I dressed in white.
The Luna ceremonial gown hung in my closet where it had lived for eight years. I pulled it on slowly, fastening each button with fingers that didn't shake. The fabric was soft and familiar. I had worn this dress to every Mate Ceremony since Marcus and I bonded. Every year, standing beside him on the platform while newly mated pairs came forward to receive the pack's blessing.
This year felt different.
I braided my hair back and pinned it with silver clips. No flowers this time. I looked at myself in the mirror. The mark on my neck was barely visible now—a faint scar, cold to the touch. The bond had been dying for weeks. Maybe months. I pressed my fingers to it. Nothing. Just ice.
My wolf stirred. She had been awake since last night, pacing, restless. I pushed her back down. Not yet. Not here.
I walked to the ceremonial grounds alone.
The path through the forest was quiet. Morning light filtered through the trees in pale gold streaks. My footsteps on the dirt were the only sound. When I reached the clearing, I stopped.
The entire Ironvale Pack was already assembled.
Sixty wolves stood in a wide circle around the ceremonial platform. Warriors. Omegas. Families with young pups. Everyone was silent. Everyone was watching the platform.
Hadlee stood on it.
She wore white.
Not just any white—a Luna's ceremonial dress. Pristine and formal, with lace sleeves and a high collar. The exact style reserved for a bonded Luna. Her hair was pinned up with moonflower blossoms. She stood with her hands folded, her chin lifted, radiating calm.
I stopped walking.
No one spoke. No one moved. The pack's eyes shifted from Hadlee to me. Then back to Hadlee.
Marcus stood at the front of the platform. His back was to me. His shoulders were squared, his posture rigid. He didn't turn around. He didn't look at me. He stared straight ahead as if I wasn't there.
As if I had already been erased.
I forced my feet to move. I walked forward slowly, my white dress brushing the grass. The wolves parted as I passed. Some dropped their eyes. Others stared openly. I reached the edge of the platform and stopped three feet from Marcus.
He still didn't look at me.
My wolf snarled inside my chest. I pressed my hand to my ribs and kept her down.
Marcus turned to face the assembled pack. His voice was loud and clear.
"I, Marcus Black, Alpha of Ironvale, reject you, Josie, as my mate and Luna."
The mark on my neck went cold.
Not the slow, creeping cold I had felt for weeks. Instant. Ice. Like someone had pressed frozen metal directly to my skin. Then it went hollow—empty—a void where the bond used to live.
Then it started to burn.
The bond ripped through me in a single wave. Nine years of connection tearing loose all at once. I felt it in my chest first—a deep, wrenching pull, like someone had reached inside and yanked my heart sideways. Then my spine. My ribs. My skull. Every nerve in my body lit up with white-hot agony.
I screamed.
I didn't mean to. I couldn't stop it. The sound tore out of my throat, raw and animal. My knees buckled. I hit the ground hard, palms slamming into the dirt.
The wolves around me stepped back.
I couldn't breathe. The pain was everywhere—burning, ripping, dissolving. I pressed my hand to my neck. The mark was gone. Not faded. Gone. Just smooth skin where it used to be.
Above me, on the platform, Hadlee watched. Her lips pressed together. Almost a smile.
Then something deeper broke.
My bones cracked.
Not the small sounds of a normal shift. Thunder. Seismic. My skeleton restructuring from the inside out. I convulsed on the ceremonial ground, my body twisting, reforming. I tried to scream again but the sound turned into a roar—deep and feral and not mine.
My wolf exploded to life.
Seventeen years of suppression shattered in an instant. She erupted upward, massive and silver-white, fur gleaming like liquid moonlight. I felt her size—twice Marcus's Alpha form, maybe more. Her aura rolled out in a crushing wave.
Every wolf in the clearing dropped.
Warriors fell to their knees. Omegas bared their necks. Hadlee collapsed on the platform, whimpering. Marcus staggered backward, his golden Alpha eyes wide with something I had never seen on his face before.
Fear.
My wolf's eyes locked onto his. Ancient. Burning. For three seconds, she held his gaze.
Then I collapsed.
The shift was too violent. Too sudden. My body couldn't hold it. I hit the ground and everything went dark.
I heard Marcus's voice through the haze. Shaking. Furious. Terrified.
"Chain her. She's gone rogue. Take her to the holding cell."
Hands grabbed me. Six warriors, still trembling. They dragged me across the ceremonial ground. My head lolled. My vision blurred. I saw Hadlee standing on the platform, smoothing her white dress. She turned to the pack with practiced composure.
The last thing I saw before the darkness took me was Reed. Standing at the back of the crowd. His face completely still. He pulled out a small notebook and wrote something down.
Then the cell door slammed shut.
