Chapter 1

"Lumina, you are nothing more than a healer. You could never be my Queen."

Ethan's voice was like a shard of ice. He stood on a high pedestal, looking down at her with a disgust that made her skin crawl. Lumina reached out for him, but her hands passed through his body as if he were made of smoke.

"Ethan, please! Don't say that!" she cried out, her voice echoing in the void.

She gasped, her eyes flying open as she bolted upright in bed. The morning sun was streaming through the windows of her small cottage, warming the jars of dried lavender and chamomile on her bedside table. Her heart was racing. She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling the steady, comforting thrum of the mate bond. It was a golden hum in her soul, a tether that connected her to Ethan Cole.

"Just a dream," she whispered, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. "Just nerves because today is the day."

She sat at the edge of her bed for a moment, pressing both palms flat against her knees. The dream had felt too real. Too cold. She exhaled slowly and rolled her shoulders back.

"You are fine," she told herself. "He loves you. He promised you. Today is the day he tells everyone what you already know."

She looked at her reflection in the small mirror. "He's going to announce it. He promised. The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes."

She dressed carefully, smoothing the cream silk gown with both hands. Her neighbour knocked on the door just as she was fixing her hair.

"Lumina! Are you ready? The courtyard is already filling up!" Maya said.

"Almost!" Lumina called back, taking one last look at herself. "Do I look okay?"

Maya pushed the door open and leaned against the frame, her eyes sweeping over Lumina from head to toe. "You look beautiful. Ethan is a very lucky man."

Lumina smiled, and for the first time that morning, it felt real. "Thank you."

By the time Lumina arrived at the pack's central courtyard, the air was thick with the scent of roasted meat and expensive wine. Over two hundred pack members had gathered. Lumina stood near the front, her eyes fixed on the raised stone dais where Ethan stood with his father, Alpha Marcus.

"You look nervous, Lumina," an elder whispered beside her, smiling kindly. "Big day for the pack."

"The biggest, Elder Thomas," Lumina replied, her fingers twisting the fabric of her cream silk gown. "I just want everything to be perfect."

"It will be," Elder Thomas said, nodding slowly. "Alpha Marcus has been planning this announcement for weeks. Whatever happens tonight, the pack moves forward stronger."

Lumina nodded, not fully registering his words. Her eyes were on Ethan.

Ethan looked magnificent in his black formal tunic. Lumina caught his eye and offered a small, shy smile, waiting for the warmth she always found there. But Ethan's gaze was flat. He looked through her as if she were a pane of glass.

Her smile faded. She told herself it was nerves. He was about to address the whole pack. He was focused. That was all.

Alpha Marcus stepped forward, raising his hands. "Tonight, we secure the strength of Riverside! To ensure our future, my son and heir will take a bride of equal standing. I am proud to announce the engagement of Ethan Cole to Morgana Ashford of the Silver Crest Pack!"

The silence that followed was broken by a roar of approval, but for Lumina, the world stopped spinning. Morgana Ashford stepped out from behind the velvet curtains. Ethan turned to her, took her hand, and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

"Ethan?" Lumina's voice was a ragged whisper. "No... this can't be."

She pushed through the crowd, her ears ringing. She reached the edge of the stage, her face pale. "Ethan, what is this? Why are you holding her hand? What's going on? Answer me!"

The crowd's cheering died down as they noticed the small healer standing at the base of the dais. Morgana stepped forward, looping her arm tightly through Ethan's.

"Oh, Ethan, is this the little clinic girl you mentioned?" Morgana asked, her voice dripping with mock pity. "The one who has been following you around like a lost puppy?"

"I have never followed anyone," Lumina snapped, her eyes still fixed on Ethan. "Ethan. Look at me. Just look at me and tell me what is happening right now."

"Lumina, enough," Ethan said, his voice hardening. "This is a formal ceremony. You are making a scene. Go back to your seat."

"A scene?" Lumina felt the first spark of rage. "We are mates, Ethan! The bond snapped into place three days ago! You felt it. You told me you felt the pull! How can you stand there and announce an engagement to her?"

"The Moon Goddess may have made a mistake, but I will not," Ethan said, stepping to the edge of the stage. "A pack needs a Luna with power and status. Not a girl who spends her time smelling like herbs and bandages. I need a Queen, not a nurse."

"He's right, dear," Morgana chimed in. "Some she-wolves don't understand their place. They chase after males who are clearly out of their league. You're desperate, Lumina. It's honestly pathetic. Look at you, standing there in that cheap dress, begging for a man who has already chosen his real Queen."

Lumina ignored her completely. Her eyes did not leave Ethan's face. "You held my hand three nights ago," she said, her voice dropping low. "You told me you felt it too. You told me you were going to fix everything. Were you lying to me then? Or are you lying now?"

A murmur ran through the crowd.

Ethan's jaw tightened. "Don't do this here."

"You started this here!" Lumina's voice cracked. "In front of everyone! You owe me an answer in front of everyone!"

"Is that what I am to you, Ethan?" Lumina asked, her voice trembling. "A mistake? A common girl with dirty hands? The same hands that brought you healing and warmth in the past? Dirty?"

"You were a childhood friend, Lumina. Nothing more," Ethan replied, his eyes turning to stone.

"He promised me," Lumina whispered to herself, the internal voice screaming in agony. "He PROMISED."

"Ethan, please," Lumina made one last plea, her eyes searching his. "Don't do this. Not like this. We can talk about this privately."

"There is nothing to talk about," Ethan said quietly. And somehow, that quietness was worse than the shouting.

Ethan straightened his back, his Alpha aura pressing down on the courtyard. "Lumina," he began, his voice echoing. "I, Ethan Cole, future Alpha of the Riverside Pack, reject you, Lumina, as my fated mate. I choose my pack, I choose my duty, and I choose Morgana."

The rejection hit Lumina like a physical blow to the stomach. A sharp, agonizing pain flared in her chest as the mate bond was forcibly snapped. She gasped, clutching her heart, her knees hitting the hard stone of the courtyard. It felt as if a limb had been torn from her body.

"Now, leave," Ethan commanded. "You are no longer welcome at this ceremony. Guards, see that she finds the exit."

Lumina stayed on the ground, the silence of the pack weighing down on her. She looked up and saw the faces of people she had healed, people who were now looking away. Not one of them said a word. Not one of them moved. She had sat by their sickbeds. She had held their children through fevers. And not one of them could look her in the eye.

She stood up slowly, wiping the tears from her face.

"I gave you everything," she said, her voice low but carrying through the silent courtyard. "I hope the power you bought with my heart is worth it."

She turned and began to walk. She broke into a run, pushing through the gates. She expected the guards to stop her, but they simply stepped aside. One guard wouldn't even meet her eye.

"Step aside," Lumina spat as she passed them. "I'm leaving. Isn't that what he wanted?"

She ran past the clinic, past her cottage, and toward the forest. She didn't stop until the trees began to blur. As she reached the stone markers of the neutral zone, a voice drifted through the trees.

"Lumina! Lumina, wait!"

It was Ethan. He sounded breathless, his voice filled with a sudden, desperate hesitation.

Lumina reached the border line, her boots hitting the dirt of the neutral zone. She didn't turn around.

"Lumina, please, just let me explain…" Ethan called out again, his voice cracking.

"You already did," she said to the darkness ahead of her. "In front of everyone. You explained everything perfectly."

She stepped over the line, leaving the Riverside Pack behind forever. She didn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her face one last time.

"Lumina!" his voice echoed, sounding further away and more broken, but Lumina was already gone into the night, her heart heavy with a secret that would eventually change the fate of every Alpha on the coast.