Chapter 3

Marcus pushed back from the table. "Selene. What did you just say?"

"I said I'm not marrying Derek." I kept my voice flat. "I want the engagement canceled."

Derek recovered first. He always did. He reached across the table, palm up, addressing my father more than me.

"Pre-wedding nerves," he said gently. "Every bride goes through this. Selene just needs a minute to—"

"Don't." The word came out sharp enough to make him pull his hand back. "Don't explain me to other people like I'm not sitting right here."

For a moment, just a flash, Derek's eyes went cold. Then his face smoothed back to concerned partner.

"They're cheating." I said it before I could stop myself. "Derek and Vera. They've been together behind my back, and this whole marriage is—"

"Enough!" Claudia's voice cut across the table. She set down her wine glass with a precise click. "Selene. That is a disgusting accusation to make about your own sister."

Vera's eyes filled with tears on cue. Her lower lip trembled. "I would never," she whispered. "Selene, how could you think—"

"Where is your proof?" Claudia asked. "You can't simply hurl accusations at a family dinner because you're feeling — what? Anxious? Fickle?"

Marcus turned to me. His expression wasn't angry. It was disappointed, which was worse.

"Selene," he said. "Your stepmother is right. These are serious things to say without evidence. Derek has been nothing but devoted to you."

I looked at them all. Derek with his careful concern. Vera with her theatrical tears. Claudia with her raised eyebrow. My father with his frown.

I had no proof. In my past life, they'd been careful enough that I never suspected a thing until they told me to my face on that boat. In this life, whatever evidence existed was hidden. Private messages, secret meetings. Nothing I could produce at a dinner table.

I took a breath.

Adjusted.

"Fine," I said. "Forget what I said about cheating. I don't have proof and I shouldn't have said it." The words tasted like ash but I forced them out. "But the wedding is still off. I don't want to marry Derek. That's my decision."

Claudia let out a small laugh. "Goddess, this girl. One moment it's conspiracy theories, the next it's cold feet. Marcus, darling, I told you she wasn't ready for—"

"I'm sitting right here, Claudia." I didn't raise my voice. I didn't need to.

Marcus rubbed his temple. "Selene, the invitations have already gone out. Half the territory knows. You can't just — do you understand how this would look? How it reflects on this family?"

"I understand," I said. "I still don't want to marry him."

"Then what do you want?" Marcus asked. His voice was tight. "To embarrass us? To throw away a good man because of — what exactly? A nightmare?"

Derek leaned back in his chair, arms folded, watching me with an expression that said patience. Like he was waiting for a tantrum to blow over.

I wanted to reach across the table and claw his eyes out. I took another breath instead.

Marcus stood. He paced to the window and stood with his back to the table for a long moment. When he turned, his face was set.

"I'll agree to postpone — not cancel — the wedding," he said. "On one condition."

I waited.

"You rejected your fated mate, Selene. Publicly. In front of every Alpha that matters. Jaxon's pack is the strongest in the territory, and you humiliated him at his own banquet." Marcus's voice was heavy. "If you want out of this engagement, you fix what you broke. Get Jaxon to forgive you. Get your fated mate to take you back. Then we'll talk."

Jaxon.

My mouth went dry. The memory hit me before I could stop it. Jaxon's face at that banquet. The absolute stillness in his expression when I'd said the words. The way the entire hall had gone quiet. How I'd walked away on Derek's arm feeling relieved, thinking I'd escaped something dangerous.

I'd been so stupid.

"That's your condition?" I asked. My voice came out smaller than I intended.

"That's my condition." Marcus sat back down. "You rejected one of the most powerful Alphas alive in the most public way possible. If he's willing to give you a second chance, then maybe there's something worth disrupting this family's plans for. If not — the wedding proceeds as scheduled."

Derek's shoulders relaxed.

I could practically feel his smugness from across the table.

Of course he was relaxed. He knew what I did. Jaxon's reputation. Cold. Ruthless. A man who'd been publicly rejected and mocked about it for months.

There was no universe where Jaxon would take back the woman who'd humiliated him.

But then my wolf stirred. Follow the path fate laid out.

The Moon Goddess had given me a second chance. She'd said to follow fate. And fate had paired me with Jaxon long before Derek ever touched my hand.

Maybe this was exactly what she meant.

"Fine," I said. I pushed my chair back and stood. "I'll go see Jaxon."

Mia grabbed my wrist as I passed her. She looked up at me with wide eyes. Confused. Worried. Searching.

I squeezed her hand once. Trust me.

Then I walked out of the dining room without looking back.

Behind her, the door closed. The sound of Selene's footsteps faded up the staircase.

Derek waited until the ceiling creaked. Her bedroom door shutting. Then he let the smile drop and turned to Vera.

"The study," he said quietly.

Five minutes later, they stood in the small room off the back hallway. Derek leaned against the desk. Vera paced.

"She knows," Vera said. Her voice was thin. "She said it at dinner — us cheating. She knows something."

"She doesn't know anything." Derek loosened his collar. "Did you see her face when Claudia asked for proof? She folded in five seconds. She's guessing. Brides get paranoid."

Vera bit her thumbnail. "And what if she actually goes to Jaxon? What if she somehow—"

Derek laughed. A real laugh. The kind he never used in front of Selene.

"Baby, think about what she did to that man. She stood up at a formal banquet in front of five hundred wolves and told him she didn't want him. To his face. Publicly."

He pushed off the desk and walked toward Vera. His hands found her waist.

"Jaxon isn't just any Alpha. He commands the largest army in five territories. Ruthless reputation, zero tolerance for disrespect. The territory has been laughing about it for three months."

Now — a rejection in their world didn't sever the mate bond. It wasn't magic. It was simply a public declaration, a social act. The bond remained intact underneath.

Which meant the humiliation was purely social. And for an Alpha like Jaxon, social humiliation was the one thing power couldn't erase.

"He won't touch her," Derek said. "He won't even see her. And when she comes crawling back, Marcus will have no choice but to let the wedding continue."

"And if by some miracle—"

"There is no miracle." Derek kissed her forehead. "I spent weeks telling her Jaxon would force a mark on her if she didn't make a stand. That he'd drag her away from me. She was already terrified of his reputation. All I had to do was push." He smiled. "She did the rest herself. In front of everyone. And she's not brave enough to face a man like that twice."

He pulled Vera closer. "Trust me. In a few days, she'll give up. The wedding will happen. And after that — everything that's hers becomes mine."

Vera pressed her face into his chest. His hand stroked her hair.

They had nothing to worry about.