THE CLAIM

I hoped it wasn't what I was thinking. I prayed to a moon goddess I hadn't spoken to in years that the sudden, violent pulling my chest was just a small heart attack.

But as Jaxson's eyes locked onto mine from the podium, the air became still. The bond didn't just snap, it roared.

Please don't feel it. Please let it be a mistake.

But the way his knuckles turned white as he gripped the edge of the stone podium told said otherwise. His nostrils flared, taking in my scent; the scent he had once mocked, now intensified by the woman I had become. 

He felt it. He definitely felt it.

For ten agonizing seconds , the future Alpha of the Silver Ridge looked like he'd seen a ghost. The whole pack started to murmur, sensing the sudden spike in his scent.

"Jaxson?" he whispered, nudging him.

Jaxson blinked, his nostrils flaring as he drank in my scent from across the room. 

Just one more hour I told myself, my fingers digging into my palms. The ceremony is over. The party starts. Then I fade out the backdoor and catch the first flight out of this hellhole.

The coronation sooner transitioned into celebration, which in this pack, was just a polite word for a riot.

The music was a low, primal thrumming that made the floorboards vibrate. Because it was a full-moon eve, everyone's wolves were close to the surface. The heat in the room was thick with the smell of sweat, alcohol and pheromones.

I stood at the very back near the bar, trying to avoid my parents and every other person there and make a run for it.

"God, this is disgusting," I muttered, leaning against a wooden pillar. "One giant, furry orgy. All we're missing is the bowl of car keys and some flea collars."

Everywhere I looked, wolves were pressed against each other , necks exposed, hands wandering. Some of them were literally mating on the spot.

"You always did have a sense of humour, Ava."

Of course he heard me. I did't need to turn around to know it was him. The bond was already screaming at me to lean back into him, to let his scent wash over me.

"And you always had a habit of sneaking up on people," I retorted, taking a slow sip of the drink I had snatched from a waiter five seconds ago. 

"Shouldn't you be on the throne, Alpha? Your subjects are probably missing you."

Jaxson stepped closer. He had taken off the jacket, his white shirt unbuttoned at the collar.  He looked so fucking hot, it was annoying. He looked like he was going to devour me and kill me at the same time

  "You came back," he said.

"I was summoned under threat of being hunted," I corrected, finally turning to face him. I let my eyes trail over him with bored indiference, even though my insides were melting. "Don't flatter yourself, Jaxson. I'm not here for you."

He stepped even closer, invading my space. The air between us crackled with five years of hate and a bond that didn't care aboutt my feelings.

"The bond.... you felt it," he whispered, his eyes dropping to my lips.

"I felt a sudden urge to vomit, if that's what you mean," I snapped.  "If you think I'm going to stand up there and be your little Luna just because the moon played a little prank on us, you're even stupider than you were in high school."

"You think I'm just going to let my mate go?"

"Mate? Bullshit." I said with an irritated look on my face.  "I'm the girl who left five years ago, and in ten minutes I'll be out of here.

I turned to leave, but he gripped my arm before I could take a step.

"One dance," he commanded, his voice shifting to commanding Alpha tone. "Give me one dance, or I'll announce who you are to this entire room right now."

The dance floor was a suffocating crush of bodies, a literal "wolf orgy" of heat and scent. Jaxson led me to the center, his hand firm on the small of my back, right where the silk of my dress gave way to bare skin.

​Every touch felt like a brand.

​"You look so different, thought you hated the spotlight, Ava," he whispered, pulling me against his chest as the music slowed to a low, heavy beat.

​"I hate your spotlight," I corrected, keeping my chin up, refusing to look affected by the way our bodies fit together like puzzle pieces. "So, let’s get this over with. One dance, and you let me walk out of here without a scene. That was the deal."

​Jaxson leaned down, his nose brushing against my temple. He took a deep, shaky breath, scenting me. "You smell like the city. Like cold rain and... human perfume." 

​"That's funny," I leaned in, my lips hovering just an inch from his ear. "The guy who brought up my room service yesterday said I smelled like heaven."

​I felt him go rigid. A low, thunderous growl vibrated through his chest.

​"You let a human touch you?" he hissed, his fingers digging into my waist.

​"I’m a grown woman, Jaxson. I do whatever, and whoever I want," I pulled back, checking the watch on my wrist. "Song's over. Thanks for the dance. Don't call me."

​I turned to walk away, I was three steps away from the exit, already imagining the cold air outside, when the music suddenly cut to a screeching halt.

​"Members of the Silver Ridge Pack!"

​Jaxson’s voice didn't just carry; it commanded. My wolf wanted to bow to it.

​I spun around, my blood running cold.

​"You lied," I whispered, though I knew he could hear me. "You said if I danced, you’d let me go."

​

​"The search is over," he declared, his voice echoing off the rafters. "Tonight, I don't just take my father's crown. I take my mate."

"This is Ava," he said pointing at me. "Your new luna."

​The room exploded. My parents' gasps, the pack's cheers, the jealous snarls of the women who wanted his title, it all blurred into one roarin sound. He had trapped me in front of the one crowd I never wanted to see again.

​I looked up at him, my eyes burning with a hatred so pure it felt like fire.

​"You think you won?" I mouthed through the chaos.

​Jaxson just smirked.

A slow, dark smile that told me the war had only just begun.