The winter air in the Silver Moon pack territory usually felt like home, but tonight, it felt like a burial shroud.
"I, Alpha Jaxon Miller, reject you, Diana Vance, as my mate and future Luna of this pack."
The words hit me harder than a physical blow. I looked up at Jaxon, the man I had loved in secret since we were children, the man the Moon Goddess had fated for me. He didn't look at me with love. He looked at me with a cold, terrifying disgust.
"You are an Omega, Diana," he sneered, his voice booming so the entire council could hear. "A weak, rankless wolf who can barely shift. My pack needs a Queen, not a liability. Pack your things. I want you gone by sunrise."
The crowd whispered, their pity stinging more than Jaxon’s coldness. They didn't know what I had just discovered an hour ago. They didn't know that while Jaxon was throwing me away, I was already carrying his heir.
I didn't cry. I didn't beg. If he wanted a Queen, he could find one. He would never find me again.
I turned on my heel, my heart shattering into a million pieces, and walked into the dark woods. I wasn't just leaving a pack; I was leaving my old life behind. It was time to become someone Jaxon could never touch again.
Before I learned to let go, I had to learn how to survive.