THE NIGHT SHE DISAPPEARED

The rain had not stopped falling since Aria left the Blackwood mansion.

It followed her down the winding road, soaking through her clothes and plastering her hair against her face. Every step away from the pack territory felt like another piece of her heart being torn loose.

But she kept walking.

She couldn't return to that mansion.

Not after what Kael had done.

Not after standing before the entire pack and watching the man who was supposed to be her other half look at her as though she were nothing more than an inconvenience.

I, Kael Blackwood, Alpha of the Blackwood Pack, reject you, Aria.

His words echoed inside her head.

Again.

And again.

She pressed a trembling hand against her chest, hoping the physical pressure would somehow silence the unbearable ache beneath her ribs.

It didn't.

The mate bond was still there, twisted and wounded, pulling her toward the very man who had destroyed her.

Every instinct inside her screamed at her to turn around.

To run back to him.

To beg him to reconsider.

But Aria had already humiliated herself enough.

She had watched him reject her without a single flicker of regret. She had watched the other wolves exchange pitying glances and barely concealed smiles.

She would rather die on that lonely road than give them another opportunity to watch her break.

A distant rumble of thunder shook the sky.

Aria stumbled, her knees threatening to give way.

"Just keep walking," she whispered to herself. "One more step. That's all you have to do."

One step became another.

Eventually, the road led her to a small bus station on the outskirts of the territory. The place was nearly deserted, with only a tired-looking attendant sitting behind the counter.

Aria approached him, shivering.

"Excuse me. Is there a bus leaving tonight?"

The man glanced at her drenched clothes.

"Where are you going?"

She hesitated.

For most of her life, the answer to that question had been simple.

Home.

Her home was the Blackwood Pack. Her future was beside Kael. Her destiny was to become his Luna.

Now, she had nowhere to belong.

"Anywhere," she answered quietly. "Somewhere far away."

The attendant studied her for a moment before pointing toward a battered bench.

"There's one leaving in forty minutes. Last stop is a small town called Ashbourne. Not much there, but it's peaceful."

"That's fine."

She paid for the ticket with the little money she had managed to carry.

Then she sat down and stared at the ground.

Ashbourne.

A strange name for a strange beginning.

She had no family waiting for her there, no friends, no plan for the future.

All she had was a suitcase, a broken heart, and a wolf who had gone frighteningly silent inside her.

Usually, her wolf was the first to react whenever she experienced strong emotions. It would pace, growl, or urge her to fight.

Tonight, however, there was nothing.

Only silence.

"Are you still there?" Aria whispered inwardly.

No answer came.

She swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Please. Don't leave me too."

A strange warmth spread through her chest.

For a brief second, she felt something unfamiliar stirring deep inside her. It wasn't the usual comforting presence of her wolf.

It felt older.

Stronger.

As though something inside her had awakened only to turn over in its sleep.

Aria pressed a hand to her chest.

Then the sensation disappeared.

She blamed the cold.

She had more important things to worry about than strange feelings she couldn't explain.

Forty minutes later, the bus arrived.

Aria climbed aboard and took a seat beside the window. As the vehicle pulled away, she watched the familiar landscape disappear into the darkness.

Somewhere beyond the rain, the Blackwood mansion stood exactly where she had left it.

Kael was probably celebrating his freedom.

Perhaps he had already forgotten her.

The thought hurt more than she wanted to admit.

She closed her eyes.

"One day," she whispered, "you'll understand what you did to me."

She didn't know whether she was speaking to Kael or promising herself that she would survive him.

At the Blackwood mansion, Alpha Kael stood before the enormous windows of his private study.

The rain battered the glass.

He had not moved for nearly an hour.

His Beta, Darius, stood several feet behind him, watching his Alpha with growing concern.

"She's gone," Darius finally said.

Kael's jaw tightened.

"I know."

"Her room is empty. Her belongings are gone, and the guards at the eastern gate confirmed that she left the territory."

Silence.

Darius hesitated before continuing.

"You should have at least allowed her to say goodbye."

Kael turned sharply.

"She made her choice."

"Did she?"

The question hung between them.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

"Careful, Darius."

But his Beta had served him long enough to recognize when his Alpha was using anger to conceal something else.

"You rejected your mate in front of the entire pack," Darius said quietly. "What exactly did you expect her to do? Smile and thank you?"

Kael's expression hardened.

"I did what was necessary."

"Necessary for whom?"

Kael said nothing.

Darius shook his head.

"One day, Alpha, you might realize that being powerful doesn't mean you're incapable of making a terrible mistake."

He bowed stiffly and left.

The door closed.

Kael returned his attention to the rain.

He told himself he felt nothing.

He told himself that Aria's absence was a relief, that he could finally concentrate on protecting his pack without the distraction of a mate he had never wanted.

Yet the silence in the mansion felt different.

Her laughter no longer drifted through the corridors.

Her footsteps no longer echoed outside his study.

And the faint scent of wildflowers that had always lingered around her seemed to have vanished with her.

Kael clenched his fists.

She was weak.

That was what he had told himself.

A Luna needed to be strong. She needed to command respect, survive threats, and stand beside an Alpha without becoming a liability.

Aria had looked at him with tears in her eyes when he rejected her.

He had mistaken her pain for weakness.

For some reason, remembering her expression made his chest tighten.

Kael turned away from the window.

He would not regret his decision.

He couldn't afford to.

But as he walked toward his desk, he failed to notice the thin silver crack spreading across the black stone of the ceremonial ring on his finger.

The ring had belonged to his father.

And it had never cracked before.