Chapter 1

Roisin

“You know how this ends, Roisin. Aspen is the one I love, not you. Never a freak like you.” Kai stated coldly, grip tightening around my arm.

The words hurt like daggers but I couldn't say I expected any less. Aspen was the golden girl—pretty, social butterfly, charismatic and truly a natural born leader. She was the Beta’s daughter but already exuded that Luna aura everyone had come to accept.

She was everything I could only dream of but I was never jealous of her. OK, maybe a little but she was my best friend, basically like a sister to me. We all already knew a perfect future awaited her— dating Kai Kalos, the Alpha's nephew; future Alpha of the Pack. She seemed destined to be the Luna of the Moonstone Pack but how could I have known Kai and I would end up as mates?

Silly as it was, I tried to appeal to Kai because what was a wolf without the mate bond?

“I know we’re different, but isn’t that what makes us extraordinary?” I whispered, voice trembling. “I know you have feelings for Aspen. I want her happiness too. But if Selene bound us, there must be a reason. I’m willing to try—willing to change if that’s what you want. Just… don’t give up on us. Not yet.”

My chest tightened, breath coming in shallow, desperate gasps.

Kai didn’t flinch. His eyes were cold, his voice like frost.

“What makes you think you could ever become someone I want?” He asked flatly. “No point sugarcoating it.”

Letting go of my arm, he took a step back and I felt it before he even said the words—the blade already twisting in my heart.

“I, Kai Kalos, reject you, Roisin Sinclair, as my mate and sever whatever bond we shared.”

The world tilted. I stumbled back, clutching my chest as a searing pain exploded through me. It felt like being torn from the inside out. Tears spilled over, hot and fast, blurring everything.

Kai turned away without hesitation.

“I’m done with you. Don’t ever show your face to me again.”

He walked out, leaving me shattered, discarded like I was nothing.

It was cruel. Unforgivable.

“It’s okay,” came my wolf, Jaeni’s voice, calm and resolute. “We’ll be fine. It’s just a rejection—we can survive this.”

She was steady, even now. Stronger than me. Always had been. Her presence wrapped around my broken pieces like a balm, her soothing energy dulling the agony, if only slightly.

It should’ve destroyed her most. But instead, she stood tall—for both of us.

If she could keep going… maybe I could too.

I stood up and wiped the tears from my cheeks, breathing in as deep as my lungs would allow. It did nothing to dull the burning in my chest. If I had known this was how tonight would end, I never would’ve come to the damn mating ball. Rejection on my birthday—how poetic. Eighteen and discarded in the same breath.

Happy birthday, Roisin. You're officially unwanted.

Still, I tried to find some twisted version of a silver lining. Now that Kai had rejected me, he could finally be with Aspen. They were meant for each other anyway. The perfect couple. Golden, adored. And I… I’d only ever been the stray their story picked up along the way.

Maybe this was for the best.

I told myself that again and again, until the lie started to sound like truth. I forced a smile to mask the ache gnawing at my insides and turned back toward the ballroom. My adoptive family would be wondering where I’d gone. I couldn’t let them see me like this.

Yes, I was somewhat adopted. After my parents died in a car crash, Aspen's parents had taken me in. I was ten when I woke up in a hospital bed—broken, bloodied, and hollow. The doctors said I was lucky to be alive. But my memories? Gone. The first ten years of my life had vanished like ash in the wind. No past, no answers, just the present and the people who took me in.

That should’ve been enough.

Maybe Aunt Emery made curry, I thought numbly. Maybe if I forced myself to eat, this awful burning in my chest would fade.

“Aunt Emery always says there’s nothing food can’t solve. How are you supposed to cry on an empty stomach?” Jaeni offered gently, trying to coax a smile out of me.

I gave her a tired huff of agreement, but my heart wasn’t in it.

As I stepped into the corridor, a strange sensation tightened in my chest. Something was off.

My fingers instinctively reached for my throat—and froze.

The necklace. Aunt Emery’s necklace. The pearl-and-moonstone one Uncle Mason gave her. I’d borrowed it for tonight, but now the chain was gone.

Panic pierced through the numbness like a blade. I couldn’t lose that necklace. Not something so precious.

I turned and rushed back down the hallway, every beat of my heart hammering with guilt and desperation. When I pushed the door open again, relief flooded me. The necklace lay beside an ottoman, just out of sight. It must’ve fallen off when Kai shoved me into the room earlier.

I bent to retrieve it, fingers fumbling with the clasp when I heard it—muffled voices. Angry. A crash. The sound of glass splintering. Something thudded hard against the floor.

Then—

A scream.

High. Piercing.

Aspen.

My blood ran cold.

No thoughts—just motion. My body launched itself toward the noise before my mind could catch up. I shoved open the door to the next room, breath caught in my throat.

And everything stopped.

Aspen lay sprawled on the floor, her golden curls soaked in blood. A knife was buried in her stomach, nearly to the hilt, scarlet gushing around the wound in thick rivers. Her white gown—the one she’d twirled in earlier like a fairytale princess—was now stained red. The scent of copper filled the air.

Kai stood over her. His face was calm. Serene. Like he was admiring his handiwork.

And then he looked up at me.

His lips curled into a twisted smile—almost pleased, like I was the honored guest to his final act. Like I was meant to see this.

No.

No. No, no—

This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be real. Why? Why would he do this? They were in love. She was everything he ever wanted. He rejected me for her. Why would he—?

I couldn’t move.

Couldn’t breathe.

I watched in horror as Kai pulled the blade from Aspen's stomach with sickening slowness. Blood dripped down the steel, painting his fingers crimson. He raised it to his mouth and let the blood trail over his tongue. His eyes fluttered shut. He moaned—soft and satisfied, like he was tasting fine wine.

My stomach turned violently. My soul recoiled.

Still, I couldn’t tear myself away.

What the hell am I looking at? Who is he?

Everything I thought I knew—the rejection, the love story, the family that took me in—splintered in a heartbeat.

“Why?” I whispered aloud, barely recognizing my own voice. “What… what did you do?”

But Kai didn’t answer. He moved faster than I could react, slamming me against the wall so hard I felt the air wrench from my lungs. My skull cracked against the plaster, and I saw stars. Pain flared across my back like wildfire.

I barely registered the cold fingers wrapping around my throat.

“What are you doing?” I gasped, voice shredded. “Kai… what have you done? Aspen… she…”

“Unfortunate, isn't it?” He murmured, tightening his grip. “Such a sweet little thing she was. Was even a better girlfriend than I could have hoped for but she just couldn't handle her curiosity. She found out what she wasn't supposed to and paid the price, just like you are about to.”

He grinned like the devil himself.

“Except I won't be the one to punish you, the entire Pack will.” 

My eyes widened in disbelief, heart jackhammering against my ribs.

“Think about it,” he went on smoothly, almost lazily. “Roisin Sinclair, the Pack’s weirdo finally lost it and killed Aspen Ripley, the daughter of the family who adopted and raised her like their own, just because she was rejected by her mate, who was in love with Aspen instead.

It's quite the story, isn't it?” He grinned dangerously, increasing the pressure of his grip while I choked, uselessly struggling to break free.

“That's…not true…” I rasped.

“The truth is only what people believe. Someone has to take the fall, nobody really liked you anyway.” 

He squeezed harder, cutting off my air.

Dark spots bloomed in my vision. I kicked, scratched, but he was too strong. My limbs started to feel heavy. My lungs screamed.

Jaeni… help me… please—

But even her voice was faint now.

Aspen needed help. She was still breathing. I had to get her to a hospital. I had to do something. I couldn’t black out, not now. Not—

The world tilted, then collapsed into an unforgiving, icy black.