Chapter 3

Just before dawn, Aiken pushed open the door and saw the scratches my nails had left on the wall.

He frowned. "Why did you do this to yourself again?"

He reached for me, but I moved out of the way.

His hand hung there for a second.

"I was going to come last night," he said. "But Jessa had a fever and was rambling. I couldn't leave her. And you know she only got hurt because she saved me..."

I looked down at my left knee and didn't answer.

"Mira, you look terrible. Was it bad last night?"

My lips moved, and for no reason, I looked up and smiled at him. "It was fine."

"Don't be like this." He sighed. "I got her settled and then I came straight to you. Isn't that enough?"

"Aiken." My voice was cold. "She was hurt saving you. Didn't I get hurt saving you, too?"

"I know it was because of me!" he shouted suddenly, then started pacing the room. "I've spent all these years trying to make up for it! How many more times are you going to bring it up?"

I watched him pace, and something inside me sank.

My eyes and nose stung all at once, and I could barely see him.

"Mira..." Aiken took a few breaths and sat back down on the edge of my bed. "Jessa isn't just anyone to me. She's just like I was. She has nothing. I'm all she has."

"You're different. You have your people, your friends, and your position."

I met Aiken's eyes and fought to hold back my tears.

So in the end, I was the one who turned out to be different from them.

I gave a humorless laugh. "Right. She only has you. And you only have her."

"Do you have to twist everything I say?" Aiken shoved me.

My back hit the stone wall hard enough to make me suck in a breath.

His expression faltered for a second, then turned colder than before. "Stop putting on an act. You never made a sound when your leg broke. Who are you doing this for?"

"And back then, if you hadn't led us down that path, would we ever have run into that boulder?"

"Why is all of this my fault?"

I stared at him in disbelief, but he turned away and refused to meet my eyes.

"If you're not well, then rest. You don't need to be at the full moon hunt this time."

The night of the full moon hunt is the most important night for our pack. That's when we present our kill to the Moon Goddess, and the Alpha and Luna are supposed to share the honor.

I hadn't expected to miss it, much less watch Jessa stand in my place and raise the bear claws with Aiken while the pack cheered.

She had my mother's velvet cloak around her shoulders, and she couldn't hide how pleased she was with herself.

The Elders looked uneasy. Not one of them said a word.

Aiken raised Jessa's hand and announced, "Jessa saved my life on the battlefield. Her courage has earned this."

I heard Jacob whispering to the others.

"The Alpha gave the bear claws to Jessa. Mira must be livid!"

"She's about to be Luna. What else does she want?"

"The Moon Goddess picks a fated mate. Aiken doesn't get a say in it."

"Bear claws for Jessa, Luna for Mira. That's fair enough."

I went to find Aiken.

I wanted to ask him to his face.

He's the Alpha. He has to know what those claws mean.

He gave them to Jessa. So where did that leave me?

I reached his house, and there wasn't a single guard posted outside.

The door was standing open a crack.

It was dark inside, but I could make out two shapes tangled together.

Jessa's robe was half undone. Aiken was on his knees in front of her with one hand behind her head and the other around her waist.

His mouth was on the softest part of her throat.

Jessa tilted her head back, savoring every breath.

The room was thick with the sweet, cloying smell of a she-wolf in heat, and it stung to breathe.

My blood ran cold. A sharp pain tore through the mate mark on my chest, like an iron weight dragging my heart down.

Jessa saw me in the doorway.

She smiled, deliberately threaded her fingers through Aiken's hair, and let out a satisfied sound. "Oh! Aiken! Your scent works better than anything!"

Aiken's attention was fixed entirely on her.

His arms were wrapped around her waist. His scent filled the room as he ran his tongue over her throat to ease her heat.

I stepped back in fear, caught my foot on the threshold, and fled.

Jessa's sweetest voice followed me. "It was only the wind, darling."

I ran back to my room, locked the door, and pressed a shaking hand over the burning mark on my chest.

"Faye," I said when she picked up, barely getting the words out. "Tomorrow night! I can't wait any longer. I want it off now."