The bonfire for the Summer Solstice Run roared against the night sky, sending sparks dancing toward the moon, but I had never felt colder. Standing in the shadows of the tree line, I leaned heavily on my cane, my prosthetic leg aching in the damp earth. The air was thick with the scent of pine and excited wolves preparing to shift, a primal joy I had been denied for ten years.

I wasn't supposed to be here. As a wolfless Omega, I was a stain on the Silvercreek Pack’s perfect image. But I had come to see him. Spencer.

I shifted my weight, wincing as the strap of my prosthetic rubbed against the scar tissue of my stump. Through the crowd, I saw him. Spencer Hall, the Alpha I had sacrificed everything to save. He stood tall and golden-haired, laughing with his Beta, Marcus. I adjusted my grip on my cane, a foolish hope fluttering in my chest. Maybe tonight, under the solstice moon, he would remember the promise he made when we were children.

Then the wind shifted, carrying his voice directly to me.

"Look at her, Marcus," Spencer sneered, his gaze flicking toward the shadows where I stood. "She’s lurking again. It’s pathetic."

"She’s your mate, Alpha," Marcus replied, though his tone held no respect.

"She is a cripple," Spencer spat, the venom in his voice hitting me harder than the rogues ever had. "Every time I look at that missing leg, I feel sick. It nauseates me to think that broken thing is tied to me. I can’t have a weakling as my Luna. It would ruin me."

The air left my lungs. My hands shook so hard the cane rattled against the dry leaves. Before I could retreat, a hand curled around Spencer’s bicep. Madelyn Barnes. She looked radiant, her predatory eyes gleaming as she whispered something in his ear.

Spencer’s lips curled into a cruel grin. He turned fully toward me, his eyes flashing with Alpha dominance. "Isla!"

My body froze, conditioned to obey. He strode over, the pack parting for him. The heat of the fire felt suffocating now.

"Since you’re so eager to join the run," Spencer announced, his voice booming so everyone could hear, "let’s make you useful. Tonight, we don’t just run. We hunt."

A ripple of laughter went through the warriors. My stomach dropped.

"Run, Omega," Spencer commanded, using his Alpha tone. It slammed into my mind like a physical blow, forcing my trembling legs to move. "The game is 'Hunt the Omega.' If you make it to the Neutral Zone before we catch you, you live."

I turned and scrambled into the dense forest, tears blurring my vision. I wasn't fast. I was never fast. My prosthetic clunked unevenly against the roots, dragging me down, but the Alpha command forced me forward, stripping me of my dignity.

I hadn't made it a mile before a blur of motion tackled me. I hit the dirt hard, my cane flying out of reach. I scrambled to my elbows, expecting Spencer, but I found Madelyn standing over me, a twisted smile on her lips.

"You really are hard to kill, aren't you?" she mused, placing a booted foot on my prosthetic leg.

"Madelyn, please," I gasped, dirt filling my mouth.

"Spencer doesn't want you. The pack doesn't want you," she hissed. She bent down, her fingers working quickly at the straps of my artificial limb. "And you certainly don't need this where you're going."

"No!" I screamed, thrashing as she yanked the prosthetic free. "Give it back! I can't walk without it!"

She tossed my leg into the brush with a laugh. "That's the point, sweetie." She pulled a small silver canister from her pocket and sprayed a mist over me. The smell was pungent and coppery—synthetic blood and heat. "Rogue bait. High concentration. Happy solstice, Isla."

She vanished into the dark, leaving me crawling through the mud, one-legged and smelling like a feast.

Hours passed. The forest grew silent, too silent. Then, I heard it. The snap of a twig. The low, wet sound of growling.

Yellow eyes appeared in the gloom. Rogues. Feral, starving wolves that had lost their humanity. There were three of them, their ribs showing through patchy fur, drool dripping from their jaws as the scent Madelyn sprayed on me hit them.

I dragged myself backward until my back hit a tree. I had no weapon. No wolf to shift into. I closed my eyes, waiting for the teeth.

One of the rogues lunged.

Suddenly, the earth shook. A massive shadow eclipsed the moon. A beast, larger than any Alpha I had ever seen, exploded from the brush. It was a wolf of pure midnight black, a creature of nightmare and majesty.

The Lycan hit the rogue in mid-air, jaws snapping bone with a sickening crunch. The other two rogues hesitated, whimpering, but the black wolf was a blur of lethal violence. He tore through them with terrifying efficiency, painting the forest floor in crimson.

Silence fell again, heavier than before. I pressed myself against the tree, trembling violently. The massive black wolf turned toward me. His silver eyes glowed in the darkness, intelligent and piercing. He didn't look at me with disgust. He didn't look at my missing leg.

He stepped closer, his massive head lowering to sniff the air around me. The scent of rain and dark chocolate enveloped me, drowning out the fear. He nudged my hand with his wet nose, a low rumble vibrating in his chest that settled deep in my bones.

*Mine,*

I woke to the scent of rain and dark chocolate, a stark contrast to the copper tang of blood that had been my last memory. The sheets beneath me were silk, cool against my feverish skin. Panic spiked in my chest—the instinct of a hunted animal—and I scrambled backward, my hand instinctively reaching for a leg that wasn't there.

"Peace, Little One. You are safe."

The voice was deep, a rumble that seemed to vibrate through the floorboards and settle in my chest. I froze. Sitting in a velvet armchair by the massive fireplace was the man who had torn the rogues apart. Cyrus Black. The Lycan King.

He stood, his movements fluid and predatory, closing the distance between us. I flinched, pulling the duvet over my scarred stump. The shame burned hotter than the fire. I was a wolfless Omega, maimed and broken, dirtying the sheets of a King.

"Don't," he commanded softly. He knelt beside the bed, his silver eyes glowing with an intensity that made my breath hitch. "Do not hide from me."

"I'm... I'm hideous," I whispered, my voice cracking. "You shouldn't look. I can't shift. I'm broken."

Cyrus reached out, his large, calloused hand gently pulling the duvet away. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the disgust, for the inevitable recoil that always came when people saw the jagged, silvery scars where my leg used to be. But instead of revulsion, I felt warmth. His fingers traced the scar tissue with a reverence that made my skin tingle.

"I see no broken thing here," Cyrus murmured, his thumb brushing the sensitive skin. "I see a warrior who survived the impossible. These are not flaws, Isla. They are battle markings."

A sob caught in my throat. For ten years, Spencer had looked at me as a burden. This stranger, this lethal King who could crush skulls with his bare hands, looked at me as if I were precious. The pull between us was undeniable—a golden thread tightening around my soul. A second chance mate. The Moon Goddess hadn't forgotten me.

"He rejected me," I choked out, the reality of my situation crashing back in. "Spencer... he threw me away."

Cyrus’s eyes darkened, the silver turning to stormy slate. A low growl ripped from his chest, terrifying and protective. "Then we will go and finish it. You will accept his rejection, Isla. And then you will come home to me."

***

The drive to the Silvercreek Pack territory was a blur of anxiety. I sat in the passenger seat of the Lycan King’s armored SUV, a temporary cane resting against my knee. Cyrus had clothed me in a dress of soft wool that hid my missing limb, but I still felt naked walking back into the lion's den.

When we pulled up to the Pack House, the scent of fear was palpable. They hadn't expected me to survive. They certainly hadn't expected me to return with the ruler of our kind.

Cyrus opened my door, offering me his arm. "Head high, my Queen," he whispered against my ear. "Let them see what they lost."

We walked into the main hall. The pack was gathered for the post-run feast. The laughter died instantly. Silence, heavy and suffocating, descended on the room.

Spencer stood at the head table, a glass of wine halfway to his mouth. Beside him, Madelyn Barnes went pale, her eyes darting to the imposing figure of Cyrus beside me. Spencer’s shock morphed quickly into a sneer as he set his glass down.

"You have some nerve coming back here, Omega," Spencer spat, though his voice wavered slightly as he looked at Cyrus. "And you brought a guest? Who is this? Another stray?"

"Watch your tongue, boy," Cyrus said. He didn't shout. He didn't have to. His aura exploded outward, a physical wave of dominance that forced every wolf in the room to bare their necks. The windows rattled in their frames. Spencer’s knees buckled, and he gripped the table to stay upright.

Luna Catherine, Spencer's mother, stepped forward, her face twisted in disdain. She seemed immune to the shame of her son's weakness. "Isla," she drawled, looking down her nose at me. "We thought the rogues had done us a favor and taken out the trash. Why are you polluting my hall with your presence? You are a waste of space, a cripple who can’t even shift."

The old Isla would have crumbled. The old Isla would have apologized for existing. But the heat of Cyrus’s hand on my lower back grounded me. His strength flowed into me, silencing the voice in my head that said I was worthless.

I stepped forward, leaning on my cane but standing taller than I ever had in my life. I looked Spencer dead in the eye.

"I am here to give you what you wanted, Spencer," I said, my voice steady, carrying through the silent hall. "You wanted to be free of the 'burden'? Fine."

I took a deep breath, feeling the bond between us—the old, rotted thing that had caused me so much pain—and prepared to sever it.

"I, Isla Turner, accept your rejection, Spencer Hall."

The words hung in the air, final and absolute. I felt a snap in my chest, painful but liberating, like a broken bone being set. Spencer flinched as if slapped, his hand flying to his chest. For a second, just a second, I saw regret flash in his eyes as the mate bond withered and died.

But before he could speak, Cyrus stepped up behind me, wrapping a possessive arm around my waist. He glared at the Hall family, his lip curling to reveal lethal canines.

"She is no longer yours to torment," Cyrus growled, his voice echoing with the power of the Lycan King. "She is mine."