Chapter 7 Discovery

"—so she can tell Mason I attacked her unprovoked," I realize with sudden, crystal clarity. "She wants me to hit her."

If I strike Stella, if I hurt the Alpha's mate, Mason will have every right to banish me from the pack. Or worse. I'll be labeled as unstable. Dangerous. Everything Stella has been doing to me will be forgotten because I'll be the one who committed an unforgivable act.

This is her endgame. This is what she's been building toward.

I take a shaky breath and force my hands to relax. Force my wolf to calm down even though Luna is snarling inside my head, begging me to fight back.

"No," I say quietly, pulling my arm from her grip. This time she lets go, and I use the opportunity to stand up. "I'm not going to hit you."

Stella's face twists with rage. "You're pathetic. Weak. No wonder Mason doesn't want you anymore."

Each insult is designed to make me snap. To push me over the edge. But I won't give her what she wants.

"I'm leaving," I say firmly, turning away from her.

"You can't run forever!" she shouts after me. "Everyone in this pack will know what you really are—a desperate little nobody who tried to steal another woman's mate!"

I don't respond. Don't turn around. I just keep walking, my legs shaking but somehow still carrying me forward.

By the time I reach the edge of the forest, tears are streaming down my face. But I don't stop. I can't stop. If I stop moving, I'll collapse, and I can't let that happen where anyone might see.

The castle looms ahead, and I use the servants' entrance to slip inside unnoticed. My room feels like a sanctuary when I finally close the door behind me and lean against it, sliding down to the floor.

I made it. I survived another encounter with Stella without breaking. Without giving her ammunition to use against me.

But as I sit there on the cold floor, still crying, still hurting, I realize something important. Something that makes my blood run cold.

This can't continue. I can't keep living like this—constantly afraid, constantly in pain, constantly waiting for the next attack.

Something has to change.

And maybe... maybe that something is me.

Maybe I need to leave.

The thought hits me like lightning. Leave the White Moon Pack. Leave Mason. Leave the only home I've ever known.

Could I do that? Could I actually walk away from everything?

"We can't stay here," Luna says softly. "We won't survive if we stay."

She's right. As much as it kills me to admit it, she's absolutely right.

I pull myself up off the floor and walk to my window. From here, I can see the forest stretching endlessly in every direction. Somewhere out there is a life that doesn't involve daily torture. A place where I'm not constantly reminded of everything I've lost.

But leaving means giving up on Mason completely. It means accepting that we're really over. That I'll never see him again, never hear his laugh, never feel his touch.

Can I do that? Can I actually let go?

My hand instinctively moves to my stomach, pressing against it. For a moment, I imagine what it would be like if things were different. If Mason had chosen me instead. If I was carrying his child and we were happy together like we planned.

The fantasy is so vivid it makes my chest ache.

A knock on my door makes me jump. Not Damon's rhythmic pattern. Just three quick raps.

"Sage?" Elena's voice. "Are you in there? You missed training this morning."

I quickly wipe my face and try to compose myself. "Yeah, sorry. I'm not feeling well."

"Can I come in?"

Before I can answer, the door opens and Elena steps inside, followed by her twin Willow. Both of them take one look at my face and their expressions crumble with concern.

"Oh, Sage," Elena breathes.

"What did she do to you this time?" Willow asks, her usually cheerful demeanor replaced with anger.

I shake my head. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"You're not fine," Elena says firmly. She closes the door behind them and comes to sit beside me on the bed. "You're clearly not fine, and we're worried about you."

"Everyone's worried," Willow adds. "The whole pack can see something's wrong, but no one knows what to do about it because she's the Luna."

Hearing them say it out loud—acknowledging what's happening—makes something crack inside me. All the walls I've built to protect myself start crumbling.

"She hates me," I whisper. "Stella hates me, and she's making my life hell, and Mason doesn't care. He told her she could do whatever she wants as long as no one sees."

Elena's eyes widen. "He said that?"

"That's what Stella told me."

Willow's hands clench into fists. "That's... I can't believe Mason would—"

"Believe it," I cut her off. "Because it's true. He doesn't want me anymore. He has his mate, and I'm just an inconvenience. A reminder of his past that he wants to forget."

The three of us sit in silence for a moment. Then Elena takes my hand.

"You could leave," she says gently. "No one would blame you if you decided to leave the pack."

Leave. There's that word again.

"Where would I go?" I ask. "This is the only home I've ever known. I don't remember anything before the Greys found me."

"There are other packs," Willow suggests. "Some are more accepting of outsiders. Or you could go to a human city. Live among humans where pack politics don't matter."

The idea is both terrifying and tempting. A fresh start. A life where no one knows my history with Mason. Where I'm not defined by being the girl who wasn't good enough to be Luna.

"I don't know if I can do it," I admit. "Leave everything behind."

"You're stronger than you think, Sage," Elena says. "You've survived things that would break most wolves. You can survive this too."

We talk for another hour—about options, about possibilities, about what life could look like outside the White Moon Pack. By the time Elena and Willow leave, my head is spinning with thoughts.

That night, I lie in bed staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. Luna is restless inside me, pacing back and forth like a caged animal.

"What do you think we should do?" I ask her.

"I think we need to make a decision soon," she responds. "Before Stella does something we can't recover from."

She's right. Eventually, Stella will go too far. Eventually, she'll hurt me in a way that can't be hidden or healed. And when that happens, will Mason step in? Or will he continue to look the other way?

I already know the answer.

Just as I'm finally drifting off to sleep, a sharp pain shoots through my abdomen. I bolt upright, gasping. Another wave of pain follows, stronger this time.

What's happening?

"Luna?" I reach for my wolf, but she seems confused too.

The pain intensifies, and I stumble out of bed toward the bathroom. That's when I notice something that makes my heart stop.

No. No, it can't be.

But the signs are unmistakable. The nausea I've been dismissing as stress. The exhaustion that goes beyond heartbreak. The sensitivity to smells. The tender breasts I attributed to my cycle.

My hands shake as I grip the bathroom counter, staring at my reflection in the mirror.

"We're pregnant," Luna whispers in awe. "We're carrying Mason's pup."

The realization crashes over me like a tidal wave. Pregnant. I'm pregnant with Mason's baby. It must have happened that last night we were together, right before Stella arrived.

I slide down to the bathroom floor, my mind racing. This changes everything. Everything.

Mason can't know. If he finds out, he'll either force me to stay—trapping me in this nightmare—or he'll accuse me of trying to manipulate him. Either way, it will make my situation worse.

And Stella... if Stella discovers I'm carrying Mason's child, she'll kill me. I have no doubt about that.

My hand moves to my stomach protectively. This baby—this tiny life growing inside me—is mine. Mine and no one else's. Mason lost his right to this child when he abandoned me. When he chose his mate over the woman carrying his pup.

This baby is the one thing Stella can't take from me. The one piece of Mason I get to keep, even if he never knows it exists.

"We have to leave," I say out loud, and Luna agrees immediately.

"Yes. We have to protect our pup."

For the first time in weeks, I feel a sense of purpose. Clarity. I'm not running away because I'm weak or defeated. I'm leaving to protect my child. To give them a chance at a life that doesn't involve being caught in the middle of this toxic situation.

I'll leave the White Moon Pack. I'll go somewhere far away where no one knows me. Where I can raise this baby in peace, without Stella's cruelty or Mason's indifference.

He took my heart. He took my dignity. He took my

home.

But this? This baby is mine. And I'll do whatever it takes to protect them, even if it means walking away from the only life I've ever known.