Her scent

✧⁠◝⁠(BROOKLYN POV)⁠◜⁠✧

Caleb hadn't noticed me standing outside the restroom.

His eyes were closed, his face buried in the curve of Delilah's neck, his body pressed against hers in a way that made my stomach churn with nausea. He was lost in her, consumed by her, oblivious to the fact that his true mate was standing just feet away, watching her heart shatter into a thousand pieces.

But Delilah saw me. Her eyes met mine, and that malicious smile spread across her lips like poison.

"Wait, Caleb," she purred, tilting her head back. Her fingers tangled in his hair. "I need to ask you something."

He pulled back slightly, his brow furrowed with concern. "What is it, love?"

Love.

The word cut deeper than any blade.

Delilah's smile widened. Her eyes never left mine. "Between me and Brooklyn," she practically spat my name. "who do you choose?"

I stopped breathing. My heart-that traitorous, foolish heart-stuttered to a halt.

Caleb laughed, a soft, dismissive sound. "You're joking, right? Why would you even ask that?"

"Just tell me." Delilah pouted, playing with the collar of his shirt. "I need to hear you say it."

He cupped her face, his thumbs stroking her cheeks with a tenderness I'd never known. I'd never known any tenderness at all. "I choose you, Delilah. I've always chosen you. That bond with Brooklyn was a mistake. The Moon Goddess must have been drunk when she tied me to that pathetic mutt. I’d rather die than be tied to that half-blood."

The words hit me like a physical blow. I staggered back, my hand flying to my mouth to stifle the sound that wanted to escape-a broken, wounded noise that would have given me away. But Delilah's eyes found me anyway, glittering with triumph as she looked past Caleb's shoulder and straight into my soul.

Did you hear that, little sister? He chose me.

She didn't need to say it aloud. Her expression said everything.

I ran.

I ran through the halls of the packhouse, past the guests who stared and whispered, past the servants who looked away, past everything and everyone. I ran until my lungs burned and my legs gave out, and then I kept running, stumbling through the woods until I reached the river.

The water rushed past, dark and cold and indifferent, carrying fallen leaves and moonlight on its surface. The stars above seemed to mock me, twinkling with a cruel brilliance that felt like laughter.

I collapsed on the bank, my knees hitting the muddy ground, and I screamed.

I screamed until my throat was raw. I screamed until my voice broke and the only sound left was sobbing—ugly, gasping sobs that tore through my chest and left me shaking.

"You," I spat at the sky, at the moon, at whatever cruel goddess had decided my fate. "You did this to me. You gave me a mate who doesn't want me. You took my mother. You took my wolf. You took everything. Why moon goddess? What did I ever do deserve this?"

The moon hung silent, offering no answers.

"I hate you," I whispered to the sky. "I hate all of you."

I don't know how long I lay there, crying and cursing, pouring out years of pain and rage and despair. It felt like hours. It felt like minutes. Time had lost all meaning.

And then I heard footsteps.

I looked up, my vision blurred with tears, to see Jax emerging from the treeline. Caleb's best friend. Tall, broad-shouldered, with his eyes gleaming with cruel amusement.

"Look what we have here," he drawled, his eyes raking over me with undisguised contempt. "The little worm is having a break down. How entertaining. What's wrong mutt? Thought Caleb would pick you over Delilah?"

I scrambled to my feet, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. "Leave me alone, Jax."

"Leave you alone?" He laughed, the sound cold and hollow. "Why would I do that when you've given me such a lovely show?"

I tried to push past him, but he grabbed my arm, yanking me back. I stumbled, hitting the trunk of a nearby tree with a sickening crack that sent white-hot pain shooting through my shoulder.

"Let go of me!" I gasped, struggling against his grip.

But he was too strong. His fingers dug into my flesh like iron bands, and his eyes—his eyes had gone dark, hungry, predatory.

"I smelled you the moment you walked into the hall, half-blood," he said, his voice dropping to a low growl. "It's been driving me crazy all night. The way you smell. That..." he inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring, "that scent."

Horror washed over me like ice water.

My scent.

I had forgotten to cover my scent tonight. In the chaos of the celebration, in my desperate search for my mate, I had neglected the one thing my mother had always insisted I never forget.

Always cover your scent, my darling. Never let anyone smell you. Promise me.

I had promised.

And now I was paying the price.

"Please," I begged, my voice shaking. "Please, Jax. Just let me go. I won't tell anyone."

"Tell anyone what?" He leaned in close, inhaling deeply, and a shudder ran through his entire body. "That a lowly half-blood like you is driving me crazy with her scent? That I can't think? Can't breathe? I've wanted you since I first caught it, you know. You're like a drug. An addiction."

His hand wrapped around my throat. I couldn't breathe. His other hand clawed at my gown, tearing the fabric.

"Get off me!" I screamed. "Let me go!"

"Shut up, you little whore. You've been teasing me all night," he snarled. "That scent. That perfect, ripe scent. You wanted this, didn't you? You wanted me to come after you?"

He covered my mouth with his hand, and I bit him. He howled, and then his fist connected with my face. Stars burst behind my eyes, and I tasted blood.

"Stupid bitch," he hissed. "You're going to pay for that."

His weight pressed me into the tree, and I felt something inside me snap.

It came out of nowhere.

One moment Jax was on top of me, his hands pawing at my clothes, his mouth slobbering against my throat. The next moment, something tore out of my body—something black and furious and ancient—and the world exploded into fire.

Jax screamed.

I watched in horror as flames erupted from his skin, starting where his hands had touched me and spreading like wildfire across his entire body. He scrambled backward, beating at his arms, his face, his chest, but the fire wouldn't stop. It consumed him like he was made of kindling.

"Brooklyn! Wh-what did you do?" he shrieked, his eyes wide with terror. "Make it stop! Please, make it stop!"

"I-I can't-I don't know-"

But I couldn't stop it. I couldn't control it. Whatever had come out of me, whatever dark power had awakened, it was beyond my reach.

Jax's screams faded into wet, choking sobs. His skin blackened. His hair shriveled. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, and I gagged, pressing my hands over my mouth.

Then he stopped moving.

His skeleton collapsed in a heap of ash and charred bone, his skull staring up at me with empty sockets. The fire extinguished as quickly as it had come, leaving only smoke and silence.

I stared at what was left of him, my body shaking uncontrollably.

What was that? What did I DO?

Footsteps behind me. A gasp.

"You... you killed him!"

Delilah stood at the edge of the clearing, her face contorted with shock and horror, her hand pressed to her mouth. She was trembling, pale, her eyes fixed on the smoking remains of Jax's body.

"No!" I scrambled to my feet, reaching for her. "Delilah, you've got to listen to me. It wasn't–he tried to-something happened, I don't know-"

"YOU KILLED HIM!" she repeated, louder this time. "Murderer! You're a murderer!"

"No, please, it was an accident."

But Delilah was already screaming, her voice cutting through the night like a blade.

Within moments, people poured out of the mansion like water through a broken dam. Pack members, servants, guests. They all gathered around the skeleton, their faces twisted with shock and disgust. Someone was vomiting in the bushes. Someone else was crying.

Caleb burst through the crowd, his face twisted with worry as he wrapped his arms around Delilah. "What happened?! Are you hurt?!"

Delilah sobbed dramatically, burying her face in his chest. "It was Brooklyn! She killed Jax! She murdered your best friend! I saw everything!"

Caleb's gaze landed on his best friend's skeleton, and his face went white.

"No." He looked at me, and his eyes were ice. "Brooklyn... what did you do?"

"I-I didn't do anything." I stumbled over the words, desperate, pleading. "He attacked me! I don't know what happened."

"Shut up." Caleb's voice was ice. He looked at me with cold, dead eyes. "Shut up, you murderer."

I stared at him, my heart breaking all over again. This was my mate. The man who should have been my protector. And he was looking at me as if I were a monster.

"I'm telling the truth," I whispered. "Please, Caleb. Please believe me."

He didn't answer. He just turned to the warriors who had just arrived and said, "Take the half-blood to the pack council. Let them decide her fate."