Three years ago, the Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, Ryker Armstrong, exiled me from our territory, banishing me to a distant land far from my home.

Now, three years later, I’ve finally returned. But the love I once held for Ryker has long since withered into indifference.

Still, the pack watches me warily, their distrust palpable.

"Emely, are you planning to interfere with Alpha Ryker and Beta Sydney’s mate-pairing? Haven’t you caused enough trouble?"

"Three years away, and you still haven’t learned your place. The Alpha was too lenient; he should have never allowed you back."

"Exactly. Someone like her deserves to be locked away, should have stayed exiled permanently."

I remain silent, their words rolling off me like water off a wolf’s fur.

But then, news reached me that shattered my world.

"Judah," I whispered, my voice breaking. "Have you seen my Judah? Please, don’t leave me. You promised you’d come find me."

I spiraled into madness, my grief consuming me. Eventually, no one doubted the sincerity of my anguish.

Alpha Ryker pushed through the crowd, his imposing frame towering over everyone. He pulled me into his arms, but his hands trembled.

"Emely, what’s wrong? Who is Judah? Please don’t scare me like this."

---

I’d been back in the pack’s territory for less than an hour, and already, my phone buzzed with hostile messages from pack members.

"How dare you return?"

"Couldn’t the rogues in that foreign land deal with you? Maybe you need to be taught a lesson."

"Why didn’t your plane crash and put an end to you?"

I didn’t bother reading the rest. Instead, I grabbed my laptop and typed out a simple email: "I made it back safely."

The recipient’s avatar remained dark, as it had for months now. No reply ever came. I stared at the screen, my heart heavy.

Footsteps approached, and I quickly closed the laptop. My mother, an Omega in the pack, walked in, her hair neatly piled up.

"Emely, why are you looking at your mother like a stranger?" she asked, her voice wavering.

I stayed silent, lost in my thoughts. She wiped her tears and left the room.

That night, I overheard my parents arguing in the study.

"Does she blame us?"

"She attacked Beta Sydney, pushed her down the stairs. Sydney was in a coma for three months."

"Stop it. It’s in the past. Alpha Ryker and Beta Sydney are about to mate. We can’t afford any mistakes."

I clutched my coffee cup, my hand trembling slightly. Without a word, I turned and slipped away, the weight of their words pressing down on me like the Alpha’s commanding tone.

Early morning.

I sat brooding in front of my computer, the soft hum of the machine filling the silence of my room. The faint scent of pine and rain drifted through the open window, a reminder of the forest that surrounded the pack territory. My fingers hovered over the keyboard, but my mind was elsewhere.

Midway through, hunger got the better of me, and I went downstairs to grab a bite.

My mom was in the living room, her eyes fixed on the TV. The pack’s broadcasting channel was on, a luxury only high-ranking members like the Alphas and Betas could afford. Her posture was tense, her shoulders slightly hunched—a reflection of her Omega status and the constant awareness of her place in the pack hierarchy.

Suddenly, a breaking news segment appeared on the screen:

**Breaking News: The Silver Moon Pack announces the mate-pairing ceremony of Alpha Ryker Armstrong and Beta Sydney Wells, set for mid-next month.**

I froze, my hand tightening around the banister. The words echoed in my head like a cruel joke.

A mate-pairing on a private island?

It seemed like a lifetime ago when I had clung to Ryker Armstrong so much, back when I believed we were destined to be mates. I remembered begging him, my voice filled with naïve hope:

“Isn’t an island so romantic? Can we have our pairing there?”

He always looked so detached, his piercing Alpha gaze cutting through me like a blade. “Emely, can you stop this?” he’d say, his tone sharp with irritation. “I’m working.”

Seeing him upset, I’d immediately sat quietly beside him, my voice barely a whisper. “Okay, I won’t say anything. You go ahead and work.”

The memory faded, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.

I snapped back to the present, my chest tightening as the news anchor continued to gush about the “perfect union” of the Alpha and his Beta. My mom noticed me standing there and seemed startled, her Omega instincts kicking in as she quickly rose from the couch.

“Emely, why are you downstairs?” she asked, her voice laced with nervousness. “Are you going out? Where to? I can come with you.”

She had already asked someone—likely one of the lower-ranking Omegas—to retrieve her purse and was searching for the remote to turn off the TV. Watching her anxious and awkward actions, I understood.

She was just scared that I’d become clingy again, that I’d start trailing after the Alpha like a desperate pup, embarrassing our family even more. But, Mom, I won’t anymore.

Never again.

“I’m not going out,” I said, my voice calm despite the storm raging inside me. “Just came to grab some food.”

“What?”

I had already picked up a bottle of juice and turned to head back upstairs. At the stairs, my mom still looked surprised, her Omega instincts conflicting with her maternal concern.

“Emely, you…” she started, her voice trailing off.

I sniffled, my grip tightening around the juice bottle. “Mom, you go ahead and watch TV. I’m going back upstairs to work.”

Her eyes lingered on me, filled with a mix of relief and guilt, but I didn’t wait for her response. I climbed the stairs, each step feeling heavier than the last. The image of Ryker and Sydney’s mate-pairing ceremony burned in my mind, a stark reminder of everything I had lost—and everything I never truly had.

But I wouldn’t let it break me. Not again.