Raine’s life was forever changed on the night she was supposed to be joined to Alpha Ronan. Instead of a romantic mating ceremony, Ronan rejected her in front of the entire pack, leaving her shattered and humiliated. In a desperate bid to reunite with him after her banishment, Raine returned to the pack, her emotions in turmoil. In a drunken haze, Raine made a reckless decision that would change her life forever. She spent the night with the alpha of her dreams, only to wake up the next morning in the wrong room and on the wrong bed. The man she had given herself to was not Ronan, but his father, Matthias Draven - the untouchable and forbidden alpha of the Draven pack.
View MoreIt was the day of her claiming, and Raine Whitmore had never felt so alive. Her heart pounded as she approached where the priest stood, waiting for her at the head of the altar.
She held the flower in her hands tightly as she stood in front of the priest with a smile on her face, everything is falling in place. Her dreams are coming true. Ronan was still absent, probably running late, but Raine was far too excited to let that bother her. Tonight was her mating ceremony, the night her mate would officially claim her in the presence of the Lycan goddess and the entire pack. The moon hung high, full and bright, a silent witness as she stood by the priest, waiting for Ronan Draven, the man the fates had ordained as hers. A ripple went through the crowd as Ronan shouldered his way past the wolves, he had two people behind him, but Raine only had eyes for her mate. After months by his side, all the whispered promises, lingering touches, he would be her alpha, and she would be bound to him forever. She sent him a blinding smile, but Ronan’s gaze swept past her coldly. He kept his gaze on the priest as he spoke, " I have something to say" Looking at Raine with nothing but coldness in his eyes, Ronan shreded her heart into tiny pieces “I, Ronan Draven, second alpha son of the Draven pack, reject you, Raine Whitmore as my fated mate.” The entire clearing fell into silence. For a long miserable second, Raine thought she had imagined it. The words sunk into her, sharp like claws as they tore through her chest. Her wolf whimpered, and she staggered back as if he had physically hit her. She stared up at him with tearful eyes, hoping she had heard wrong. “What?” But Ronan stepped forward, towering over her, his dark cold and cruel. A far cry from the Ronan she knew. “I don’t want you,” he said, his voice sharp as a blade, slicing straight through her. “You’re weak, you are pathetic. An alpha like me would never go for a wolf like you. You are not fit to stand beside me and to be my luna.” A ripple of gasps and murmurs spread through the crowd, members of the pack speaking amongst themselves in low, harsh tones. Someone laughed, the sound sharp and cruel. Raine swirled her head in the direction of the sound and found Selene Voss, standing beside a cloaked man. Selene Voss was Luna to the rival pack. What was she doing here? Raine’s eyes blurred and she blinked back tears. “But –” Her voice cracked as she stumbled forward. “You can’t leave me, Ronan… You’re my mate, i love you. We love eachother, we are fated and...” Ronan sneered, staring down at her like she was gum under his shoe. “And? You think fate means anything? I’m not some lovesick fool clinging to destiny. I choose my future, and it’s not with you.” A loud sob teared out of her throat as her world crumbled. This couldn’t be happening, not after everything. She swayed on her feet, losing her balance as she gasped for breath. Her wolf howled inside her, rejected and broken. “Ronan!” A deep voice cut through the noise and someone pushed their way through. It was Silas Draven, first alpha son of the pack. He stopped and frowned. “What is the meaning of this?” Ronan lifted his chin. “I’m forging my own path.” looking at the pack, Ronan said to them, “Raine Whitmore has no place here, she is nothing but a burden, she has no influence, no status, she is not qualified to take the position that's not meant for her.” The words hit Raine like the final blow, and she crumbled to the ground, howling out her despair like a wounded animal. Her alpha had rejected her, she was unwanted, unloved, cast aside like a broken toy. Someone in the crowd yelled, “An alpha has rejected her! banish her!” Another voice followed, “A rejected wolf is a weakness to the pack!” Another followed, the voices growing louder until it became a chant, their cruel voices driving the knife of her rejection deeper, turning against her in seconds. “Send her away!” “She’s not one of us anymore!” “A mate who has been disgraced is a weakness!” Someone stepped forward and dragged her by her arm, pulling her painfully to her feet. Raine cried out in pain as the bone there shifted. She glanced around for Ronan, desperate for her mate even in the midst of everything going on. “No… please.” She begged, her voice ragged even as the wolves dragged her away. She stretched her hand out to Ronan, pleading with him to reconsider, to save her this disgrace, but he didn’t even spare her a glance. Raine screamed after him, her voice raw and desperate. “Please, you don’t have to do this!” He didn’t even look at her. Raine felt her vision blur, as tears burned her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Not here, not in front of them, not when Selene Voss stood beside her mate, watching her downfall like it was some kind of entertainment. Selene placed an arm on Ronan’s, and together, they turned away from her, disappearing into the dark night. Someone shoved her forward. Raine gasped as she felt herself get disconnected from the magic of the pack wards. “Get out! If you step foot on our land again, we’ll consider you a trespasser on Draven territory and you will be killed.” Laughter rippled through the pack as she staggered out the pack’s borders. These wolves she had grown up with, lived with, fought beside. And now they were turning their backs on her, treating her as though she was nothing. But maybe she was nothing. Maybe that was why Ronan didn’t want her anymore. Because she wasn’t good enough for him, and she wasn’t good enough for the pack. By the time dawned rolled around, Raine had managed to drag herself to a motel by the side of the road. Somewhere along the line, she had shucked off the heavy mating robes, and was in her inner wear. There was a bar attached to the motel, and the first thing she did as soon as she booked a room, was drag herself down there and get shit faced drunk. For a week, she let herself wallow in the pitifulness of her situation. And then on the night of the 7th day, a plan began to take shape in her head. If Ronan didn’t want her anymore, she would just have to convince him that he should, one way or the other. He was her mate. One more night with her, and he would remember just how good they have always been together. He would take her back, and she’d have her home, and her lover back.Killian lowered the brass scope from his eye and tucked it into the fold of his cloak. His gloves were stiff with cold, but he hardly noticed. Not when all the lines he’d put in place were falling into place so beautifully. He hadn’t even needed to pressure Raine at all. She’d bent with the gentlest nudge. A patrol report here. A scout route adjustment there. Small, quiet betrayals she’d convince herself were harmless until they weren’t. He didn’t even have to coax her anymore, all he had to do was just remind her, with a word or a note, that he was watching her and that her secret lived in the palm of his hand. She came running every time. A flutter of wings drew his gaze upward. A familiar grey bird cut across the treetops and dipped low before perching on the nearby branch. It tilted its head expectantly. Killian retrieved the scroll he’d written that morning. Just three words in his looping, elegant hand: "Come walk the border.” He tied it to the bird’s leg and watched it v
The confrontation with Ronan still clung to her skin like sweat, sour, and electric. His voice echoed in her ears, low and biting, twisting her stomach in knots that no amount of deep breathing could settle. You don’t get to run. She had wanted to scream. To tell him that this wasn’t about running. It wasn’t even about him, not really. It was about the truth building inside her like pressure behind her ribs. A truth that couldn’t be named, not without bringing everything down with it. She was running out of time. Her hands trembled as she dried them on a towel, standing alone at the sink in the small kitchenette just off the main wing. She’d come here to escape and stave off the nausea rising in her throat, but even the silence didn’t help anymore. It was too sharp. I'm too aware. It cut right through her. She felt the shift in the air before she heard the soft tap at the window. Her breath caught. The bird was small this time dark grey, with flecks of silver in its wings, and it
And to make matters worse, Raine, who was supposed to be by his side as the dutiful mourning mate, had been roaming the house like a disturbed victorian wraith ever since she recovered from her injuries. He wasn’t particularly a fan of her, but until he had the chance to replace with Selene, he needed her to keep face with the pack as perfect alpha heir. He found her alone in the conservatory that evening, where she thought no one came. The light had already begun to shift to that dull silver as the last of the light bled out of the sky, bleeding against the glass panels overhead. She stood at one of the long tables, carefully sorting herbs into small linen sachets. She was focused and very quiet. “Didn’t realize you were working,” he said, leaning against the frame of the doorway like he had every right to be there. Because he did. She was his mate. This house was his too, in all but name. Raine didn’t jump. She must’ve smelled him coming. But her fingers froze for just a second
Killian didn’t stop staring after her until she was completely gone. He heard her footsteps retreating, and saw the way she tried to stay upright even as the weight of everything he’d said sank like stone into her spine. That quiet desperation was always loudest when they turned away, when the illusion of choice was finally shattered behind them. He waited until the sound of her boots had faded entirely before he moved again, turning his gaze up toward the sky, the moon pale and flickering behind the skeleton branches. It had shifted. Which meant the night was thinning. And Raine was his now, in all the ways that mattered. He stood alone in the meadow for a while longer after she left, listening to the rustle of wind through the grass, the soft rasp of leaves under his boot. Everything here was quieter than it had been the last time. Killian wasn’t a cruel man, no matter what any of his enemies might have said, he was just patient, and willing to go above his moral limita
Raine got the message three days after Killian came to the park house. It’s had been days since she last saw Ronan, and she was beginning to feel as if she was the only one in the pack who was the burden of this secret on her shoulder. Mathias had been busy trying to find the killers of his son. Most members of the pack we're beginning to question his sanity. Rain was driving herself crazy trying to keep this pregnancy a secret from not only him but Ronan as well. So, that morning, it did not come as a shock when the big black bird flew into her room with the summons in its claws. She was not familiar with this communications tactics and so at first she only stared at the big black bird and wondered in fear if somehow she had been found out and was being summoned to the elders for judgements. But then she saw the familiar Insignia of the Voss pack and knew it had to have come from Killian. Hesitantly, she approached this bird and reached out very carefully to take the piece of pap
“She was just leaving,” Matthias said, his tone clipped, sharp enough to make Raine flinch. Something about the way Killian was looking at her made Matthias’s chest tighten, and he hated the way something cold and sharp clawed beneath his ribs. It was jealousy. And Matthias hated it more than he’d ever hated anything else. Raine moved to retreat immediately, head down, but Killian was not done with her yet, his voice followed her as she went, soft and almost casual. “It’s hard on everyone,” he said, his words deliberately gentle. If Matthias didn’t know any better, he’d think the alpha was actually worried for her. “Grief takes a toll on the body. You look unwell, Raine.” The woman froze again, likw a deer caught in headlights. Matthias’s hands curled tighter around the chair. Raine’s reply was quiet, her voice strained, barely above a whisper. “I’m fine.” But Killian still wasn’t done with her, he continued, his tone light, but his gaze never wavering from her, there was somethi
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