Chapter 2

I walked out from the main hall, the carpet beneath my feet seeming to burn. Blood flowed down from the bite mark on my neck—warm, sticky, carrying that familiar cedar scent. His scent. The Alpha's mark, impossible to hide. My wolf whimpered inside me with shame, pain, and... desire that shouldn't exist. In the great hall, the air filled with whispers. "She's the rejected Luna." "Her sister is the true Luna... so what does that make her?" "Half-breed... cursed from birth." I endured the pain in my chest, walking step by step toward the exit. My footsteps echoed on the stone floor like war drums. Then I looked at the elders present and spoke: "In the name of House Hale, I petition the Elder Council for a severance ceremony." The hall fell instantly silent. Even the air stopped breathing. Lucien's voice rumbled like thunder: "You dare." I turned. Lucien Blackwood emerged from the shadows—cold, commanding, as always. His shirt still unbuttoned, blood trailing from his throat to his collarbone like a sacrificial mark. All wolves instinctively stepped aside. He was the Alpha King—no one dared stand in his way. "You shouldn't say such things in front of everyone." He stopped before me, his tone calm but edged with dangerous magnetism. I laughed bitterly. "Afraid of losing face?" "Seraphine!" My father. The Hale family crest gleamed coldly on his shoulder. His expression was one I knew well—not concern, but shame. "Do you know what you've done?" he said through gritted teeth. "Me?" I laughed softly. "I'm simply being rejected by my mate on our mating ceremony day." "Lucien is the Alpha King!" "So what? Does being King give him the right to trample his vows?" My father's face hardened inch by inch. "If your mother were still alive, she would never—" I snapped my head up, my gaze cutting through him like a blade. "Don't mention her." My mother's name was taboo in House Hale. She was human—at least, that's what they always said. But I knew better. I still remembered the night she died, her blood flowing into my hands. That blood wasn't red—it was dark silver, glowing strangely in the moonlight. She'd gripped my hand and said: "Don't let them know, Sera. Your blood can destroy a king, or awaken one." I hadn't understood then. Not until Lucien first bit me. When he broke my skin, blood splashed into his mouth and his eyes flashed briefly with purple light—a color that didn't belong to wolves. I'd thought it was a trick of the moonlight. Now I knew—it was my blood fighting back. I wasn't just a lowly half-breed, not the lowest Omega they claimed. But I knew they didn't need to know more. "Seraphine." Lucien stared at me, eyes glowing gold. "This is for your own good. The Moon Goddess chose you for me, but you must understand—your half-breed status makes it hard for you to stand firm in the pack. I'm doing this for you." "For my own good? Then you can simply choose Bella. I don't care." He reached out, gripping my chin hard. "Don't challenge me, Sera. You're not the Moon Goddess." "Of course I'm not," I said with a smile, licking the blood from the corner of my lips. "But I'm also not a Luna you can control." He drew a deep breath, struggling to suppress some impulse. The air filled with suppressed heat and dangerous electricity. I stepped back. Just then, Bella rushed over and said to me, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault that things got this messy." "Enough! Our laws forbid an Alpha from forming two bonds. Lucien, you must make a choice." Lucien's gaze fell on me. "The backlash from breaking the bond will be agonizing. You're too weak—you might not survive it. You'll die." Canceling a mate mark, or an illegal mate mark—the one rejected always suffers burning agony. "Then let the Moon Goddess decide if she wants me to die," I said with a smile, looking at Lucien.