Chapter 1: The Mate Bond Snaps

I should have stayed home.

That thought keeps running through my mind as I press myself against the cold stone wall of the great hall, trying to make myself invisible. It's not working. I'm still here, still surrounded by hundreds of werewolves from a dozen different packs, all of them more important and more powerful than me.

The Harvest Moon gathering happens every year. It's supposed to be this grand celebration where all the packs in the region come together to honor the moon and strengthen alliances. In reality, it's just an excuse for Alphas to show off and for unmated wolves to find their partners.

I'm only here because my Alpha demanded every pack member attend. Even the disgraced ones. Even me.

"Stay in the back, Sera," my father had told me this morning, not even looking at me as he said it. "Don't draw attention to yourself. Don't embarrass us more than you already do just by existing."

So here I am, tucked into the shadows near the back entrance, wearing my plainest dress, keeping my head down. I've gotten good at being invisible over the years. When your father betrayed his Alpha and got your entire family marked as traitors, you learn to take up as little space as possible.

The great hall is beautiful tonight, I have to admit. Hundreds of candles float overhead, held by some kind of magic I don't understand. The autumn harvest decorations make everything warm and golden. Long tables overflow with food that smells incredible. And everywhere I look, there are wolves in their finest clothes, laughing and talking and belonging in a way I never have.

I'm watching a group of she-wolves my age giggling together when I feel it.

The first sensation is heat. It starts in my chest and spreads outward like someone poured liquid fire into my veins. My wolf, who's usually quiet and subdued inside me, suddenly surges forward with a strength I've never felt before. She's not trying to shift—she's trying to get out, trying to reach something, someone.

Mate.

The word echoes in my mind, not in my voice but in hers. My wolf's voice, primal and certain and absolutely sure.

No. No, that's not possible. I can't have a mate. Not here, not now, not me.

But my body doesn't care what I think. My head whips toward the main entrance against my will, my eyes searching frantically through the crowd. The mate bond—because that's what this is, oh God, that's what this has to be—pulls at me like a rope tied around my ribs, dragging me forward.

I try to resist. I dig my heels into the floor and press harder against the wall, but it's useless. The bond is too strong, too insistent. My wolf is howling inside me, demanding I go to our mate, claiming him, finding him.

And then I see him.

The crowd parts—actually parts, people stepping aside automatically—as he enters the great hall. Alpha Kade Thornridge. I recognize him immediately even though I've never been this close to him before. Everyone knows what he looks like. He's legendary.

He's tall, well over six feet, with the kind of build that comes from years of fighting and training. Dark hair that's a little too long, like he can't be bothered with something as trivial as haircuts. Strong features that would be handsome if they weren't set in such a permanent scowl. And his eyes—even from across the room, I can see they're golden, the mark of a true Alpha.

He's wearing all black, simple and elegant, and he moves through the crowd like he owns it. Which, in a way, he does. The Thornridge Pack is the most powerful in the region. Alpha Kade has been ruling them since he was twenty-three, when his father died.

He's twenty-eight now. Unmated. Unavailable. And according to every rumor I've ever heard, completely uninterested in finding his fated mate.

But none of that matters because the moment he steps into the great hall, his head snaps up and his golden eyes lock directly onto mine.

The world stops.

I forget how to breathe. The noise of the crowd fades to nothing. All I can see is him, all I can feel is the bond between us blazing to life, snapping into place with an almost audible click.

Mate, mate, mate, my wolf chants, and I can see in his eyes that his wolf is saying the same thing.

For one perfect, impossible moment, I see shock on his face. Recognition. His eyes widen slightly, and his lips part like he's about to say something. I see his hand come up slightly, reaching out, an unconscious gesture toward me.

Hope, bright and terrifying and completely stupid, blooms in my chest.

Maybe this is okay. Maybe this is fate. Maybe—

Then his expression changes.

The shock drains away, replaced by something else. Something cold. His golden eyes, which had been warm with recognition, turn to ice. His reaching hand drops to his side, clenching into a fist. His entire body goes rigid.

And the look on his face—I've seen disgust before. I've seen hatred. But I've never seen both directed at me with such pure intensity.

He's staring at me like I'm something foul he found on the bottom of his shoe.

The hope in my chest dies instantly, replaced by a sick feeling of dread.

He starts walking toward me. The crowd, which had been chattering excitedly at his arrival, goes quiet. People are noticing the way he's looking at me, following his gaze to where I'm pressed against the wall. Whispers start up, excited and curious.

"Is that—?"

"Did the Alpha just—?"

"His mate bond, it must be—"

I want to run. Every instinct I have is screaming at me to turn around and run out the back entrance before he reaches me. But I can't move. I'm frozen, pinned in place by his stare and the mate bond that's wrapped around me like chains.

He crosses the hall in what feels like seconds and hours at the same time. Wolves move out of his way automatically, creating a clear path between us. By the time he's halfway across the room, everyone has gone silent. Every eye is on us.

Alpha Kade stops three feet away from me.

Up close, he's even more intimidating. Taller, broader, more powerful. His presence is overwhelming, pressing down on me with the weight of his Alpha authority. I should bow my head. I should submit. But I can't look away from his face, desperate to understand what I'm seeing there.

He circles me slowly, and I feel like prey being stalked by a predator. My wolf whimpers, confused and hurt. She doesn't understand why our mate looks at us like this. She wants to go to him, to nuzzle against him, to complete the bond.

I want to disappear into the floor.

"No," he says finally. His voice is deep and rough, and even though he's speaking quietly, it carries in the silent hall. "Not you."

Those words hit me like a physical blow. I actually flinch.

He completes his circle and stands in front of me again, his jaw clenched so tight I can see the muscle jumping. "Anyone but you."

Someone in the crowd gasps. The whispers start up again, shocked and confused.

"Alpha Kade, is she—?" An elder from his pack steps forward, his voice careful.

"No." Kade doesn't take his eyes off me. "She is nothing to me."

The mate bond, so new and fragile, screams in protest. Pain lances through my chest, sharp enough to make me gasp. I press my hand over my heart, trying to hold myself together.

"But the bond—" the elder starts.

"There is no bond," Kade interrupts, his voice harsh. "I don't know what game the Moon Goddess is playing, but I will never—" He stops, seeming to struggle with words, then continues with cold finality. "I will never accept Sera Blackwood as my mate."

He said my name. He knows who I am.

Of course he does. Everyone knows who I am. The traitor's daughter. The girl whose father betrayed his Alpha and got him killed.

I finally find my voice, even though it comes out as barely a whisper. "I didn't... I don't..."

"I don't care what you want," Kade cuts me off. His golden eyes are blazing now, not with desire but with something darker. Rage. Hatred. "I reject this bond. I reject you. You are not my mate. You will never be my Luna."

Each word is like a knife between my ribs. The bond is trying to form, trying to complete itself, but his rejection is stopping it mid-process. It's the worst pain I've ever felt, worse than any beating, worse than any insult. It feels like something inside me is being torn in half.

"Alpha Kade," another voice calls out. My Alpha, Alpha Morrison, pushes through the crowd. He looks furious, but I can't tell if he's angry at Kade or at me. "Perhaps we should discuss this privately—"

"There's nothing to discuss." Kade finally breaks eye contact with me, turning to address the crowd. His voice is loud and clear, making sure everyone hears. "I, Alpha Kade Thornridge, formally reject the mate bond with Sera Blackwood. She is not welcome in my pack. She is not recognized as my mate. The Moon Goddess has made a mistake, and I will not honor it."

The hall erupts. Some people are shocked, others are gossiping excitedly, and a few actually look sympathetic as they glance at me. But I barely hear any of it.

The pain is too much. My legs give out, and I slide down the wall, collapsing onto the cold floor. My wolf is howling inside me, a sound of pure anguish. The mate bond, half-formed and rejected, is like a wound that won't close.

Through my blurring vision, I see Kade turn away from me. He walks back toward the exit, his shoulders rigid, not looking back once.

Someone is crying. It takes me a moment to realize it's me.

Hands reach for me—pack members trying to help me up, their faces a mix of pity and disgust. I can hear my father's voice somewhere, angry and humiliated. I can hear Alpha Morrison demanding to know what I did to offend the Thornridge Alpha.

But all I can focus on is the empty space where Kade was standing, and the agonizing pain in my chest where a mate bond should be.

I should have stayed home.