Chapter 4

Selene's POV

I wore the most serious thing in my closet. Fitted black blouse, dark trousers, hair pulled back tight. No jewelry. No perfume.

Jaxon's pack was a two-hour drive northeast.

And his headquarters sat at the center of Blackmoon pack. A stone compound guarded and gated by his warriors

His Beta, Soren, widened his eyes when he saw me at the entrance. Dark hair, sharp jaw, arms crossed.

"I want to talk to Alpha Jaxon," I said, softening my tone and trying to sound as friendly as possible.

"Alpha Jaxon isn't here now." He looked me up and down and rolled his eyes. "You can wait."

So I waited.

Pack members passed through. Some glanced at me. Some whispered.

"Isn't that the woman who rejected our Alpha?"

"At the Mating Ball. In front of everyone."

"And she's here? Bold."

I kept my eyes forward. My face neutral. But my stomach shrank tighter with every murmured word.

I sat on a bench outside the main building. Morning turned into afternoon. The sun crossed the sky and the shadows stretched long across the courtyard. I hadn't brought food. My phone stayed silent. No call from Soren. No update.

Then I caught something. Two guards near the stairwell, talking too loud.

"I just saw Alpha Jaxon upstairs. He told me to move the patrol briefing to seven."

My hands curled into fists.

He was here. He'd been here the entire time.

I stood up so fast the bench scraped against the stone floor. I walked past the guards, ignored their shouts, and pushed through the double doors with Jaxon's name on it.

He was standing behind a wide oak desk, a stack of papers in one hand. He looked up.

He was tall. Broad. The kind of build that filled a doorway without trying. Dark hair, cut short. Eyes that were almost black in the low light.

My throat went tight. Every rumor I'd ever heard about him flashed through me at once. Ruthless. Unforgiving. Brutal.

But right behind the fear was anger. I'd wasted an entire day sitting on a bench while this man watched me wait.

He could tell me to get lost if he wanted, but I hated it when people lied to me.

"You lied," I said. "You were here all day. If you didn't want to see me, you could've just said so. You didn't have to play me."

Jaxon set down the papers. Something crossed his face — not anger. Closer to confusion, as if he couldn't figure out why I'd be stupid enough to show up here.

Behind me, the door slammed open. Soren stormed in and grabbed my arm.

The door slammed open behind me. Soren, breathing hard, grabbed my arm.

"You can't be in here," he snapped. "I told you to wait—"

"You told me he wasn't here-"

"So what?" Soren snapped, "This doesn't compare to one percent of what you put him through at that Ball." He let go of my arm but didn't step back. "Every Council meeting. Every public appearance. Everyone whispering that our Alpha got rejected by some woman to his face. You even accused him as someone who would mark you without your consent."

My anger deflated. Guilt rushed in to fill the space.

"Soren." Jaxon's voice was quiet. Flat. "Don't make decisions for me next time. There was no need for that — just send her away next time." He picked up a folder from his desk. "Like right now. I don't have time for this. I have a meeting to attend."

He walked toward the door. Toward me.

My stomach dropped. In three seconds he'd be past me and it was over. Whatever I'd rehearsed for ten hours on that bench — all of it, gone.

I reached out and caught his sleeve.

He stopped.

He looked down at my hand on his arm. Then up at my face. One slow, deliberate look.

I let go immediately. I didn't know why. Something in the weight of that look.

"I have something to say," I said. "Please. Just a minute."

I'd told myself I could take it. All of it. I'd earned whatever came, and I'd swallow it whole.

I swallowed. "I came to apologize for what I did at the Mating Ball. I know it was wrong. I'm not going to make excuses." I looked at Jaxon. "I want to ask if we can start over. Try to know each other the way we should have from the beginning."

I didn't mention Derek or my rebirth. He'd never believe any of it. All I could offer was the truth that was simple enough to be honest: I regretted what I'd done, and I wanted a chance to make it right.

Silence.

Jaxon studied me. His eyes narrowed.

"Are you joking?"

"No. I'm serious."

"Am I something cheap to you?" His voice was low, unhurried. "Something you pick up when it's useful and throw away when it's not?"

"That's not what I—"

"I wonder-" His voice dropped half a degree. "What makes you think I'd agree to start over with someone like you?"

"Someone...like me?" I frowned.

“An alpha daughter from a small pack," he added. "Not much money. Not much influence. And a face plain enough to disappear in a crowd.”

Hurt flooded through me so fast I could barely breathe.

I didn't know hearing these cruel words from my fated mate could feel like being cut open from the inside.

My palms were slick with sweat. I took a breath.

"But the Moon Goddess — "

"Stop."

His tone changed. It was something real and much colder.

"You don't get to mention her." Each word was slow. Deliberate. "You're nothing but an idiot who would reject the one and only fated mate."

The word landed in my chest and stayed there. Not a quick hit. A slow turn. Precise.

I'd endured the waiting. The eye-rolls. Soren's contempt. Jaxon's questions. I'd told myself I deserved all of it. Told myself to take it and shut up.

But hearing my own fated mate call me an idiot cracked something open inside me. A huge wave of hurt and humiliation swept through both me and my wolf.

"The Moon Goddess paired us together." I heard my own voice and barely recognized it — steady, carrying a heat I hadn't planned. "If I'm an idiot—"

I looked him dead in the eyes.

"—then so are you."

The room went silent.

Soren inhaled sharply.

I didn't get to take a step back. My shoulders hit the wall behind me. Jaxon's arms came down on either side of my head, caging me in. He leaned down, his face inches from mine.

His intoxicating scent. Cedar and something sharper underneath. It filled my lungs and my wolf pressed against my ribs, whining, straining toward him.

My skin turned hypersensitive, every breath tighter, every nerve suddenly aware of how close he was.

His eyes were dark and furious. But my eyes were attracted to his lips.

I wanted to kiss him. The thought came unbidden and stupid and dangerous, and I couldn't push it away.