I ran.

My white dress tangled around my legs as I stumbled through the pack house doors, barely registering the shocked faces that blurred past me. Behind me, the great hall buzzed with whispers that grew louder with each step I took—hushed conversations about the incomplete mating ritual, about the Alpha who'd abandoned his mate at the altar, about the wolfless girl who'd finally gotten what she deserved.

My small cottage sat at the edge of pack territory, a fifteen-minute walk that felt like an eternity. By the time I reached my door, my lungs burned and tears streaked my face, probably ruining whatever dignity I had left. I fumbled with the lock, my hands shaking so badly I could barely turn the key.

Inside, I collapsed against the closed door and slid to the floor.

The dress—this beautiful white dress I'd spent months choosing—pooled around me like a cloud. I'd imagined Maverick removing it tonight, his mark fresh on my neck, our bond finally complete. Instead, I sat alone on my cottage floor, unmarked and unwanted, while he comforted another woman.

My fingers found my neck, pressing against the smooth, unblemished skin. No mate mark. No sacred bond. Just emptiness where his teeth should have claimed me in front of all those witnesses.

A sob tore from my throat, then another, until I was crying so hard I couldn't breathe. How could he do this? How could he humiliate me in front of every Alpha family in the region? And for what—a broken figurine?

No. Not just that. The way he'd looked at Charley, the gentleness in his voice, the way he'd rushed to her without hesitation—those weren't reactions to a simple accident. That was something deeper, something that had been growing while I'd been blind to it.

"Cold-hearted witch." His words echoed in my mind, laced with that Alpha authority that had made my knees weak. Not from desire, but from the deliberate cruelty of using his power against his own mate.

I pulled my knees to my chest, making myself as small as possible. By now, news of the failed ceremony would be spreading through every pack. The wolfless girl who couldn't even keep her Alpha's attention long enough to complete a mating ritual. The would-be Luna who was rejected before she could be marked.

I was the laughingstock of the entire werewolf community.

A sharp knock at my door made me flinch. For one desperate second, I thought it might be Maverick, coming to apologize, to explain, to fix this nightmare. But when I opened the door, Luna Scott stood there with a smile that could cut glass.

"Well, well," she said, pushing past me without invitation. "That was quite the spectacle. Though I can't say I'm surprised."

I should have closed the door in her face. Instead, I stood there, too numb to protest as she circled my small living room with obvious disdain.

"A wolfless Luna." She laughed, the sound sharp and mocking. "Did you really think my son would go through with it? That he'd saddle himself with you—a defective mate who can't even shift?"

Each word was designed to wound, and they hit their marks perfectly. But something stirred in my chest, something hot and fierce that cut through the numbness.

"You should be grateful he waited this long to show you the truth," Luna Scott continued. "Honestly, I'm proud of him for finally standing up for himself and the pack's reputation. We don't need a weak, wolfless—"

"Get out."

My voice was quiet, but it stopped her mid-sentence. She turned to me, one perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised.

"Excuse me?"

"Get out of my house." Something was changing inside me, some locked door finally breaking open. My hands had stopped shaking. "You came here to mock me, to rub salt in my wounds. Well, you've done it. Now leave."

Luna Scott's face flushed with outrage. "How dare you speak to me that way? I am the Luna of this pack, and you—"

"I'm done being your punching bag." I moved toward her, and for the first time in my life, I saw something flicker in her eyes. Surprise. Maybe even a hint of fear. "Out. Now."

"You little—"

I grabbed her arm—actually grabbed the Luna of Silvermoon Pack—and steered her toward the door. She was so shocked she didn't even resist until I'd pushed her over the threshold.

"Raelynn Fisher, you will regret this!" she shrieked as I slammed the door in her face.

I locked it and pressed my back against the wood, my heart pounding. I'd just thrown out the Luna. Without a wolf to protect me, without any status or standing in the pack, I'd just made an enemy of the most powerful female in Silvermoon.

But I couldn't bring myself to regret it.

Hours passed in a blur of tears and numbness. The sun set, casting long shadows through my windows. I'd changed out of the wedding dress, unable to bear looking at it any longer, and now sat curled on my small couch when I felt it—a sharp pull in my chest that made me gasp.

The mate bond.

Maverick was using it to summon me, to drag me toward him through the invisible thread that connected us. I tried to resist, digging my metaphorical heels in, but his Alpha power overwhelmed my pitiful defenses.

"No," I whispered, but my body was already moving toward the door.

He appeared on my porch before I could reach it, and I stumbled backward at the sight of him. His jaw was set in that familiar stubborn line, his Alpha aura pressing against me like a physical force.

"Get in the car." His voice was cold, commanding. "Now."

"Why should I?" The courage that had allowed me to throw out his mother flickered inside me. "So you can humiliate me again?"

"Charley is hurt." He grabbed my arm, his grip bruising. "She's in the pack hospital, and you're going to care for her."

I stared at him, certain I'd misheard. "What?"

"You heard me." His Alpha tone wrapped around the words, making them impossible to resist. "Your cold-heartedness caused her fall. The least you can do is show some compassion now."

"I didn't—" But the protest died in my throat as he pulled me toward his car, the mate bond amplifying his commands until my body moved against my will.

This was my mate. The man who'd saved my life, who'd promised to protect me, who was supposed to cherish our bond above all else.

And he was dragging me to his mistress's bedside like a servant.

The pack hospital's fluorescent lights burned my eyes as Maverick dragged me through the sterile corridors. His grip on my arm was iron, the mate bond amplifying his Alpha command until resistance felt impossible. Pack members moved aside as we passed, their pitying stares following us like ghosts.

"Maverick, please," I whispered, but he didn't even glance at me.

Charley's private room was at the end of the hall—of course she'd been given the best accommodations. Maverick shoved open the door, and there she was, propped against white pillows, looking perfectly healthy except for a small bandage on her arm that seemed more decorative than necessary.

Her eyes met mine, and I saw it—the flash of triumph she couldn't quite hide.

"Stay here," Maverick commanded, his Alpha tone wrapping around me like chains. "Take care of her. Bring her whatever she needs. You will not leave this room until I say so."

"You can't—"

"I can." His voice dropped lower, the full weight of his authority pressing down on me. "And you will obey."

The mate bond twisted inside me, reinforcing his command until my knees buckled. He turned and left without another word, the door clicking shut behind him with the finality of a prison cell.

I stood there, trembling, while Charley watched me with that satisfied smile.

"Well," she said sweetly, her voice dripping with false concern. "Isn't this cozy? Just us girls."

I forced myself to move to the chair beside her bed, my legs unsteady. The mate bond ached in my chest, a constant reminder of Maverick's presence even when he wasn't here, a leash he could yank whenever he pleased.

"Water," Charley said, not asking but demanding.

I got her water. Then she wanted her pillows adjusted. Then the temperature was wrong. Each petty request was designed to humiliate me, and we both knew it. But the Alpha command kept me trapped, unable to refuse, unable to leave.

Hours crawled by. The sun set outside the window, casting long shadows across the hospital room. Charley alternated between fake sweetness when nurses passed by and cruel whispers when we were alone.

"He was supposed to mark you today," she said during one of those private moments, examining her nails casually. "Did you really think he would? A wolfless nobody like you?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't trust my voice not to break.

"He's mine now." She leaned forward, her eyes glittering with malice. "He always was, really. You were just too pathetic to see it."

The mate bond pulsed with pain—not physical, but something deeper, like my soul was being torn apart one thread at a time. Maverick was out there somewhere, probably thinking about her, definitely not thinking about me locked in this room like a servant.

"I'm thirsty again."

I stood too quickly, and the room tilted. My hand pressed against my stomach as a sharp cramp made me gasp.

"What's wrong?" Charley's voice held no real concern. "Feeling faint? How pathetic."

Another cramp, stronger this time, doubling me over. Something was wrong—something beyond the emotional agony of this nightmare. Heat radiated through my abdomen, and when I looked down, I saw red blooming across my clothes.

"Oh my goddess," I whispered.

The pain intensified, stealing my breath. I collapsed to my knees beside Charley's bed, one hand pressed against my stomach while the other grasped the sheets for support.

"Get up," Charley snapped. "Stop being so dramatic."

But I couldn't get up. The world was spinning, red spreading faster now, and the pain—the pain was everywhere, ripping through me in waves.

The door burst open. Elena Cross, the pack healer, took one look at me and rushed forward.

"Help her!" Even Charley sounded alarmed now.

Elena's hands were gentle as she lowered me to the floor, her face pale with shock. "Raelynn, how far along are you?"

"What?" The question made no sense through the haze of pain.

"You're pregnant. Or—" Her voice caught. "You were pregnant."

The words hit me like a physical blow. Pregnant. I'd been carrying Maverick's pup, and I hadn't even known. The cramps intensified, and I understood with horrible clarity what was happening.

I was losing our child.

"No," I sobbed. "No, please, no."

Elena shouted for assistance, and suddenly the room filled with medical staff. They lifted me onto a gurney, their voices urgent but distant. Through the chaos, I saw Charley sitting in her bed, her expression unreadable.

The last thing I heard before darkness claimed me was someone asking, "Where's the Alpha? Someone get Alpha Maverick!"

But I already knew the answer.

He wouldn't come.

I woke to silence.

The hospital room was dim, lit only by the soft glow of monitors beside my bed. My body felt hollow, emptied of something precious I'd never known I had. My hand drifted to my stomach, finding only flatness and the ghost of pain.

Gone. My pup was gone.

"You're awake." Elena's voice came from the chair beside my bed, startling me. Her eyes were red-rimmed, exhausted.

"How long?" My voice came out raw, broken.

"Six hours." She moved closer, checking my vitals with practiced efficiency. "You lost a lot of blood. The pup... I'm so sorry, Raelynn. It was too late to save it."

Tears slid down my temples, disappearing into my hair. "Does he know?"

Elena's hesitation was answer enough.

"He was notified," she said carefully. "But he... he's with Charley. She had another episode after you collapsed. He chose to stay with her."

Of course he did.

I'd lost our child, alone in a hospital bed, while Maverick comforted his mistress. The mate bond that should have drawn him to my side, that should have made him feel my anguish, meant nothing to him.

"Has anyone..." I couldn't finish the question.

Elena shook her head. "No visitors. I'm sorry."

I closed my eyes, letting the darkness take me again. It was better than facing this reality—that I'd been so completely abandoned, even my own mate couldn't be bothered to check if I'd survived.

The white hospital ceiling blurred above me as fresh tears came. Somewhere in this building, Maverick held Charley. And here I lay, marked by loss instead of love, my womb empty of the future I'd never known existed.

This was my life now. This was what being his fated mate meant.

Nothing.