BRIANA

A faint, throbbing ache pulls me out of the darkness. My body feels heavy, but the familiar scent of home seeps into me, reminding me where I am.

"Good, you're awake, Briana."

The soft but steady voice makes me turn my head. Standing in front of me is Linda Bruce. She is carefully removing photographs from their frames, setting each one into a box as though they are priceless treasures. I watch her slender hands work, steady and precise, as if she refuses to let even one corner bend. Those pictures are the last pieces I have of my parents, and she's guarding them with care.

I part my lips to speak, but Linda cuts me off before I can form words. Her hazel eyes pin me with a determined light.

"No protests. David and I already gave up our titles in Moonveil Pack, and the house is packed. This is final."

Her words hit me like a slap, but I know she isn't the kind of wolf to change her mind once it's made up. She is alpha-blooded. Stubbornness is in her veins.

"Marcus and Drake crossed the line this time," she continues firmly. "You deserve more than this. I won't stand by while they crush everything my family worked for. Moonveil pack may carry my ancestors' name, but I won't watch it be destroyed."

I push myself upright on the couch, the motion sending a sting of pain through my chest. My eyes sweep the room, noticing the bare spaces on the walls where pictures once hung. The empty frames rest neatly beside Linda's box.

"But Marcus is your brother," I whisper, confused. "Wouldn't you want to stay, no matter what?"

Linda scoffs, the sound sharp and bitter.

"Marcus is power-hungry. The only reason he wears the title of Alpha is because Moonveil law forbids a she-wolf from ruling. Otherwise, I'd be the one leading this pack." She gives me a faint smile, one that hides too much pain to be called real.

I don't want to argue with her, not when she's one of the few who has stood beside me since everything fell apart. So instead, I ask quietly, "If you're already leaving... shouldn't you be packing?"

"We finished," she replies. "You've been unconscious for five hours. It's three in the afternoon now. David and the pups are outside, loading the trailer. I came back for you."

My head snaps toward the clock on the wall. She's right-three in the afternoon. I had woken at nine-thirty this morning, believing my life was just beginning. I thought I'd be mated soon. Thought I'd be Luna.

The memory claws through me, raw and merciless. A gasp escapes me as pain flares in my chest, spreading through every nerve. Drake rejected me. My mate. The one the goddess herself had chosen. He didn't just turn away from me-he broke me. All for an arranged bond with Laura Joss. And Marcus... Marcus threw me out, stripped me of my place in Moonveil pack, leaving me nothing but an exile.

"Shh, it's alright, Briana."

Linda kneels at my side, her hands gentle as they cup my cheeks and wipe the tears streaming down.

"I-it hurts!" My voice cracks as sobs wrack me, each breath sharp and shallow.

"I know, baby girl. It'll hurt until you or he binds to another. But right now, you need strength. Do you think you can find that strength?"

Her question burns through the haze of pain. I nod weakly, and she rewards me with a small, relieved smile.

"Good. Now, breathe with me. In. Out. In. Out."

Her calm voice pulls me back piece by piece. I match her breaths until the sharp edge of the agony dulls enough for me to steady myself.

"Listen to me," she says softly but firmly. "We have only nine hours before Marcus's wolves hunt us off Moonveil land. You can't break now. Pack what you can. Can you do this?"

The thought of leaving slices into me. Packing means saying goodbye to my parents' memories forever. But the truth is harsher-if I don't, I won't survive.

"I... I don't know," I admit, squeezing my eyes shut. My breath trembles. "But I'll try."

When I open them again, Linda is watching me with pride shining in her eyes. She ruffles my hair gently before standing.

"Good girl. I'll finish the pictures. You gather what matters most to you. We're leaving in four hours."

Her words settle over me like a command. Shaky but determined, I push myself up and make my way toward my room.

I should count myself lucky. Most wolves forced into rogue life are given an hour-if that-to pack before being chased away. I've been granted nearly a day.

Inside my bedroom, I slip into a simple sundress from my closet. My hands tremble as I throw Drake's torn, bloodied clothes into the trash. The fabric reeks of his scent, and it makes me sick. I had given myself to him fully the night we discovered we were mates, certain he'd mark me and claim me. Certain the goddess's design was enough. I was wrong.

The ache surges back, fierce and unrelenting. My knees nearly buckle, and I clutch the bed for balance. The bond between us claws at me, screaming to be healed, but it never will. Drake made sure of that. Marcus made sure of that.

Hot tears streak my face again, blurring everything. I choke on the helplessness clawing up my throat, desperate to fight it back.

I can't undo the past. I can't erase last night or take back what I gave him. I can't stop the rejection. But I can choose what happens from this moment forward.

With effort, I force myself to breathe through the torment. Slowly, the sobs quiet. Slowly, my strength returns, shaky but steady enough to stand.

Linda's words echo in my head. Push the pain aside. Stay strong.

I will. I have to. If I fall apart now, I won't make it out alive.

Other than Peter Wood, I have no one left here. That truth doesn't crush me the way I expect-it steadies me.

I lift my chin, a strange calm washing through me, and begin to pack.

BRIANA

"David said we have space in our trailer for a bed for you. Do you want us to take yours apart?" Linda Bruce stepped into the room just as I finished sealing the last box with tape. Her sudden voice startled me, and I dropped the tape gun with a loud clatter. She gasped and quickly bent to pick it up for me, mumbling an apology as she handed it back.

"No... I don't want my bed. It's too small for me now," I murmured, taking the tape gun from her.

Linda's gaze drifted over the almost empty room until it settled on my parents' bed. My chest tightened at the sight. I hadn't lain on it since their deaths, afraid that doing so would erase the last trace of their scent.

"How about we bring theirs then? That way you'll have another piece of them in your new life," she suggested with a playful wink and a bright grin.

Her words warmed me. I couldn't help but smile back at her as I looked at the sturdy wooden frame-older than I was, yet still strong. I nodded eagerly. It felt right. Together, we walked through the house one last time, moving slowly, as if stretching out the final moments of goodbye, until we ended up in the garage.

My mother's presence lingered everywhere, but especially here. She had been a gardener. I noticed her tools carefully packed, along with her boxes of seeds. A small, determined thought struck me-I would plant her seeds wherever I ended up. I would carry her garden with me into the future.

"I loaded her potted plants into the bed of your pickup," Linda said. "I told David he has to dig up her lilac bush before we leave. I'm not about to let that gorgeous bush stay behind for these goddess-forsaken wolves."

Her irritation made me laugh-loud, unrestrained laughter that bent me over until tears pricked my eyes. I had never seen Linda so flustered before. For once, she looked tired of her younger brother's endless nonsense. When my laughter finally died down, she was staring at me with curious concern, as if wondering whether I had finally lost my mind. And maybe I had. The last twenty-four hours had chewed me up and spat me out. Still, laughing felt safer than crying.

"We won't let them take your parents' hard work," David's deep voice came from the doorway. I turned and saw him standing there with his three children. Lace and Henry peeked out from behind him, their little eyes wide. My heart softened, and I opened my arms. They ran into my embrace without hesitation.

"Daddy told us what happened. You deserve better," eight-year-old Lace whispered with surprising maturity.

"Thank you, sweetheart," I told her with a shaky smile. Henry chimed in that he was excited for the adventure ahead, his small face glowing with energy. Standing a little apart was Adam, fourteen and tall for his age. He didn't speak, just gave me a solemn nod that felt like its own promise.

"So, are we all packed?" David asked, sliding an arm around Linda.

"We are," she answered firmly. "Briana and I counted everything. I'll show you what to move."

With her words, we all fell into motion. The six of us loaded box after box into the trailer hitched to my truck. David had already prepared it earlier, while Linda had been treating my wounds during the hours I lay unconscious. His quiet efficiency had kept everything moving.

Three hours later, the last of my belongings were secured. The final piece was my mother's wedding dress, carefully folded and placed in the cab of my truck as if it were treasure. With the physical work finished, my thoughts turned to Peter Wood, my best friend and sworn brother.

Peter and I had grown up with Drake Summer. He was the one who would step in as the next beta when I left. I knew I owed him something. Sitting at my desk one last time, I wrote him a letter. In it, I explained my decision to leave, trusting he would understand. I tucked the house deed inside, telling him the home was his if he wanted it. He had been searching for a place of his own, and I knew he would care for it the way I never could again.

When I finally closed the door to my childhood home, I didn't bother locking it. I knew I'd never walk through it again.

"We have three hours left before the deadline. Do you want to say goodbye to anyone?" David asked gently.

"No. The pack turned their backs on me long ago. I left a letter for Peter. I'll call him once I get a new number," I replied, my voice firm though my heart ached. When I had become an orphan last year, only a handful had stood by me-David and Linda, their children, and Peter. The rest Moonveil pack... even Drake, who had once been my everything, had been too wrapped up with Laura Joss to notice I was breaking.

"Good. Let's go," David said simply.

We climbed into our vehicles. Lace begged to ride with me, and I agreed. Her chatter would help drown the silence threatening to crush me. After buckling her in, I slid into the driver's seat of my 2018 Ford F150 and turned the key.

"Any music requests?" I asked, pulling up Spotify.

She thought hard before requesting pop songs she could sing along to. I grinned and put the playlist on. With both of us ready, I honked the horn to signal David. He honked back, his own truck already tugging the trailer into motion.

Driving through Moonveil pack was like swallowing shards of glass. Every turn forced me to pass familiar places-the training field, the forest edge, the houses of packmates who once called me family. My chest tightened with every memory.

But Lace kept talking, her bright voice pushing the sadness back. She spoke of adventures, of new beginnings, of freedom. Her excitement wrapped around me like a shield.

At last, the pack's border came into view. My heart pounded as we crossed the line. Just like that, we were rogues-outcasts with no home, no alpha, no safety net.

Maybe, someday, Moonveil Pack or some other kind-hearted alpha would welcome us in. Maybe.

For now, survival was all that mattered. And survival was enough.

DRAKE

"You did what you had to do, Son." My father, Alpha Marcus, pats my shoulder as I watch my uncle Jack carry Briana away in his arms. My face still stings from the claw marks she left on me, and the blood trickling down my cheek tells me they'll scar. A scar that will mirror the wound carved deep inside my chest.

She is my goddess-given mate... and I hurt her. I rejected her. I betrayed her, just like my father told me to do-before he sent Laura Joss and her pack of loyal hounds to ambush her.

When I woke up early this morning, all I wanted was to see Briana's face resting peacefully against the pillow, to wrap my arms around her and whisper that I loved her. Instead, I slipped out of bed quietly and made my way to my father's office. He was speaking with Laura when I walked in. I dismissed her, not wanting her to know Briana was my mate.

Once she was gone, I told my father the truth. That Briana and I had found each other. That I wanted to end the ridiculous marriage contract from ten years ago. I expected anger, yes, but part of me still hoped he'd be proud I had found my true mate. Instead, he was unyielding. He said I would still marry Laura.

Then he told me something that made my blood run cold-he had ordered Laura to attack Briana.

I bolted to my feet, ready to run to her side, but his Alpha command crushed me back into the chair. I begged him to stop, pleaded for Briana's safety, reminding him of how her parents gave their lives for Moonveil Pack. But he reminded me of the "promise." That unless I married Laura, Alpha Norman Joss would destroy us all-Briana included.

"I'm going to my room," I mutter, shoving my father's hand off me. The hate coursing through my veins is too strong. If I stay near him, I'll strike him, and I know I'll lose. My only relief is that he doesn't seem to realize I disobeyed him and didn't hit Briana when he ordered me to.

"You did what you had to do, Drake," my father calls after me. "If you had broken the engagement, Norman Joss would have carried out his threat. He would have destroyed Moonveil Pack-our home-just as punishment for me killing his mate." His words are a warning, a reminder that my chains to Laura are forged in blood.

The pack disperses now that the cruel show is over. Some whisper about the changes to come when my aunt Linda and uncle Jack leave. Linda had been furious when she realized what was done to Briana. She renounced her position in the pack, breaking every tie, and declared I would regret losing Briana. She said following my father blindly would only lead me into misery.

I asked if Briana bore a betrayal mark like me, but Linda told me she wouldn't. Briana had fought back after I rejected her, so the mark would not appear on her. Then she turned her back on us all and left to chase after Jack. Linda should have been the rightful Alpha-my father's older sister-but pack law says only men can lead.

I cast one final glare at my father before walking into the pack house. My steps are heavy as I climb the stairs, trying to control the rage boiling inside me. If I don't, I'll lash out at someone who doesn't deserve it.

"Drake."

Her voice drips like poisoned honey.

I stop mid-step and turn. Laura stands in the doorway of the sitting room, a smirk curling her painted lips. The bruise Briana left on her face is gone, healed completely. My mind flashes back to Briana's torn clothes, the blood staining her skin, the scent of wolfsbane in her wounds.

"Is that girl gone?" Laura sneers, her smirk widening.

A growl tears out of me before I realize it. Rage floods my chest at the way she dares speak about my mate. Before I can think, I'm standing in front of her, my hand locked around her throat, my eyes burning into hers.

Laura has hated Briana from the beginning, long before she knew we were mates. She always tormented her, always tried to drive a wedge between us, simply because Briana was my friend.

And the truth is, none of this would be happening if not for Laura.

When I was ten, my father and I visited Blood Oath-Laura's pack-to sign a treaty. It should have secured us as allies. But Laura saw me at the welcome dinner and decided she wanted me. She told her mother she wanted me as her playmate, and that someday she would make me hers.

That night, her mother kidnapped me. She locked me in an abandoned shack, and for hours I thought I'd never see home again. My father tracked me down and attacked my captors. He struck down Laura's mother right as Alpha Norman arrived with Laura in his arms.

They both watched her mother die. And from that moment, Norman swore his revenge. His demand was simple: when I turned twenty-one and became Alpha of Moonveil Pack, I would marry Laura. If not, he would slaughter everyone in my pack.

My father had no defense. Norman mocked him, pointing out that the kidnapping had happened on his land. With my father's scent all over her wounds, no one would believe the truth. If Norman told the council that my father killed her without reason, they'd believe him over us.

And so my fate was sealed that night. A mate bond to Laura, forged not by the goddess, but by fear, blood, and blackmail.