<h1 ss="text-2xl font-bold mb-4 ">Chapter 4: The Tragedy Seven Years Ago</h1>


    Skye’s POV


    The walk home from the Hunt Festival was a blur. I barely registered the snow crunching beneath my boots or the wind whipping against my tear-streaked face.


    My chest felt like it had been hollowed out, leaving nothing but a raw, pulsing emptiness where my heart should have been.


    Mom guided me through the door of our cabin. The familiar scent of pine furniture and cinnamon that usually broughtfort now seemed distant, like it belonged to someone else’s life.


    “Let’s get you warmed up,” she whispered, her voice gentle as she helped me out of my snow-damp clothes and into soft nnel pajamas.


    I crawled into bed without a word, curling onto my side and pulling my knees to my chest.


    My mate, my wolf, my dignity—all gone in a single night.


    Mom sat on the edge of the bed, her fingersbing through my silver hair with the same tenderness she’d shown when I was a child. The gesture, so familiar and loving, only made the tearse faster.


    “This isn’t your fault, Skye,” she murmured, her voice breaking slightly. “None of this is your fault.”


    I began to cry quietly, my body shaking with each silent sob. Mom didn’t try to hush me or offer empty titudes. She simply continued stroking my hair.


    I don’t know how long I cried, but eventually, the sound of the front door opening and closing announced Dad’s arrival. His heavy footsteps approached my room, and soon I felt the mattress dip as he settled on the other side of the bed. Hisrge, calloused hand came to rest on my leg, warm and steady.


    “My little warrior,” he said softly, using the nickname he’d given me when I was small and insisted on following him and Ethan into the woods for training.


    As my sobs gradually subsided into asional hups, I became aware of what was missing. Or rather, who.


    “Where’s Ethan?” I asked, my voice raw from crying.


    The brief silence that followed told me everything I needed to know before either of my parents spoke.


    “He’s with Leon,” Mom finally said.


    “Seriously?” In the moment I needed him most, my brother had chosen his best friend over me. His Alpha over his sister.


    “Of course he is,” I whispered.


    Dad’s hand tightened slightly on my leg. “He’s torn, Skye. He doesn’t—”


    “Don’t make excuses for him,” I cut in. “Not tonight.”


    Mom and Dad exchanged a look over me, their silentmunication as clear as if they’d spoken aloud. They wouldn’t push, not when I was already shattered.


    I must have drifted into a fitful sleep, because the next thing I knew, I was being pulled awake by the sound of voices in the hallway outside my room.


    “—think she would be?” That was my father, his deep voice thrumming with barely contained fury.


    “I understand your anger,” came Leon’s measured response, “but I had my reasons. This has nothing to do with personal feelings.”


    I stiffened beneath my nkets, every muscle tensing at the sound of his voice. The mate-bond, though rejected, pulsed painfully in response to his proximity, like a broken limb that hadn’t been properly set.


    Careful not to make a sound, I shifted closer to the door, straining to hear their conversation.


    “I must win the next Alpha King election,” Leon continued, “and I absolutely have the strength to do it. You were there when my mother died—herst wish was for me to be Alpha King. I cannot fail her.” There was a brief pause before he added, his voice hardening, “Skye hasn’t manifested her wolf, and her shooting skills are worse than an average human warrior’s. How could I ept her as my mate? These are simply facts.”


    “That’s not her fault!” my father snarled “Her wolf will appear when it’s ready, and that shooting incident waspletely idental. I’ll train her inbat myself—she can protect the pack just as well as any wolf warrior.”


    “A Luna without a wolf cannot protect the pack,” Leon replied, his voice maddeningly calm, “nor can she ensure strong offspring.”


    “Then tell me,” my father demanded, his voice dropping to a dangerous low, “what reason do we have to stay in this pack? If my daughter can’t get respect and protection here, why shouldn’t we leave?”


    Leave?


    Leave the only home I’d ever known?


    The thought was simultaneously terrifying and strangely liberating.


    “Dad, please don’t be so impulsive,” Ethan’s voice cut in.


    “Remember who you are—you’re the Beta of Frostshadow Pack. How can you talk about abandoning the pack so casually? I know this is unfair to Skye, but helping Leon win the next Alpha King election is also my life’s goal.


    I’ll help her find her Second Chance mate, I promise. This heartache is temporary. Don’t you want to see Frostshadow Pack be stronger? Don’t you remember how devastating our losses were in the great battle against the vampires seven years ago? Leon’s mother, our Luna…”


    The conversation fell into tense silence.


    I clutched my nkets tighter, the mention of the vampire war awakening memories we all tried to keep buried.


    So many pack members lost, including Leon’s mother, who had sacrificed herself to save several wolf pups, including me and Ethan.


    I suddenly felt ashamed of my tears, as if my pain was somehow selfish in the face of what our pack had endured.


    Was I being childish to feel so betrayed?


    Was I letting down the entire pack by not epting Leon’s rejection with quiet dignity?


    “Skye?” Leon’s voice called softly through the door, startling me from my thoughts.


    I mmed the door shut with all my strength. Leaning my back against the door, I slowly slid down until I was sitting on the floor.


    I heard him sigh heavily, followed by the sound of retreating footsteps.


    As Iy there in the darkness, staring at the ceiling, I thought about the Alpha King election.


    Every four years, Alphas from approximately fifty packs across North Americapeted for the title. Just three months ago, a new Alpha King had been crowned.


    The Alpha King advocated for his own pack and allied packs, establishing policies that favored them. Every pack wanted their Alpha to hold that position, which required not only winning votes but also proving superior strength. A powerful female Luna could enhance an Alpha’s fighting abilities.<fn561a> Content originallyes from FindN()vel</fn561a>


    I understood the importance of the Alpha King election. What I couldn’t understand was why Leon had to publicly humiliate me.


    Tomorrow, everyone would treat me like a loser, a joke. The thought of facing the pack—of seeing Maya’s smug face, of enduring the pitying nces and whisperedments—made me feel physically ill.


    A thought shed through my head — maybe I should just get out of here.