The Jilted Luna

Justice

The situation weighed heavily on Carlisle, pressing down on him in ways he could not fully name. While all of his attention remained locked on Raquel and her condition, something else was unfolding across the pack without his knowledge.

Word of what had supposedly happened spread quickly through the territory. It started with Raquel’s omega attendant and grew with every retelling, each version more certain, more angry, more convinced that Victoria had done something unforgivable. By the time it reached most of the pack, it was no longer a question of what happened, but a declared truth.

In the cold, damp dungeon below, Victoria lay barely holding herself together. Fever had taken hold of her body, leaving her skin hot one moment and cold the next. Every part of her felt weak, her strength fading with each passing hour. The injuries from the stairs and the earlier punishment had not been treated, and now they only made everything worse. Breathing itself felt like a struggle.

Instead of care or concern, what moved through the pack was anger. That anger turned into action. A group of pack members began gathering with the intent to confront her, driven by the belief that justice needed to be served.

At the front of it all stood Beta Marcus. Beside him was Raquel’s attendant, the same one who had first spoken the accusation. Together they pushed the story forward, feeding the crowd’s outrage and shaping it into something harsher, something more dangerous.

What they called justice had started to twist into something far less controlled, and no one seemed interested in stopping it.

Victoria's POV

Even through the haze clouding my vision and the dull ringing in my ears, I could still make out the figures moving around me. Their shapes blurred and shifted, but they were there. Voices reached me in broken pieces, words slipping through the fog one at a time. It was not much, but it was enough. Slowly, painfully, something began to settle in my mind.

Raquel had gone further than I ever imagined.

This was not just a setup. She had thrown herself down those stairs with me. She had risked everything, even the child she carried, just to make sure things ended the way she wanted.

I could not wrap my head around it. It felt unreal. She already had everything. Carlisle’s attention. His concern. His protection. Even his child. There was nothing left for me to take from her. So why would she go this far?

Was it because of those nights with Carlisle?

Was that enough to make her hate me this much? To twist something so small into something this cruel? I had never meant for any of it to happen. I never tried to take anything that was not mine.

But then again, could I have taken Carlisle at all?

He hated me. That much was clear now. He hated me enough to throw me aside without hesitation, without caring whether I lived or died. Even now, as I lay here broken, the story had already spread. Twisted. Changed into something else entirely. The pack believed it. And they were ready to punish me for it.

Was this what he wanted? Was this how he chose to deal with me?

I could not find an answer. All I felt was exhaustion sinking deep into my body, heavier with every passing second. The pain did not ease. It went beyond my injuries, settling somewhere deeper, pressing down on me in a way I could not escape.

The fever only made it worse. My thoughts drifted in and out, like I was trying to think through thick smoke. The voices around me grew more distant, harder to understand. The few words I managed to catch only made my chest tighten even more.

I had told myself I was free of him. I had convinced myself that nothing he did would matter anymore.

But it only took one moment. One moment where he was close again, where he made me feel seen.

And then it was gone.

He had pulled me close just enough to make me believe there was something left between us, only to push me away harder than before.

It hurt.

My chest ached in a way I could not ignore, and the weakening mate bond only made it worse. The connection between us felt unstable, like it was tearing itself apart while still refusing to let go.

I could not even tell where the pain was coming from anymore. My injuries or the bond. It all felt the same. Sharp. Burning. Endless.

My breaths came shallow and uneven. Every inhale pulled against my ribs and sent fresh pain through my chest. Sweat clung to my skin, cold against the heat of the fever burning underneath. It felt like I was barely holding on.

Then the door to the cell opened.

The sound was quiet, but it cut through everything.

I forced my eyes to focus, and through the blur, I saw Beta Marcus step inside. Others followed behind him. Their gazes fell on me immediately, filled with nothing but disgust. To them, I was not someone lying here in pain. I was something less.

Even like this, I could still feel it. The weight of their judgment. The humiliation that came with it.

"How dare a worthless, wolfless omega like you hurt our future Luna?!" Beta Marcus growled, his voice tight with anger.

I saw the way his face twisted as he looked at me, as if my very existence offended him. His body was tense, like words alone were not enough to release what he felt.

I was already broken. Anyone could see that.

But for him, it was not enough.

He wanted more.

There was something deeper in his anger, something that went beyond what had happened. I could not tell if it came from loyalty, pride, or something darker.

Maybe he truly believed I had no right to stand beside our Alpha. That someone like me, without a wolf, without strength, did not belong in this world.

Or maybe he simply hated me.

And in his eyes, that was more than enough reason.