Chapter 3

The Blackwoods had never truly accepted me.

To pay for college, I worked at the Blackwood estate caring for Adrian's dying grandfather. The old Alpha had once been a renowned pack historian. In retirement, he restored ancient Moon relics and documented treaties that predated the modern territories.

He discovered I had patience and skill for conservation, and he paid for the remainder of my restoration studies.

Vivienne and I were sisters, but it was because of me that she and Adrian first became close.

I was always the one bringing them together—asking Adrian to help Vivienne with pack events, inviting them both to the estate when I worked on my grandfather-in-law's collections, and finding little reasons for the three of us to spend time together.

Somehow, Adrian and Vivienne began to fit together naturally.

They shared the same sense of humor, enjoyed the same things, and grew more comfortable around each other with every passing year. Even I could see how well they matched.

But no one expected Vivienne to choose someone else.

Then she accepted a proposal from another Alpha overseas.

Adrian spent months drinking, racing through the territory in his sports car, and picking fights during training. He returned to his grandfather's house only when he was too exhausted to keep running.

During that period, the Moon Goddess awakened the mate bond between us.

After our first full moon together, I became pregnant with Finn.

The old Alpha forced Adrian to acknowledge the bond and the child. No one knew I had loved Adrian quietly since college. When he agreed to the mating ceremony, I believed my impossible wish had come true.

Marriage proved otherwise.

We kept separate bedrooms. Adrian approached me only when news about Vivienne made his wolf restless, as if my scent existed solely to soothe the pain she caused.

I conceived our second pup on the night Vivienne held her mating ceremony abroad.

She abandoned her intended mate before dawn and returned to Blackwood Territory, claiming she had finally understood whom she truly loved.

From then on, she occupied more and more of my home.

Soon my mate, my son, and even the duties of the Luna turned toward her whenever she entered a room.

The car stopped outside the staff residence of the North American Lycan Heritage Institute.

I had barely unpacked when Dr. Morgan called.

"Frostfang Territory uncovered an ancient Moon Temple. A large collection of relics has been exposed to silver ore, and we need emergency conservation. Your charter flight leaves tomorrow morning."

Six years earlier, I would have asked Adrian's permission.

After Finn's birth, Adrian insisted that fieldwork was incompatible with a Luna's duties. I declined every assignment and watched less capable conservators build the career that should have been mine.

"I'll go," I said.

"And you do not need to explain anything to Alpha Blackwood. I am ending our mate bond."

Dr. Morgan was quiet for a moment.

"Then I will say what everyone at the institute has thought for years. He never deserved you."

That night, I slept without preparing Adrian's late dinner or checking Finn's room after a nightmare.

The silence felt strange. It also felt safe.

The next morning, I waited at the Moon Council office for three hours.

Adrian never appeared. He ignored every call.

My flight could not be delayed, so I left the unsigned declaration with the clerk and went to the airport.

Just before boarding, a MoonNet alert appeared.

[Alpha Adrian Blackwood to finance a Winter Moon film starring Vivienne Vale.]

The accompanying photograph showed Adrian standing behind my sister at a press conference, one hand resting at her waist.

I turned off my phone. Whatever they became after I left was no longer my concern.

The charter plane entered the Frostfang Mountains shortly after noon. A blizzard swallowed the windows, and turbulence threw luggage from the overhead compartments.

The warning alarm began to scream. The aircraft dropped so sharply that my restraint cut into my abdomen. My head struck the seat beside me.

Then the world went black.

At the same time, Adrian finished the press conference and finally noticed my missed calls.

One of his business partners laughed.

"Your Luna still checks on you every hour? Some men would envy that."

Adrian glanced at the screen: "She wants me to chase her. If I ignore this performance long enough, she will return on her own."

An unfamiliar number called before he could put the phone away.

"Alpha Blackwood, the aircraft carrying your mate crashed in northern Frostfang. Search teams have located wreckage. We have no confirmed signs of life."