Denied and Disgraced

Maeve's POV

The moment I dashed frantically into the sterile halls of the hospital, my heart pounded against my ribs like a trapped bird. The stark fluorescent lights blinded me as I scanned the crowded emergency room. The head doctor quickly intercepted my panicked search.

"Ms. Callahan," he said, offering a strained assurance. "Your father is out of the woods for now. However, he remains trapped in a deep, unresponsive coma. His system cannot handle any more sudden shocks."

"Thank you," I gasped, leaning against the cold wall to steady my shaking legs.

Seeking answers, I immediately tracked down the Frost Moon Pack's Beta in the waiting area. His face was drawn with exhaustion, deep bags shadowing his eyes as he recounted the bizarre sequence of events.

"He inexplicably woke up from his coma earlier today," the Beta explained, rubbing his temples. "He refused a doctor. He just wanted to go straight to the packhouse. But when he got there and discovered his beloved pack had been plunged into utter chaos, the sheer shock caused him to pass out all over again."

The Beta dropped his gaze to the floor. "I should have stopped him. I am sorry."

The timeline felt unnervingly, chillingly suspicious to me. Dad had woken up on the exact same day I finally made the agonizing decision to divorce Gideon. My exhausted brain raced to connect the scattered dots, but the fog of fatigue clouded my logic. I simply could not figure out the link just yet.

However, the looming mystery of his sudden awakening was rapidly overshadowed by a much more immediate, suffocating crisis.

"Ms. Callahan," a nurse called out from the reception desk, halting my exit. "How will you be handling the mounting hospital bills today?"

Panic clawed at my throat. Having been broke and jobless ever since I took on the demanding role of the Iron Fang Pack's Luna, I had no personal funds to draw from. I murmured a strained promise to pay soon and fled the building.

Desperation fueled my steps as I rushed back through the pouring rain to the Council of Elders. I prayed Gideon had waited. But when I arrived, the grand stone steps were deserted. Raindrops battered the empty courtyard.

I frantically dialed his number. The line rang endlessly before he finally picked up.

"Where are you?" my voice broke as I pleaded with him. "I am at the Council. Please, come back and attend our rejection ceremony. I need to secure my alimony."

Gideon answered with a cruel, condescending sneer. "Do you genuinely believe you matter more to me than official pack business?"

"I can wait!" I practically begged through the phone, ignoring the freezing rain soaking through my clothes. "Gideon, please. I desperately need the money to pay for my dad's life-saving treatments. Every second counts right now."

He let out a cold, heartless snort that sent shivers down my spine. "Really? Then I will take my sweet time." He paused, his tone dripping with pure venom. "Honestly, I would be over the moon if your father simply died."

The line went dead.

He hung up on me. I stood stranded and shivering in the relentless downpour, the phone slipping from my numb fingers. A profound, soul-crushing regret consumed me. If I had never foolishly fallen in love with Gideon Vane, I would not be standing here so helpless and broken. If I had stayed with my own kind, I would have had a mate who actually cared.

Drenched to the bone, my skin numb from the freezing rain, I aimlessly wandered back onto the official grounds of the Iron Fang Pack. The storm raged around me, yet I felt nothing but a hollow ache in my chest.

As I trudged past the towering iron gates, a passing patrolman snapped to attention.

"Good afternoon, Luna Maeve," he offered a crisp, respectful greeting.

His words sparked a sudden, brilliant realization in my desperate mind. The ceremony was not finished. The bond was not severed. Until the rejection ceremony was finalized, I was still officially the Luna.

Reinvigorated by a surge of determined survival instinct, I strode directly into the packhouse. I left a trail of rainwater on the pristine marble floor as I marched straight into the Financial Office.

I approached the heavy mahogany desk and firmly instructed Gemma, the pack accountant. "I want to withdraw twenty thousand dollars right now."

Gemma paused her typing. She casually and disrespectfully removed her reading glasses, looking me up and down with obvious distaste. Her tone was lofty and dismissive. "Sorry, I cannot help you."

"I am giving you an order," I snapped, refusing to back down.

"Alpha Gideon has officially revoked all of your financial privileges as Luna," she flatly stated, a mocking smile playing on her lips.

Before my brain could even process the crushing humiliation of the shock, a disgustingly familiar, melodic voice chimed in from the doorway.

"You heard her right."

It was Sadie.

Instantly, Gemma's haughty attitude vanished. It flipped into a sickeningly sweet, overly accommodating customer-service smile. She sat up straight and eagerly asked, "Is there anything I can help you with, Miss Winslow?"

Sadie casually sauntered in, lazily flicking her perfectly styled golden hair over her shoulder. She did not even spare me a glance. "I want to buy a new designer bag, but I am exactly twenty thousand dollars short."

Without a single second of hesitation or policy checking, Gemma rapidly began typing on her keyboard. "Right away. Processing the withdrawal from the pack funds now."

I felt a volcanic rage erupt in my chest. The blatant disrespect burned through my veins, incinerating my previous numbness. I slammed my hands onto the desk and roared at Gemma.

"Are you nuts?" I demanded, my voice shaking with fury. I took a deep, ragged breath, explicitly pointing at the smirking blonde. "She is a rogue. She is unaffiliated with the Iron Fang Pack and has no legal right to even stand in this office, let alone drain pack assets!"

Gemma merely rolled her eyes with blatant disrespect. She smugly stated, "Alpha Gideon personally authorized the transaction. If you have a problem, take your complaints up with him."

Trembling with unadulterated fury, I whipped around to face Sadie. Her smug, triumphant face made my blood boil. Channeling every ounce of authority I possessed, I stood tall.

"As the official Luna of the Iron Fang Pack, I retain the unquestionable right to expel any non-pack members from this territory," I loudly declared, my voice echoing off the walls. I pointed a trembling finger toward the door. "I command you to leave. Immediately."

Sadie merely scoffed. Her eyes gleamed with malice as she mocked my status. "Luna? If it were not for your pathetic trick of running away earlier today, you would not even be Luna anymore."

She took a step closer, arrogantly adding, "Alpha Gideon personally invited me into this pack. Who do you think you are to dare kick me out?"

Clenching my trembling fists until my nails bit painfully into my palms, I braced myself. The disrespect was too much to bear. I pulled on the deep well of energy inside me, fully prepared to forcefully unleash my suffocating Luna aura to physically drive her out of the room.

But before I could push my power outward, a heavy, booming voice saturated with dominating Alpha aura echoed fiercely from the doorway.

"STOP!"