CAST OUT
1183 Words
The ride back home was painfully quiet.
No one said a word. My father sat in the front beside the driver. My mother sat quietly beside him while I sat alone in the backseat, my legs shook and my hands trembled.
I knew the silence wouldn’t last.
I knew once we got home, they wouldn’t go easy on me.
When the gates of the Crescent Moon Pack opened, I felt my stomach twist. The packhouse stood tall ahead, cold and unwelcoming. Warriors stood outside, their eyes filled with confusion and disappointment as they watched us drive past.
They all knew.
Everyone knew.
I was carrying a stranger’s child.
The car stopped.
I sat frozen, all I wished for at that moment was to vanish.
But I couldn’t.
I followed my parents as they stepped out of the car.
When we entered the main hall of the packhouse, my father stopped suddenly.
I looked up.
Alpha Andrew was standing there, arms crossed, his face full of anger and pride.
Then something I never expected happened.
My father—the great Alpha I once admired—slowly fell to his knees in front of Andrew.
“No,” I whispered in shock.
“Alpha Andrew, please...” my father said softly. “Forgive us.”
My chest burned. My body trembled with anger.
My father—my Alpha—was begging.
Begging for mercy from the very man who had betrayed me.
Andrew looked down at my father with s cold glare. His voice was sharp and filled with anger.
“She has stained my name. She has brought shame to me and my entire pack.”
I couldn’t take it.
“How dare you!” I shouted, stepping forward. “You’re talking about betrayal? You betrayed me first! You cheated on me with my cousin! Don’t pretend to be the victim here.”
Before I could say another word, pain exploded across my face.
My father had slapped me.
Hard.
My head spun.
My cheek burned.
Tears stung my eyes as I stared at him, shocked, shaking.
He didn’t even look at me.
Instead, he turned back to Andrew and bowed his head lower.
“I apologize for my daughter’s disrespect, Alpha Andrew.”
Andrew sneered. “I don’t care for your apologies.”
My father’s shoulders slumped.
Andrew’s next words crushed whatever hope I had left.
“The alliance is over. I’m calling off the marriage.”
The hall fell silent.
I thought I should feel relief.
But then Andrew’s voice grew darker.
“And worse,” he said coldly, “I’m bringing my army to your gates. Soon, my men will take over this pack. You’ll lose everything.”
“No...” my mother whispered.
My father’s body trembled. “Please... please, Alpha Andrew. Don’t destroy us.”
Andrew stared at him for a long, cruel moment. Then he said, “There is one condition.”
My father looked up quickly, desperate.
“Anything.”
Andrew’s eyes flicked to me, full of disgust.
“Make her get rid of the pup.”
I froze.
“What?” my father breathed.
Andrew’s voice didn’t waver. “If she ends the pregnancy, I’ll spare your pack. That’s the only way.”
My heart stopped.
I shook my head. “No.”
“Ava—” my father started.
“No!” I screamed, my voice breaking. “You want me to kill my child? My baby?”
“You have no choice,” my father said, his voice cold and tired. “You’ve ruined everything.”
“How could you even think that?” I cried. “This is your grandchild!”
He stepped toward me, his face stone. “That child is the reason this pack is about to fall.”
“It’s not the baby’s fault! How could you think of killing an innocent life?”
“Enough!”
I flinched at the roar of his voice.
“You will do as I say.”
“I won’t,” I whispered as tears rolled down my cheeks. “I won’t kill my child.”
My father stared at me for a long, painful moment.
Then his voice came, quiet but deadly.
“If you refuse... you are no longer my daughter.”
I gasped.
“You will no longer be Luna of this pack.”
My body trembled.
“You will be banished. Forever.”
Silence filled the room.
Even Andrew said nothing.
I froze. The world suddenly paused. My heart thundered. My lips shook but I couldn’t say I word. I only stared at him in disbelief.
“I’m your daughter...” I whispered. “Your blood.”
His face didn’t change.
I looked at my mother.
She looked away.
The pain in my chest was unbearable.
“I would rather be cast out than murder my child,” I said softly, brokenly.
My father gave one sharp nod.
“Then so be it.”
They didn’t let me pack anything.
No clothes.
No money.
No food.
They dragged me to the gates like a criminal.
And then they pushed me out.
The gates slammed shut behind me.
I stood there for a long time, staring at the iron doors of the home I had known all my life.
My heart felt like it had been ripped from my chest.
And then... I walked.
I didn’t know where I was going.
I walked until my feet hurt. Until my skin burned from the sun. Until my legs shook from weakness.
I was alone.
Pregnant.
Banished.
I kept walking.
I walked aimlessly through the streets where no one knew me.
No one cared about the broken girl walking past them.
Then, as I crossed a busy road, I felt it.
A scent.
A familiar scent.
Pine. And something darker.
My wolf stirred weakly inside me.
No... it couldn’t be.
I looked around wildly.
Then I saw him.
A tall man walking ahead of me.
His build... it was just like the stranger.
His shoulders.
His walk.
Even the way he held himself.
My heart jumped.
I ran forward, pushing past people.
“Hey!” I shouted. “Wait! Please!”
He didn’t turn.
“Please! Stop!”
His scent hit me stronger now. I knew it. I remembered it from that night. It was him. It had to be.
Tears filled my eyes.
“Please... don’t go...”
But he didn’t hear me.
He reached a black car. Opened the door.
I screamed his name.
Except I didn’t know it.
“Wait!”
He drove off.
I ran after the car, my legs weak, my body aching.
“Please!”
I pushed myself, but my body gave up.
My knees buckled.
I fell onto the hard road.
My skin scraped against the gravel.
Pain shot through my palms and knees as blood smeared the ground.
I lay there.
Crying.
Tears mixed with blood on the street.
I reached out weakly in the direction the car had gone.
He was gone.
The stranger.
My child’s father.
And once again...
I was completely alone.
- Writer
