Kelsey POV
I spent the week exiled in an old gardener’s shed on the very edge of the territory.
It was a small, forgotten structure that smelled faintly of dry earth and old fertilizer, but it offered the one thing the Pack House couldn't: silence.
I focused entirely on healing.
The cuts from the champagne glass had knitted together, leaving behind only thin, silvery-pink lines. The bruises on my soul, however, were taking longer to fade.
Tonight was the Spring Banquet.
In any other year, I would have been the one orchestrating it. I would have been the one selecting the seasonal blooms, approving the wine list, and managing the seating charts. Now, I was merely a guest in my own home.
I had to go. I didn't want to, but Pack Law was absolute: all ranked members must attend the Spring Banquet to honor the season of renewal. Until I officially left the territory or was formally rejected, I was still the Luna on paper.
I pulled a dress from the back of my closet, one I had bought years ago but never found the right occasion to wear.
It was a midnight blue silk that draped like water against my skin. Simple. Elegant. High-necked and long-sleeved, it didn't scream for attention. It commanded presence without demanding it.
When I walked into the Pack House, the ambient noise in the Great Hall severed instantly.
The silence was heavy, suffocating.
Whispers followed me like curling smoke as I moved through the crowd.
*"Is that her?"*
*"Look at her... she looks so pale, like a ghost."*
*"Did you hear she pushed Aria?"*
I kept my chin parallel to the floor. My mother had drilled that into me since I was a pup. *A Luna never bows her head, Kelsey. Even when the crown is heavy enough to break your neck.*
My eyes drifted to the head table.
Bennett sat in the center. Aria was seated in my chair.
She was wearing a bright, garish red dress that clashed violently with the rustic spring decor. She was practically sitting in Bennett’s lap, feeding him grapes one by one. It was a display so possessive and lacking in decorum that it bordered on grotesque.
"Kelsey!"
I turned to see Sarah and a few other pack females approaching. Their eyes were swimming with pity. I hated pity more than I hated the betrayal.
"Oh goddess, Kelsey, are you okay?" Sarah asked, reaching out to grasp my cold hands. "We miss you at the morning runs. Bennett... look, he's just stressed. The Alpha blood is overwhelming him. He'll come around. Remember the charm bracelet he made you? He loves you."
I looked at her hands covering mine. Then, gently but firmly, I pulled away.
"It's over, Sarah," I said. My voice was calm, steady as a flatline. It surprised even me. "Bennett and I are finished. There is no 'coming around' from this."
"But... you're Fated Mates," another friend whispered, looking scandalized, as if I had blasphemed against the Moon Goddess herself.
"Things change," I replied simply. "People change. I accept that now."
I looked toward the head table again. Bennett was watching me. His eyes were narrowed into slits, tracking my every micro-expression. He was waiting for a reaction. He wanted me to cry, to scream, to throw a drink—anything to prove that he still held the leash to my emotions.
I met his gaze across the room and gave him a polite, empty nod. The kind you give a stranger passing on the street.
Then, I turned my back to him to face Sarah.
I could practically feel the shockwave of his confusion. Bennett’s jaw clenched tight enough to crack a tooth. He looked unmoored.
He stood up abruptly, looking ready to storm over, but Aria yanked on his arm. She whispered something frantic, pointing at the buffet table. He hesitated, his chest heaving, then sat back down, looking visibly annoyed.
"Attention, everyone!" the Beta announced, his voice booming over the microphone. "It is time for the Moon Dance!"
The room rippled with excitement. The Moon Dance was a sacred tradition where random partners were drawn to dance under the skylight, symbolizing the unpredictability of fate.
The Beta reached into a crystal bowl.
"Alpha Bennett... and Aria Diaz."
Of course. It was rigged. The probability was nonexistent.
Aria squealed, a high-pitched sound that grated on the ears, and dragged Bennett to the dance floor. The music started—a slow, romantic waltz.
They danced. Or rather, Bennett moved with innate grace while Aria stumbled through the steps. She stepped on his toes twice, but she laughed loudly each time, throwing her head back to ensure every set of eyes was fixed on her.
When the music faded, Aria snatched the microphone from the Beta.
"Thank you!" she beamed, breathless and flushed. She turned, her eyes locking directly onto me. "I want to challenge the former Luna."
A collective gasp sucked the air out of the room.
"Luna Jensen," she sneered, dropping the honorific like an insult. "Why don't you give us a toast? To the Alpha's new happiness? Or are you just a spectator now? The Alpha's steps no longer move for you."
It was a trap, plain and simple. If I refused, I looked bitter and defeated. If I spoke, she would find a way to mock my pain.
I felt the heat of humiliation rise in my cheeks, a physical slap. But I breathed in. One, two, three.
I walked to the center of the room. The crowd parted for me like the Red Sea.
I didn't take the microphone. I didn't need it. My voice carried, clear and ringing with quiet authority.
"The Alpha's steps move for his heart," I said, looking at Bennett, not Aria. "And my heart..."
I paused, letting the silence stretch until it was taut as a bowstring.
"My heart has long since left this building."
Bennett’s face turned a violent shade of purple.
The indifference. That was the weapon. I wasn't fighting for him. I was dismissing him.
"You think you can just... dismiss me?" Bennett roared. The Alpha's Command vibrated in the air, shaking the glassware on the tables.
He grabbed Aria by the waist, his grip bruising.
"You are nothing!" he yelled at me, his eyes wild with a panic he couldn't name. "Watch this!"
He ripped the collar of Aria's dress down, exposing the curve of her neck.
Gasps echoed around the room. People covered their mouths.
Bennett leaned down, his canines fully extending. With a savage, guttural growl, he bit into the junction of Aria's neck and shoulder.
*Snap.*
The sound of teeth meeting bone was sickeningly audible.
Aria screamed—a sound that was equal parts agony and triumph.
He Marked her. Publicly. Before the pack, before the moon, before me.
The scent of burnt sugar and metallic copper filled the air as the new bond settled, searing into place. It was done. He had overwritten our bond. He had severed the tie to me by binding his soul to another.
The metaphysical backlash hit me like a physical blow. The pain should have killed me.
But as I watched blood trickle down Aria's pale neck, Bennett lifted his head. His mouth was smeared with crimson. He looked at me, chest heaving, eyes wild, expecting me to collapse in a heap of misery.
"Do you see?" he spat, blood staining his teeth. "You are nothing to me."
I looked at him. I really looked at him—a monster covered in another woman's blood, desperately trying to hurt me to prove he existed.
And I smiled.
It was a sad, small smile, but it was genuine.
"Thank you," I whispered into the stunned silence.
"For setting me free."
