Chapter Six

The guards surround me, corralling me out of the guest room, down the corridor, then out of the house. I am led into the arena on the edge of the training grounds.

Panic has me shaking, struggling to make even the tiniest sound. Nalani's poison is potent though and I remain mute as I'm guided onto the field. My stomach sinks even further when I catch sight of the wooden structure ahead of me – an elevated platform that reminds me all too much of gallows.

I look up into the stands at the gathering crowd and find only cold indifference on the faces looking back at me. I have no allies in this pack, no friends, and everyone attending today makes that explicitly clear. There's no sympathy for a wolfless Luna. Only my dear, sweet maid, Sylvie sheds a tear for me.

Once I'm on the platform, more guards join the first three, creating a tight circle around me. The crowd chitters, buzzing with excitement over my impending downfall, and all I can do is open and close my mouth, gaping like some kind of dying fish just pulled from the water.

When Evander enters the field, all talk stops. The sudden quiet is unnerving, but the pack is far too riveted by every step of Evander's journey toward me to be bothered with speaking to one another.

The look in Evander's eyes when he mounts the stage only reinforces my earlier thoughts of gallows. My soon-to-be former mate, the man I loved more than I even loved myself, spares me a single, chilling glance before turning to address his audience.

"I have decided to reject Aurora and establish Nalani as Luna," he proclaims before one and all. "Furthermore, due to Aurora’s concealment of a significant secret that endangers the pack’s safety, I have decided to demote her to rogue and expel her from our lands forevermore.”

The crowd gasps, scandalized by the reveal. Desperate, I lunge toward Evander, trying to get his attention. The guards don't care what I want though, and I'm quickly subdued.

"Now, let us begin the ritual, and complete the transfer of power to our new Luna," Evander goes on, seemingly oblivious to my struggle. I'm being held in place, silently sobbing with impotent rage, but my Alpha only has eyes for his new mate now.

All I ever wanted to do was love him. How did we come to this?

Two elders – neither of whom I recognize – join Evander on the stage. I wonder if one of them is the elder who understands witchcraft who Nalani took Evander to see – the one who misread everything and called my wolf's dormancy a curse.

I try to speak again because I have to. I have to save our baby.

My baby.

I finally manage to catch Evander's eye and I desperately point to my mouth, trying to show him, tell him, stop him. Your child is real, I want to scream in face. If you would just listen, you'd see how wrong you are about everything!

Evander's brow wrinkles, and I see a fleeting trace of reluctance on his face. For one, frantic, wild moment, the hope that he will hear me out once the poison wears off explodes in my heart. Screaming without making a sound, I lunge for him again, only to be caught again by the guards.

Evander shakes his head at the messy display I'm making, then nods to the elders. "I'm ready to begin."

Those four words seal my fate and I know it. I slump in the guards' grip, all the fight draining out of me.

I've lost.

The elders nod back to Evander. They are ready to bear witness.

My onetime mate, the only man I've ever loved, takes a deep breath before declaring, "I, Evander Garin, reject you, Aurora, as my mate and Luna."

Nothing happens at first, but then, as the last syllable of the last word dies out, a sudden pain pierces my brain, and then my heart. Our mate bond breaks with crippling agony and I double over, shrieking with no sound.

The only consolation I have, the only thing keeping me sane through the torment, is the knowledge that despite all I'm going through, my baby is safe. I can feel it within me, strong and unharmed. I don't know if he intended it or not, but I do know the pill Evander ordered Ralfi to give me last night helped protect the child. I don't think it would have made it otherwise.

Just when I think the worst of it is over, another wave seizes my soul. I stumble, but strangely, I'm caught in strong, gentle arms before I completely fall.

I look up at my savior, surprised to see Evander's handsome face hovering above mine. Is that sadness I see his eyes? Pain? 

I used to think I knew my mate so well, that I could read even his most micro of expressions. But this can't be right, not after all he's done. I must be projecting my own wreaked and traumatized emotions onto him. There is no other explanation.

I take a deep breath in an effort to relieve some of the tension in my body, but, just then…

A male scent, strong, foreign, enticing, fills my lungs. Every primal instinct within me awakens at my first whiff of that aroma, demanding that I respond.

As was my habit throughout our marriage, I look to Evander for answers, but his gaze is fixed somewhere over my shoulder, frowning at whatever he sees. His arms tighten every so slightly around me, subtly drawing me closer to his chest.

"Prince Mykal, what are you doing here?" Evander asks, obviously confused by the man's arrival.

I look over my shoulder at the newcomer and am met with the sight of perhaps the most beautiful man I have ever seen. Tall, muscular, elegantly and affluently dressed, he has arching aristocratic cheekbones, and sharp, intelligent eyes. The scent, that maddeningly alluring scent, is coming from him and all I can do is stare. 

This stranger strides toward me with a confidence none but the very powerful possess. His presence alone captures the attention of the entire congregation, including those far up in the stands.

And when he speaks, his voice low and melodious, my entire world transforms before my very eyes.

"Let go of my mate," he commands. "That woman is mine."