fully awake. “Let go of your pride,” he said, patting my hand. “Accept the treatment, and you can be whole again.” The lock turned behind him when he left. I pressed my thumb over the cut. The wound had already closed, yet something inside me remained sore and empty. The vial had taken more than a drop.