Aurora's POV

I'd hidden the truth from my twin mates: I was Blackwood's sole heir.

All of this had been my choice. I'd set out to prove love could outrank power. That was why I had fled the marriage he'd arranged for me. He had chosen a powerful match for me and told me the real world ran on alliances, not love.

I would prove him wrong.

Even if I were an orphan with nothing to my name, my fated mates would still treasure me. After three years of marriage, I was absolutely certain of that.

Tonight was the perfect time. Tonight was the celebration of the Bloodmoon Pack rising to become the second-largest pack in the nation, second only to the Blackwood Pack. The pack hall was receiving its final touches.

For the past three years, to help the Bloodmoon Pack secure that crucial ranking, I had secretly used the Blackwood Pack's connections, money, and resources. When they faced a financial crisis, I secretly injected thirty million in funding. When competitors tried to annex their territory, I used my father's network to stop the acquisition.

But to keep my identity hidden, I put the pack's success down to their own abilities. They never suspected a thing. Of course, they weren't stupid. In the world of packs, no one would believe an Omega could have that kind of power.

When I walked into the banquet hall, ready to find Damon and Lucian, Celeste suddenly spotted me and hurried out at once.

Celeste was an Omega wolf I had rescued from the pack border a month ago. Back then, she had been covered in wounds, barely clothed, sobbing as she begged me to take her in. She said her pack had been slaughtered and that she was the only one who had escaped. My heart softened. I not only took her in, but also arranged the best room and a job for her.

Because of my status as Luna, no one in the pack dared approach me first. Soon, Celeste and I became very close, and I practically treated her like my own younger sister.

Damon and Lucian accepted her quickly too, even faster than I had imagined. That only proved they were strong and compassionate. I was proud that my mates treated the vulnerable the same way I did, just as they had marked me without hesitation even when they knew I had no wolf.

Tonight, Celeste had volunteered to handle the pack's decorations. I hesitated, but the unyielding look in Damon's eyes and Lucian's encouraging nod made me swallow my doubts.

Maybe Celeste was just being considerate—managing the pack had been wearing me down. I looked at her and stopped.

"I have to say, Celeste, look at all these beautiful decorations. You did an amazing job," I praised her.

"Of course. I wanted the Alphas to see that I can be as capable as you," Celeste replied with a smile.

"Oh my God, Celeste, that means so much to me. I have to tell Damon and Lucian. You must be rewarded for this." I was stunned, genuinely touched.

But I had something more important to do today. I needed to find Damon and Lucian as soon as possible. I wanted to tell them the truth before the dinner began.

It would definitely be a double surprise.

"I have to go, Celeste." Just as I was about to leave, Celeste caught my arm. "Wait, Luna Aurora."

She came closer. "Aurora." Celeste said my name, this time without the title Luna.

I looked at her in confusion, but she stepped over and said in a voice only the two of us could hear, "Aurora, you heard me right. Tonight, you will lose everything. The title of Luna, and the Alphas' love."

"What are you talking about?" I wondered if I had misheard.

Celeste didn't answer. She only smiled, then fell backward into the banquet hall's swimming pool. Before I could reach out and grab her, a roar erupted behind me.

"Are you insane? You pushed her into the pool!"

One of my mates, Damon, rushed up to me. His usually stern face was twisted into something terrifying. In the banquet hall, every pack member's gaze fixed on me, full of disgust.

"Celeste can't swim," my other mate, Lucian, said as he pulled Celeste from the water. His usually gentle tone was as cold as ancient ice. "Were you trying to kill her?"

I turned to Celeste. She immediately shrank into Lucian's arms in terror, as if I really had pushed her in.

And Lucian and Damon hadn't even listened to my explanation. I swallowed my disappointment and tried to remain calm. "You didn't even see what we were doing."

"I saw Celeste nearly drown while you just stood at the edge," Damon said, his tone icy.

"What does that prove?" I ignored the pain inside me and asked calmly.

"Oh my God, Alphas, please don't fight with Luna Aurora because of me. I never thought that decorating so beautifully would make Luna Aurora feel threatened instead," Celeste sobbed, her voice laced with just the right note of hurt.

All the blood in my body seemed to freeze. I immediately looked at her. "Celeste! Why are you lying? I brought you back from the edge of the pack territory, gave you a clean place to live, and gave you a job! I have no reason to frame you."

Damon cut me off coldly. "You do. You saw Celeste becoming more and more accepted by the pack, and you got jealous."

I stared at Damon in shock.

"As early as the second day after Celeste arrived, pack members saw you pour coffee all over her right after she delivered documents to our office."

"And it wasn't just once. You also made her eat leftovers and clean the entire Alpha Manor alone. If Lucian and I hadn't passed by the hall and found her unconscious, she might have died from exhaustion!" Damon added furiously.

"That isn't true." My voice trembled with emotion. "Oh my God, Damon, Lucian, I've been in this pack for three years. You know me! Every member of the pack knows I'm kind!"

I looked around at the surrounding pack members, searching for even the slightest look of support. But everyone took a step back in tacit agreement, as if they did not know me.

DJ. When her pup had a difficult birth, I was the one who secretly used the Blackwood Pack's medical resources to save her child. Now she lowered her head, not daring to look at me.

Archer. I had once taken a fatal blow for him when he was attacked by rogues, breaking three ribs. Now he bit his lower lip tightly, his eyes full of fear.

Maya. When her elderly mother needed expensive medicine, I secretly paid all the costs. Now she trembled as she backed away.

Every single one of them owed me some kindness. But once Celeste had won the Alphas' favor, none of them dared cross the Alphas to defend me. They were afraid of losing their standing in the pack, afraid of offending the new favorite.

Lucian stepped forward and stared at me with disappointment. "Aurora, it's just an apology. Then we can all get back to the banquet."

I looked at him, this man who had stayed by my side all night when I had a fever in the middle of the night, cooling me down again and again with iced towels. And Damon, the man who had been so nervous when I merely cut a tiny patch of skin on my finger that he forbade me from entering the kitchen again and bandaged the wound himself. Now, standing there, were only two strangers, their eyes filled with cold disappointment.

I clenched my fists and wanted to make one final attempt. "Lucian, Damon. Please believe me. I really didn't hurt Celeste. Actually, tonight I wanted to tell you—"

"Enough! Aurora!" Damon roared. Even his wolf had lost patience with its mate. "Look around you. You have no right to question anyone. Not a single member of the pack has stepped forward to support you! If there was a single thing about you worth respecting, then tonight, at least one person would have testified for you."

I looked around at the pack members again. I saw the fear in their eyes. They could tell that Damon and Lucian only believed Celeste now, and no one dared risk offending the Alphas of the pack.

"Aurora, stop humiliating yourself. You know you only became Luna because you are our fated mate, but that doesn't mean we will tolerate your malice." Lucian accused me with reddened eyes. "Do you know who made tonight's celebration possible for the pack? It was Celeste. She is the niece of the Alpha of the Blackwood Pack. She used the Blackwood Pack's resources to help our pack secure the mining resource partnership!"

"And you, all for that pathetic jealousy of yours, actually tried to kill the pack's benefactor!" Lucian rushed over, his wolf's presence flaring over his shoulders.

No. My body swayed. Three years of being marked, three years of giving everything, couldn't outweigh the lies woven by a woman who had only been in the pack for one month. And all because she was supposedly the niece of the Blackwood Pack? No. I couldn't accept that everything I had believed in was crumbling.

"Please. Tell me our three years meant something besides that bond..." The pain felt as if I had torn my own heart out.

But they only looked away coldly. Then Lucian said in an indifferent voice, "An Omega's nature is greedy and vicious at its core. If we had known how vicious you were, we would never have marked you."

It was as if the last piece of ground beneath my feet had been ripped away. They were shameless. They dressed up their own selfishness as my malice. Just because I was an Omega with no status!

I fought to keep myself from collapsing. Not here.

Nyra let out an enraged roar inside me. "Please, Aurora, tell them the truth! You are the true princess of the Blackwood Pack!"

I bit the inside of my cheek until the taste of blood made me completely clear-headed.

"Calm down, Nyra. Let us leave these fools." I stopped her. "I can't stand the air here anymore."

I took one last look at Lucian and Damon, held back the sharp agony in my chest, and said, word by word, "Let us end everything! I, Aurora, Luna of the Bloodmoon Pack, formally reject you, Lucian Vale and Damon Vale, Alphas of the Bloodmoon Pack."

The moment the words fell, the bond snapped taut, then broke with a sharp crack.

Agony seared through me, down to the bone, a raw, hollow ache ripping through my chest. I bent over, my nails digging deep into my palms, almost screaming aloud.

Damon's warm presence beside me vanished. Lucian's sense of safety deep in my mind disappeared too.

All that remained was an empty void and endless pain.

"Aurora! You've gone too far! We only asked you to apologize, and you resort to such extremes to threaten us!" Damon roared.

"You need to be punished!" Damon waved his hand, and several guards immediately stepped forward to surround me.

"No! Alpha Damon, if you lock Luna Aurora in the dungeon, I will stab a knife into my chest right now!" Celeste stood in front of me in despair, her acting flawless.

"Damon, stop." Lucian grabbed Celeste's shoulder and said, "Aurora needs time to reflect. From now on, she will be stripped of the title of Luna, and all pack affairs will be handled by Celeste as acting Luna!"

"Now we need to take Celeste to change. Her body is too weak. She might get sick," Lucian said, looking at Damon.

They supported Celeste and left together, but Damon stopped when he passed by me and said coldly, "If you come to your senses and want to apologize, you know where to find us."

I was already too numb to feel any more pain. Laughter and music still drifted from the banquet hall. They were placing the Luna's floral crown on Celeste.

I couldn't hold back anymore. With trembling fingers, I dialed my phone.

When my father's deep voice came through the receiver, my tears finally wouldn't stop.

"Dad, I've made up my mind. About the engagement to Lycan King Darius Thorne... I'm willing to reconsider."

"In two days, I will have dealt with everything here."

After saying that, I hung up. Before I left, I had to make sure every bit of resource support the Blackwood Pack had given the Bloodmoon Pack was cut off completely.