Chapter 5

Selena's POV

Weighing on the guard's hand, I helped myself out of the car. My hair clung to my sweaty face and my heart beat faster as we slowly approached the gate that marked the border of my pack--my former pack.

As we made our way towards the large silver gate, I felt the piercing gaze of the pack members around pour down upon me. Looking at them, my stomach churned as I sighted one of the pack elders standing in their midst. I felt his unwavering gaze on me as I passed by them, a hushed conversation erupting within the crowd.

It was the whole world against me.

As I approached the gate, I took one last look at the mansion up on the hill miles away. I clenched my fists, my jaws tightening as the image of Raven's smirk returned, igniting me with rage and pain.

"You will regret this," I muttered under my breath as one of the guards rushed towards me, locked his arms around mine and pulled me towards the gate. "YOU ALL WILL REGRET THIS!!!"

The guard by my side sent a blow to my back, sending me straight to the ground. I landed face first, my nose making a cracking sound as it came in contact with a pebble. My right hand traveled to the top of my lip where I had felt a tickle and when I drew it black, I found it stained crimson red.

"Due to your betrayal to the Mystic Shadow Pack and it's Alpha, Alpha Rowan, you are hereby banished from our kingdom, never to return again," the guard said before spitting on the ground.

The sound of footsteps receding echoed in my still ringing ears and I turned around to see the guards entering back into the car that had brought me here. I slowly turned my head to the side to see the pack members heading back to their homes. The elder looked at me and shook his head before following the crowd.

I slowly stood up to my feet, silent groans escaping my lips with every movement that I made. With slow, but steady steps, I walked towards the gate, my gaze fixated on the path ahead of me.

I was walking away from the pack I grew up to call my home with no belonging but the torn clothes on my body. I had grown up not as a commoner but as a vital member of the ruling household, and it was gut wrenching how much of a contrast everything was now.

The eerie silence of the outskirts of the pack enveloped me. It was already getting dark and hadn't eaten anything since the jam and bread I took hours before the ceremony. My body screamed at me and my legs complained with every step I took.

Deciding to put the need to quench my hunger before finding shelter, I began looking around for something to eat. The trees around me with fruits seemed much more taller than usual with some of them suddenly becoming strange to behold. The scent of wild flowers and damp earth filled my nostrils as I navigated the woods in order to find whatever was suitable to consume. The thoughts of the young wolf growing in me sent shivers through my spine.

My baby needed to live.

I finally came across a small river that ran through across the packs border and into the pack. A soft groan erupted from my dry,hoarse throat upon seeing the river and I began making my way towards it.

But just a distance away from the river, I found myself loosing balance, the entire place spinning uncontrollably. Trying hard to put myself together, I made to take more steps towards the water body but found my legs refusing to respond. Unable to move any more, I finally collapsed as everything went dark.

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My eyes slowly fluttered open as I came to. A bright light flashes down on my face, causing me to close my eyelids shut with a squinch. I could hear the sound of footsteps behind me and a certain voice echoed in a distance.

I groaned softly as the light shining down upon my face slowly began to dim. I tried standing up but the moment I put my hands down, they gave away and I fell back down face flat. My head banged and my bones ached as I slowly began to drift into unconsciousness again.

Suddenly, I heard a voice scream my name. "WAKE UP, SELENA!!!!"

I gasped out loudly as I hurriedly stood up to my feet, the pain that I had felt earlier suddenly disappearing. I wasn't in my bed at home, laying beside Rowan. I was in... the woods?

Then, it all began coming back to me-Rowan's message, the naked man, Rowan's new mate, Ravens betrayal... her smirk-it all came rushing back. I fell to my knees as beads of tears rolled down my face. The reality of everything was now slowly dawning on me, replacing my initial anger with pain and sadness.

Suddenly, I heard a rustle beside me and I was immediately brought back to the present. I quickly got back on my feet as the rustling in the undergrowth by my side grew. Not wanting to wait and find out what was causing the noise, I quickly turned and raced in the opposite direction.

Low branches whipped at my face and arms, thorns from bushes pricked and tore my skin and sharp stones bit at my shoeless feet, but I continued to run, ignoring the pain. Suddenly, a low growl sounded behind me, confirming my decision to run to be a good one.

Taking a short glance behind me, I saw a large rogue wolf, it's eyes red with rage, hot on my heels. A cuss escaped from my lips as I tried to hasten my pace. I wasn't going to die now.

Not too far from me was a barbed fence with signs hung at certain sections of it. Ignoring the signs, I looked down at the foot of the fence where a small hole had been made and raced towards it.

"COME... HERE!!!" came the gruff voice of the rogue chasing me. I felt something tug my clothes and when I turned my head, I found his hands outstretched towards me, his bloodied claws hooked onto my clothe. Screaming, I turned my body sideways, causing the rogue's claw to come off my dress, although ripping a part of it out.

Taking a deep breath, I bent down and squeezed myself through the hole before coming out the other side. I quickly got up to my feet and began running again, not daring to look back, until I realized that the rogue had stopped following me.

I stopped and turned to see the rogue outside the fence, staring at the signs hung on it with a look of dread. Before I could fathom what was happening, he quickly turned and took off back into the woods.

"What the..." I muttered as I walked back towards the fence. Lucky, the signs that were hung outside were also hung inside, sparing me the journey of squeezing through the hole to see what was written on it. "Moonstone pack," I whispered under my breath as I read the wordings on the sign.