For three days, every step I took brought a piercing agony to the soles of my feet. My cracked skin constantly oozed blood, my stomach ached with starvation, and my throat was parched.
I was once the Luna of the Blood Moon Pack, but that title was now nothing more than a bitter, empty shell.
My Alpha, my fated mate Caleb, had vanished like a ghost. When the balcony door was finally opened on the third day, I collapsed straight to the ground. My legs felt boneless, unable to support me, and I couldn't summon my wolf's power to heal my feet. My soul had dried up completely long ago.
On the low table sat a sacrificial cake from the Moon Festival, clearly a trap set by Selene. She simply wanted to use the aroma of food to torture me.
But I didn't care. I grabbed the cake and stuffed it into my mouth.
Suddenly, the door lock clicked, and Caleb walked in, his heavy boots crushing the silver dust. The scent of pine that used to bring me peace was now mixed with a pungent, foul odor on him.
He looked down at me from above, seeing me covered in filth and wolfing down the food. His mouth twitched, revealing an instinctive disgust.
"Spit it out," Caleb's voice carried the crushing weight of an Alpha command.
The air felt instantly sucked out of the room. My knees gave out as I fell heavily to the floor, my throat spasming uncontrollably until I threw up all the half-chewed cake onto the tiles.
"You are truly disgusting, Elara," his tone was bone-chillingly cold. "That was Selene's offering to the Moon Goddess. You have no right to touch it." He took long strides forward and tossed a piece of parchment onto the table beside me. "Sign it."
It was a rejection contract, containing clauses to strip me of my Luna title and banish me from the territory.
"Caleb..." my voice was hoarse. "She locked me outside... for three whole days."
A few warriors and low-ranking Omegas, drawn by the Alpha's aura, had gathered outside the door. Even their eyes held pity.
"Alpha," a young warrior hesitated before speaking up. "We saw Selene... she was just playing a joke, locking the Luna outside."
Caleb slowly turned his head, a low growl rumbling in his chest that forced the warrior to step back abruptly.
"Elara deserves what she gets," Caleb's voice echoed through the hallway. "She used despicable methods to force me into the mating bond. I will not tolerate anyone forgetting their place." He looked at me coldly. "Sign it, and get out of my territory."
The silver dust had seeped into my bones, and I was so weak I couldn't even hold the pen steady.
"Please," I looked up at the man who was supposed to be my soulmate. "I will sign... just let me eat something first. I'm starving to death."
Caleb picked up the remaining cake from the table, staring straight into my eyes without a shred of warmth. Then, he let go, dropping it into the trash can. In that moment, all the sounds in the room seemed to vanish, leaving only a piercing chill that spread straight to my heart.
"You are not worthy of consuming my pack's food," he declared ruthlessly.
"At least let me change my clothes," I pleaded, pulling the filthy bathrobe tightly around myself. "Don't do this to me in front of everyone."
"No." Caleb grabbed the contract and clamped his other hand around my wrist like a shackle, gripping so hard it felt like he was crushing my bones. "I am going to make everyone see your true colors, to prove that none of this was Selene's fault. You are just a pathetic, despicable liar."
He dragged me mercilessly toward the door, letting my bleeding feet trail a path of blood across the cold floor. I wept, but he turned a deaf ear to my tears.