Chapter 2

“Ariana, Dylan only went with me to see the healer. Please don’t blame him.”

Eva stood in the doorway, holding a steaming cup of moonherb tonic.

Tonight was the Moonlight Festival.

Dylan had promised me two weeks ago that he would take me into town to see the moon lanterns.

I had always loved the festival, and he had promised to find me the brightest moon lantern in the entire city.

An hour earlier, we had been walking through the lantern market together.

The celebration had barely begun when several rogues broke through the outer line of guards. Screams tore through the square as people scattered in every direction.

Dylan caught my hand at once and pulled me close. “Stay with me.”

Then Eva screamed as a rogue lunged through the crowd toward her.

Dylan reacted before anyone else. He let go of me, shifted, and threw himself between Eva and the rogue.

The guards brought the rogue down almost immediately, but the crowd surged in panic. Someone slammed into my shoulder from behind, and I lost my footing.

I hit the stone hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs. Boots rushed past on every side, and for several terrifying seconds I could not get back up.

By the time the guards cleared the square, my palms were torn open and bleeding. And Dylan was already carrying Eva away after she twisted her ankle.

I was left sitting on the stone pavement as he disappeared into the crowd with her.

I walked all the way back on my own.

The night wind was bitterly cold. The blood on my palm had already dried, mixed with dirt and grit, and the wound stung sharply.

I stopped beneath the eaves and looked at Eva.

“How’s your ankle?”

“The healer said it’s just a sprain. Nothing serious.” She bit her lower lip. “Dylan insisted on carrying me back. I couldn’t talk him out of it. Ariana, please don’t be angry with him.”

“I’m not.”

Dylan came out of Eva’s room with a bottle of healing salve in his hand.

The moment he saw how pale I was, he strode over. “When did you get back?”

“Just now.”

“You could’ve waited for me.”

There was reproach in his voice, but guilt lingered underneath it.

“Eva was frightened and hurt her ankle. I panicked and didn’t have time to look after you too. But you know your way home, Ariana. I thought you’d be fine on your own.”

I lifted my hand and held my scraped, dirt-streaked palm out in front of him.

Dylan’s voice stopped abruptly. He stared at my hand, his brows drawing together.

“What happened?”

“I got knocked down in the crowd.”

“How could you be so careless?” His voice rose, frustration slipping through. “I told you before we went out that the festival would be crowded. I told you to stay close to me.”

“I was holding your hand.”

“What?”

“When the crowd surged, I was holding your hand. You let go.”

Dylan froze. His lips parted as if he wanted to explain.

“I saw the rogue going for Eva. I reacted on instinct. Are you really going to hold that against me?”

He reached for my injured hand, but I drew it back.

“I went back for you as soon as I knew she was safe.”

Eva’s eyes filled with tears. “Dylan, don’t blame Ariana. She fell because of me. She has every right to be upset.”

Dylan turned to her automatically. “This isn’t your fault. Go inside and rest.”

When Eva was gone, he held the medicine out to me. “I know I should have made sure you were safe first.”

He paused, then added, “But Eva has no parents. When I saw that rogue coming at her, all I could think was that she had no one else to protect her.”

“What about me? My parents are dead too.”

The words stopped him cold. “Ariana, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

His wolf shifted restlessly beneath his skin. “You’re my Mate. You’re my Luna. You’re strong, and everyone in this pack would protect you. Eva isn’t like you.”

Before I could answer, Chloe hurried toward us. “Alpha, Eva’s wolf is agitated again.”

A crash sounded from Eva’s room. Dylan’s attention snapped toward it.

“Ariana…”

I lowered my eyes to the medicine in my hand.

“Go.”

He hesitated, unease tightening his expression. “I’ll be right back.”

Back in my room, I washed the grit and blood from my palm. The cuts stung sharply, but I kept cleaning them.

Once the cuts were cleaned and bandaged, I opened the old wooden chest at the foot of the bed.

At the very bottom lay a worn black leather bracelet. Dylan had given it to me after the first time he saved my life.

We were seventeen. I’d gotten lost in a blizzard and wandered into rogue territory, where three fully grown rogues cornered me in a ravine.

When Dylan realized I was missing, he followed my scent there alone. He killed two of them and knocked the third off me.

On the way home, his hind leg was mangled from a bite, but he still refused to put me down.

The next day, he fastened the bracelet around my wrist.

“If you’re ever in danger again, wait for me.”

Seventeen-year-old Dylan lowered his head to secure the clasp, his expression almost stubborn in its seriousness.

“No matter where you are, I’ll come get you.”

I believed those words for years.

Tonight, I carried the bracelet to the fireplace and opened my hand. The leather dropped into the flames and quickly curled black.

Nora happened to pass the doorway. Her face changed when she saw what I’d done.

“Luna? Isn’t that the bracelet Alpha gave you?”

“It was,” I watched the last strip of leather disappear into the fire. “but I don’t need it anymore.”

I finished bandaging my palms in front of the mirror. The woman in it looked strangely cold.

Dylan, that was the fifth time you chose Eva.

I only had two more chances left to give you.