Drak

c, poisoning the air. I pushed Isolde away, my eyes locked on Elara. Her face was a mask of devastation, te

as a shard of ice, unrec

answer. My wolf, Titan, roared in my mind, a tempest of shame and white-ho

nging to my arm. "The entire pack will laugh at

of the pack, the authority my father had spent a lifetime building for me-all of it turning to ash. My

ng the edges of my rage. If I showed mercy now, they would call me weak. If I let her explain, they would say I was a fool who couldn't

me me. It was easier than the pain. Easier t

Elara's arm, my grip like steel. She gasped, her

her voice cracking. "We can

g. I dragged her from the clinic, ignoring her stumbling and her pleas. The pack members in

nies, the place of judgment. A crowd was gathering, drawn by the sce

he stumbled and fell t

" I bellowed, my voice amplified by rage and Alpha comm

wd. A Rejection. The most brutal, soul-sh

h on her face. Elara looked up at me from the ground, her ex

emain cold and unyielding. "I, Ronan Drake, fut

tly ripped apart. But Elara bore the brunt of it. A gut-wrenching scream was torn from her throat as she convulsed on the ground, an invisib

nees, shaking uncontrollably. Blood trickled from her nose. "I... Elara V

mind racing for a way to reclaim the narrative. She was the one who had exposed the truth, who had shown loyalty to me when Elara had betrayed me. The pack needed to see that I was s

Isolde in

nnounced to the stunned pack

nored them all. I ignored the searing pain in my chest. I only s

mous glare of victory. That look seemed to give her a last burst of strength. She struggled

ng her. The pain of the rejection, both spiritual and emotional, made her c

es, mangy and starved, their snarls low and hungry. I saw them zero in on Elara

the rejection had shattered her strength. H

Its claws, long and filthy

ross the front of her dress, a grotesque flower of death. Her eyes went

n bond we

nothing but the cold, hollow