AT THE SAME TIME
ZAVIER
I stepped out into the cool night air, bag slung over my shoulder, claws scraping softly against the stone path. The forest beyond the pack territory rustled quietly, but something in the clearing made my stomach tighten. Smoke from the ceremony curled into the night sky, but it wasn't the smoke that made the hair on my neck rise.
Then the air shimmered. Light poured down from above, silver and pure, brighter than the fire, sharper than the moon.
The Moon Goddess appeared, hovering over the scorched ceremony grounds. Her eyes blazed like molten silver, sparks crackled around her, wrapping the clearing in blinding light. The pack froze instantly, elders, warriors, and even Michael, every wolf pressed down instinctively, tails tucked, ears flat.
"She's, she's really here." I whispered, my voice shaking.
"Yes." Aiden said, coiled tight beneath my ribs, growling low. "Finally, she's here for them. For everything they have done to us."
"Goddess… please… I-"Michael trembled.
"You spoiled brat!" The Goddess yelled, her voice rolling like thunder. Sparks of silver lightning danced along her arms. "You were coddled, indulged, praised, and in your arrogance, you ignored your brother! You humiliated him! You let your parents blind themselves to the truth!"
"I… I didn't mean to hurt him! Zavier, I am sorry! I should have-"Michael's hands shot to his face.
"Silence!" She shouted, the sound vibrating through the clearing. "Apologies are worthless! You spoiled brat! You will finally know the weight of your actions!"
She turned to my parents, Alpha Charlie and Rosalie went rigid, faces pale. The Goddess's hand shot out as she slapped both of them. Charlie staggered, and Rosalie screamed, stumbling backward. Her cheek burned under the impact. Sparks arced along their skin with each strike.
"You rejected your own son!" She said, voice echoing like rolling thunder. "You humiliated him! You allowed him to be invisible while lavishing praise on the other! Do you think I can not see?"
"Goddess, we-"Father tried to speak.
"No!" She yelled, lightning snapping around her. "Your excuses are worthless! You have nurtured arrogance in one child while breaking the other!"
"I… I am sorry! Please, Goddess! Forgive me! I didn't-"Michael's knees buckled, chest heaving.
"I do not forgive!" She said, voice louder than thunder as she slapped Michael twice. Sparks danced around Michael's pale face. He stumbled backward, trembling. "You spoiled brat, you will know guilt, humiliation, and regret for your arrogance!"
Her gaze snapped to Ethan, who froze in place, his blond hair catching the silver glow and she began slapping him angrily. He staggered, nearly falling each time.
"I curse you!" She said, voice like steel. "Until Zavier returns to this pack, you will have no children, no heirs, no other mate! You will know denial, emptiness, and loss! Every choice against destiny will be yours to feel!"
Ethan's face went pale, he trembled violently, unable to speak or move. Wolves whispered behind him, tails tucked, ears flat. I pressed my hands to my chest. I couldn't believe that Moon Goddess just cursed our pack's future Alpha.
"Do you see, Zavier? They feel a shadow of what you have endured. They are terrified, powerless. Tonight, they learn what it means to reject you. Tonight we leave."Aiden coiled tight beneath my skin, growling low.
The Goddess swept her gaze back to the elders and even they did not escape her fury. They dropped to their knees, shaking, unable to breathe normally. Sparks danced along their robes. Every elder and warrior whispered frantic prayers, terrified. Michael's fists clenched, and tears spilled down his cheeks.
"You, you did this! You let it happen! My parents they-"Michael tried to argue.
"You spoiled brat!" The Goddess cut him off again. "Your tears and apologies mean nothing! You have never faced a consequence until now! You will feel guilt and regret, and your parents will know fear and shame!"
The clearing was alive with silver sparks and crackling energy. Wolves whimpered, flattened themselves against the earth. Smoke rose into the night sky, curling around the Goddess's radiant form. No one dared speak.
"They are terrified, they are powerless, now they see the truth now. Tonight, they understand what you endured. Now we leave. Now you leave."I swallowed hard as Aiden pressed tighter against my ribs, low growl vibrating inside me.
I nodded, knowing Aiden was right: we had to leave and not return to this place I once called home. The clearing stayed frozen under her light, no one daring to move, no one daring to breathe too loudly.
"Where is he?!" Charlie shouted, his voice cracking for the first time in my life. His pride was gone, stripped bare. "Goddess, where is my son?!"
Rosalie stumbled forward beside him, her hands shaking, her face pale and streaked with tears.
"Please!" She said, her voice breaking. "Where is Zavier?!"
The Moon Goddess slowly turned her head toward them. and smiled. Not gently, not kindly, a cold, sharp, disgusted smile.
"He left." She said.
The words fell like a blade through the clearing. Silence followed heavy and suffocating.
"What…?" Rosalie whispered, her lips trembling. "No… no, he wouldn't-"
"He left." The Goddess repeated, her voice louder now, echoing across the ground. "Because no one wanted him."
A sharp gasp rippled through the pack. Father staggered back like he had been struck again.
"No…" He said hoarsely. "That's not-"
"You ignored him." She said, her voice cutting through his. "You dismissed him, you let him stand alone while you praised the other. You turned your eyes away every time he reached for you."
Rosalie let out a broken sob, collapsing to her knees.
"I didn't see…" She whispered. "I didn't know…"
"You chose not to see." The Goddess corrected coldly.
Michael froze completely, his breathing stopped for a moment before it came back in sharp, uneven bursts.
"He… left?" He said, his voice hollow. "Zavier left?" His hands curled into fists, shaking. "I didn't, I didn't think he would actually go." He whispered.
The Goddess didn't even look at him.
"Of course you didn't." She said. "You have never had to think about anyone but yourself."
Michael flinched like he had been struck again. Ethan staggered forward, his face drained of all color, his breathing uneven, eyes wide with something close to fear, no, not fear. Panic.
"Left…?" He said under his breath.
His hand moved to his chest, gripping hard where the bond had been.
"No." He said, louder now. "No-"
His head snapped toward the forest. Towards me, something in his expression shifted. Realization hit him all at once, brutal and undeniable. The curse, the bond. Me.
"I have to find him." Ethan said suddenly.
His voice wasn't calm anymore, it wasn't controlled. It was desperate. "I have to bring him back!"He shouted.
Without waiting, without asking, he turned and ran. Straight toward the forest toward me.
"Stop!" One of the elders shouted.
"Ethan!" Charlie gasped.
But Ethan didn't listen. He shifted mid run, his body snapping into his wolf form as he lunged into the darkness, crashing through the trees without hesitation.
Michael's head whipped towards him.
"Ethan-!" He shouted.
For a moment, he hesitated. His chest rose and fell rapidly, his eyes darting between the forest and the Goddess. Then his jaw tightened, and he ran too.
"Zavier!" Michael shouted as he shifted, his silver wolf bursting forward as he chased after Ethan.
The clearing erupted into chaos.
"Stop them!" Someone yelled.
"They'll anger her more!"Another pack member screamed.
But no one moved, no one dared, because above them the Moon Goddess laughed. It wasn't warm, it wasn't amused. It was cold, sharp, filled with pure disdain.
"Run." She said, watching them disappear into the forest. "Chase what you threw away." Her eyes gleamed with cruel satisfaction. "You rejected him so easily, and now you beg for what you cannot have."
She lowered slightly, her gaze sweeping over the trembling pack, over the elders still on their knees, over my broken parents.
"You will all remember this night." She said. Her voice dropped, quieter now, but far more terrifying. "The night you lost the one you never deserved."
I watched how she disappeared as I began leaving pack territory, and I knew that from this moment, there was no way back.