Chapter 78 The Choice of the Broken Luna

Chapter 78 The Choice of the Broken Luna


The hall was so silent that even the smallest breath felt deafening. Every pair of eyes was fixed on her — on the trembling woman standing at the center of the chaos.

The woman who had been betrayed, humiliated, abandoned… yet still refused to shatter completely.

Livia’s chest rose and fell unevenly, her heart hammering so hard it hurt. Her body shook, her knees weak beneath the weight of what she was about to do.

And yet, through the blur of tears and the ache splitting her soul in half, a single truth burned fiercely in her mind.

‘Why should I beg for forgiveness… for a sin I never committed?’

Her gaze lifted — slowly, painfully — to meet Aldrake’s. The man she once loved. The man she once believed would protect her, cherish her, fight beside her.

The man who had instead betrayed every vow, every promise, every bond they had ever shared.

“I will not,” she whispered, her voice soft but steady. “I will not confess to something I did not do.”

A hush swept across the hall. Aldrake’s eyes narrowed, a dangerous flicker of anger flashing beneath his carefully composed mask.

“Think carefully, Livia,” he warned, his voice low and threatening. “If you reject me now, you will tarnish not only yourself — but your entire pack.”

Her lips trembled. A sob broke free, but she didn’t look away. “Tarnish?. It will be fine for me. But you said my pack?. Have you forgotten that they never treat me as their Luna? So why would I think about them?”.

Tears streamed down her face as she took a single step closer, every part of her trembling — from grief, from rage, from the agony of the decision she had made. Her wolf paced inside her chest, restless, urging her onward.

> “Do it,” the ancient voice whispered. “Break the chains. Take back what they stole from you.”

Livia inhaled shakily, her voice breaking as she spoke the words that would change everything.

“I, Livia Amethyst Shadowglow of the Moonlight Pack… reject you, Aldrake Greywolf, as my mate and as my bond.”

The words hung in the air like a death sentence.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then — the world broke.

A surge of raw magic exploded from deep within her chest, rippling through the chamber like a shockwave. The floor cracked beneath her feet, lights flickered, and a gust of wind howled through the hall.

Livia gasped as a searing pain tore through her heart, ripping apart the bond that had once tethered their souls together. It felt as though something alive was being torn out of her — a thread she hadn’t even realized was binding her until it was gone.

Aldrake stumbled back, his body convulsing from the severing of their bond. He clutched his chest, a roar of fury and pain ripping from his throat as the mate-link snapped in two. They're not completely bonded to each other, but he can feel the bond fading away.

Amber gasped, taking a step back as panic flared in her eyes. “No… no, this isn’t how it’s supposed to happen—”

The hall erupted into chaos. Wolves howled. Gasps and cries filled the air. Some fell to their knees from the shockwave of power that pulsed outward, ancient and wild. And in the center of it all, Livia stood trembling — weak, broken, but free.

Aldrake lifted his head, his eyes burning with rage. “You… you foolish woman,” he spat, his voice shaking with fury. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You’ve doomed yourself! You’ve doomed us all!”

Livia wiped her tears away with trembling hands and met his gaze one last time. “I did what you should have done a long time ago — I chose my freedom.”

Amber’s mask finally cracked, her calm composure unraveling into fury and disbelief. “You’ll regret this,” she hissed. “Without him, you’re nothing. Without him, you have no power, no protection, no—”

“I was nothing because of you,” Livia cut in, her voice shaking but firm. “Now, I can become something without you.”

The chamber fell silent again as her words echoed through the hall. The Elder Council watched her with a mix of awe and solemn respect — ancient eyes recognizing the power of what had just occurred.

A bond like theirs was sacred, not easily broken. To reject a mate was to tear apart a piece of one’s soul… but it was also to claim a strength that few ever dared to seize.

“Let it be recorded,” spoke one of the Five Ancient Elders, his voice deep and final, “that Luna Livia has rejected Alpha Aldrake. Their bond is no more.”

A murmur swept through the crowd, a mix of disbelief and admiration. Some saw her as reckless. Others saw her as brave. But no one could deny the weight of what she had done.

Aldrake’s chest heaved as he stared at her — hatred, fury, and something dangerously close to fear flickering in his eyes. He thought he controlled her. He had thought she was too weak to ever walk away.

He had been wrong.

Livia’s body felt heavy, drained, as if every breath took a piece of her strength. And yet, she did not fall. She did not run. She stood there, in front of the pack that had betrayed her, in front of the man who had broken her — and she held her ground.

This was not the end.
This was only the beginning.

And as the mate bond’s final echoes faded into silence, something deep within Livia stirred — something ancient, powerful, and hungry.

Her wolf lifted its head inside her chest, eyes blazing like molten silver.

> “We are free now,” it whispered. “And now, we will make them pay.”

The chamber still trembled with the echo of Livia’s words. The rejection — final, irreversible — hung heavy in the air like a storm that had just broken. But the storm was not yet over.

Elder Caelum, the eldest among the Five Ancients, slowly rose from his seat again. The golden embroidery of his ceremonial cloak shimmered under the light streaming through the high ceiling, his presence commanding absolute silence.

When he spoke, his voice carried the weight of centuries — calm, cold, and impossible to defy.

“Let this be known to every soul present,” he began, each word deliberate and measured. “The trial of Luna Livia is hereby concluded.”

A ripple of murmurs spread through the hall. All eyes darted between Livia — pale but standing tall — and Aldrake, who was still reeling from the severed bond, his jaw clenched tight.

Amber shifted nervously beside him, the mask of innocence she had worn for so long beginning to crack.

Elder Caelum’s eyes, sharp as blades, swept over them both.

“After thorough investigation, testimony, and undeniable evidence,” he continued, “this Council has reached its judgment. Luna Livia is hereby cleared of all accusations of betrayal, black magic, and dereliction of duty. Her name is to be restored and honored in the records of the Blood Moon Pack.”

The hall erupted. Gasps, whispers, and shouts collided all at once. Some wolves cried out in relief, others in disbelief. The weight of months — years — of slander and humiliation lifted from Livia’s shoulders in a single, glorious breath.

Her knees nearly gave out from the surge of emotion, and her wolf howled inside her chest, triumphant and free.

But Elder Caelum was not finished.

“Furthermore,” he said, raising a hand for silence, “this Council acknowledges the true source of the chaos that has plagued this pack. We recognize that Alpha Aldrake and Lady Amber knowingly and willingly engaged in an illicit affair while Luna Livia still held her rightful place as mate and Luna of Moonlight.”

Finally. They dropped the one who's guilty.

“What?!”

“It’s true then!”

“They betrayed their Luna—both of them!”