Chapter 1

I push through my Gamma warrior training ahead of schedule just to get back to the pack sooner. All I want is to stand beside my Alpha, Kyle Faucher, and finally complete our mate-bonding ceremony.

But when I step into our house, scarred and feeling hopeful, I see 100 old boarding passes to the Darkmoon pack littering the floor.

That pack is only a mile from my training grounds. Kyle's been that close for two years, and still, he never came.

I sprint to the place where we were supposed to have our mate-bonding ceremony, clinging to the desperate hope that there's an explanation. But the moment I burst through the doors, I stopped cold.

Kyle is down on one knee, dressed in a tailored suit, his eyes locked on someone with a softness I've never seen in him before.

Standing across from him, smiling through her tears, is my stepsister, Vivian Blackwell.

"Vivian, I haven't completed the mate-bonding ceremony with Serene. Say the word, and I'll reject her and mark you right now."

At that moment, the world goes still, and I even forgot how to breathe.

So this is what he's been doing while I was gone, chasing the woman he never let go of. Meanwhile, I spent those two years giving everything I had, trying to become someone worthy of standing by his side.

I don't ask why or shed a tear. I just turn around and walk away.

If she's what he wants, then so be it. The mate-bonding ceremony I dreamed of will be theirs instead.

But the second I'm gone, he loses it and sends every warrior looking for me.

...

The place meant for my mate-bonding ceremony with Kyle was draped in roses, glowing with soft golden light. The scene looked warm and romantic.

Kyle was down on one knee, just like I'd pictured a thousand times. But the woman who was standing in front of him and crying into her hands wasn't me.

"Vivian, will you be my mate?" Kyle asks.

He slipped the diamond ring onto her finger, and they wrapped each other in a tight embrace.

My wolf let out an agonized howl, and my mind went blank. Before I knew it, my fingers were tracing the engagement ring Kyle had sent me.

I never told him the ring didn't fit. I'd just threaded it on a chain and kept it close to my heart.

Now the delicate chain broke without a sound, and the ring slipped from my chest, disappearing into the shadows. Just like our engagement—shattered in all but name.

A ring that never fit wasn't worth chasing, and a man who was never mine wasn't worth holding on to.

"Kyle, I want our mate-bonding ceremony to happen on the original date," Vivian said.

"Why? I don't want to wait that long."

"Because I want you to reject her at her own ceremony in front of everyone, and then claim me instead. Let the whole pack see who your wolf really chose!"

I froze mid-step. My wolf trembled, desperate to know just how far Kyle would go to hurt me for her.

Kyle's voice was laced with amusement. "You little devil. Guess I'll need to pack running shoes, then. After I reject her in front of everyone, we'll disappear and finish the marking somewhere private."

"Serene loves you so much. You'd really do that to her?" Vivian asked.

The air went still for a heartbeat.

Kyle dropped his gaze, and his fingers slowly brushed over the ring on her hand. Perhaps he was weighing his answer, or maybe he was avoiding it. That tender smile of his flickered and dimmed for just a moment.

But the hesitation passed as quickly as it came. He looked up at Vivian, his gaze sharpening as his voice slipped back into its usual arrogance.

"She's the mate the Moon Goddess chose for me, not the one I would've picked. Honestly, every time my wolf lost control around her and acted like some lovesick fool, it made my skin crawl.

"I felt like I was being possessed. It was suffocating and maddening. Besides, she's too proud to speak up. She won't question me, and she won't get in our way."

The moment Kyle finished speaking, Vivian let out a triumphant laugh. The sound sliced deeper than silver through my flesh.

My wolf howled and thrashed inside me, wild and unhinged, acting like she might tear me apart from the inside out. But it was my heart that felt shattered instead.

I once believed our fated mate bond was the Moon Goddess' greatest gift.

Even miles away in Gamma Training Grounds, Kyle's emotions rippled across my skin. Even when he never showed up, I still saw him in my dreams and caught his scent lingering in the air.

I believed that love was at its purest when our souls tangled and our breaths became one. But he called it "being possessed".

I forced myself to turn away, stumbling into the shadows before Kyle and Vivian could see me.

By the time I made it home, whatever strength I had left gave out. I collapsed in a heap. My hands were shaking as I wiped the blood from my scraped knees. Then, I grabbed my phone and called my mentor.

"Elder Alan, I'm in. Put me on Gamma Tactical R&D Unit," I said.

"Serene? I thought you were heading back for your mate-bonding ceremony," Elder Alan said, clearly caught off guard.

"It's canceled. From now on, I'm dedicating myself to combat and research," I replied, my voice leaving no room for argument.

He picked up on the shift instantly.

"Alright. I'll get your name submitted right away. Staying busy will help. And listen, don't take this the wrong way, but for the past two years, it was always you flying out to see Kyle.

"He never came to you. That kind of love isn't balanced. Since you've made your choice, don't look back."

If I hadn't seen that stack of old boarding passes with my own eyes, I would've argued like I always did. But this time, I just listened in silence.

At the end of every month, when Kyle ghosted me with some excuse about pack duties, he was actually flying halfway across the world to see Vivian.

And like a fool, I pushed myself to the edge, enduring flights of ten-plus hours just to get back to him sooner. Then I saw those boarding passes—all of them headed to her—and every sacrifice I'd made felt like a sick joke.

On the way to the place where we were supposed to have our mate-bonding ceremony, I kept telling myself maybe he'd gone to the Darkmoon pack for family reasons.

But after what I saw today, I finally understood why he never came to see me, even when we were just a mile apart.

He knew Vivian was the worst part of my childhood. He knew how much this mate-bonding ceremony meant to me.

He knew that public rejection was the most brutal humiliation for a fated mate. And still, he said yes to her.

I sank into the tub, the warm water finally stilling the tremors in my body.

Then Kyle's call came through, his voice light and cheerful.

"Serene, where are you? I'm already at the park. We were supposed to meet here!"