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?
