The victory banquet was suffocating.
Crystal chandeliers cast a harsh glare over the pack’s elite. Waiters carried trays of champagne through the crowded lodge.
I stood near the exit doors, clutching my medical bag. Coach had mandated the training staff stay until the players were officially cleared.
"Alpha Kael," Mr. Thorne said, swirling his whiskey. "The major leagues don't tolerate distractions. We draft leaders. Not wolves tangled in messy pack drama."
"There is no drama, Mr. Thorne," Kael replied. His voice was stiff, defensive.
Marnie slid her hand down Kael’s chest, hooking her fingers into his belt. "Exactly. Kael and I are perfectly matched. Right, baby?"
Kael didn't answer her. His pale gray eyes darted over the crowd, landing directly on me.
I shifted my weight and grabbed the door handle.
"Look at her," Marnie sneered, her voice carrying over the jazz music. "Still lingering. Still hoping you'll change your mind."
The music faded. Conversations stopped. Dozens of eyes turned toward the exit, pinning me in place.
"I'm on duty," I said flatly. "My shift ends at midnight."
"You're pathetic," Marnie shot back. She turned her attention to Kael, her manicured nails digging into his shirt. "Tell them, Kael. End this rumor right now. Tell the scouts who your real mate is."
Kael’s jaw tightened. He stared at me, and for a split second, I saw the brutal war raging in his expression. The guilt clawing at his chest fought against the heavy weight of the scouts' stares.
"Well, Kael?" Thorne pressed, raising a single eyebrow. "Is she a liability?"
Kael squared his shoulders. Alpha pride won.
"She's nothing," Kael announced. His voice echoed off the high wooden beams. "There is no mate bond. There never was."
Marnie smirked, leaning heavily against his side. "Hear that? Just a half-breed's fantasy."
"It was a one-sided delusion," Kael continued, his tone dropping to absolute ice. "She confused pity for affection. I have no ties to her."
The phantom mark on my arm erupted.
It felt like a jagged blade twisting between my ribs. My lungs locked. I couldn't pull in a single ounce of oxygen.
Memories crashed into my skull, violent and uninvited.
*Kael pressing his forehead against mine in the rain, swearing he would never let go.*
*Kael kissing the pulse point on my neck, calling me his future.*
The ghost of his love warred with the venom of his public rejection. The two forces tore at my muscles, ripping my insides apart.
I tasted iron. I bit down on my lower lip until the skin broke.
I didn't scream. I didn't cry.
Instead, a dry, hollow laugh scraped out of my throat.
The sound cut through the silent room. Marnie stepped back, her smug smile faltering. Kael flinched, his hands curling into tight fists at his sides.
I didn't give them another word. I shoved the heavy wooden doors open and walked out into the freezing night.
"Lyra!"
Footsteps pounded on the gravel behind me.
I kept walking toward the dark parking lot. "Go back inside, Jasper."
He grabbed my elbow, spinning me around. "Are you out of your mind? Why didn't you defend yourself?"
"And say what?" I yanked my arm away. "Beg him to admit we were mates? He made his choice."
"He humiliated you," Jasper growled, his eyes flashing gold in the dim streetlight. "He threw you to the wolves to save his contract."
"I know what he did."
"Then stop letting him drag you down. Cut him out. Completely."
"I'm trying," I snapped, wiping a drop of blood from my chin. "You think I want this? You think I want to feel him in my head?"
"You're too soft on him, Lyra. You always were."
"I'm done being soft." I turned my back to him. "Just leave me alone."
Before Jasper could argue, a sharp, violent *crack* echoed inside my skull.
It wasn't a sound in the parking lot. It came from deep inside my own mind.
I doubled over, clutching my stomach.
"Lyra?" Jasper reached out, his anger instantly vanishing. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Don't," I gasped, holding a hand up.
This wasn't my pain.
Through the jagged, burning edges of the bond, a tidal wave of foreign emotion flooded my system. Visceral, twisting cramps. Blind panic.
*The amulet.*
The thought wasn't mine. It belonged to Kael.
The silver wolf charm he wore to block our connection. It had shattered. It was lying in pieces on the banquet hall floor.
He was standing in that room, surrounded by guests and scouts, desperately masking the agony tearing through his organs.
He realized it then. The terrifying truth echoed through our unsealed bond, loud and panicked.
*I'm going to feel everything. Every piece of her pain. Forever.*
A violent shudder ripped through my frame as Kael’s terror fed into my own.
Then, a new sensation pushed through our shared link.
A scent.
It wasn't the pine needles of the lodge or the expensive perfume of the pack members. It was burnt copper and damp shadows.
Kael was sensing something inside the hall.
*Someone is here,* Kael's panic whispered through the tether. *Someone is watching us.*
I slowly lifted my head, staring into the pitch-black woods beyond the parking lot. The hairs on my arms stood straight up. The bond was wide open, and whatever was hunting Kael was now hunting me too.
