"Are you absolutely certain about this, Elena?"

The doctor's voice hovered above me, sterile and cold.

"I am," I said.

"Congenital kidney failure is severe," the doctor warned. "Removing your kidney poses massive risks to your own wolf. If you don't heal properly, you could lose your shifting abilities entirely."

"Where do I sign?" I asked.

Adrian squeezed my fingers.

"You don't have to do this," Adrian said.

"Vivian is my stepsister," I told him.

"She is weak," he argued. "The pack needs a strong Luna. You are risking your life for a half-blood."

"I've protected her since we were kids, Adrian."

"You always put everyone else first."

"She needs this to survive. She is my family."

Adrian leaned closer, his Alpha scent wrapping around me.

"When you wake up, we hold the Mate Ceremony," he promised.

"You aren't just saying that to keep me calm?" I asked.

"I will announce to the entire Thorn Pack that you are my one and only Luna."

"You swear?"

"I swear it on the Moon Goddess."

I grabbed the pen and signed the hospital forms.

"I'll be waiting right here," Adrian whispered.

The nurse injected the anesthesia into my IV.

The world faded to black.

***

A sharp throbbing in my side pulled me back to consciousness.

The hospital room was completely dark.

The door stood slightly ajar, letting in a sliver of harsh fluorescent light.

Voices drifted through the narrow gap.

"Is the spare part functioning?"

I recognized my stepmother's voice immediately. Helena Hale.

"The transplant was a flawless success," my father, Gregory Ravenshade, replied.

"Good," Helena scoffed.

"Keep your voice down," Gregory snapped.

"Why should I?" Helena countered. "I am sick of pretending to love your useless daughter."

My fingers clamped onto the thin hospital blanket.

"If Elena hears you, she'll cause a scene."

"Let her," Helena said. "Vivian has the kidney now. My baby is finally safe."

"Elena served her purpose," my father agreed.

"She actually thought we considered her family."

"Donating half her organs is the only value she ever brought to this house."

"I hated buying her those stupid gifts every year," Helena laughed softly.

"It was an investment," Gregory said. "A cheap price for Vivian's life."

"Do you think she suspects anything?"

"Elena is blind," my father replied. "She thinks the Mate bond with Adrian will save her."

"Adrian is a smart Alpha. He knows where true power lies."

A strange, dry chuckle escaped my throat.

Tears should have fallen. Instead, an empty amusement rattled in my chest.

Twenty years of family dinners. Twenty years of fake smiles.

All a lie to keep a living donor healthy for Vivian.

I shoved the blankets off my legs.

Pain ripped through my abdomen. I ignored it.

I needed Adrian. The Mate bond was the only truth I had left.

***

I stumbled out of the room, clutching my IV stand for support.

Adrian stood at the end of the hallway.

"Adrian," I rasped.

He looked up, stuffing his phone into his pocket.

"You shouldn't be out of bed," he said.

"My father," I gasped. "Helena. They lied to me."

Adrian crossed his arms. "What are you talking about?"

"They only wanted my kidney for Vivian."

He sighed heavily.

"They never loved me, Adrian. They just admitted it."

"Elena, you are being ridiculous."

"I heard them!"

"You just got out of surgery," Adrian said. "You're confused."

"I know exactly what I heard."

"Helena is exhausted. Vivian almost died today," he argued.

"So that excuses them using me like livestock?"

"Don't twist their stress into some malicious plot."

My jaw tightened. "You're defending them?"

"I am telling you to be reasonable," Adrian retorted.

"They played me for a fool."

"Stop trying to ruin your family over a few angry words."

"Angry words? They called me a spare part!"

"Gregory is a proud man. You misunderstood his tone."

"He said my only value was my organs!" I yelled.

"And you gave them freely. So what is the problem?"

"The problem is that my entire life has been a lie."

He turned his back on me.

"Go back to sleep, Elena. We will talk when you are rational."

"Adrian, wait!"

"I have a pack to run," he snapped.

He walked away, leaving me alone in the freezing corridor.

***

Night fell over the Thorn Pack territory.

Torches blazed along the stone path leading to the ceremonial altar.

Despite the agonizing pain in my side, I wore my white ceremonial dress.

Adrian had promised.

No matter what my family did, he was my Mate. We would face them together.

Pack members lined the pathway, murmuring as I limped past them.

"Look at her," someone whispered.

"Why is she out of bed?" another asked.

I kept my chin high.

Adrian stood at the top of the altar stairs, dressed in his formal Alpha robes.

A figure stood next to him.

Vivian.

She wore a dress identical to mine, though hers was trimmed in silver.

My stepsister looked pale, but a triumphant smirk played on her lips.

"Adrian?" I called out.

The murmurs of the pack died down instantly.

Adrian didn't look at me. He reached out and grabbed Vivian's hand.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

"Tonight, we celebrate the future of the Thorn Pack," Adrian announced.

His voice echoed across the clearing.

I froze at the base of the steps.

"I present to you my true Mate," Adrian declared.

He raised Vivian's hand into the air.

"Vivian Hale. The only Luna I will ever recognize."

The words slammed into me like a physical blow.

"No," I whispered.

"You heard him," Vivian sneered, gazing down at me.

"We share the bond," I yelled at Adrian. "You promised me!"

"I promised to keep you docile until the surgery was over," Adrian replied coldly.

"You lied?"

"Vivian is my chosen Mate. She always has been."

Vivian leaned against his shoulder.

"Did you really think an Alpha would want a broken wolf?" Vivian asked.

"I broke myself for you!"

"And I am so grateful," Vivian mocked. "This dress fits me much better anyway."

"You used me," I choked out.

"You were useful," Adrian corrected. "Enough, Elena. Accept your place."

He pulled Vivian close and kissed her.

Inside my chest, the Mate bond snapped.

It didn't just break. It tore, shredding my veins and setting my blood on fire.

I collapsed to the dirt.

A scream ripped from my throat, raw and agonizing.

The pain in my abdomen was nothing compared to the agony of a severed bond.

Pack members stepped back, watching me writhe on the ground.

No one offered a hand.

My father stood in the front row, his face completely blank.

Helena leaned against his arm, smiling openly.

"Adrian!" I sobbed, clutching the dirt.

He finally glanced down at me.

There was no warmth in his eyes. No love.

Just disgust.

"Get her out of here," Adrian ordered his guards.

"You will regret this!" I cried.

"She's ruining my wedding," he added, waving a hand dismissively.

Rough hands grabbed my arms, hauling me upward.

Blood soaked through the white fabric of my dress, seeping from my fresh surgical wound.

I had given up my body for my sister.

I had trusted my heart to my Mate.

Now, I had absolutely nothing left.

The guards dragged me toward the edge of the forest.

"Throw her to the rogues," one guard muttered.

"Let the wolves finish her off," the other agreed.

The darkness of the trees loomed ahead, promising only death for a wounded, rejected wolf.

But as the shadows swallowed me, a low, terrifying growl rumbled from the depths of the woods.

The sound vibrated through the earth, freezing the guards in their tracks.

A massive pair of glowing red eyes pierced the gloom.

Who was waiting for me in the dark?

The glowing red eyes blinked in the dark.

My guards screamed, dropping my arms instantly. They bolted toward the safety of the tree line.

I didn't wait to see what hunted them.

Fire ripped through my surgical wound, but I forced myself off the dirt. I stumbled back up the illuminated path, heading straight toward the Moon Goddess Temple.

I slammed the heavy oak doors open.

The entire pack turned.

Adrian stood at the altar, holding the ceremonial chalice. Vivian leaned against his chest.

"You swore on the Moon Goddess!" I yelled.

My voice echoed off the vaulted stone ceiling.

Adrian slammed the chalice down onto the marble pedestal. "I told the guards to remove you."

"You promised me the Luna title," I pushed forward, clutching my bleeding side. "You made a sacred vow."

Vivian stepped away from him. The sweet, sickly smile vanished from her face.

"A vow to a bastard child?" Vivian scoffed.

The pack gasped.

She descended two steps, her silver-trimmed dress dragging behind her.

"You really thought an Alpha would bind himself to an illegitimate mistake?" she asked.

"I am your sister," I spat.

"You are a blood bank," Vivian sneered. "A Mate Bond means nothing against my noble lineage. I belong on this altar. You belong in the dirt."

I stared at the girl I had protected my entire life.

"You are standing there because of my kidney," I reminded her. "You would be dead right now."

Adrian stepped in front of Vivian, shielding her from my gaze.

"Watch your tone, Elena."

"She took my organs and my Mate!" I shouted.

"She is weak and needs our protection," Adrian retorted. "Sisters are supposed to care for each other."

"Care for her? I let them cut me open!"

"And you did your duty," Adrian said. "Vivian deserves the pack's favor. Stop being so unreasonable."

A cold numbness washed over my skin.

"Unreasonable," I repeated.

"I need a Luna who commands respect," Adrian explained. "Not a half-blood who embarrasses me in front of my people."

"You used my love for you," I said.

"I secured my pack's future," he corrected.

"Leave the temple," Adrian commanded. "Before I have you thrown in the dungeons."

I turned around. The heavy doors stood open, framing the dark night outside.

"My neck!" Vivian shrieked.

I paused, glancing over my shoulder.

Vivian clawed at her collarbone.

"The Moon Goddess Necklace!" she cried. "It is gone!"

Panic erupted in the sanctuary.

Adrian grabbed her shoulders. "Are you sure?"

"I wore it just a moment ago!" Vivian sobbed, burying her face in his robes. "The symbol of the Luna. Someone took it!"

"Lock the doors," Adrian ordered.

Four guards rushed forward, pushing the heavy oak shut. The iron latch fell into place.

"No one leaves," Adrian announced. "Search the grounds. Search the quarters."

"Check the temple first," a council member suggested.

Guards scoured the pews, overturning cushions and sweeping the marble floors.

I leaned against a stone pillar. My legs shook.

Ten minutes passed in suffocating silence. Pack members muttered, casting suspicious glares in my direction.

A guard jogged down the center aisle, holding a silver chain. A crescent moon pendant dangled from his fingers.

"Where did you find it?" Adrian demanded.

"In the eastern wing, Alpha," the guard replied.

"Whose room?"

The guard pointed directly at me. "Elena's."

"That is impossible," I said.

Vivian let out a tragic wail. "Why, Elena? Why would you do this?"

"I didn't take it," I told Adrian.

"The guard found it in your chambers," Adrian countered.

"I haven't been in my room since the surgery!" I yelled. "I woke up in the clinic and came straight to the ceremony."

Vivian wiped a fake tear from her cheek.

"You were jealous," Vivian whimpered. "You wanted to ruin my ceremony because Adrian chose me."

"You planted it," I accused, glaring at my stepsister. "You set this up to get rid of me."

"Why would I risk the sacred necklace?" Vivian asked the crowd.

"Because you are a liar!" I screamed.

"Enough of these lies!" a new voice boomed.

The crowd parted.

My father, Gregory Ravenshade, marched toward the altar.

"Father," I gasped. "Tell them. Tell them I was in the hospital."

Gregory refused to look at me. He bowed his head to the Alpha.

"I must speak the truth, Alpha Adrian," Gregory said.

"What did you see, Gregory?" Adrian asked.

"Before the ceremony began, I saw Elena sneaking into Vivian's quarters."

The sanctuary erupted into angry whispers.

"Thief!" someone shouted.

"Traitor!" another yelled.

I stared at my father's rigid back.

"You saw me?" I whispered.

Gregory finally turned. His expression remained completely flat.

"Do not deny it, Elena. I watched you steal the necklace with my own eyes."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked him.

"I am protecting this pack from a criminal," he replied.

"I am your daughter!"

"You are a mistake," Gregory said. "You always have been."

Helena Hale stood in the front row, covering her mouth to hide a vicious smile.

My father. The man who raised me.

He was sealing my death warrant to protect his precious stepdaughter.

A strange sound bubbled in my throat.

I didn't cry. I didn't scream.

I threw my head back and laughed.

The sound echoed through the temple, harsh and broken.

Adrian frowned, his jaw tightening. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I never had a family," I said, smiling at Gregory. "I never had a father. I was just a spare part."

"Lock her up," Gregory told the guards.

"You won't have to," I replied.

I turned toward the massive stained-glass window at the back of the temple.

"Elena, stop!" Adrian shouted.

I grabbed a heavy brass candleholder from the nearest pew.

I swung it as hard as I could.

Glass shattered, raining down on the marble floor. The night air rushed inside.

I climbed onto the stone ledge.

"If I stay, you will kill me," I looked back at them one last time. "But if I survive, I will end you all."

I threw myself out the window into the darkness.

I hit the soft earth and rolled, ignoring the tearing pain in my gut.

I sprinted into the trees.

Behind me, the pack howled in fury, giving chase.

I ran until my lungs burned and my legs gave out.

I collapsed near a massive oak tree, blood pouring from my side.

A low growl vibrated through the soil beneath my hands.

I lifted my head.

The same glowing red eyes from the forest edge stared down at me.

A massive black wolf stepped out of the shadows.

The massive black wolf melted into the shadows just as torchlight pierced the tree line.

"Grab her!" a voice shouted.

Rough hands seized my shoulders. Two of Adrian's guards dragged me back toward the temple courtyard.

The entire Thorn Pack waited in a massive circle.

Adrian stood at the center.

The guards shoved me forward. I hit the dirt at his feet.

"You didn't even investigate," I gasped, clutching my bleeding side. "Vivian planted that necklace."

Vivian buried her face in Adrian's chest. "She tried to run away. Guilt makes people flee."

"I ran because you were going to kill me!" I yelled.

Adrian glared down at me. "The evidence was found in your room, Elena. You stole the sacred symbol of the Luna."

"I was in the hospital!" I argued. "Ask the nurses. Ask the surgeon."

"My father saw you," Adrian countered.

"Gregory lied," I said.

"You dare accuse your own father?" Adrian demanded.

"He is not my father," I spat. "He is a monster."

Gregory stepped out of the crowd. "Alpha, I demand justice for this disrespect. She has brought nothing but shame to the Ravenshade name."

I looked around at the faces of the pack members. "Does anyone here believe them? I just gave her my kidney!"

No one spoke. They all looked away.

Adrian raised a hand. "The laws of the Thorn Pack are absolute."

He looked down at me.

"For the crime of theft and treason against your Luna, I sentence you to permanent exile in the Shadow Forest."

The words echoed across the silent courtyard.

"The Shadow Forest?" I repeated.

"Effective immediately," Adrian confirmed.

"No one survives there," I told him. "High-level beasts and dark creatures roam those woods."

"Then you will die a traitor," Vivian sneered.

I ignored her. "Do you want me to die out there, Adrian?"

He didn't blink. "Yes."

The single syllable shattered my chest.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because if you remain alive, someone will always question Vivian's rightful place," Adrian answered coldly. "Your existence is a threat to her legitimacy."

Deep inside my soul, the final threads of our Mate Bond snapped.

The pain tore through my veins. I collapsed onto the gravel. A raw scream ripped from my throat.

"Take her away," Adrian commanded.

***

The two guards hauled me up by my arms.

They dragged me away from the lights of the pack, pulling me deep into the woods.

We walked for miles. Blood soaked my dress, dripping onto the dead leaves.

"Keep moving," Kael grunted, shoving my back.

I stumbled against a tree trunk. "I need a moment."

"Vivian is throwing a celebration party right now," Kael laughed. "We're missing the free alcohol because of you."

Rylan stopped at a line of jagged black rocks. "This is the boundary. The Shadow Forest starts here."

"Throw her in," Kael said.

Rylan stared at me. "Hold on. She doesn't have an Alpha anymore."

"She's exiled," Kael agreed.

"No one is going to ask what happened to her," Rylan added.

"Stay back," I warned.

Rylan stepped over the boundary line. "You always thought you were better than us."

"Get your hands off me," I warned, backing up.

Kael grabbed my hair from behind, yanking my head back.

I screamed, kicking backward. My heel connected with his shin.

Kael cursed and backhanded me across the face.

I hit the dirt hard.

"Help!" I screamed into the dark trees.

"No one can hear you," Rylan spat, unbuckling his belt.

He lunged, pinning me down.

I clawed at his face.

"Bitch!" Rylan yelled, punching me in the ribs.

I thrashed beneath him.

Then, a new pain hit me.

A sharp, tearing agony low in my pelvis.

A sudden rush of warm liquid soaked my thighs.

"What the hell?" Rylan muttered.

Blood pooled on the dead leaves beneath me.

My hands shook violently as I pressed them to my stomach.

A child.

I was pregnant with Adrian's child.

"My baby," I sobbed.

"She's bleeding out," Kael stepped back.

"Leave her," Rylan said, scrambling off me. "The beasts will smell the blood. Let them finish her."

I lay in the mud, crying. My pup. Gone before I even knew it existed.

***

A metallic ring echoed through the trees.

Kael's head detached from his shoulders, tumbling onto the forest floor.

His body collapsed into the dirt.

Rylan screamed. "Who's there?"

A silver blade pierced Rylan's chest from behind. He dropped to his knees and fell dead.

Knights draped in heavy black cloaks emerged from the trees.

A tall man walked through their ranks.

His jaw was sharp. His eyes were a piercing, unnatural crimson.

He stopped beside me.

I tried to push myself backward, but my arms gave out.

He knelt in the dirt.

He slipped one arm under my shoulders and the other beneath my knees, lifting me against his chest.

"Who are you?" I whispered.

He looked up at the knights.

"Take the future Luna back to Duskbane Castle immediately," he ordered.

My eyes fluttered shut.

Duskbane Castle?