The Crash

Julie's POV 

I knew my mate didn’t want me… but I didn’t think he would let me die.

It was my twenty-eighth birthday, and the grand ballroom of Lightsky Manor was packed with the elite of our world; alphas, betas, councilors, and their glittering mates. Everyone had come to celebrate.

Or at least, to pretend they had.

But what was there to celebrate anyway?

The crystal chandeliers above us sparkled like cruel stars, as if to mock every forced smile that I wore. 

My emerald silk gown clung to my skin as I moved through the waltz, the fabric whispering secrets I wished I could scream.

My hand rested in my husband, Alpha Raynard Lightsky’s large, warm palm, his other hand settled possessively at the small of my back for the eyes of the pack. To them, we were the perfect power couple: the silver-eyed daughter of Alpha Denis Shadowheart and the golden-haired alpha who ruled the Lightsky Pack with iron control. But as we turned across the marble floor, I felt nothing but the chill of his indifference.

He never looked at me. Not once.

His steel-gray eyes scanned the room over my shoulder, nodding at Councilor Thorne with that polished politician’s smile, laughing briefly at something Alpha Voss said. Every gesture was calculated, every word measured for maximum impact. 

But none of it was for me. I sighed deeply.

“You’re smiling too stiffly,” he murmured, his voice low and smooth like aged whiskey, but as cold as the winter wind that howled outside the manor. “The elders are watching.”

I forced my lips to curve higher, my cheeks aching from the effort. “Would it kill you to look at me while we dance on my birthday?” The words slipped out before I could stop them, sharp with three years of swallowed pain.

His grip tightened fractionally, not in affection, but in warning. “We both know what this is, Julie. Don’t make it more difficult than it needs to be.”

The words landed like a slap wrapped in silk. I swallowed the burn rising in my throat and stared at the strong line of his jaw instead. At twenty-eight, I should have been thriving under my mate’s claim. Instead, my wolf paced restlessly inside me, hollow and aching, starved for the bond that had never formed.

Three years of this arranged marriage. Three years of shared titles and public performances and three years of sleeping alone in the Luna’s quarters while he took his pleasure with whores and concubines in the east wing.

 He never hid it. Why would he? I was a political tool, traded by my father for support on the Continental Shifter Council. 

I was a fucking means to an end.

The music swelled and Raynard spun me effortlessly, his body moving with the lethal grace only a born alpha possessed. For one fleeting heartbeat, our chests brushed and a spark; faint and desperate flickered through the mate bond. My breath caught for a bit. My wolf whimpered with longing.

Then he pulled away again, already waving to someone across the room as if I were nothing more than an accessory on his arm.

Fuck.

I was so tired.

Tired of pretending, tired of the endless ache in my chest. Tired of waking up every morning wondering why my father had sold my future for a council seat and a stronger alliance.

The room tilted suddenly.

My wolf let out a weak, fractured whimper inside my mind. The glittering lights blurred into streaks of gold and silver. My knees buckled mid-step, the strength draining from my legs like water through cracked glass.

“Julie?”

Raynard’s voice sharpened with surprise as my body went limp against him. The music screeched to a discordant halt. Gasps rippled through the crowd like stones dropped into still water. Whispers erupted everywhere.

Raynard’s strong arms scooped me up before I could hit the floor, pressing me against his broad, hard chest.

His scent of pine, storm clouds, and raw masculine power, wrapped around me even as darkness edged my vision. For the first time in years, there was no calculated distance in the way he held me, just raw concern laced with irritation.

“What the hell is wrong with her?” he muttered under his breath, his voice carrying the full weight of alpha command as he strode toward the healer’s wing. Servants and pack members scrambled out of his path. “Clear the way!”

I tried to speak, to tell him I was fine, but my tongue felt heavy and useless. My wolf had gone terrifyingly silent. I pressed my cheek against the crisp fabric of his tuxedo jacket, feeling the rapid thud of his heart beneath. It was the closest we had been in months.

Dr. Mara Voss was already waiting at the doors of the medical suite, her white coat thrown hastily over an evening gown. Her sharp eyes flicked from my pale face to Raynard’s tense jaw.

“Bring her inside, Alpha. Quickly.”

Raynard laid me gently on the examination table, his movements surprisingly careful. But the moment he stepped back, his expression hardened again. “Fix this, right now. The entire pack is watching.”

“Why the fuck would she slump in front of our guests?”

Mara nodded, already attaching monitors with steady hands. “I’ll need privacy to run the initial scans. The Luna's condition may be… delicate.”

Raynard hesitated, his steel-gray eyes lingering on me with a flicker of something raw, guilt, maybe, or the ghost of the grief he still carried for Elena. Then he shoved it down, jaw clenching. “Do whatever it takes. I’ll be right outside.”

The heavy door clicked shut behind him, leaving the room suddenly quiet except for the beep of machines and the frantic beat of my own heart.

Mara worked in silence for a moment, drawing blood and checking readings. Her mouth pressed into a grim line as she finally pulled a chair close to the table.

“Julie…” she whispered, her voice heavy with genuine worry. “Your wolf is failing. I’ve seen the early signs for months, but tonight it accelerated dramatically. She’s going dormant.”

Dormant? The word sent ice flooding through my veins. My wolf, my other half, silent and fading away?

Mara continued quietly, leaning in so no one outside could hear. “Without the full mating bond… without repeated, intimate connection with your true mate… she won’t survive much longer. Your body is starving for what only Alpha Raynard can give you. The chemical exchange during mating, his knot, his claim… it’s the only thing that can stabilize you now.”

My heart hammered painfully against my ribs. “How long?”

“If nothing changes?” Mara’s voice dropped even lower, filled with quiet urgency. “Weeks. Maybe less. But there may be a way to buy time. We need to talk privately. Just you and me.”

I stared at the closed door, where my husband waited on the other side, cold, distant, and still mourning the love of his life who had died six years ago. The man who had never once truly touched me as his mate.

My wolf gave one last, feeble throb of longing inside my chest.

I had two choices now: watch my wolf die slowly while Raynard continued pretending I didn’t exist… 

Or make him feel me.

Make him see me.

Make him want me so badly that he wouldn’t be able to walk away.

Even if I had to break every rule…

Even if I had to become someone he couldn’t control.