Chapter 5

So this was what a fated mate felt like.

In my past life, I'd never let Jaxon close enough to find out. I'd rejected him from across a banquet hall and spent the next three years avoiding him at every public event. I'd never touched him. Never stood close enough to catch his scent.

Now his hand was on my shoulder and my whole body was humming like a tuning fork.

My wolf was practically purring. She hadn't been this happy — this present — in years. The entire time I'd been with Derek, she'd been quiet. Distant. I'd thought she was just naturally subdued. But she hadn't been subdued. She'd been mourning.

I pressed my palms against his chest and shoved.

He didn't move much. But the contact broke, and that was enough. The haze cleared from my head like cold water.

"Watch how you speak to me," he said. Low. Controlled. "I didn't come after you when you humiliated me. That should tell you I'm not the monster your little chosen mate painted me as. But don't test me, Selene. Don't come here again and push."

He knew my name. Of course he did. But hearing it in his voice did something to my chest I didn't want to examine.

"Now leave."

"I know," I said. My voice came out rough. "I'm leaving."

I walked past Soren without looking at him, down the stairs, through the corridor, out the front gate.

I didn't breathe properly until I was in my car with the doors locked.

My hands were shaking on the steering wheel.

Not from fear. I was annoyed. At him, for being so cold. At myself, for letting the bond rattle me that badly.

Mia was waiting in the upstairs hallway when I got home. She was in pajamas, cross-legged on the floor by my bedroom door, phone in her lap.

"You've been gone all day," she said, standing up fast. "Where did you go? You missed dinner. Dad was asking."

I unlocked my door and she followed me in. I sat on the edge of my bed, and she sat beside me, close enough that our shoulders touched.

"I went to see Jaxon," I said.

"Your fated mate?" Her eyes went wide. "How did it go?"

"He told me to leave. Called me a fool." I stared at the ceiling. "He's not wrong."

Mia was quiet for a moment. Then she bumped her shoulder against mine. "What's going on with you, Selene? Really. You've been different since yesterday. The thing at dinner, refusing to marry Derek, going to find Jaxon. It's like you woke up a completely different person."

I looked at my little sister. Fifteen. Smart. Brave in ways she didn't even know yet.

"I'm going to tell you something," I said. "And you're not going to believe me. But I need someone to know."

I told her. All of it. The boat, Derek's confession, Vera, the rope around my wrists, the water closing over my head. Waking up in this bed. My wolf's message from the Moon Goddess.

Mia listened without interrupting. Her face went from confused to pale to very, very still.

"That's insane," she said finally.

"I know."

"It sounds like a dream. Like, a really vivid one."

"I know that too." I didn't push. "Maybe it was just a dream. But I know what I saw. And I know Derek is dangerous."

Mia chewed her lower lip. Processing. Then she looked up at me with something fierce in her eyes.

"Okay," she said. "I believe you. Or I believe you believe it. Either way, I'm helping."

I squeezed her hand. "Thank you."

"So Jaxon won't talk to you. What about proving Derek's the problem? If we could catch him and Vera doing something — texts, meetings, anything — then you'd have proof. Dad would have to listen."

She was right. Approaching Jaxon again was a dead end right now. But Derek and Vera — they thought they were safe. They thought I had nothing.

My phone buzzed.

Derek's name on the screen. I felt my stomach clench.

Hey babe. I know things got heated last night. Can we grab dinner tonight? Just us. Talk it through. I miss you.

The words were warm. Gentle. The same tone he'd used for three years while planning to murder me.

I stared at the message. Then I typed back: Okay. Where?

Mia leaned over my shoulder and read the exchange. Her nose wrinkled. "You're going?"

"I need him to think everything's fine," I said. "If he suspects I'm serious about leaving, he'll escalate. I need time." I looked at her. "And you need to watch Vera while I'm out."

Mia nodded. Her jaw set in a way that reminded me of our mother.

The restaurant was a small Italian place in the neutral district between our packs. Derek was already seated when I arrived — white shirt, sleeves rolled, that easy smile.

"There she is." He stood, kissed my cheek. His lips were dry and his cologne was too sweet. "You look beautiful."

I was wearing the same jeans from this morning. I hadn't changed. I didn't care.

"Thanks," I said. Sat down. Didn't return the compliment.

"So." He reached across the table and covered my hand with his. "Tell me about today. Your father said you went to see Jaxon?"

"I did." I kept my voice light. Casual. Like it didn't matter. "Couldn't even get a meeting. His Beta turned me away at the gate. Said Jaxon wasn't interested."

Derek's expression softened into practiced sympathy. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. That must have been humiliating."

"It was." I let my shoulders drop. Played defeated. "You were right. He's never going to forgive me. I don't know why I thought one apology would change anything."

Derek squeezed my hand. "You tried. That's what matters. And honestly? Maybe this is a sign that what we have is the real thing." His thumb stroked my knuckles. "I love you, Selene. Whatever cold feet you had last night — we can work through it."

His touch made my skin crawl. The smell of his cologne turned my stomach. I thought of his hands tying rope around my ankles. I thought of the splash.

I took a breath. Held it. Let it out slowly.

"You're right," I said. Smiled. "I think I was just stressed. The wedding planning, meeting Jaxon — it all got to be too much. But I'm okay now."

Derek beamed. He lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles.

I didn't flinch. I didn't pull away.

It was the hardest thing I'd done since waking up in this life.

Then my wolf went rigid.

The hair on my arms stood straight up. A prickle ran down the back of my neck — electric, involuntary.

I looked toward the restaurant entrance.

Jaxon stood in the doorway.

He wasn't looking around the room. He wasn't scanning the crowd. His pale gray eyes were locked directly on me — on my hand in Derek's grip, on Derek's mouth still hovering near my fingers.

His expression didn't change. But something in those eyes shifted. Darkened.

My wolf pressed against my ribs.

Mate is angry.