Chapter 3

SELENE

I groaned, my head pounding like a drum. Pain pulsed behind my eyes, and every breath felt like fire scraping through my lungs. I clutched my temple, fingers trembling, trying to hold myself together.

“You’re awake, Luna,” Pack doctor Elias said with visible relief, as if the weight of my unconsciousness had been too heavy for him to bear any longer.

I blinked slowly, my vision still a blur of shadows and light. My body ached as if I’d been trampled by a dozen wolves.

“Here, drink this,” Elias said gently, offering a steaming mug filled with bitter herbs. The scent hit me like a wall—sharp, earthy, and thick with something that smelled like death. I recoiled, pushing the cup away with a weak hand.

But then pain shot through me—sharper this time—radiating from my ribs. I cried out, clutching my side as hot tears stung my eyes.

“Please, Luna. For your health,” Elias urged, desperation softening his usually calm tone. I hesitated, then took the cup with shaking hands and drank. Each sip was like swallowing ash and bile, but Elias didn’t let me stop. Not until the cup was empty.

Disgusting.

I forced myself to sit upright, taking in the familiar surroundings. The sterile scent of herbs, the low hum of healing wards, the cool linens beneath me—I was in the healer’s wing.

“Why am I here? What happened?” I rasped, my throat dry as dust.

“You don’t remember?” Elias asked, his brows knitting together. I shook my head slowly, every movement sending a new wave of pain through my body.

“How long have I been out? And what do you mean I don’t remember?” I asked again, voice growing more desperate.

“It’s been a few hours, Luna. It’s already evening,” he said gently.

Evening?

I sat up straighter, heart suddenly thudding against my ribs. Panic clawed at me.

Instinctively, my hands flew to my stomach.

Something felt… off.

Cold dread crept up my spine.

“What happened to my baby?” My voice came out as a whisper, brittle and sharp. My heart slammed against my ribs as fragmented memories came rushing back—the celebration, the tension between Lucien and me, the rogue attack.

“No…” I gasped, the memories crashing into me like a tidal wave. “Tell me, Elias. Tell me my baby is okay.”

His silence shattered me.

He couldn’t even look me in the eye. His gaze dropped to the floor, and in that silence, I knew.

‘Kaela?’ I called to my wolf, my soul reaching for hers.

But she didn’t answer. Only a soft, broken whimper echoed in the corners of my mind.

Tears welled up in my eyes and spilled over before I could stop them. “No,” I whispered. “No, no, no.”

“I’m so sorry, Luna,” Elias murmured, guilt thick in his voice. “You lost too much blood. We couldn’t—there was nothing we could do.”

The world tilted.

The sob ripped from my chest, raw and savage. It hurt more than any physical wound I’d ever endured. My hands trembled as I pulled back the sheet to see the truth, to feel the emptiness where life had once stirred.

A gaping hole had opened inside me, swallowing everything.

I slid off the bed, nearly falling, but I didn’t care.

“Luna, please! You need to rest,” Elias pleaded. “You’re still healing!”

But what was left to heal?

I didn’t listen. I couldn’t.

“Where’s Lucien?” I asked, my voice flat, dangerously calm.

Elias hesitated. “He’s tending to the wounded… in the guest wing.”

Liar.

I could see it in his eyes. He knew. He knew exactly where Lucien was.

I didn’t wait for another word. Rage surged through me, giving me strength I didn’t know I had left.

I stormed through the hallways, my bare feet silent against the stone floors, my blood roaring in my ears.

I found Mira’s door and burst inside.

And there he was.

Lucien.

On her bed.

Holding her like she was his entire world.

Whispering to her. Stroking her hair.

He looked up, startled, his eyes going wide with guilt. He jumped up, moving toward me, but it was already too late.

Too late to apologize.

Too late to explain.

He grabbed my wrist, dragging me into his office. “Selene—”

I slapped him.

Hard.

His head jerked to the side. My palm stung, but it wasn’t enough. I slapped him again. And again.

“You should be resting—”

“Don’t you dare tell me what to do!” I snarled. “You left me. You abandoned me in the middle of a war, knowing I couldn’t shift. Knowing I was carrying your pup!”

“I was protecting the pack!”

“Liar!” I screamed. “You were protecting her.”

He flinched but didn’t deny it.

“She’s important to the pack,” he muttered.

“Stop hiding behind that excuse. You chose her over us—me and your child!”

He looked away.

My heart shattered again.

“I lost our pup, Lucien. Our pup. And you didn’t even come. You didn’t even ask if I was alive.”

“I care—”

“No, you don’t!” I cried. “You let her take my place. And you didn’t care.”

He clenched his jaw. “Mira is—”

“Say it!” I challenged. “Say she means more to you than I ever did.”

“She is… someone I can’t lose.”

And there it was.

The final nail.

“You’ve made your choice,” I whispered. “And it wasn’t me.”

“Selene—”

“I, Selene Adair, reject you, Alpha Lucien of the Blackmist Pack, as my mate and my alpha.”

His eyes widened. “No—Selene, don’t—”

“Reject me,” I said coldly. “You already killed me the moment you chose her. Now finish it.”

He stared at me, torn. “You’re too weak. You could die.”

“I don’t care,” I whispered.

He took a breath that trembled. “I, Alpha Lucien, accept your rejection.”

The bond snapped.

The pain hit instantly—blinding, burning, breaking.

I stumbled, knees buckling, but when he tried to steady me, I pushed him away.

“Don’t touch me.”

“You can stay the night—”

I didn’t let him finish.

I walked out.

Each step shattered something inside me.

But I didn’t look back.

Goodbye, Lucien.