Kaelen strode through the crowd with the full confidence of an Alpha who owned everything around him, power, position, people. He moved with intent, his sharp gaze locked on Elara as if she were nothing more than an inconvenience standing in his way but Elara struck before he could say a word.
The slap cracked through the air like a whip, drawing gasps from the onlookers. Pain lanced up her arm, but she barely felt it over the fire raging in her chest. His head snapped to the side, his jaw tightening, but he didn't retaliate. He didn't even look surprised.
"Is it true?" she asked, her voice trembling but loud enough to carry. "Is what Erica told me true?"
"Yes," Kaelan answered without remorse.
Elara stood frozen in place, her heartbeat roaring in her ears. She felt every eye shift between them, felt the weight of whispered judgment in the air. But she didn't flinch. Her breath came in heaving bursts, tears streaking down her cheeks as she stared at the man who had shattered her world.
"How dare you?" Her voice was raw with betrayal, the words torn from her throat.
"How fucking dare you to do this to me!?"
The hall had fallen into a heavy silence, broken only by the echo of approaching footsteps..
As Kaelen reached her, her voice cracked through the tension.
There was no hesitation in his expression, no flicker of guilt or shame. His eyes, once warm with the promise of a mate bond, were now cold steel.
"I'm sorry," he said simply. Flatly. As if it were a fact not worth discussing.
Elara's breath caught in her throat.
"I chose her," Kaelen answered, each word slicing through the air like a blade. "Because unlike you, she fits what I need. You were never meant to be the Luna of the Blue Moon Pack."
Elara's mouth parted, but no words came. Her heart twisted violently in her chest, but Kaelen didn't stop.
"You were weak," he continued. "Too soft. Too ordinary. This pack needs a Luna who commands attention, not one who clings to fairy tale dreams. I needed someone bold. Beautiful. A real leader. Not someone like you."
She flinched, visibly shrinking under the weight of his words. Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Not yet. Not in front of him.
And just when she thought it couldn't hurt more, another voice echoed through the silence—one she hadn't heard in months but had always hoped would still love her.
"Elara."
She turned. Her father was standing there, tall and stern, with a disappointed look in his eyes that broke her more than Kaelen's words ever could.
"Father…" she breathed, reaching out slightly.
But he didn't take her hand. He didn't even acknowledge her pain. His eyes, so familiar yet so distant, scanned her with disdain.
"You've brought shame to this family," he said. "You couldn't hold onto your mate. You've embarrassed us—chasing after a role you were never worthy of."
"Please," she choked out, "don't do this…"
"You're not my daughter," he declared coldly. "Not anymore."
The words hit like a slap, a knife, and the final shattering blow. Elara staggered back, the strength draining from her legs as if the floor beneath her had crumbled.
All around her, the pack watched. No one moved. No one spoke. They just watched as the Luna they never accepted was dismantled piece by piece before their very eyes.
"Gosh, not even Dad was on your side," Erica said mockingly.
Elara stood in the center of the great hall, surrounded by gold-draped pillars and glowing lanterns, but none of it felt warm. The celebration was meant to be hers—their moment. The air was supposed to shimmer with joy and anticipation. She had imagined it so clearly: Kaelen at her side, the crowd erupting in cheers as she shared the news that would change their future forever.
She had memorized the words. Practiced every smile. Held her belly in quiet moments, whispering promises to the two little lives growing inside her. Twins. The pack doctor's voice still echoed in her mind when she had first heard it: "Strong heartbeats, both of them."
She had waited, just for tonight, to speak her truth as Luna.
But fate had prepared a different stage. One crueler than any nightmare.
"Do it son, for everyone's sake. Let go of that stupid pack," his father Alpha Cronus said, pushing Kaelen more.
Kealen voice rang out, clear and merciless.
"I, Kaelen Gregory," he declared, loud enough for every soul in the hall to hear, "reject you, Elara Marie Sullivan, as my mate and as Luna of the Blue Moon Pack."
The words slammed into her like a physical blow.
She couldn't breathe.
For a moment, the world spun and narrowed to nothing but the echo of his rejection bouncing inside her skull. The floor beneath her felt like it had vanished. Her legs trembled, and a soundless gasp slipped from her mouth. She blinked rapidly, convinced this was some kind of mistake that he hadn't just humiliated her in front of the entire pack, the visiting dignitaries, everyone… her family.
But Kaelen wasn't done.
"You were never meant for this," he said, his tone cold, clinical. "You were never good enough to stand beside me. I need a Luna who commands strength and beauty. Someone bold. Someone powerful. Not someone like you."
Elara's chest caved in. Her heart thudded violently, trying to defend itself from the shrapnel of his words. She searched his face, hoping and begging for a hint of remorse. There was none.
Around her, gasps turned to whispers. Disbelief danced through the crowd like fire catching dry grass. Someone laughed. Someone else muttered "pitiful." And then there was her sister Erica grinning like the crown was already on her head, her arm looped around Kaelen's as if the rejection had always been part of the plan.
Elara's lips trembled. Her hands instinctively flew to her stomach.
The twins.
They were real. They were his. She had been preparing to tell him… them all. That despite everything, love had created something beautiful. That their bloodlines would carry on through not just one, but two new lives.
But how could she tell him now?
How could she announce the joy in her belly when the father had just severed the bond and denied her existence?
Her knees buckled slightly, but she forced herself to stand straight, though every inch of her soul was unraveling. She clenched her jaw, trying to swallow the sob rising in her throat. She had carried that secret with hope and with pride.
Now it felt like poison.
She turned, looking for a familiar face, a kind one, anyone who would stand beside her. But the crowd had already turned. Her father's cold gaze met hers, cutting through the last threads of her strength.
"You've brought shame upon our name," he said flatly, his voice laced with disgust. "To be cast aside like this… you've humiliated us all."
"Father…" she whispered, her voice broken. "Please, I—"
"Get out. This is not your Luna proclamation anymore. It's Erica's."
The words sealed her fate.
Elara staggered backward, the pain inside her no longer just emotional. It was physical now. A twisting, suffocating ache in her womb, in her chest, in her very bones. Her body was shaking, her vision blurring. Not a single soul stepped forward. Not one hand reached for hers.
She had never felt so alone.
The dream she carried had been ripped from her, stomped into the ground by the man she had once trusted with her heart. Her children had lost their future before they had even taken their first breath. And she had lost everything.
Her mate. Her title. Her family. Her voice.
What remained was only the sound of her heart breaking—slow and loud, inside a room that had no room for mercy.
And Kaelen? He turned his back, already walking toward Erica without another glance.
Elara stood alone in the wreckage of her hopes, her love, her blood. Her chest ached. Her soul bled. And for a moment, it felt like she might collapse entirely.
But even as her heart broke, something inside her began to harden. Burn. And though the tears finally fell, they didn't fall for what she had lost.
Elara turned her back and left the hall, leaving her heart, hope, and future behind.