dn't b

ke something inside me was being ripped apart piece by piece

nd me. Whispers. Ga

in front of me and the hands I had pressed ag

dn't

ejection worked. You said the words, the bond

s wasn'

was a

of here," s

't hold me. I sagged between two wolves I didn't recogniz

ack. Tried to fin

sn't looking

ready tur

outside like

mpact jarred something loose in my chest, and I gasped, cu

at the inside of my skull like she was

was no g

rejec

t of ev

the

oked

, arms crossed, her f

she asked, her voice dripping with venom.

answer.

nt one night with you because the bond made him wea

, her voice dropp

nows exactly what y

d away, her laughte

ground, shaking,

r maybe minutes

igging deeper. My wolf had gone silent now, retreating

hat was

ui

at the soun

wn. He looked older than I had ever seen him, like the w

leave," he

at him.

s voice was hollow. "You are to be banish

idn't regis

ish

ke regret in his eyes. "The bond... it has not broken. And as lo

hre

laughed

go?" I asked, my voice

dn't

o stand, even though my legs sho

and he wouldn't meet my eyes

is my

any

voice cut deeper tha

I was a child. Who had watched me grow up. Who ha

suddenly. "You knew

w tigh

mate. You felt it. A

fere," he said qui

course. The council decides everythin

ui

get to feel guilty now. You had a chance to help

s mouth, the

nothing le

and wal

nket, and a small pouch of dried food I had been

my shoulder and

say goodbye. No one even looked at

ept

hidden in the shadows. His eyes locked onto mine, and

. Pain

dn't

way and ke

with a heavy clang, and j

d. Colder. The trees pressed in on all sides, thick and dar

ntil my le

e, pulled my knees to my chest

of me like something feral. My chest heav

d at me like

e like I was som

thrown me away l

a soft whimper echoing

I whispere

didn't make

ours, maybe. The sun set, and the fo

oul

A constant reminder that he had rejecte

arp and vicious, like a

alized s

not just

was a

st, gasping as another wav

cu

over and over, until it was

one said so. Born under a blo

s was d

was w

estroyed me. And no matter how far I ran, no matter how m

never

in the distanc

up, heart

answered. Clo

gu

et, grabbing my bag,

ak, my body still reeling from the rejec

ut here,

gues found me

lungs burned and my vision blurred and I

ls had

hey were sti

chi

it

to a moon goddess who had

ea

e survive

, I wasn't su