Chapter 2

That evening, Kane called me. "Did you make it back to Blackridge?"

"Yes."

I heard the tension ease from his voice. "I went too far today."

After a pause, he added more quietly, "But don't misunderstand one thing. I was never going to choose Leah. You are the only person I have ever intended to mark."

"When are you coming back?"

"Leah's ankle still hurts, so we're staying tonight. I'll be back in the morning."

I gave a short laugh.

He must have heard something in it. "Selena, you can be angry with me. You can tear into me when I get back."

"There isn't going to be another ceremony."

Silence stretched over the line.

Finally, he said, "Wait for me to come back."

The next morning, Leah posted the video from the day of the marking ceremony on a public account.

The caption read: "Let's see how far a fated mate will run for her Alpha."

The video showed me standing alone at the empty altar with the silver crest in my hands. The final clip was of me asking Kane whether he no longer wanted the ceremony. By morning, the comments had climbed into the thousands. Some people called me rigid. Others joked that Blackridge's future Luna couldn't even take a joke.

More of them focused on my position as Silverpine's border representative. If I couldn't even tell whether my own mate meant what he said, they asked, how could anyone trust me to judge promises made between packs?

At the interpack council meeting that morning, one of the opposing representatives even smiled and asked, "Ms. Wilde, I assume today's meeting location isn't another prank?"

A few people around the room laughed. I closed my file and, for the first time in my career, left a meeting early.

When I returned to Blackridge, I put my phone down in front of Leah. "Delete it."

Her smile stiffened. "It was only a joke. I didn't know it would affect your work."

"Now you do. Delete it."

Leah glanced at the numbers still climbing on the screen. "But it's already been shared everywhere. If I delete it now..."

"That's your problem."

The door opened. Kane had just returned from Riverbend Valley, the cold still clinging to his coat. Once Leah explained, his expression hardened.

"I already heard about what happened at the meeting." He looked at me. "I'll deal with the representative who used this to question your qualifications."

Only then did he pick up the phone. "The original video should come down."

Leah lowered her voice. "This is the account I use for Blackridge's youth training program. We just secured an Alliance partnership. If I delete the highest-performing post now, the partner may think we manipulated the data."

Kane went silent. I looked at him and already knew what he was going to ask of me.

Sure enough, he said, "Remove everything that identifies Selena or mentions her work. Leave the original post up until the partner confirms the metrics, then take it down."

My fingers slowly curled into my palm. "Kane, I had my qualifications questioned today because of that video."

"I know."

His voice softened. "It won't happen again."

"But she posted it."

"I'll issue a statement. And I'll make sure the people who mocked you apologize."

"So the video stays?"

Kane frowned. "Selena, I'm trying to solve the problem."

I was tired. He would stand between me and the world's cruelty. He would get angry when someone humiliated me. But when it came time for Leah to bear the cost of what she had done, somehow I was still the one who could wait a little longer. Endure a little more.

My mother walked in just then. After hearing what had happened, she frowned at me. "Selena, things are already a mess. Do you really have to force Leah to delete it this second?"

Leah's eyes went red. "Auntie, it's my fault. I'll delete it now."

My mother softened immediately. "Delete what? You didn't do it on purpose."

A message from Rowan arrived a moment later.

"The video went too far, but let Kane handle it. Don't make this any bigger than it already is."

I was the one who had been publicly humiliated. And somehow I was still the one responsible for keeping everyone else comfortable. That night, I replied to the Northern Border Council.

"I can report for duty in three days."