The Price

Three hundred wolves watched my life end. Not with blood. With seven words.

Dane stood on the ceremonial platform, his silver eyes fixed somewhere above my head. He couldn't even look at me.

I, Alpha Dane of Silver Crescent, reject you, Aria Gray, as my fated mate and Luna.

His voice echoed off the stone walls. Clean. Bored. Final.

The Great Hall went silent. Then someone laughed. I don't know who. The sound multiplied, bounced around, turned into a wave of snickers and whispers that crashed over my head.

My wolf collapsed inside my chest. Curled into nothing. She didn't howl. Didn't fight. Just… died.

Dane finally looked at me. His eyes were cold. Empty. Like I was a stranger.

"Say something," he said.

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.

Mira stepped forward from behind Alpha Marcus's throne. She wrapped her arm around Dane's waist. Pressed her perfect body against his perfect body. Smiled at me. Slow. Sweet. Poisonous.

"Don't be dramatic, Aria," Mira said. "Everyone knew he'd never accept a nobody like you."

My mother's grave marker was visible through the open window. She died three years ago. Dane held my hand at the funeral. Told me I'd never be alone. Told me he'd always protect me.

I was seventeen and stupid enough to believe him.

Alpha Marcus raised one hand. The room went quiet.

"By pack law," Marcus said, "the rejected mate is to be exiled at dawn."

My blood went cold. Exile meant death. Rogues would tear me apart before sunrise. The border wolves would let them.

But Marcus wasn't finished.

"Not exile," he said. "We have a better use for her."

The side door opened.

I knew who it was before I saw his face. Everyone did. The air changed — got heavier, darker, like a storm pressing down on your chest before lightning strikes.

Alpha Kael of Bloodmoon.

My father killed his father twenty years ago. The war never ended. It just went cold. Went underground. Went silent while both packs bled out slowly.

Kael walked in like he owned the place. Didn't look at me. Didn't look at anyone. Just walked to the center of the room and stopped in front of Marcus. His men fanned out behind him — four of them, all armed, all watching the crowd like they expected someone to try something stupid.

"Marcus," Kael said. His voice was low. Rough. Like gravel scraping against stone.

"Alpha Kael," Marcus replied. "Thank you for coming."

"You said you had something I wanted."

"I do."

Marcus pointed at me.

"Fifty thousand. She's yours."

Kael turned his head. His eyes found me.

Black. Not dark brown. Not grey. Black. Like someone had carved out everything human and left only predator behind.

He walked toward me. Slow. Deliberate. His boots echoed off the stone floor.

I didn't move. Couldn't move. My body forgot how to work.

He stopped inches from my face.

"She's thin," Kael said.

"She's eighteen," Marcus replied from behind him. "Healthy. Her mother was fertile before she died."

I wanted to throw up. My hands shook. I pressed them against my thighs to make it stop.

Kael walked a slow circle around me. His scent hit me in waves — smoke, leather, pine, something metallic like old blood. My wolf stirred. Not fear. Something else. Something worse.

Recognition.

"She's a virgin?" Kael asked.

Marcus nodded. "Untouched."

Kael stopped in front of me again. He was close enough that I could see the scar cutting through his left eyebrow. The stubble on his jaw. The way his pulse moved in his throat — slow, calm, like he did this every day.

He reached out and touched my neck.

Just his fingers against my pulse point. Light. Almost careful. But his thumb pressed down — just enough to feel my heart hammering against his skin.

"You're shaking," he said.

I found my voice. It came out raw. Broken. But it came out.

"Wouldn't you be?"

A ghost of a smile. Not warm. Not kind. Just... interested.

"Probably," he said.

He didn't remove his hand.

Mira's voice cut through the moment. Sharp. Annoyed.

"Just buy her or don't," Mira said. "Some of us have better things to do than watch you negotiate over trash."

Kael's eyes never left mine.

"Trash?" he said.

"Omega-blooded," Mira said. "Her mother was a maid. Her father was a traitor. She's nothing."

"Is that so?"

Kael's thumb moved against my pulse. Just once. Small circle. Almost tender.

"I'm nothing," I whispered.

"No," Kael said. "You're something. I just don't know what yet."

He let go of my neck. Turned to Marcus.

"Eighty thousand."

Marcus's eyebrows rose. "Eighty?"

"I want to see how long it takes for her to beg," Kael said. "That's worth an extra thirty."

Dane stepped forward. His face was red.

"You can't be serious," Dane said. "She's not worth eighty. She's not worth eight."

Kael looked at Dane. Really looked at him. For the first time, I saw something human in Kael's eyes. Disgust.

"You rejected her," Kael said.

"She's weak," Dane said.

"And yet you needed six months with a pure-blood whore to work up the courage to do it."

Mira gasped. Dane's hand curled into a fist.

Kael smiled. It didn't reach his eyes.

"Hit me, boy. I dare you."

Nobody moved.

"That's what I thought."

Kael turned back to Marcus. "Deal?"

Marcus hesitated. Looked at me. Looked at his son. Looked at the four armed men behind Kael.

"Deal," Marcus said.

Kael snapped his fingers. Two of his men grabbed my arms.

"Wait," I said.

Everyone stopped.

I pulled my arm free. Walked toward Dane. My legs felt like water. My heart felt like glass.

"Dane," I said.

"What?"

I slapped him.

My palm connected with his cheek. Hard. The sound echoed off the walls.

Mira shrieked. Someone whistled. Someone else laughed.

Dane touched his face. Stared at me like I'd grown a second head.

"That's for lying to me for six months," I said.

Then I turned to Mira.

"And you."

"Don't you dare," Mira said.

I stepped closer. She stepped back.

"He's going to cheat on you too," I said. "Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not next year. But he will. Because that's who he is. And when he does — remember that you saw me stand here today and do nothing. And then do the same."

Mira's face went white.

I walked back to Kael's men. Held out my wrists.

"Let's go," I said.

Kael was watching me with an expression I couldn't read. Not anger. Not amusement. Something in between.

"You're not what I expected," he said.

"You don't know me."

"No. But I will."

His men grabbed my arms again. Tighter this time.

Dane's voice followed me to the door.

"You'll be back, Aria. On your knees. Begging."

I stopped. Turned around.

"One day," I said, "you'll be on your knees begging for me. And I won't even look at you."

Kael laughed.

Actually laughed.

It was the worst sound I'd ever heard. Not because it was cruel. Because it was beautiful. And I hated that I noticed.

"Take her to my territory tonight," Kael ordered. "Put her in my room."

"Your room?"

"You heard me."

Kael walked past me. His shoulder brushed mine. Deliberate. He leaned down, his lips close to my ear.

"One more thing," he whispered.

"What?"

"If you try to run, I'll chain you to my bed. And not in the fun way."

I swallowed.

He pulled back. Looked at my face. Something flickered in his black eyes.

"But I don't think you'll run," he said.

"Why not?"

"Because you're angry. And angry people stay to fight."

He walked away.

His men dragged me out of the Great Hall. The last thing I saw was my mother's grave marker through the window. Then the door slammed shut.

The night air hit my face. Cold. Sharp. Real.

One of Kael's men shoved me toward a black truck.

"Get in," he said.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Bloodmoon territory. Three hours north."

"What's there?"

The man grinned. His teeth were yellow. His eyes were empty.

"Your new life, sweetheart. Hope you like pain."

I got into the truck.

The engine started. The headlights cut through the dark.

I didn't cry. Didn't scream. Didn't beg.

I just sat there with my hands in my lap and my back straight — the way my mother taught me — and I let myself feel one single emotion.

Not fear.

Not grief.

Rage.

Pure, burning, endless rage.

At Dane. At Mira. At Marcus. At every wolf who laughed at me tonight.

And at Kael.

The truck pulled onto the highway. The lights of Silver Crescent faded behind me.

"Goodbye," I whispered.

No one heard me.

No one ever did.