Liv POV:
I stared at the invitation until the words blurred into meaningless ink.
_Future Luna, Serena._
My world did not just tilt; it dissolved. The floor felt like smoke beneath my feet.
_Liv!_ My mother’s voice crashed into my mind through the long-distance link, frantic and sharp. _I saw the announcement. Come home. Now. Do not go to that party._
_I have to,_ I replied, my mental voice shaking but resolute. _I have to see it to believe it._
_Child, don't—_
I cut the link. I couldn't bear her pity. Not right now.
My hands were trembling as I dressed. I chose a gown from my old life, from the Hayes Pack. It was deep blue silk, the color of true royalty. It hid my small baby bump, but it highlighted the pride I was trying desperately to salvage.
My _Inner Wolf_ was no longer silent. She paced the cage of my ribs, a low growl vibrating in my chest. She was waking up, and she was angry.
I walked into the Great Hall.
The room was filled with music and laughter, a celebration of my erasure. But the moment I stepped in, the noise died. Hundreds of eyes turned to me.
I held my head high. I was a Princess of the Hayes Pack. I would not cower before thieves.
At the far end of the room, on the Alpha’s dais, stood Michael.
He looked magnificent in his formal suit, a cruel reminder of the man I thought I knew. And next to him, clinging to his arm like a parasitic vine, was Serena.
She was wearing white. The color of a bride. The color of purity she did not possess.
And in her arms, she held a toddler. A boy, maybe two years old.
The air left my lungs. The scent hit me again—that fake, cloying rose smell mixed with Michael’s forest scent. It was suffocating. But the child... the child meant this wasn't new. This wasn't a mistake. It was a second life.
Michael saw me. For a second, his eyes widened. Was that guilt? Fear?
But then he hardened his jaw, masking it all behind a wall of indifference. He looked away.
I walked forward. The crowd parted for me like the Red Sea, whispering.
"Isn't that Liv?"
"I thought she was the Luna."
"Guess not."
I stopped at the foot of the dais. My heart felt like it was being squeezed by a giant, merciless hand.
Serena looked down at me. She handed the toddler to a nanny and stepped forward, her movements practiced and theatrical.
"Liv," she said, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "You actually came. I thought you would be too... embarrassed."
"Where is my place, Michael?" I asked, ignoring her entirely. I looked straight at him.
Michael didn't answer. He just stood there, cold and distant, a statue of a king.
Serena laughed, a sharp, brittle sound. "Your place? Oh, honey. You don't have a place. You were just a placeholder."
She walked down the steps until she was right in front of me. She leaned in, her voice dropping to a whisper only I could hear.
"He never loved you. He used your money. He used your father's name. And now that he has the power, he has me. His true mate."
"You are not his mate," I hissed, my voice trembling with suppressed violence. "I smell the chemicals on you. You reek of perfume to hide the lack of a bond."
Serena’s eyes flashed.
_Smack!_
The sound echoed through the silent hall like a gunshot.
My head snapped to the side. The sting on my cheek was hot and sharp. I tasted the metallic tang of blood.
The crowd gasped.
I touched my cheek, stunned. She had slapped me. In front of everyone. In front of my pack.
I looked at Michael. "You let her do that?"
Michael looked bored, swirling the amber liquid in his glass. "You are making a scene, Liv. Go to your room."
Something inside me snapped.
The pain wasn't just in my cheek. It was in my soul. The illusion I had built for years shattered into a million jagged pieces, cutting me as they fell.
My _Inner Wolf_ roared.
It wasn't a whimper. It was a sound of pure, unadulterated rage—ancient and terrifying.
Energy surged through my veins, hot like lava. The fatigue of the pregnancy vanished, replaced by adrenaline.
"No," I said. My voice sounded different. Deeper. Resonant. The voice of a Luna.
Michael frowned, uncertainty flickering in his gaze. "What did you say?"
"I said no."
I straightened up. The air around me began to vibrate with power.
"I gave you everything, Michael. I built this pack for you. I carried your heir."
I placed a protective hand on my stomach.
"And you stand there and let this... _thing_... strike me?"
Serena snarled, her pretty mask slipping. "Watch your mouth!"
She raised her hand again.
But this time, I caught her wrist.
I didn't just catch it. I squeezed.
Serena shrieked. "Michael! Help!"
Michael’s eyes flashed Alpha gold. "Liv! Release her! That is an Alpha Command!"
The command hit me. It was heavy, like a mountain falling on my shoulders, trying to force me to my knees. It tried to pry my fingers open.
But my wolf... my wolf was laughing at the mountain.
_Break it,_ she whispered.
I looked Michael in the eye. And I squeezed harder.
_Crack._
Serena screamed as her wrist fractured. I shoved her away, and she fell to the floor, wailing and clutching her broken limb.
Michael looked shocked, his authority crumbling. "How... how did you defy a Command?"
I felt a tearing sensation in my chest. It was the bond. The connection I had to him. It was rotting, dying, poisoning me.
I didn't need a ceremony. I didn't need the moon.
I reached into my mind, grabbed the mental thread that connected us, and I pulled.
_Snap._
The pain was blinding. It felt like someone had ripped out a lung without anesthesia. I staggered, gasping.
Michael doubled over on the dais, clutching his chest. He roared in pain. The severance of a bond is agony for both sides, but for him, it was a surprise. For me, it was liberation.
"What did you do?" he gasped, looking at me with wide, terrified eyes.
"I am done," I said. My voice was cold as ice.
I turned my back on him. On the luxury. On the lies.
"Liv!" Michael shouted, desperation creeping into his tone. "If you walk out that door, you are Rogue! You are nothing!"
I didn't stop.
I walked through the stunned crowd, head held high. Blood trickled from my mouth, but I didn't wipe it. I wore it like war paint.
I reached the heavy oak doors and pushed them open. The night air rushed in, cool and clean.
I walked until I reached the edge of the forest. Then, the adrenaline faded, and the pain in my abdomen returned, sharper this time.
I collapsed onto the grass. The darkness of the forest loomed ahead, promising danger, promising freedom.
"Baby," I gasped, clutching the dirt as cramps seized me. "Hold on."
From deep inside me, a white light began to glow.
