AMANDA'S POV:

I rushed home, only to freeze in my tracks at the scene before me.

The front yard was in chaos. Our clothes, boxes, blankets, and even kitchen utensils were strewn everywhere like trash.

"What in the world.?"

Two Pack enforcers stood stiffly near the porch, faces grim. Mom was on her knees, sobbing. Max clung to her, his small frame trembling. Mia stood rigid, her eyes burning with a fury that looked ready to explode.

I sprinted forward. "Mom! What's going on?!"

One of the enforcers turned. "Amanda Porter?"

"Yes," I gasped, breathless. "What is this?"

His expression was hard. "Your father. Beta Nathan Porter. did not die in the rogue attack three years ago, as reported."

I stared, uncomprehending. "What-"

Everyone knew my father had fallen in battle three years ago. I remembered that day-the crushing grief, the hollow void it left in our lives. He'd died protecting the Alpha, falling from a cliff, his body never recovered.

Father and I were so close; it took me years to piece myself back together. Donovan had been my rock through it all. Mom told me to hold my head high, that my father had died with honor, that he was the Pack's pride, and that I must carry that pride forward.

If what they said was true. if he was alive. did that mean we.?

The second enforcer stepped forward, shattering that fragile hope before it could fully form.

"He didn't die. He deserted. He fled the battlefield and joined forces with the rogues."

My blood turned to ice. Denial surged first, hot and immediate. "That's a lie! My father would never-"

"Believe what you want," he cut me off, his voice cold and final. "The Alpha has passed judgment. Former Beta or not, your father is branded a traitor. And the punishment extends to his bloodline."

"Punishment?" I whispered.

The first official gestured dismissively at our scattered belongings. "Your family is stripped of all privileges. Your Beta rank is revoked. You are to relocate immediately to the Omega tenement."

"Honestly," the other sneered, "the Alpha is being too merciful. Traitors like you should be stripped and hanged in the square as slaves for life."

Mia exploded. "You can't do that! We're not traitors! My dad isn't a traitor!"

She lunged at the man who had spoken-the one who had insulted the father she had always idolized. But a young girl was no match for a grown wolf. Without thinking, I threw myself in front of my sister just as the official aimed a vicious kick.

Mia screamed. "Amanda!"

Max rushed toward me. "Mandy!"

It took me a moment to find my voice. I wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of my mouth. "I'm okay," I lied, though my insides felt shattered and shifted.

"Amanda..." Mia looked up at me from where I held her, her eyes brimming with tears. She was never a girl who cried easily. But I had protected her. That kick would have broken her.

I forced a weak smile. "Really, I'm fine, Mia."

Mom hurried over, pulling both of us behind her as she faced the officials. "How dare you treat children like this! The Alpha would never condone such brutality! I demand to see him!"

"You think scum like you still has the right to an audience with the Alpha?" the cruel one spat. "Stop stalling. If you're not in the omega dorm by tonight, you can sleep on the streets."

"Mom," I interrupted, stopping her before she could argue further. "It's no use. Arguing with them won't help. We need to find shelter first. We can figure out the rest later."

The guard laughed, a harsh, grating sound. "Now you're talking. Know your place, rats."

I didn't answer, just held his gaze with a cold, steady stare until he began to falter. "What are you looking at? You think I'm wrong?"

"Whether you're wrong remains to be seen," I said, my voice low but clear. "But if the day ever comes when I prove my father's innocence, you will regret every single word you've spoken today."

He snarled, raising his hand as if to strike me. "You little bitch-"

The other official pulled him back. "Don't waste your time on trash. The Mating Ball tonight is what matters."

Once they confirmed our eviction was complete, they sealed the door with the Pack's insignia.

I felt Mia trembling behind me. Mom wept softly. Our lives were crumbling before our eyes.

I watched it all, my hands curling into tight, cold fists.

This would not be our end. I would find the truth. I would clear my father's name.

---

The fading sunset found us hauling our meager belongings into the designated Omega tenement.

The air was thick with the smell of damp and decay. Cracks veined the walls, the floorboards groaned underfoot, and a cracked window in the corridor was haphazardly patched with yellowing tape. Eyes followed us from cracked doorways-some held a flicker of pity, but most were hard with open contempt. A sneer echoed from a nearby doorway, "The traitor's whelps think they can live here?"

We found an empty room at the end of the hall. Mom collapsed onto a rickety couch, her face ashen. The stress had triggered her old ailment, and she curled in on herself with a soft, pained sound. Max clutched my sleeve, his small voice trembling. "Mandy. can I sleep with you? It's so dark in here."

Mia sat beside me on the thin, newly-bought mattress we'd spread on the floor, her knees drawn to her chest. "We can't stay here," she whispered, her voice frayed. "We are not traitors. we can't."

I rubbed her back, my own throat tight. The memories of our old life-my spacious bedroom, the bookshelf my father built, sunlit breakfast nooks-clashed violently with the damp, mildewed reality of these peeling walls.

"Amanda," Mia looked up suddenly, a desperate hope in her eyes. "Donovan will help us. You're his best friend. And if he's your mate. he wouldn't let this happen."

My stomach twisted into a cold, hard knot. I hadn't told them about what happened on the field. How the boy who used to wipe my tears and fight my battles now looked at me like I was something rotten. Maybe he'd known about my father's alleged treachery all along. Maybe all those years of friendship meant nothing.

Donovan Reed was just like the rest of them, born to look down from a height I could never reach.

"You have to talk to him," she insisted, her grip tightening on my wrist. "You have to. As the Alpha's son, he has influence. He can fix this."

A coughing fit from my mother cut through the tension. She shivered on the couch, and Max tried to tuck the thin blanket tighter around her. Pale moonlight filtered through the broken window, glistening on the unshed tears in my little brother's eyes.

I looked at the crumbling ceiling, at my mother's pain, at my siblings' fear.

My nails bit half-moons into my palms. I didn't want to see him. I couldn't bear to watch the stars in his eyes turn to ice again.

But the cold night wind whistled through the cracks, stirring my mother's graying hair. I closed my eyes, the taste of ash and defeat on my tongue.

"Okay," I heard myself say.

---

The path to the Alpha's estate should have felt familiar and easy, but my heart was a leaden weight in my chest. Whispers and pointed stares followed me the entire way, and I had to concentrate to keep my chin raised. The path was decorated with silver lanterns and moonstone crystals, festive and bright, a stark contrast to the hollow dread consuming me from within.

My thoughts churned, torn between the Donovan I'd known my whole life and the one who'd shattered me on the field. Would he help at all? What if he refused? What if he humiliated me again, here in front of the entire Pack? Could I survive that?

The clock tower chimed midnight, signaling the height of the Mating Ceremony and the official start of my eighteenth birthday. The distant sounds of celebration felt like a mockery. All the dreams I'd once woven for this moment lay in ruins at my feet.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, forcing myself to remember my purpose: Find Donovan. Help your family.

And then I saw him.

My heart fractured all over again.

He stood across the terrace, wearing the formal attire I'd helped him choose last month. Gloria was draped on his arm, laughing up at him as if they'd just left the dance floor. He leaned down, pressing a tender kiss to her temple. A scene that should have been ours. A future he'd given away so effortlessly.

I wanted to flee. But in the very next second, his eyes snapped to mine across the distance.

And something. shifted.

A strange, dormant power stirred awake inside me, cutting through the heavy fog of my despair. His scent-really his scent, deep and wild like a storm-lashed forest-wrapped around me. The rhythm of his heart seemed to echo in my own chest. And a current, potent and undeniable, crackled in the space between us.

"Mate-" The word was a breath, a realization, torn from my lips before I could stop it.

He moved like lightning. In a blur, he was before me, his hand locking like a vice around my wrist. He dragged me into the shadowed alcove away from prying eyes before anyone in the crowd could even notice.

"Don't dare say that word!" he snarled, his voice low and venomous.

The raw hatred burning in his eyes was a final, brutal blow.

The boy I'd loved for life was killing my heart again.

DONOVAN'S POV

Something cold and vicious had taken root inside me, twisting around my heart like thorned vines, squeezing the air from my lungs.

Just two days ago, my world had been whole. Two days ago, I'd been counting the hours until Amanda's eighteenth birthday, anticipating the moment the Moon Goddess would irrevocably tie her fate to mine. Two days ago, she was still the girl with the pure smile whose eyes had always followed only me.

Then it happened. The thing that shattered everything, the thing we could never come back from.

I was supposed to hate her. This girl who had shattered something inside me. But I hated myself more for the way my blood still heated at the feel of her warm skin beneath my grip. I had turned 18 two months before her, and from the moment my wolf awoke, I'd known. She was mine.

And then she had ruined it.

"Mark her! She is our Mate!" my wolf roared, a primal demand I had to forcefully shove down.

"Donovan..." The way my name fell from her lips, trembling and tear-laced, was a cheat. If things were different, I would have crushed my mouth to hers, carried her to my bed, and made her moan my name until dawn.

But fate is cruel. I had learned the truth. I would not claim a female destined to be my ruin.

"Listen," I snarled, my gaze hard and unyielding. "I will never acknowledge you as my mate. And you will not dare breathe a word of this to anyone."

I saw the light in her eyes gutter and die. A part of me, the part that remembered, ached at the sight. I buried it deep.

"You," I hissed, "are an Omega now. A traitor's daughter. The very thought of you near me makes me sick. Don't forget my warning."

"So... this is really what you think of me..." Her lips trembled, but she stubbornly held the tears at bay. Damn her. A part of me was still captivated by the act. I clenched my jaw so hard I thought my teeth would crack, just to stop myself from closing the distance between us.

I released her arm as if burned, putting cold, deliberate space between us. "Yes. You were never worthy of me. Now, get out of my sight."

I felt her flinch. The wave of despair that rolled off her was palpable. My wolf thrashed inside, howling to comfort our mate. I strangled the impulse.

I expected her to break. To beg. To weep and plead for me not to cast her aside. We were mates. She was mine. Instead, she just wrapped her arms around herself, as if holding her body together, as if building a wall between us.

"Donovan, whatever is between us... that's one thing. But my family is innocent. My mother is sick; she can't survive in that place. For the sake of our past, I'm begging you. Just this once."

I shouldn't have let her words sting. This was the real her. Cold. Manipulative.

I let out a cold, derisive laugh. "Our past? What past? You didn't actually take all those childhood promises seriously, did you? If I could do it over, I would have never wasted a single moment on you."

She stared at me, stunned for a moment. Her hands curled into fists at her sides, and a familiar, stubborn fire flashed in her eyes. "But you said-"

"I don't care what I said!" I roared, the sound tearing from my throat. "You are dead to me, Amanda. Do not seek me out again. Or I swear, I will destroy what's left of your life."

I turned and strode away without another look. If I stayed a second longer, I couldn't trust myself not to fall for her lies all over again.

---

AMANDA'S POV

Watching Donovan walk away, I had never felt the cruelty of fate more sharply.

His retreating form was both familiar and alien. The bond between us still throbbed, a silent, aching wound, but it seemed I was the only one bleeding.

Donovan.

My best friend.

My mate.

The one person I told everything.

Had truly abandoned me.

That truth cut deeper than any blade. I could feel the newly awakened wolf inside me whimper in agony. Today was supposed to be the happiest of our lives. Instead, it had become a living nightmare.

I don't remember the walk back to the tenement. It felt like someone had ripped my chest open and left me to bleed out on the street. By the time I stumbled into our tiny living area, my whole body was shaking, my teeth chattering.

Mom looked up the moment I entered.

"Amanda? Sweetheart, you look terrible. What happened?"

The fragile dam of my composure shattered. A torrent of tears spilled over.

"He. he doesn't want me, Mom."

"What?" Her expression was confused, but her arms were already reaching out, pulling me into her embrace.

I inhaled her familiar, comforting scent, but it did nothing to thaw the icy void inside me. "Donovan." My voice was a choked whisper. "He said he would never acknowledge me as his mate. He said he would never claim me."

Mom gasped. I felt a tremor of anger run through her, but it settled into a weary calm. Her voice softened, taking on the same tone she used to sing me lullabies. "Oh, my baby. Come, sit down. It's alright. Everything will be alright."

"No, it won't," I sobbed, another wave of tears shaking me. "Everything is ruined. Everything is broken. He hates me now. And I don't even know what I did."

She rubbed slow, soothing circles on my back, just like she did when I was scared of thunderstorms as a child.

"He doesn't hate you," she murmured. "He's confused, fed lies about our family. He's young, and he's under pressure. Fear makes people do foolish things."

I pulled back, wiping my wet face.

"Really?" A flicker of hope sparked, only to be extinguished by the memory of his eyes-looking at me like I was garbage. My voice turned raw again. "No, Mom. He hates me. My mate hates me."

Her eyes dimmed. She placed her hands on my shoulders. "You're too young to understand the ways of fate," she said gently. "The Moon Goddess paired you for a reason. But if. if Donovan truly cannot see your worth, then perhaps the Goddess has a different, greater plan for you. You have always been a good girl. She sees that."

I didn't answer. After the cataclysm of this day, I didn't know if I could believe in a fate this cruel.

"Rest tonight, my love. Cry if you need to. But don't let this break you."

I cried until my throat was raw and my eyes burned, but it did nothing to ease the ache in my soul. I tried everything to fall asleep, but each time I closed my eyes, I saw Donovan shoving me away, heard his cruel rejection. I pressed a pillow over my face to muffle the sound, but it was useless.

I had a math test tomorrow. With my father branded a traitor and everything taken from us, school was my only lifeline now. If I wanted any chance at a scholarship, any chance at a future, I needed perfect grades.

So I sat at the small, rickety desk, wiping tears from my practice test as I reviewed quadratic equations. Fate might be cruel, but I refused to just lie down and take it.

My grandmother used to tell me that time was the greatest healer. Given enough of it, maybe I would get through this. Maybe.

---

The morning light did me no favors. My eyes burned, and a dull throb pounded behind my temples. Still, I forced myself through a shower, dressed, and made my way to the bus stop.

I had just stepped into the school hallway when I spotted my two best friends, Lila and Brinley, ahead. I tried to straighten my posture, hoping to mask the mess I felt inside.

"Hey, good morning!" I called out, forcing a bright tone as I quickened my pace toward them.

They sidestepped my approach in unison. The looks they gave me were ones of pure disgust, as if I'd rolled in mud and then waded through a sewer.

Brinley crossed her arms. "Don't talk to us."

A cold dread trickled down my spine.

Lila snorted, tossing her hair. "Are you really that clueless? Your dad's a traitor, Amanda. Everyone knows."

My stomach churned.

"Please. don't. You both knew my dad. He wasn't like that."

"Who knows?" Brinley rolled her eyes. "He faked his own death. Maybe the 'devoted Beta' was an act, too."

"Exactly," Lila chimed in. "The daughter of a traitor needs to keep her distance. We don't want any of that filth rubbing off on us."

Anger, sharp and hot, finally overrode my hurt.

I stepped forward, glaring at them with fution, "Really? That's it? After everything? Lila, when your little brother fell into the ravine during the winter hunt, who was it that rappelled down and carried him back up, risking his own life? My father! And Brinley, when your family's house caught fire, who organized the bucket line and ran inside twice to save your grandparents? My father! I considered you my closest friends, and you turn on me like this?"

Their faces flickered with a hint of shame, but their resolve held. "We can't afford to be associated with you," Lila retorted, though her voice had lost some of its edge. "Weren't you always boasting about being Donovan's best friend? Where is he now that your family's in trouble? Too scared to confront him, so you take it out on us? Pathetic."

The blow landed with brutal precision, draining the color from my face and silencing my retort.

As they drew breath for another verbal strike, a calm, steady voice cut through the tension. "The final bell for the exam rang twice already. If we don't hurry, we'll all be dealing with the proctor's wrath."

I turned to see Steven, a transfer student from last semester. He offered me a small, gentle smile-the first person today who didn't look at me as if I carried a plague.

I returned a grateful, if wobbly, smile and hurried toward the exam hall.

What I was missing was the sight of Donovan around the corner, his hand clenched white-knuckled around a steel handrail, bending it out of shape.

AMANDA'S POV:

The exam room wasn't much better than the hallway. The same people who had once laughed at my jokes now acted as if I carried a plague. They gave me a wide berth, their whispers trailing behind me like a poisoned shadow.

"She has no shame," I heard a girl say to her friend. "She should be in the dungeons, not walking around like a free wolf."

"She should just end it," the second girl replied, her voice dripping with casual cruelty.

"I'm surprised they're still letting her attend this school," another chimed in. "She should be banished. Sent to join her rogue father."

My throat tightened. I blinked rapidly, refusing-refusing-to let them see me cry. Crying would be a victory for them. And I would not give them that satisfaction. I would stand tall until my family was cleared.

I walked to my desk and sat down, staring straight ahead. No eye contact. But I could still feel the weight of their stares-mocking, pitying, loathing. I curled my hands into fists under the desk. Hold on, Amanda. Don't let them break you.

I pulled out my supplies with as much composure as I could muster. That's when two boys, shoving each other in some roughhousing game, slammed into my desk. My bag toppled to the floor. One of them stomped directly onto my pencil case, the plastic cracking audibly beneath his heel.

"I didn't see it," the boy said, shrugging. There wasn't an ounce of remorse on his face. "Maybe you shouldn't leave your stuff where people walk."

He broke my things and now he's blaming me. The heat of real anger began to simmer beneath my skin. "You should apologize."

"Give me a break." The second boy sneered. "A traitor's daughter doesn't get to demand apologies."

"He crushed my pencil case," I said, my voice rising despite myself. "The exam is about to start. What am I supposed to do?"

"Quit making a scene, Omega," someone called out from the back. "Isn't the 'honor student' supposed to be so smart? Can't take a test without supplies? Or were all your grades just cheating?"

Laughter erupted. A few students snickered behind their hands. I tried to ignore them, but my heart was pounding. This exam mattered-for college, for scholarships, for any future I had left.

I turned to the student beside me. "Can I borrow-"

"No." She didn't even look at me. "I'm not getting involved with a traitor."

I tried the next desk. And the next. Each rejection landed like a slap. No one would meet my eyes. No one would help.

I'm going to fail. I'm going to fail and lose everything, all because of a cracked pencil case and a name I never chose.

Then, a hand appeared in my peripheral vision.

"Here. Use mine." Steven extended a spare pencil case toward me. "I always keep an extra set."

I looked up at him, this boy I barely knew. He wasn't looking at me like I was garbage. He wasn't whispering behind his hand. He was just... offering.

"Thank you," I whispered, my voice cracking.

"Don't mention it." He gave a small, easy smile, as if lending a pencil to a pariah was the most normal thing in the world.

I didn't know why he was helping me. But right now, I didn't care. For the first time all day, someone had treated me like a person instead of a plague.

I took a shaky breath and turned back to my desk, gripping the borrowed pencil case like a lifeline.

Fortunately, studying always grounded me. As the minutes ticked by, I poured myself into the exam paper. Numbers were easier than people. Equations didn't judge. They didn't sneer. Like always, I finished first. But I took my time double-checking every answer.

When the bell finally rang and I walked to the front to submit my paper, Mr. Donald-my teacher-didn't even look at me. He just snatched the sheet from my hand, as if touching me was a crime.

This was the same man who used to brag about me to other teachers.

"Amanda Porter is one of my brightest students," he used to say. "I have no doubt she'll be our top graduate."

Now, Mr. Donald couldn't even meet my eyes.

I swallowed the pain. I wouldn't let them see me break.

I walked out of the classroom and headed toward the cafeteria. My stomach growled the entire way. I'd skipped breakfast, and the small dinner we'd shared last night hadn't done much to fill me. I knew the cafeteria would be crowded, but I'd hoped to at least sit quietly and eat alone.

The buzz of students hit me as I walked in. The place was packed, but I spotted a small empty spot at a table with some girls. I walked over and stood behind the chair.

"Um. excuse me. Can I sit-"

One of the girls didn't even let me finish. She pulled her tray away from the empty space.

"No. We don't want a traitor sitting with us."

Another girl added, loud enough for everyone around to hear, "Yeah, go sit with the rogues. That's where your family belongs."

My heart burned, but I kept my face blank. I moved to another table. A group of boys was eating there. The moment I pulled out a chair to sit, they shot up.

"I'm not sitting with her," one of them announced.

"Yeah, let's bounce," another muttered.

They left so fast you'd think I was holding a knife.

The humiliation struck me square in the chest. My hands trembled as I pushed the chair back into place. I didn't know where else to go.

I got in line for food. At least food couldn't talk back.

When it was finally my turn, the cook stopped cold, as if she'd just seen something disgusting crawl toward her.

She crossed her arms. "No. Move along."

I stared at her. "Ma'am. I just want my portion. Please."

She jutted her chin toward the back door. "Leftovers are in there. Eat that. It's what your kind deserves."

My breath caught. The entire line went silent. Some watched. Others whispered. Laughter hid behind their hands.

I wished the ground would crack open and swallow me whole. The heat spread across my face-shame, anger, hurt, all of it tangled together. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. In that moment, I felt like my father had died all over again. And this time, my life went with him.

My father had given everything to protect this Pack. He'd made the ultimate sacrifice-his life for the Alpha's. And now the very people he died to protect wanted me to feel ashamed of my own blood.

My hands shook.

I took a small step back.

And then I noticed a familiar presence.

Steven.

I turned slowly to find him walking toward me, a tray in his hands. I stood there, barely breathing, unsure of what was coming.

"Come join me, Amanda. Let's eat together," Steven said, stopping right in front of me.

I opened my mouth to accept-to thank him for being the only decent person in this entire building-

A shadow swept past my eyes. A crash exploded in my ears.

My heart leaped as I registered the sound of something shattering against the floor.

"Oh my Goddess," I whispered, staring down.

Steven's tray. the one he'd brought for both of us. was overturned on the tiles. Food splattered everywhere.

But that wasn't the worst part.

The food wasn't just on the floor.

It was on me.

Warm soup soaked through my clothes. I must have looked like someone had dumped an entire pot over my head.

A few gasps rippled through the crowd. Then came the laughter. It spread fast-loud, sharp, cruel. The entire room erupted. I felt the ground should crack open and swallow me whole.

"Look at her! Now she actually looks like trash!" someone called out.

My chest tightened so hard I thought I might pass out.

Slowly, as if waking from a nightmare, I lifted my eyes.

Donovan stood there.

His gaze was ice. No guilt. No hesitation. He wasn't even breathing hard. He didn't pretend it was an accident. He just glared at me as if everything he'd just done was perfectly justified.

As if humiliating me was normal.

My lips trembled. "D-Donovan. why.?"

The corner of his mouth curled. "A traitor's daughter doesn't deserve cafeteria food. You should be eating out of the garbage."

His voice carried across the room. Every single person was watching me now. Some sneered. Others kept laughing.

But that wasn't what hurt the most. What hurt most was the cold emptiness on Donovan's face.

As if being shunned by the entire school wasn't enough. The boy I once loved had become the one leading the charge against me.

I refused to accept this cruel reality. I gathered what courage I had left and stepped closer to him, trying to reach whatever humanity was still buried inside him.

"Why can't I eat here? Isn't the cafeteria for everyone?"

"No," Donovan shook his head, his voice flat and final. "It's a new rule. Traitors don't eat here. And anyone who breaks the rules pays the price."

He let the words hang in the air, his eyes boring into mine-daring me to argue, daring me to cry, daring me to break.

Around us, the laughter swelled again.

But I didn't cry. Not yet.

I just stood there, soaked in soup, and stared at the boy who had once promised to protect me from the world.

Now he was the world I needed protecting myself from.