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I didn't sleep that night.

How could I? The bond-my bond-had been torn in two like it meant nothing. Like I meant nothing.

By sunrise, I still hadn't shifted. My wolf refused to come forward. She was... silent. Curled up inside me like a wounded animal too broken to howl.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror of the packhouse infirmary, trying to convince myself I was still whole.

But I wasn't.

Not anymore.

The door creaked open. I expected a nurse or maybe Elder Cira. Instead, it was Jace.

Of course it was.

He looked tired. His shirt was wrinkled, and his hands were stuffed into his pockets like he didn't know what to do with them.

"Hey," he said, like he hadn't just ripped out my soul twelve hours ago.

I didn't respond.

"I didn't mean to hurt you."

I turned slowly, blinking back the storm in my chest. "But you did."

He flinched.

"I can't accept a bond with an omega, Luna. You know that. The pack would never respect me. My father would never-"

"Then maybe you're not the leader you think you are," I snapped, the words sharp and shaking.

His jaw clenched. "It's not that simple."

"No, Jace. It is."

Because I would've chosen him. Every version of him. Even the coward standing in front of me now.

But he wouldn't choose me.

"I should've known," I whispered, voice cracking. "The Moon may choose... but not everyone listens."

I pushed past him before he could say anything else.

And this time... he didn't follow.

?

By nightfall, I made my decision.

I stuffed what little I owned into a torn backpack-my journal, a worn hoodie, and a single photograph of Jace and me from when we were kids.

I left my markstone on my dresser.

And I ran.

Through the forest. Past the border. Beyond Ashmoon.

I didn't stop until the trees grew unfamiliar and the pain numbed into something I could carry.

Because if I stayed, I'd always be his omega. His mistake.

But out there, somewhere...

I could become mine.