Lilith POV

I didn't get far.

The forest was unforgiving, a labyrinth of shadows and biting wind. My grief was no longer just an emotion; it was a physical weight, dragging my feet through the deepening snow. I collapsed under the shelter of a large oak tree, shivering not merely from the cold, but from the shock ravaging my system.

My Mind-Link was still open. I hadn't figured out how to block it completely yet-I was just an Omega, untrained in the art of mental shielding.

Where is she?

Kane's voice reverberated in my head. It wasn't worried. It was annoyed. The appetizers are running low.

She's gone, Alpha, a Gamma warrior reported through the link. Her scent trail leads to the border.

Gone? Kane let out a mental scoff that grated against my skull like sandpaper. She's doing this for attention. She wants me to chase her. She thinks this little stunt will prove her 'passion'.

I curled into a ball, biting my lip until I tasted copper. He thought my heartbreak was a negotiation tactic.

Let her freeze for a few hours, Kane commanded, his tone dismissive. She'll come crawling back when she gets hungry. In the meantime... let us proceed.

I wanted to close my mind, to shut him out, but I was paralyzed.

Pack of Blood Moon! Kane's voice projected to everyone, amplified by his Alpha authority. Tonight is a night of celebration. Not just for the Solstice, but for our future.

No. Please, no.

I present to you my chosen mate. The one who will lead beside me. Serra of Silver Lake!

The mental cheer from the Pack was deafening. It echoed in my head like a thunderclap, shattering whatever hope I had left.

I lay there for hours. The cold seeped into my marrow, numbing my fingers and toes.

Eventually, a pair of rough hands grabbed my shoulders. I flinched, expecting a Rogue.

"Get up, girl."

It was a patrol from the border. Not Rogues. Kane's warriors. They dragged me back, not out of concern, but because the Alpha had ordered the 'trash' to be collected.

They didn't take me to the Healer. They dragged me straight to the center of the Pack grounds.

The ceremony was still ongoing, though it had transitioned into a bonfire party. The air smelled thickly of roasted meat and ale.

I stood there, shivering in my dirt-stained clothes, my hair a tangled mess of twigs and ice. The music stopped. The laughter died down. Hundreds of eyes turned to me.

Kane sat on a makeshift throne of logs, a goblet of wine in his hand. Serra was perched on his lap, looking pristine in a white fur coat.

"Look who decided to return," Kane said, his voice smooth and loud, carrying easily over the crackling fire. He didn't stand up. "Did the cold teach you some manners, Lilith?"

The Pack chuckled. A low, cruel sound.

Serra uncoiled from his lap and walked toward me. She moved with the grace of someone who knew they had won. She stopped a foot away, wrinkling her nose.

"Oh, Lilith," she sighed, shaking her head. "You look terrible. Kane told me you ran off. Trying to make a scene on my big night?"

She reached out and patted my cheek. It was patronizing, like one would pet a dirty dog.

"You're young," she said, loud enough for the crowd to hear. "You don't understand how Alpha politics work. You thought working hard would make you royalty? Some things... you just have to be born for."

"Or sleep your way into," I muttered.

The silence was instant.

Serra's eyes narrowed. Kane stood up, his Alpha aura flaring. It hit me like a wave of heat, forcing my head down.

"Watch your tongue, Omega," Kane growled. "Serra is your Luna now. You will show respect."

He walked over and draped his arm around Serra's waist, pulling her close. He looked at me with eyes that held no recognition of the girl who had saved his life.

"You are lucky I am merciful," Kane said. "You abandoned your duties. But Serra has asked me to be kind. So, you can stay. But you are stripped of your rank as Head Omega. You will clean the latrines until I say otherwise."

He waited for me to cry. He waited for me to beg.

But something inside me had snapped in the woods. The fear was gone, replaced by a cold, hollow void.

I looked at Kane. I really looked at him. He wasn't a god. He was just a man who needed to step on others to feel tall.

"I wish you happiness," I said. My voice was hoarse, but steady. "Both of you."

It wasn't a blessing. It was a goodbye.

Kane blinked, surprised by my lack of hysterics.

"Bless you," I repeated, turning my back on him.

"I didn't dismiss you!" Kane roared, the Alpha Command lashing out like a whip.

My knees buckled, forced down by the magic in his voice. I hit the dirt hard. But I kept my head up.

I looked up at the moon, bright and full above the bonfire.

I reject you, I thought, focusing every ounce of my pain into the bond. Kane, Alpha of Blood Moon, I reject you as my Mate.

I felt a tear in my soul, a silent snap that only I could hear.

Lilith POV:

The mental rejection didn't break the bond completely-he had to accept it for the tie to be fully severed-but it certainly dulled the pain. It transformed the roaring fire of the Mate bond into a cold, aching bruise deep in my chest.

I stood up, fighting the Alpha Command that tried to force me back on my knees. My defiance sent a ripple of shock through the crowd. Omegas didn't resist Alpha Commands.

"Defective," someone whispered. "She's broken."

"Ungrateful wretch," Serra sneered, leaning into Kane as if seeking protection from my mere presence. "After everything you've done for her."

Kane looked at me, his eyes narrowing. He didn't like that I wasn't breaking down and begging for forgiveness. He opened his mouth to punish me further, to force me into absolute submission.

But then the wind changed.

The scent hit us all at the same time. It cut through the perfume and the wine-the stench of rotting meat and sulfur.

Rogues.

A howl pierced the night, wild and dissonant. Then they came. Shadows detaching themselves from the treeline. Massive, scarred wolves with yellow eyes and foaming mouths.

"Attack!" Kane roared, shifting mid-air. His massive black wolf landed with a heavy thud, teeth bared.

Panic erupted. The celebration turned into a slaughterhouse in seconds. Warriors shifted, tearing through their clothes. Guests screamed and ran.

I stood frozen. A Rogue, gray and missing an ear, locked eyes with me. He snarled, drool dripping from his jaws.

I had no weapon. My wolf was too weak to shift after the emotional trauma of the rejection crushed her spirit.

"Kane!" Serra screamed.

She was standing near the drinks table, looking terrified. A Rogue was merely circling her.

Kane, who was fighting two wolves near the center, heard her. He didn't hesitate. He abandoned his opponents, turning his back on the rest of the Pack-and on me.

He launched himself across the clearing, tackling the Rogue threatening Serra. He stood over her, a protective mountain of black fur, snarling at anyone who dared approach his 'Luna'.

He was safe. She was safe.

But the Rogue he had abandoned... the one he had turned his back on... locked onto the easiest target.

Me.

I turned to run, but I wasn't fast enough. The Rogue hit me from behind.

Pain exploded in my back. I felt claws tear through my shirt and rake down my spine. The force of the impact threw me into a pile of firewood.

I gasped, the air leaving my lungs in a choked sob. Warm blood soaked my shirt instantly.

The Rogue loomed over me, ready for the killing bite.

Kane! I screamed through the Mind-Link, a reflex, a last desperate plea I hated myself for making.

Kane's head snapped toward me. He saw me. He saw the Rogue about to tear my throat out.

He looked at me. Then he looked at Serra, who was cowering behind him, completely unharmed.

He stayed put.

He chose to guard her unthreatened form rather than save my dying one.

The Rogue lunged.

I closed my eyes.

A flash of grey fur slammed into the Rogue, knocking it sideways.

It was Irene. The old Healer had shifted. She was frail, her fur patchy, but she fought with the desperation of a mother protecting her cub.

Other warriors arrived, finishing off the attackers. The raid was short, a probing attack rather than a full invasion.

I lay in the dirt, my vision blurring. The pain in my back was searing, but the coldness in my chest was worse.

Irene shifted back, naked and shivering, and crawled to me. "Child... oh, child."

She pressed her hands to my back, chanting a healing spell.

Kane trotted over. He had shifted back to human form. He helped Serra up, checking her for scratches she didn't have.

Only then did he look at me.

"Is she alive?" he asked. His voice was flat.

"She needs help," Irene snapped, her voice trembling with rage. "You left her."

"I was protecting my Luna," Kane said, his jaw setting. "Priorities, Irene."

He looked down at me. Our eyes met.

"You'll live," he said dismissively. "Healers, take her to the infirmary. Serra needs to rest; the shock was too much for her."

He walked away, his arm around Serra, leaving me bleeding in the dirt.

That was the moment the last ember of hope died.

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

"Irene," I whispered, my voice raspy.

"Don't heal it completely."

"What?" Irene looked at me, tears in her eyes.

"Save your energy," I said. "Just enough so I can walk."

Because I'm leaving tonight, I thought. And this time, even if I have to crawl, I'm not coming back.

Lilith POV

Irene bandaged me up, her hands shaking violently.

She didn't argue when I refused the sleeping draught. She knew I couldn't afford to sleep.

"Take this," she whispered, pressing a small, rough-spun pouch into my hand. "Dried meat. Herbs for the pain. It's all I could scrounge."

"Thank you," I rasped.

Standing up was agony. The claw marks on my back felt like lines of liquid fire searing into my spine.

I slipped out of the infirmary while the Pack was distracted with the cleanup and the frantic council meeting about the attack.

The chaos was my cover.

I limped toward the river that marked the northern border. It was the most dangerous route-the current was deadly, and the rocks were treacherous-but it was the only place not heavily patrolled.

I reached the riverbank, the sound of rushing water filling my ears like a roar. The moon was hidden behind thick clouds now, plunging the world into shadow.

"Going somewhere?"

My heart stopped.

I turned slowly. Kane stepped out from behind a tree, shadows clinging to his jaw.

He wasn't alone. Serra was with him, a smirk playing on her lips before she smoothed it into a mask of concern.

"I'm leaving, Kane," I said, my voice surprisingly steady. I was too tired to be afraid. "I'm going Rogue. You won't have to see me again."

"You think you can survive out there?" Kane laughed, a harsh, barking sound that grated against my nerves. "You're weak, Lilith. You're injured. You'll be dead in an hour."

"Better dead than here," I said.

"See?" Serra chimed in, clinging to his arm like a vine. "She's ungrateful. After you saved the Pack, she tries to desert us. It's treason, Kane."

Kane's face hardened. "Serra is right. No one leaves the Blood Moon Pack unless I exile them. And I haven't finished with you."

"I reject your authority," I spat.

Kane's eyes flashed red-the Alpha color. He took a threatening step forward. "You don't get to reject me."

I backed away, my heel catching on a wet, moss-covered stone.

I stumbled, sliding down the muddy bank toward the icy water.

I cried out as my injured back slammed against a rock.

Kane watched me fall. He didn't reach out.

"Help her, Kane!" Serra said, but her voice was laced with a strange, mocking tone. "Oh, wait, don't. She might pull you in."

I scrambled to get up, mud coating my fresh bandages.

Serra took a step forward, peering down at me. Then, with a theatrical gasp, she threw herself backward onto the grass.

"Ah! She attacked me!" Serra screamed, clutching her ankle. "She threw a rock at me!"

It was a lie so blatant it would have been laughable if my life didn't hang in the balance. I was ten feet down the embankment. I couldn't have reached her if I tried.

But Kane didn't look at the logic. He looked at his screaming 'Luna'.

He roared.

He jumped down the embankment, grabbing me by the throat. He lifted me off the ground, his fingers crushing my windpipe.

"You dare touch her?" he snarled, his spit hitting my face.

"I... didn't..." I choked, clawing at his hand uselessly.

"Liar!"

He slammed me backward. Not onto the bank, but into the river.

The freezing water engulfed me instantly. The shock seized my muscles like a physical blow. The current grabbed me, dragging me down.

Kane held me under. His hand was a vice on my neck.

I stared up through the distorting surface of the water. I could see his face, twisted in rage. I could see the moon, wavering and dim.

My lungs burned. My vision began to tunnel.

This is it, I thought. My Mate is killing me.

The water turned pink around me as my wounds reopened.

"If you ever try to hurt her again," Kane's voice was muffled by the water, but the Alpha Command vibrated through the liquid, rattling my very bones. "I will make you wish you were dead."

He let go.

He didn't pull me out. He pushed me further into the current.

I was swept away.

I tumbled over rocks, swallowing water, drowning in the darkness.

I had no strength left. I stopped fighting.

Then, a hand.

Not Kane's.

A massive hand grabbed the back of my shirt. With a heave that felt like it nearly dislocated my shoulder, I was yanked from the water.

I hit the rocky shore, coughing up water and blood.

I looked up, my vision swimming.

A man stood over me. He was huge, towering over even Kane. His energy wasn't like the storm-it was like the mountain itself. Solid. Unmovable.

He wasn't looking at me. He was looking across the river, where Kane stood on the opposite bank.

"She is not your property," the stranger growled.

His voice was deep, resonating in my chest like a bass drum.

"Your Alpha Command has no power here."

I blacked out.