Chapter 0004

MIA

They all turned to look at me in surprise; Cassandra, Joe, Caroline. The Doctor. I had only eyes for Derek.

He looked at me in shock and his mouth opened as if to say something, but no words came.

“Can I speak with you, please?” I said, my voice measured. I might look a frightful mess, but I was determined to sound like the calm and commanding Luna I had one day hoped to be.

Derek followed me out into the waiting room and with one look from her Alpha, the receptionist fled, leaving us alone in the room.

“Mia,” he started, but I interrupted him.

“How long?” I demanded. He seemed momentarily surprised by my mettle.

“How long have you known you were never going to treat me as your equal? That I was going to be your Luna in name only?”

His expression became unreadable. “Since the beginning.”

The words hit like a physical blow, stealing the breath from my lungs.

“Then why? Why pretend? Why make me believe there was a future here?”

“I never lied to you, Mia,” he said simply. “You were the one who assumed things would be different.”

“So I’m just a warm body, then,” I said, my tone suddenly flat. “Someone to keep your bed warm.”

“This is what our relationship is,” he said, turning to the window with his hands behind his back, like some CEO addressing an underling with placating indifference. “I won’t cheat. But taking responsibility for you is the biggest kindness I can offer.”

He turned back to me.

“You’re a rogue, Mia. Our society would never let me treat you as an equal.”

I took a step closer to him, hands trembling.

“And our children? Will you look down on them the way you look down on me?”

Silence.

Derek said nothing, but his lack of response spoke louder than any words could. My heart crumbled. Whatever foolish hope I had left turned to ash in my chest.

“Reject me,” I whispered, my voice raw.

His brows furrowed slightly. “What?”

“Reject me!” I said louder, my body shaking with the force of my emotions. “If I’m nothing to you, then end this. End our bond.”

Inside me, I could hear Nox howl “NO!”

Derek exhaled sharply, as if his wolf Erebus were howling at him, too.

“My wolf needs yours,” he said, with uncharacteristic vulnerability.

“But what I need,” I said, my voice almost a whisper. “Is more than what you’re willing to give me.”

I saw a mix of emotions cross his face, and then he steeled it with a cold resolve.

“You have nowhere else to go, Mia. Running away won’t change anything.”

I thought of Cassandra on the other side of the door. Of Joe and Caroline and the whispers that followed me even in the pack house.

“Anything is better than this.” I met his gaze, my chin lifting.

“By the laws of the Moon and the bond that ties us, I, Mia, reject you, Alpha Derek of the Silverclaw pack as my fated mate. I sever the sacred bond the Moon Goddess has woven between us. From this moment forward, you are no longer mine.”

Nox gnashed her teeth and howled, but I would not be swayed.

Derek’s eyes darkened, the muscles in his jaw tightening. Shock flickered across his face for the first time, but it was gone just as quickly. He remained silent, standing utterly still as if he hadn’t just heard me sever the one thing that tied us together.

Pain sliced through me like claws raking through my soul, the rejection tearing at something deep inside. I gasped, barely keeping my footing, but I refused to let him see me break. I turned on my heel.

"Mia." His voice was sharp, an order disguised as concern. "You're emotional right now. I’ll give you some time. But if you don’t come back before the wedding, don’t bother coming back at all."

I didn’t hesitate. I pushed open the door and stepped into the corridor, leaving behind the only real life I had ever known.

CASSANDRA

I walked out of the exam room behind Joe and Caroline, careful to make sure I was still cradling my arm. The doctor had said that the X-Rays were clear, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t still make them all think it hurt.

Derek stood near the window of the exam room, shoulders tense, staring at nothing. We all stood watching him for a moment, taking in the rigid line of his jaw, the way his hands clenched at his sides.

“What happened?” Joe said, stepping forward.

Derek finally turned to his Beta. “She’s gone,” he said.

“Who’s gone?” Caroline said, her brow creased in concern.

“Mia.” Derek’s face was barely controlled.

“Did she go back to the venue?” asked Caroline.

“No,” growled Derek. I was determined to be a Luna, but I was afraid when he was like this. “But she’ll return before the wedding. I’ve warned her. And she has nowhere else to go.”

“Let her go, Derek. She wasn’t right for you. She never was,” I said, pressing my lips together, feigning sympathy. I steeled my nerves, crossed the room and placed a hand on his arm, allowing my touch to linger.

“You know it’s true. She was never meant to be our Luna,” Caroline added. “A rogue could never handle that.”

“Would you like me to call your mother?” I carefully asked. “Have her tell the guests that the wedding is off?”

“No!” he answered, more quickly and forcefully than I would have liked. “I told you. She’ll be back.”

“But if she doesn’t. You’re not going to go after her, are you?” asked Caroline, flitting her eyes ever so briefly to mine.

Derek’s silence was answer enough.

“Let me handle plan B then,” I murmured. “You have enough to worry about without chasing after a girl who doesn’t belong.”

He said nothing. He didn’t have to. I had already won.

Joe and Caroline stepped up to their Alpha, eager to do whatever they could for him.

I drifted back, already forming the next steps in my mind.

Mia would not return. That much, I would make certain of.

I slipped out the door and pulled out my phone. It rang three times before being picked up.

“Make arrangements,” I said quietly. “She’s not to step foot on this territory again.”

There was a silent hesitation, the phone hissing in my hands.

“Understood,” the voice finally said.

I hung up and smiled to myself. Mia had never been worthy of Derek.

And now, she never would be.