Chapter 5

DEREK

I stood at the head of the aisle, staring down the path where at this moment Mia should have been walking towards me, a vision in white. My bride.

The moment her rejection hit me, pain had flared through my chest like a silver blade sinking deep into my heart. It was sharper, more unbearable than I had ever imagined. My wolf howled in agony; a sound so raw that I had to grit my teeth to keep it from slipping out into the room.

Not since my father died had I felt such a depth of grief and wretchedness.

I had ordered Joe and Caroline to take me back to the venue, refusing to let my emotions show. Refusing to acknowledge them. Instead, I buried the pain, the way I always had.

I looked out over the heads of all the gathered guests and sighed angrily.

She had no right.

She had no right to make me feel this way, not when I had spent months pushing her away.

During the day, at least. At night, when my wolf called to hers…

Memories of Mia flooded my mind. Memories of those hot, passionate nights, yes, but also…I shook my head to clear it, but the memories came on stronger than ever.

Mia, earnestly going over the books, familiarizing herself with the intricate workings and business dealings of the pack. Mia, quickly memorizing the names of all the wolves who lived in the packhouse, knowing their jobs, their ranks, even their family members. Mia, standing next to my mother as she tutored her, her back straight and strong.

I remembered the way she had looked at me, always hopeful, even when I was cold to her. The way she had tried, despite everything, to be my mate.

I had cursed the Moon Goddess at first. Sending my fated mate to me in the form of rogue she-wolf?!

But earlier today, when I saw her standing there in that dress, something in me had shifted. For the first time, I had imagined a future where I stopped resisting. A future where I let her in.

A future where maybe, just maybe, I could accept her. Fully. A rogue. A Luna.

Mine.

But she didn’t give me the chance. She walked away first.

I broke my rules and gave her a chance to come back even after she rejected me. But the night was growing darker, and there was still no sign of her return.

Fury burned through me, overpowering all other emotion. I clenched my fists, my nails biting into my palms.

“Find her,” I ordered, my voice sharp, leaving no room for argument.

My men rushed out, scattering into the fading dusk, but I barely heard them. The weight of the rejection still lingered, a wound I didn’t know how to heal.

As time dragged on with no news, guests began to murmur, their whispers filling the silence like an unwanted chorus. Some of the more important guests began leaving, their expressions a mix of disapproval and pity. This was a disgrace—an Alpha whose mate had rejected him on his wedding day.

I forced myself to stand tall, the humiliation that was clawing in my gut souring into anger.

With gritted teeth, I called Joe over and announced what I never thought I would have to say: “Cancel the wedding.”

The words left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Then, my phone buzzed.

“Alpha,” one of my men said, his voice urgent. “There’s been a sighting. Someone saw a woman who looks like Mia. But—” He hesitated. “There was some trouble.”

My heart slammed against my ribs. “What do you mean?”

“An accident, Alpha. A bad one.”

My head started ringing, and deep inside, I could feel Erebus give a mournful howl.

“Where is she now?” I asked, my voice tight.

“She was taken, sir,” he said regretfully. “There was some confusion at the scene, but the witness said she was taken away by the attacker.”

MIA

My heart pounded in my chest as I hurried down the busy sidewalk.

The people walking by me were giving me odd looks. Who could blame them? I was a runaway bride rushing down the street like a crazy person.

I pulled up short and turned, catching my reflection in a store window. Next to a mannequin dressed in jeans and a cute green top, I could see myself, an ill-defined rogue with nowhere to go. I was nothing but what all those people at the wedding venue saw in me.

The warmth of the day was cooling as it turned to dusk. Chilled, I wished I had thought to get myself something warmer.

I had ducked into the store, buying the outfit that had been on the mannequin. I just needed something that didn’t scream runaway bride.

I’d left my wedding dress and bouquet on the floor of the dressing room, taking only my medallion. I palmed it now, willing my hands not to tremble.

I couldn’t second-guess myself. I had done the right thing.

Right?

I had spent too long waiting for Derek to accept me, hoping that one day he’d look at me the way I had always looked at him. But I couldn’t live like that anymore. I had to choose myself, even if it meant losing everything.

But now, as I wandered unfamiliar streets with no plan and nowhere to go, doubt crept in.

I wrapped my arms around myself, forcing a deep breath. I had survived worse. I had spent the only months of my life that I could remember living as a rogue. I could do it again.

I thought back to that first terrifying day, waking up under a lonesome pine with three rogue she-wolves sitting nearby. They had told me that I’d survived an attack by another band of rogues, that I’d been thrown off a cliff, and that my wolf had helped me heal.

But I had no memory of the attack. Or of anything about my life before then. All I’d had were the clothes on my back and the medallion around my neck.

I’d trusted those rogues from then on. Any others would have slit my throat and taken it from me.

But they hadn’t taken, those three. They’d given with a generosity I didn’t always feel I deserved. They’d given me hope, they’d given me friendship.

They’d given me my name. Mia.

I lived with them for three months, a happy—if careworn and thin—three months, scavenging what we could afford and stealing what we couldn’t.

And that’s when Derek found me, on the borderlands of his pack territory while out on patrol. He was about to tear Maggie apart when he scented me. And I him.

Goddess, despite all the holes in my memory, I’ll never forget that moment.

One inhale and it was like the earth shifted beneath me. A rich, intoxicating blend of cedarwood and crisp autumn air, tinged with something uniquely him—something that called to the deepest part of my soul.

The moment our eyes met, a surge of recognition crashed into me, primal and absolute.

Nox stirred at once, whispering the one truth I couldn’t ignore. Mate. The word had echoed in my bones, undeniable.

Derek’s expression had been rigid, and I remember scanning every bit of him, trying to take it all in. His wide, muscular shoulders. Dark hair with that swoop of silver above his right eye.

His broad jaw clenched as if fighting against the same pull that had set my heart racing. In that instant, I knew—I belonged to him, and he belonged to me.

Derek. Tears stung at my eyes. Why did I have to think of him again? Why?

I turned and made my way down a quieter street, walking fast in hopes of escaping my thoughts. But just as I was following the curve of the sidewalk, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

Something was wrong.

A low rumble reached my ears. An engine. I turned to look.

A black car was coming—fast.

Panic surged through me, and I spun on my heel, ready to run. But before I could move, the car swerved. Headlights blinded me.

I barely had time to throw myself backward before the door flew open and figures leapt out.

I gasped, stumbling as hands reached for me.

“No!” I screamed, thrashing wildly, but there were too many. Strong arms grabbed me, pinning mine to my sides. A cloth pressed against my mouth, and the world titled.

Using my last ounce of strength before my limbs went weak, I shoved blindly, hurling myself backwards.

The screech of tires and then pain. Blinding pain.

A distant voice shouted. Not the ones trying to take me—someone else.

Footsteps. Car doors slamming and then the peel of tires on asphalt.

Before darkness swallowed me whole, I looked up, and framed against matte black sky, I glimpsed a face I had only ever seen on TV.

The Alpha of the Moonstone Pack.

And then, just before everything faded, voices called out to me, desperate. Urgent.

“Elena…Elena!”

And then, nothing.