"Move," Silas grunted, shoving me through the heavy oak doors.
The freezing wind hit me instantly. Snow blanketed the pack house courtyard, a stark white canvas waiting to be ruined.
"Release me," I snapped, twisting my shoulders.
Another guard grabbed my left arm. They forced me forward, their massive hands bruising my biceps. We reached the center of the courtyard, where the snow had frozen into a thick sheet of solid ice.
"Down," Silas ordered.
He kicked the back of my knees. I crashed onto the frozen ground. The ice bit through my thin pants, instantly numbing my skin.
Caleb stepped out onto the porch. Gideon followed right behind him, holding the long iron rod. The silver tip glowed a furious red, melting the falling snowflakes before they could even touch the metal.
"Give it to me," Caleb commanded.
Gideon handed over the iron.
Siena strolled out next, wrapping a thick fur cloak tight around her neck. She leaned against the wooden railing, a satisfied smirk playing on her lips.
"You don't have to do this yourself, Alpha," Siena purred. "Let the executioner handle the traitor."
"She is my responsibility," Caleb replied, his voice devoid of warmth. "I will issue the punishment."
He walked down the stone steps. His heavy boots crunched against the snow, stopping exactly two feet in front of me. The intense heat radiating from the brand washed over my freezing face.
I stared up at the man I had loved for two years. "You're going to burn your own pup."
"Stop lying, Elara," Caleb said. His face remained completely blank. "There is no pup. Only a traitor."
"You know I wouldn't lie about this," I told him, keeping my chin raised.
"You lied about the patrol routes," he shot back.
"Siena forged those letters!" I yelled, fighting against the guards' hold. "She wants my title, and you are handing it to her!"
"I already gave it to her," Caleb stated. "You lost it the second you betrayed this pack."
"I hope you remember this exact moment," I promised, staring directly into his golden eyes. "When the truth finally comes out, I want you to remember exactly what you did today."
"Hold her down," Caleb instructed the guards.
Heavy hands slammed into my shoulders, pressing my chest flat against the frozen ground. Silas grabbed a fistful of my hair, jerking my head to the side to expose my neck.
I dug my cheek into the snow. I refused to close my eyes. I refused to look away from my husband.
"By the laws of the crescent moon, I strip you of your rank," Caleb recited, raising the iron.
"Burn in hell," I spat.
The red-hot silver met my collarbone.
A horrific sizzle erupted. The stench of charred flesh and singed skin instantly overpowered the crisp winter air.
Pain, sharp and blinding, tore through my chest. The metal seared straight through my epidermis, melting the crescent moon mark that bound me to this pack.
But the physical agony was nothing compared to the violent tearing in my soul.
The mate bond snapped.
It didn't fade gently. It shattered like glass under a heavy hammer, ripping away the invisible thread that connected my heart to his. A void opened in my chest, hollow and freezing.
A guttural scream ripped from my throat.
The guards pressed harder, burying my knees deeper into the ice. I thrashed against their grip, my fingernails scraping uselessly against the frozen earth.
"It is done," Caleb announced.
He tossed the smoking iron into a nearby snowbank. It hissed violently, sending a plume of white steam into the gray sky.
My vision blurred. I gasped for air, clutching the ruined, blistering skin on my neck. Blood trickled down my collar, warm and sticky against the freezing wind.
Caleb didn't give me a single second to recover.
He grabbed the collar of my shirt, hauling me off the ground. My boots barely scraped the icy stones as he dragged me forward.
"You are no longer a member of this pack," he growled.
He pulled me toward the tree line. The border markers stood fifty yards away, tall wooden posts warning of the dead rogue territory beyond.
"Take your hands off me!" I yelled, striking my fists against his solid arms.
He ignored my blows. He marched relentlessly through the snowdrifts, pulling me closer to the edge of our lands.
"You cross that line, and you are dead to me," I warned him, my voice hoarse from screaming.
"You are already dead to me," Caleb replied.
"I will tear your throat out for this," I promised, the venom coating every syllable.
"You have no pack, Elara. You have nothing."
He dragged me past the final wooden marker. The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees the second we crossed the line into the rogue wastelands.
"Never return," Caleb stated.
He released my collar. Before I could catch my balance, he swung his heavy boot.
The blow caught me squarely in the side.
The sheer force lifted me off my feet. I flew backward, suspended in the freezing air for one terrifying second. The impact against my ribs drove all the oxygen from my lungs.
I hit the frozen earth hard. My shoulder took the brunt of the fall, but the violent shockwave ripped directly through my abdomen.
I rolled twice, finally coming to a stop in a deep, undisturbed snowdrift.
I lay there, staring up at the desolate gray sky. The sharp ache in my waist merged with the searing agony on my collarbone.
Any lingering love I had for Caleb turned to ash in that snowbank. The man who just kicked a pregnant woman into exile wasn't my mate. He was a corpse walking.
Pure, unadulterated murderous intent crystallized in my veins. The betrayal no longer hurt. It just made me cold. I didn't want him back. I wanted him dead.
"Let's go inside, Caleb," Siena's voice drifted over the border, sounding bored. "It's freezing out here."
Their footsteps crunched away, retreating to the warmth of the pack house.
I tried to push myself up. My arms shook violently, sinking deep into the powdery snow.
A sudden, unnatural warmth spread down my legs.
I froze.
I looked down. Dark red blood soaked through the fabric of my pants, staining the pristine white snow directly beneath my thighs.
Panic clawed at my throat.
Then, the first contraction hit.
It seized my stomach like an iron vice, folding me completely in half.
