Chapter 2

Kane came straight to Beta's cabin, a run-down little place I called home. Seething with a cold, hard fury, he kicked my door open.

"Kane?"

I flinched at the crash. I was by the window in the moonlight, cradling a whining pup with an injured leg.

Kane didn't spare it a glance. For the first time, his amber eyes held no admiration or approval. They were hard and hostile, raking over me as if to judge.

He closed in, step by step, the Alpha energy bearing down on me. He fixed his gaze on me and asked, his voice as cold as ice. "What exactly is that power coming off you?"

The question threw me off balance.

"Selena said…"

Kane faltered, conflict flickering in his eyes before responsibility snapped back into place.

"She said your power would hurt her."

I met his eyes and caught the doubt seeded by a she-wolf's lie. The warmth in me faded.

I gave him no answer.

With the moonstone resting against my chest, I lowered my head and kept humming that old, soothing tune to calm the trembling pup in my arms.

Kane bristled when I ignored him. He was about to snap until the moonstone in my hand kindled a soft glow. He watched the pup's whimpers ebb and finally fade into sleep.

He'd never witnessed anything so tender. The moment felt pure, almost hallowed, standing in stark relief to the dark caricature Selena had painted of me.

Kane went still. The blaze in his eyes guttered to embers, the heat giving way to a conflict he couldn't swallow.

The sight rattled him, but in the end, the memory of how pale and fragile Selena looked overruled his better judgment.

The elders used to whisper behind closed doors about where I came from.

I was born into the White Wolf bloodline, the kind our pack saw maybe once a century. My power answered to moonlight and the raw pull of the wild.

I carried gifts of healing and calm that outstripped any ordinary werewolf's. To anyone who didn't understand, my lineage looked mysterious, maybe even dangerous.

Kane was clearly one of them. He stepped closer and pointed at the moonstone in my hand.

His gaze went hard, his voice stripped of warmth as he asked, "This stone boosts your power, doesn't it? You've been using it to stir the White Wolf in your blood, huh?"

I pressed the stone to my chest and kept quiet.

Kane took my silence as a yes. He regarded me as if I were cradling something dangerous, a weapon to be confiscated.

He spoke slowly, each word tearing my heart a little wider. "Selena's wolf is weak. It needs constant soothing. That thing is too dangerous in your hands. Give it to me."

I stared at him in disbelief. "No!"

"Give it to me," Kane repeated, his tone brooking no argument.

He pried my fingers apart and snatched the moonstone from my palm as if my protest meant nothing. The moment it left my hand, what little warmth remained in me flickered and died.

Before Kane walked away, he gave me one last, ice-cold remark. "I'd give it to Selena. It would do more for her than it would for you."

He turned, took my moonstone, and vanished into the dark.

I could already see him placing the stone in Selena's palm and telling her the threat was gone. She would look up at him with those innocent eyes and whisper, in a small, fragile voice, "You're so kind, Kane."

I smiled at that.

So, as it turned out, the so-called "fated mate" was nothing special after all.

The swell of memory broke, and I was back in the room.

I looked at Kane, who'd apparently forgotten his own sins. I choked back the hate and managed a sad, unyielding smile.

I eased my hand out of his, caught his other hand—the one clutching the moonstone—and pressed it gently to my cheek.

I met his eyes, wearing a devotion that could pass for the real thing. "Do you remember now?"

Kane searched my eyes and finally nodded. "I remember."

I was glad to hear it. The gilded cage I'd built had been waiting for him all along.