The fire in the clearing burns lower, but the heat of judgment still presses heavy on Claire’s skin. She kneels in the dirt, her body weak, her heart breaking from the curse the Elders placed upon her. The pack murmurs and shifts restlessly, the air thick with hatred.

And then he steps forward.

Brandon.

The Alpha.

His tall figure cuts through the crowd like a blade. His shoulders are broad, his black hair catches the firelight, and his golden wolf eyes glint with command. The murmurs die the moment he appears. Every wolf in the circle lowers their gaze, bowing slightly in respect.

Except Claire. She stares at him with wide, desperate eyes. Her heart lurches painfully in her chest.

Please, she thinks. He’ll believe me. He has to. He knows me better than anyone.

Brandon’s gaze settles on her. Cold. Sharp.

Her stomach twists. That look isn’t the one she remembers—the one filled with warmth, laughter, and stolen moments beneath the moonlight. No. This gaze cuts her down as though she is nothing.

“Claire,” Brandon’s voice rolls through the night like thunder. “You have broken the laws of the pack. You are cursed, weak, and dangerous. You are no wolf of mine.”

The words slam into her chest. She gasps as though struck. “No,” she whispers. “No, Brandon… please. Don’t say that.”

Gasps ripple through the crowd.

“He called her by name.”

“She thought she was close to him?”

“She’s pathetic.”

Claire shakes her head, tears sliding down her dirty cheeks. “You know me, Brandon. You know me. I would never kill my mother. Please… tell them. Tell them the truth.”

Brandon’s lips curve—not in kindness, but in a cruel smirk. “The truth? The truth is you are unworthy. You have always been unworthy. I see it now.”

The crowd erupts in mocking laughter. Some shout insults, others sneer openly. Claire presses her palms into the dirt, fighting not to crumble.

“No,” she says, her voice shaking. “That’s not what you said before.”

Her words bring silence. All eyes turn toward her. Brandon’s jaw tightens.

A memory crashes into her mind.

*

It is only months ago. The moon is high, and the forest hums with the sound of crickets. Brandon’s arms are wrapped around her as they lie on the grass, hidden where no one can see. His hand strokes her hair as his lips brush her ear.

“You’re mine, Claire,” he whispers. “But no one can know. Not yet.”

Her heart races. “Why? Why must we hide?”

His smile is soft then, not cruel like tonight. “Because they won’t understand. But when the time is right, I’ll claim you. You’ll be my Luna. I swear it.”

She laughs softly, curling closer into him. “Promise?”

“Promise,” he says, sealing it with a kiss that makes her whole body tremble.

*

The memory stabs her now like a knife.

“You promised me,” Claire says aloud, her voice breaking, dragging the memory into the night for all to hear. “You said I was yours. You said one day—”

“Silence!” Brandon snaps, his voice carrying Alpha command. The pack instantly stills. Even Claire’s body stiffens as though frozen.

But her tears keep falling. “Why are you doing this? Why lie?”

Brandon steps closer, his golden eyes glowing fiercely. “Because I see you for what you are now. Weak. Cursed. A danger to us all. I would never take a she-wolf like you as my Luna.”

The words shatter her.

Gasps ripple again. Then laughter follows, sharp and cruel.

“She thought she could be Luna?”

“With him? The Alpha?”

“She’s delusional.”

Claire squeezes her eyes shut. Her hands tremble as she clutches the dirt like it’s the only thing holding her to the earth. Her wolf’s absence is an aching hollow. And Brandon’s rejection makes that hollow deeper, darker, unbearable.

“You don’t mean that,” she whispers. “Brandon… you don’t.”

But Brandon’s face hardens into stone. “You are nothing to me, Claire. From this day forward, you are stripped of all standing. You are Omega. Lowest of the low. You will serve this pack as a slave, or you will die outside its borders. Choose wisely.”

The pack explodes into cheers and jeers. Some clap, some howl in cruel delight.

“She’s nothing now!”

“From Luna to Omega? How pathetic!”

“She deserves worse!”

Claire shakes violently. “No… no, please… don’t do this.”

Elder Rowan strikes his staff on the ground. “It is decided. Brandon, Alpha of this pack, has spoken. Claire is an Omega now. She will serve until her death.”

Claire stares blankly, her breath ragged. Omega. Slave. Nothing.

Brandon’s gaze lingers on her one last time, but there is no trace of the man who once held her beneath the stars. Only coldness. Only rejection.

Her humiliation is complete.

Zoe steps forward again, sneering. “Clean my boots tomorrow, Omega. That’ll be your first task.”

Laughter erupts. Someone throws dirt at her face. Others spit.

Claire’s body trembles, but she doesn’t fight back. She can’t. Not with the curse, not with her wolf gone, not with her heart crushed.

She lowers her head to the dirt, tears dripping onto the soil.

But deep inside, past the pain and the hollow silence, a spark stirs.

This isn’t the end.

Someone wanted this. Someone planned this. And one day—she will find out who.