Aria’s Point of View.

“Where the hell are you taking me?” I rasped, barely able to keep my head up.

My voice was raw, bitter and the guards yanked at my arms like I was nothing but dead weight. Their grips were iron-tight, bruising my skin beneath the cuffs.

My feet dragged along the cold stone, every step echoing down the hallway.

“Answer me, damn it!” I barked, jerking my shoulder at one of them, but they kept their jaws locked, silent like statues.

Soon, we got close to the hall.

The great doors of the Moonfang Hall, the same doors I once walked through with pride and purpose. Yesterday, I decorated this place with my own hands and set every dusk rose in its place.

It had been a home, a throne, a life, but now, I was being shoved through them like a criminal.

The doors opened.

The guards tossed me forward, and I fell to the ground. My knees slammed against the floor. I caught myself with shaking arms, panting heavily with blood from the cut on my temple slid down the side of my face.

A loud gasp filled my ears.

Slowly, I raised my head and, to my shock, hundreds of eyes stared at me.

I glanced at each face, they were elders, warriors, healers, omegas, and pups tucked behind their mothers. They were all staring at me like I was some broken thing.

My eyes looked forward and standing at the end of the hall was Kael.

He was draped in his polished black and silver, looking every bit the powerful Alpha he wanted the world to see, cold, controlled but empty.

Next to him, like a shadow pretending to be the sun, was Lyra. All dressed in pale gold like a little doll, someone wound up and placed it there.

She didn’t even meet my eyes.

Coward.

My stomach twisted.

Kael stepped forward, his voice rang out.

“Aria of the Broken Fang, former Luna of this pack, stands accused of insubordination, assault against her Alpha, and treason against the Pack’s order.”

Treason?

My laugh cracked like lightning across the hall.

“Former Luna?” I spat. “You didn’t say that when you were buried with me, Kael. You didn’t say that when you swore your damn vows under the Moon or when you told me I was everything to you.”

“Silence,” he snapped, his voice sharp.

“Make me,” I growled, yanking at the chains. “What now? You are going to beat me in front of them all because I spoke the truth?”

I managed to get up on my feet. I was bruised and bloodied.

“You couldn’t handle a strong Luna,” I shouted. "So you chose a pretty little puppet to nod and smile. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

Kael’s aura flared, and the hall was quiet.

“You disgrace this hall,” he growled.

“No,” I bit back. “This hall disgraced itself the day it let a coward like you lead it.”

Another gasp echoed.

I turned to the crowd, my voice shaking but strong. “I gave up my father’s name, my birthright, and this is how you repay me?”

Kael stepped forward, his eyes full of fire.

“You’ve spoken enough.”

“I haven’t even started,” I growled.

He glared, power pressing against me like a wall, but I held my ground.

“Strip me, beat and chain me. But don’t forget, Kael, I am still your mate. The Moon chose me and the Moon sees everything, including what you truly are.”

The hall was dead quiet but immediately, Kael burst out laughing.

It was loud, cruel and mocking.

“Pathetic,” he sneered. “You really are shameless. Take a good look at yourself, don't you feel embarrassed, ranting like a madwoman, like any of this means something.”

He came closer, stopping in front of me.

“You wear a symbol you don’t deserve,” he said and glanced at my neck.

My eyes widened in shock and my heart stuttered.

Kael reached out, his fingers touched the moonsteel Luna insignia in my throat, the one he gave me the night he claimed me as his.

I tried to slap his hand away, but the chains tugged me back.

He smiled, cold.

Then with one violent jerk, he tore the necklace from my neck.

The chain snapped, and the metal sliced my skin.

“No!” I gasped in shock.

The crowd gasped with me, but the worst pain wasn’t physical. I was torn apart because something sacred was torn away.

Kael held it high like a damn trophy, his lips stretched into an ugly smirk.

“She is no longer Luna,” he announced. “She was never worthy.”

Everything went quiet.

My knees gave out again and my body hit the stone floor as my fingers trembled.

I searched the hall for anyone, anyone who would meet my gaze, just one pair of eyes to say they believed me.

That they remembered who I was but all of them, even the ones I had saved, they all looked away.

Tears ran down my face, but I didn’t wipe them.

“You are so foolish, Aria,” Kael said, returning to the dais as the pendant still dangled from his fingers. “Aria of no name. You are hereby stripped of your title, your rank, and your bond to this pack.”

“No,” I breathed. My voice cracked. “No, you don’t get to do this…”

“You are no longer one of us,” he declared.

I stumbled to my feet. “You can’t! I’m your mate! The Moon…”

“I hereby banish you from the Moonfang Pack,” he said. “Forever.”

The words struck like a blade.

“No!” I screamed, falling to my knees. “No! Nyra, we have to fight this…”

At once, I felt the mate bond snap and pain lanced through my chest, my stomach, my soul.

The bond was gone.

“Traitor,” Kael spat. “From this day forward, you are a rogue, and you are forbidden from returning to this land, or your father's.”

My head whipped up.

“You betrayed me!” I screamed, lunging. “You betrayed the goddess! You betrayed everything we stood for!”

Kael turned his back.

“If you return,” he said, voice flat, “you will be hunted and killed like the dog you’ve chosen to become.”

Rage swallowed the pain.

I lunged again, wild. “YOU FOOL!”

Guards grabbed me, forcing me back.

“LET ME GO! I WAS YOUR LUNA!”

Kael didn’t look back.

“Take her out!” he ordered.

I watched as Kael turned to Lyra and kissed her in front of everyone and the crowd cheered.

My world shattered, and it felt like I was about to collapse.

“Hold her!” One of the guards yelled out to the other as they dragged me out of the hall, down the temple steps and past the banners I had once carried.

“YOU CAN'T ERASE ME!” I screamed. “YOU'll REGRET THIS! ALL OF YOU WILL!”

I kicked, thrashed and cursed every single person I had once protected, but it was useless and I knew it.

The guards said nothing but dragged me like I was already dead.

Soon, we reached the gates of the pack.

One of the guards shoved me so hard that I fell face-first into the dirt.

“Get out,” he snarled.

I turned over, trembling, mud on my face and blood trickled down the side of my mouth.

I looked back at the pack.

My home and the betrayal lung deeper into my heart.

“You’ll pay for this, Kael,” I whispered, teeth clenched. “I swear it's on the Moon itself.”