"Yes!" Michael’s answer was firm, his Alpha aura flaring without a single flicker of hesitation.
My chest tightened, my inner wolf whining in pure agony like my heart had just taken a brutal, silver-laced punch to the gut, a dull, throbbing ache that wouldn’t quit spreading through my ribs. He tossed a casual "sorry" over his shoulder, his scent already fading as he hurried off like I wasn’t even standing there.
I stayed rooted to the spot, watching him leave, and it felt like a dull, rusted blade had just carved my heart open. The pain squeezed so tight I could barely draw breath. Ice crawled up from my toes, numbing every inch of my body, turning me cold all over.
When Michael took over as Alpha, the Hansen pack's territory and businesses were one bad moon away from collapsing, their finances and defenses completely in ruins. He’d sat right across from me and said the pack was still unstable, that he couldn’t promise me the steady future and Luna title I deserved. But he swore by the Moon Goddess that once things settled down, he’d mate me.
For three whole years, I clung to that promise. I schemed, I fought off rogues, I literally clawed my way through pack politics just to pull him from a weak heir to a respected Alpha. All I ever wanted was for my own family to accept him, for us to finally walk down that aisle and complete the mating bond. But after three years together… this whole thing was nothing but a calculated business deal to him.
Turns out, in this so-called love of ours, I was the only fool whose wolf fell head over heels. All my blood, sweat and tears for three years? Just a sick joke, nothing next to his fated one, Aila.
I bit my lip so hard I tasted copper blood, fighting like hell to hold my tears back and keep my wolf from howling in despair, but they spilled anyway—rolling down my cheeks like loose beads off a broken necklace, I couldn’t stop them if I tried. The ache inside me raged so hard my whole body shook uncontrollably.
Remy was standing off to the side, watching me fall apart, her fangs bared in a vicious, smug little smirk. "Leona, if you hadn’t been such a damn clingy, desperate bitch all these years, my brother never would’ve agreed to mate a tacky, low-born mutt like you in the first place. Why don’t you get a clue, tuck your tail between your legs, and get out of the Hansen territory for good?"
Hearing Remy bark that out loud, bold as brass, made the cold in my bones even worse, but my wolf flared with pure, lethal indignation. "Have you already forgotten your place? If it wasn’t for me, the Hansen pack wouldn’t even exist today, let alone be sitting pretty like this. You’d be nothing but scavengers!"
"Cut the crap!" Remy growled, jabbing a clawed finger right in my face, her scent souring with sharp, explosive anger. "You really think you’re some big-shot savior? We’d be doing just fine without a stray like you!"
The way they saw me… it made my heart ache so bad I thought my soul would split in two.
"That’s enough howling for today," Rosalie, Michael’s mother and the former Luna, snapped as she strode over, a suffocating wave of impatience rolling off her. Her eyes were full of nothing but pure disgust, looking at me like I was some rabid rogue she’d scraped off her shoe. "Look at you, pathetic! Making a scene like this is bad enough, but the Hansen pack cannot afford to lose face in front of the other Alphas over you!"
With that, she slapped that fake, practiced Luna smile right back on her face and turned to usher the pack guests away.
I watched as the wolves trickled out in small groups, my mating ceremony—the one I’d dreamed of for years—turning into nothing but one big, humiliating joke. Why did the loyalty and sincerity I bled for them get thrown back in my face like trash? Was it all just because my wolf submitted to a man who never loved me back?
I slowly closed my eyes, tears rolling down my cold cheeks. I felt fragile, helpless, just like a pile of shattered glass no one can bother putting back together.
Thirty minutes later, I found myself wandering aimlessly down a deserted road on the edge of the pack borders, like a lost, mate-less ghost searching for something to ease the ache. I didn’t even notice the rain starting at first: big, heavy drops that quickly turned into a full-on downpour, washing away the scent of the home I thought I had.
I glanced around. There wasn’t any shelter for miles, nothing but an abandoned bus stop far off down the road. I was barefoot, so I hurried toward it, but of course my luck held—a sharp, jagged stone sliced right into the arch of my foot. Because my wolf was so weak and suppressed by the emotional trauma, the wound didn't heal instantly. I flinched, biting down hard on the pain, and limped the rest of the way to the stop.
Suddenly, a blaring horn and the screech of tires cut straight through the quiet of the rain-soaked street, overwhelming my heightened senses.
I stared at the car roaring straight toward me, my eyes blowing wide, pupils blown black with pure, paralyzing fear.
