r ears like the tolling of a death bell, and the next she was stumbling through the castle corridors, her vision blurred by tears s

u see h

Absolutel

t have been drunk whe

inking she could b

didn't execute h

of her shattered heart. She had known she was nothing. She had spent her entire life being told she was nothing, being treated like she was nothing, believin

something in Aria that no one else had ever seen, something worthy of being Luna to the most powerful Alpha in the world. For a few precious seconds, Aria had believed that maybe, just

outh, and that fragile hope had

ges waited to transport the noble guests back to their territories. The night air was cold against her skin, but she bar

ri

ing behind her. His expression was unreadable, his warm brown eyes filled with something t

id, her voice barely a whisper.

quietly. "The Moon Goddess doesn't m

cted me. Publicly. In front of everyone." She wrapped her arms tighter around herself, trying to stop the sh

eyes. "He was angry. He spoke without thin

even if he came crawling back right now and begged my forgiveness, do you think I could ever forget? Do you think I could stand be

spite her best efforts to hold them back. "No. It's over. Wha

gently. "Where will you go? Yo

sion hardening into something that looked almost like determination. "I've

ack, by her distant relatives, by the world at large. But she had never been rejected by destiny itself. She had never had hope dangled in front of her like a carrot, only to h

er hands. "Gold. Enough to get you started somewhere new. And

hen at the man offering the

Because the bond he rejected isn't just his to break. Because," he paused, choosing h

lders. It smelled of pine and woodsmoke, comforting scents that made her

em the satisfaction of watching her crumble. Whatever happened next, whatever horrors awaited her in the wilderness beyond the kingdom's borders, she would face

wolf she didn't recognize, stepped forward as if to speak, but his companion pulled him back with a sharp s

n was high and full, casting silver light through the trees, illuminating the path ahead. Aria stood at the threshold be

mo

te certainty that she was worthless. And she knew that turning back would be worse than anything the wilderness could do to h

her further from the only home she had ever known, further from the dream that had died

lls, Damien Blackmoor was probably celebrating his freedom, drinking to his narrow escape from a fate he considered worse than death. He was pro

n't thinking ab

appeared into the darkness of the

first hints of dawn began to paint the eastern sky in shades of pink and gold. She walked without direction, without pu

owed herself to look back at the path she had traveled. The kingdom of Lycoria was visible in the d

, to the man inside it, to the destiny that had b

ed herself for caring. She hated herself for hoping. She hated herself for being weak

and rage and despair that seemed like they would never stop. She cried until her th

he was empty and hollow and completely alon

uld su

. She would build a new life from the ashes of her old one. She would be

he would find a way to make Damien Blackmoor reg

e she want

im to understand that sh

waiting to becom