The "Boy" Mated to Five

Chapter 3

The demotion ceremony took place at dawn, when the entire pack could witness my fall from grace.

I didn’t know what to expect.

This had never happened before in the history of our pack.

I stood in the center of the square as all around me pack members formed a circle.

Some watched with grim satisfaction, while others were looking away in discomfort. But still many pressed forward, eyes wide with curiosity at seeing someone stripped of their rank.

"Elara Greene," Alpha Thorick's voice boomed across the square, "daughter of Beta Jared, you have been found guilty of cowardice in the face of duty, resulting in the death of our beloved Luna."

The formal words felt surreal, like I was watching someone else's life crumble.

"By the power vested in me as Alpha of the Red Moon Pack, I hereby strip you of your Beta heritage and all privileges given."

His claws extended, and with deliberate slowness, he began tearing away the symbols of my former life. The silver pin that marked me as Beta born clattered to the ground. The blue sash that signified my messenger role was shredded and tossed aside like garbage.

"Let all witness," Alpha Thorick continued, his voice carrying to every corner of the square, "that Elara Greene is no longer worthy of her bloodline."

Two Omegas approached, carrying the rough brown clothing that marked the servant class. The fabric was coarse, designed for hard labor, a far cry from the soft dresses I'd worn my entire life.

"Strip," Alpha Thorick commanded.

Shock coursed through me. "Here? In front of everyone?" I whispered in disbelief.

"Servants don't get privacy," he replied coldly. "Strip, or we'll do it for you."

With shaking hands, I removed my dress, standing in my underwear while the entire pack watched. The Omegas dressed me quickly in the brown servant's tunic and pants, the material scratching against my skin like a constant reminder of my new station.

"From this day forward," Alpha Thorick announced, "you will serve this pack as penance for your failure. You will sleep in the servant quarters, eat servant's rations, and perform whatever tasks are assigned to you without question or complaint."

The pack bonds shifted around me, recognizing my new rank. Where once I'd felt warmth and belonging, now there was only cold duty and obligation. I was pack, but barely.

"Does anyone wish to speak before this ceremony concludes?" Alpha Thorick asked, scanning the crowd, his eyes landing on his son.

Silas stepped forward, and for a moment, my heart hammered desperately.

"I want it known to all," he said, his voice carrying clearly across the square, "that I formally reject any claim Elara Greene might have had to the position of future Luna."

The mate bond between us pulsed once, recognizing what was about to happen.

"Her cowardice and incompetence cost my mother her life," he continued, his eyes meeting mine with cold finality. "She is unfit to stand where Luna Helena once stood."

He took a deep breath, and I knew what was coming. I tried to step back, to run, but there was nowhere to go.

"I, Silas Blackwood, future Alpha of the Red Moon Pack, formally reject Elara Greene as my mate."

The words hit like a physical blow, but that was nothing compared to what came next.

The mate bond didn't just break.

It shattered.

Fire raced through my veins as the magical connection that had bound us together severed with brutal finality.

I screamed.

The sound that tore from my throat was inhuman, a howl of agony that silenced every voice in the square.

I collapsed to my knees as pain unlike anything I'd ever imagined consumed me. It felt like my wolf was being flayed alive, like every nerve in my body was on fire.

The crowd watched in horrified fascination as I writhed on the ground, my body convulsing as the rejection worked its way through my system. Some children started crying. Even a few adults looked away, unable to stomach the sight of a mate bond being severed so publicly.

But Silas didn't flinch.

He watched me suffer with stone cold eyes, his own pain from the rejection carefully masked.

"Let this be a lesson," Alpha Thorick announced over my agonized sobs, "to anyone who would put their own survival above their duty to this pack."

The pain burned through every cell, every bone, every breath.

But the emotional devastation was worse.

The part of my soul that had always reached for Silas, that had felt complete in his presence, was simply... gone. Cut away. I felt hollowed out, like half of myself had been amputated.

Through the haze of agony, I felt someone kneel beside me. My younger brother Finn swam into view, his eyes wide with horror.

"Elara," he whispered, reaching for my hand.

"Get away from her," Father's voice cracked through. Strong hands grabbed Finn and yanked him back. "Don't touch her. She's nothing now."

Nothing.

Because a rejected mate was considered broken, damaged goods. No one else would ever want me.

The Moon Goddess herself had marked me as unworthy.

As the ceremony ended and the pack dispersed, I remained curled on the cold stone, my body still shaking with aftershocks of pain. The head Omega, Martha, eventually helped me to my feet, her expression pitying but distant.

"Come along," she said not unkindly. "Let's get you settled."

I stumbled after her barely able to walk, each step excruciating, sending sharp pain through me.

I felt like a ghost haunting my own life.

~0~

The servants' quarters were a small building behind the kitchens.

It was cramped and cold.

"You'll share this room with three others," Martha explained, opening a door to reveal a space barely large enough for four narrow beds. "Breakfast is at five, work assignments at six. You're on dish duty and floor scrubbing to start."

I nodded mutely, collapsing onto the thin mattress that would be my bed.

The other servants kept their distance.

Rejection was considered just as bad as a disease, maybe even worse, a sign of the Moon Goddess's displeasure.

And I must have done something to incur the wrath of the Goddess like this.

In the span of days, I'd lost everything. My rank, my family, my future.

The Luna.

And the hollow space where the mate bond used to be felt like an emptiness that would swallow me whole.

A soft knock at my window made me look up. Finn stood outside in the shadows, holding a cloth bundle, his expression filled with guilt.

"I brought you some food," he whispered as I opened the window. "Real food, not what they give servants."

The bundle contained fresh bread, cheese, and even a small apple.

My stomach growled.

Servant rations were meager at best, and I hadn't been able to eat anything since the funeral.

"Thank you," I breathed, but he was already backing away.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't stop them. I'm sorry about... about everything."

"It's not your fault," I managed.

He looked away, not believing it. "I have to go. If Father finds out..."

I nodded, wishing I could hug him tightly.

My brother was a gentle soul and I had always been grateful for him.

Finn disappeared into the night, leaving me alone with his small act of kindness and the crushing weight of what I'd lost.

The next morning, I learned the cost of his compassion.

"You ungrateful little fool!" Father's voice echoed through the hall as I scrubbed the floors nearby. Each movement sent fresh waves of pain through my battered body. "Consorting with that disgraced omega! Have you learned nothing?"

I crept around the hallway slowly until they came into view, I could see Finn cowering as Father stared menacingly at him.

"She's my sister," Finn said weakly.

"She is nothing!" The sharp sound of a slap made me flinch. "Nothing but a pathetic failure who brings shame on everyone around her. You will stay away from her, do you understand? I won't have you dragging our family name any lower."

"Yes, sir," Finn whispered.

When he turned the corner, his cheek was red and his eyes were bright with unshed tears. He wouldn't look at me as he hurried past.

My heart ached as tears welled in my eyes.

My baby brother didn’t deserve the cruelty of our father for trying to help me.

I knew there was nothing I could do to protect him. I couldn’t help him now that I had been stripped of everything. I wasn’t trained like our older brother. I couldn’t fight back.

But Finn was all I had left in this place.

I quickly wiped the tears away then went back to scrubbing the floors.

That night, there was no knock at my window.

And none the next night or the night after that.

I couldn’t help but to feel relieved that Finn wouldn’t be harmed anymore because of me.

But still, it hurt. I missed him.

It wasn’t fair.

I sighed as I wrapped my arms around myself. The moonlight streaming through the window no longer a comfort. Not even the Goddess would help me.

I was truly alone now.

~0~

As the days passed, my new life as an Omega started to become clearer and clearer.

Pack members spilled drinks on freshly mopped floors, "accidentally" knocking over my work, grinding mud into carpets I'd just cleaned. They laughed as I silently started over, knowing I couldn't talk back without losing my chance at eating.

The other Omega servants were worse. They sabotaged my work, stole my supplies, reported me for infractions I didn't commit.

I often ate alone and was often left alone to suffer in silence.

I scrubbed floors until my knees bled and my hands cracked, then scrubbed them again when someone decided my work wasn't good enough.

Every morning, the mirror showed me someone I didn't recognize. Hollow cheeks. Dead eyes.

Broken.

They were erasing me, piece by piece.

And I let them, because I deserved it.

Because our Luna was dead, and I was alive.

But somewhere in that darkness, anger began to grow.

Small at first, then burning brighter each day as they tried to break me.

The Luna wouldn’t have wanted this for me. She had loved me like I was her own child.

If she were still here, she would have never let this happen. She was kind and fierce and generous. She protected the weaker pack members and punished those who took advantage.

Everything that had happened since was a dishonor to her name… a dishonor to everything she stood for.

And I would never forgive them for it.