Chapter 2: The Public Humiliation
1166 Words
"I, Alpha Kade Blackwood, reject Aria Quinn as my mate and as my Luna! I break this bond!"
And with those words, a searing, white-hot pain exploded in Aria's chest, as if someone had reached inside and ripped her heart out with their bare hands.
Aria screamed.
It wasn't a human scream. It was a wounded animal's cry. She collapsed to her knees, clutching her chest as the mate bond — the bond that had just formed seconds ago — was being ripped apart by force.
The pain was unbearable. It felt like silver being poured into her veins. Her vision blurred. Her newly awakened wolf was whimpering inside her head, a sound full of agony and confusion.
Why? Why is he hurting us?
Across from her, Kade didn't even flinch. His face was a mask of cold stone, but his fists were clenched so tight his knuckles were white, and a vein was popping in his neck. His own wolf was fighting him, tearing at him from the inside for rejecting their mate. A thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead.
But he didn't stop.
"No!" Aria choked out, tears streaming down her face. Blood was trickling from her nose from the pain. "Kade, please... please don't do this..."
"An Alpha does not stutter, and an Alpha does not beg," he said, his voice low and cruel, meant only for her. "Learn your place, Omega."
Then he turned to the crowd, his Alpha voice booming, making every wolf in the courtyard submit.
"This is what happens when the Moon Goddess makes a mistake! I am Kade Blackwood! I will not be chained to weakness! My Luna will be strong! She will be powerful! She will NOT be Aria Quinn!"
Silence.
And then — laughter.
It started with Elena. A loud, delighted, fake-sympathetic laugh.
"Oh my God," Elena said, covering her mouth, her eyes glittering with triumph. "Poor little Aria. Did you really think? You? Luna?"
That was all it took. The entire pack erupted.
Whispers. Giggles. Pointed fingers. The cruelty that had been hidden for eighteen years now had Alpha's permission.
"Of course he rejected her. She's wolfless."
"Omega trash thinking she can be Luna."
"Look at her dress. Pathetic."
Chloe, her only best friend, tried to push through the crowd. "Aria! Stop it! Leave her alone!"
But Jaxon Blackwood, Kade's Beta, grabbed Chloe's arm and held her back, his face grim. He looked at Kade, then at Aria, torn.
Aria couldn't hear them anymore. The bond was snapping. Each thread breaking sent a fresh wave of nausea and agony through her.
Luna Selene, Kade's mother, stepped forward in her elegant silver gown. She looked down at Aria on the ground with a cold, satisfied smile.
"Aria, dear. Don't make a scene," she said sweetly, loud enough for all to hear. "The Alpha has made his decision. A pack needs a real Luna, not a charity case. Now, run along back to the Omega quarters where you belong."
Aria looked up at Kade one last time, her vision swimming. "Why?"
For a fraction of a second, his grey eyes softened. His hand twitched, as if he wanted to reach for her. Pain — real pain, not Alpha pride — flashed across his face.
Then it was gone.
"Because you will never be enough," he whispered.
That was it. The last thread snapped.
CRACK.
Aria felt something inside her soul shatter. She threw her head back and let out one final, heartbreaking howl before everything went black.
When she woke up, she was in the Omega kitchen storeroom. Someone had dumped her there.
Her head was pounding. Her chest felt hollow, like someone had carved out a hole where her heart used to be. The spot where the bond had been was now cold and bleeding.
The packhouse was still thumping with music outside. They were still celebrating. Her rejection was just entertainment for them.
She tried to stand, but her legs gave way. On the small, cracked mirror on the wall, she saw herself — pale, nose bleeding, blue dress torn, eyes swollen and red.
Eighteen years. Eighteen years of waiting for someone to want her. And the one person fate had chosen for her had thrown her away like garbage.
Enough.
Something inside her — not her weak Omega self, but that new, wild voice that had woken up an hour ago — snarled.
Enough crying. Get up.
Aria wiped her blood with the back of her hand. She wasn't going to stay here. Not another second. Not in this pack that had only ever hated her. Not near him.
She had nowhere to go. Her mother was dead. Her father... she didn't even know who he was. Elena would be Luna. She would make her life hell.
So she ran.
She pushed open the back door of the kitchen and ran barefoot into the dark forest surrounding Silver Moon territory. Thorns cut her feet. Branches whipped her face. But she didn't stop. She ran until the music faded, until the lights of the packhouse were gone, until the only sound was her own ragged breathing and the crickets.
She finally stopped by a small, moonlit creek to wash her face. Her tears mixed with the cold water.
"Why did you give him to me if you were going to take him away?" she whispered to the Moon Goddess, looking up at the full moon. "Why did you wake me up only to kill me?"
The forest was silent. No answer.
Then, the wind changed.
A scent hit her nose. Blood. Rot. And wet fur.
Her new wolf suddenly went on high alert inside her head, hackles raised.
Danger! Run!
Aria froze. From the shadows of the trees, two pairs of glowing yellow eyes appeared. Then three. Then four.
Rogues.
Huge, mangy wolves, twice the size of a normal pack wolf, with scarred snouts and drool dripping from their jaws. They had been banished and they were starving. And she had just run straight into the unmarked borderlands.
One of them growled low and stepped forward.
Aria backed up, her foot slipping into the creek. "N-no... please..."
She was wolfless. She couldn't shift. She couldn't fight. She was going to die here, alone, rejected, in a ditch.
The lead Rogue lunged.
Aria screamed and threw her hands up.
But the bite never came.
A shadow moved faster than her eyes could follow. A blur of black so fast it was like midnight itself had come alive.
A monstrous wolf, almost entirely black with tips of silver on its fur, slammed into the Rogue mid-air. It was colossal. Bigger than Kade. Bigger than any Alpha she had ever seen.
It ripped the Rogue's throat out with one snap. Blood sprayed everywhere.
The other Rogues whimpered and attacked together. The black wolf didn't even flinch. It fought like a demon — savage, merciless, efficient. In less than ten seconds, all three Rogues were dead on the
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