Celine POV

I woke to the sharp, sterile stench of rubbing alcohol and dried herbs. A blinding agony throbbed at the back of my skull. I was lying on a stiff cot in the Pack Infirmary, my vision swimming as the dim lights above flickered.

Before I could even sit up, the door banged open. Marina Blackwood, Damian’s sister, stormed in, shoving past the protesting Pack Doctor.

"She’s awake, the murderous bitch," Marina spat, her eyes flashing with pure hatred. "Kacie is dying because of you, Celine. But you're going to fix it."

I tried to speak, but my throat was raw. "I didn't... she threw herself—"

"Save your lies!" Marina snarled. "Kacie’s injuries are catastrophic. The only way to save her is an ancient blood-ritual. We need the heart-blood of the Alpha's Fated Mate."

My blood ran cold. A blood sacrifice? To drain a mate's life force for an Omega was the ultimate desecration of the sacred Mate-bond. It was a curse upon the soul.

Heavy footsteps echoed in the hall. Damian stepped into the room, his suffocating scent of pine and leather filling the space. He didn't even look at me. His jaw was set in stone.

"Damian," I rasped, tears pricking my eyes. "You can't let her do this. It will destroy our bond."

"Do it," Damian commanded coldly, his voice devoid of any emotion.

Two burly Warriors stepped forward, grabbing my arms. Through our frayed bond, I could feel his Inner Wolf howling in absolute agony, clawing at Damian's mind to protect me. But Damian ruthlessly crushed the beast down with his Alpha will.

He was going to let them bleed me dry for her.

The last fragile thread of hope in my heart snapped. The Mate-bond withered into ash. And in that absolute, suffocating despair, something deep within my soul—something that had been dormant for my entire wolfless life—snapped awake.

An unfamiliar, icy power surged through my veins. It wasn't just a wolf; it felt ancient, pure, and overwhelmingly dominant.

With a sudden, unnatural strength, I ripped my arms free, sending the two massive Warriors crashing into the medical cabinets. I didn't wait for their shock to fade. I bolted out the door, sprinting down the stone corridor toward the Ritual Chamber.

I burst through the heavy oak doors. The chamber was dimly lit by torches, casting shadows over the flat stone altar in the center.

Kacie was lying there in a pristine white robe. She didn't look like a dying woman. Her cheeks were flushed, her breathing steady.

Damian and Marina rushed into the room right behind me, but I was already moving. I marched straight up to the altar. Kacie’s eyes snapped open in feigned terror.

*Smack!*

I slapped her across the face with every ounce of strength I had. The sharp sound echoed off the stone walls. Before anyone could react, I grabbed the thick bandages wrapped around her torso and ripped them away.

There was no blood. No shattered ribs. Just smooth skin and a few faint, yellowish bruises.

A dead silence fell over the room.

Damian froze, his glowing gold eyes widening in absolute horror as he stared at Kacie’s unblemished skin. The realization of her deceit hit him like a physical blow.

"A miracle recovery?" I mocked, my voice dripping with venom.

"N-no!" Kacie stammered, scrambling backward on the altar, her innocent facade crumbling. "Damian, I swear! The Pack Doctor told me I was bleeding internally! He misdiagnosed me! But she still pushed me!"

Damian didn't look at her. He slowly turned to me, his face pale, his eyes swimming with a sudden, desperate regret. "Celine... I..." He took a step forward, reaching out. "I will find out the truth. I'll make this right."

I looked at the man the Moon Goddess had made for me, feeling absolutely nothing but a hollow void.

"It's too late, Damian," I said, my voice eerily calm. I stood tall, letting the ancient power hum beneath my skin. "I, Celine Moon, reject you, Damian Blackwood, as my mate."

The words struck like lightning. Damian let out a choked, agonizing gasp. His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the cold stone floor, clutching his chest as the magical backlash tore his soul in half.

The adrenaline suddenly vanished, leaving me hollow. My vision darkened, and I felt myself falling backward.

But I didn't hit the ground.

The heavy doors of the chamber shattered inward. A towering figure caught me effortlessly. The scent of winter snow and familiar bloodline wrapped around me like a shield.

"I've got you, Celine," Gustave Moon, the Gamma of the Silver Crescent Pack, rumbled, his eyes locked on the broken Alpha on the floor.

Damian POV

The agony in my chest was a living, breathing fire. The Rejection tore through my soul, leaving a jagged, bleeding void where my Mate used to be. My Inner Wolf thrashed against the confines of my mind, howling in pure, unadulterated devastation. I forced myself off the cold stone floor of the Ritual Chamber, my vision swimming with a red haze of fury.

I needed the truth.

I stormed into the Pack Infirmary, the sterile stench of rubbing alcohol doing nothing to mask the sour reek of fear. The Pack Doctor cowered against the medical cabinets.

"Alpha—" he stammered.

"Tell me the truth!" I roared, unleashing the full, crushing weight of my Alpha's Command.

The absolute compulsion slammed into him. The Doctor dropped to his knees, his will shattering instantly. "She paid me!" he sobbed, trembling violently. "Kacie gave me a fortune to exaggerate her injuries! The blood ritual was her idea... a way to permanently taint Celine's status as your Fated Mate!"

A lethal growl vibrated in my chest. I had almost let them drain my Mate dry for a lie. "Take this traitor to the dungeon," I commanded the Warriors at the door. "The Elders will deal with him."

I didn't wait to hear his pleas. I marched straight to Kacie's quarters and kicked the door off its hinges.

The cloying, artificial floral scent of her room made my wolf snarl in disgust. Kacie jumped up from her vanity, her eyes wide with genuine panic as she saw the murderous rage in my glowing gold eyes.

"The Doctor confessed," I said, my voice a deadly whisper. "Every single lie."

Her innocent facade crumbled. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she fell to her knees. "Damian, please! I was just so jealous! I was terrified of losing you, just like I lost Jorge!"

Jorge. The name of my fallen Warrior, the man who had died saving my life. The guilt I carried for his death was a heavy chain, and Kacie knew exactly how to pull it. My wolf wanted to tear her throat out, but the vow I made to Jorge's bleeding corpse held me back.

"Celine is my Mate," I warned, my voice dripping with ice. "If you ever touch a single hair on her head again, Jorge's memory will not save you."

I turned to leave, but Kacie’s voice cracked like a whip behind me.

"A wolfless disgrace!" she shrieked, her face twisted in ugly, desperate spite. "How could the Moon Goddess pair a pureblood Alpha with that pathetic, lowborn trash? She doesn't even deserve—"

My control snapped.

I spun around, my killing intent suffocating the room. A low, thunderous snarl ripped from my throat. The sheer force of my Alpha aura slammed into Kacie, choking the words from her lungs. She collapsed against the floor, gasping for air, her eyes wide with absolute terror.

Disgusted, I walked out, leaving her trembling in the silence.

I retreated to my office, the dark mahogany walls offering no comfort. The hollow ache in my chest was driving me insane. I had to fix this. I had to get her back.

*‘Find her,’* I ordered my Beta through the Mind-Link, pacing behind my desk. *‘Whatever it takes, bring the Luna back.’*

There was a heavy, agonizing pause.

*‘Alpha...’* my Beta’s voice echoed in my mind, thick with hesitation. *‘She has already left our territory. Gustave Moon, the Gamma of the Silver Crescent Pack, personally escorted her away.’*

I froze. The Silver Crescent Pack? They were ancient, powerful, and notoriously reclusive. Celine was just an orphaned Omega. Why would their Gamma come for her? A cold dread began to coil in my gut.

*‘Investigate,’* I commanded, my heart pounding against my ribs. *‘Find out exactly what Celine Moon’s connection is to that Pack.’*

I poured myself a glass of bourbon, my hands shaking. The minutes dragged on like hours, the silence of the office mocking my shattered bond.

Finally, the link crackled to life.

*‘Alpha... we found it,’* my Beta said, his mental voice trembling. *‘Celine Moon... she is the only daughter of the late Alpha Farley Moon. Her grandfather is Aldo Moon, the former Alpha King. Our scouts report he personally welcomed her at their inner gates. She is a White Wolf descendant, Alpha. The sole legitimate heir to the Silver Crescent Pack.’*

The crystal glass in my hand shattered into dust.

The bourbon dripped from my bleeding fingers, but I couldn't feel the pain. The realization hit me with the force of a freight train. For three years, I had neglected, humiliated, and ultimately rejected a woman I thought was a worthless, wolfless Omega.

Instead, I had just broken the heart of a future Queen.

Celine POV

The morning sunlight spilled across the lavender velvet rug of my childhood suite, warming the space that had always been my sanctuary. For the first time in three years, the air wasn't choked with the oppressive scent of the Blackwood Pack. Instead, my own natural scent—jasmine under moonlight and silver frost—filled the room, grounding me.

"You should march into the Elders' council right now," Gennie Gamble said, pacing at the foot of my bed. My best friend’s eyes flashed with protective fury. "You are the White Wolf heir, Celine. The sole inheritor of the Silver Crescent Pack. You could crush Damian and that pathetic Omega with a single word."

I sat up, pulling my knees to my chest. The phantom pain of the Rejection still throbbed in my chest, but my mind was clearer than it had been in years.

"No, Gennie," I said softly, sliding out of bed. I walked over to my mahogany desk and pulled out a thick leather binder. "For three years, I was treated like a wolfless disease. I was stripped of my dignity and told I was worthless. If I use my grandfather's power to destroy them now, I’m just hiding behind a title."

Gennie stopped pacing, her brow furrowing. "Then what are you going to do?"

I opened the binder, revealing my human university degree and my architectural design portfolio.

"I’m applying for the junior designer position at Universe Group. I need to build my life with my own two hands. Not because I’m weak—but because I want to prove to myself that I can stand on my own, without the White Wolf crown, before I ever choose to wear it."

Gennie stared at the sketches, then looked up at me. The anger in her eyes melted into profound respect. "You're going to start from the bottom."

"I'm going to start from scratch," I corrected, a genuine smile touching my lips for the first time in months. “My wolf is awake now. But power without purpose is just tyranny. I need to know who Celine is before I decide what kind of Queen I want to become.”

*

Damian POV

The dark mahogany walls of my office felt like a suffocating cage. The realization that I had rejected my true Mate—a White Wolf and a future Queen—was tearing my sanity to shreds. My scent, usually a commanding blend of pine and leather before a storm, was now soured with frantic, uncontrollable agony.

The heavy oak doors flew open, slamming against the walls.

"You froze my accounts?!" Marina shrieked, storming into the room. My sister’s face was twisted in spoiled, self-righteous fury—though I caught the flicker of fear beneath it.

She knew she should be in the dungeon for her role in the blood ritual conspiracy, but our mother had begged for her temporary release. A mistake I was already regretting.

"My black card was declined at the boutique! How could you do this to your own sister over that—?"

She hesitated, her eyes darting away. Even she couldn’t deny what we had witnessed in the Ritual Chamber: Celine had thrown two Warriors across the room with raw, ancient power. But Marina’s prejudice ran deeper than logic. “—over her?”

A low, dangerous growl vibrated in my chest. "You helped Kacie orchestrate a lie that nearly drained my Mate's blood."

"I was protecting Kacie!" Marina yelled, slamming her hands on my desk. "Celine is a jealous, manipulative—she doesn’t even deserve—"

My control snapped.

*"Silence!"*

The Alpha's Command ripped from my throat, heavy and absolute. Marina’s jaw snapped shut, her body freezing against her will as the sheer force of my aura forced her to her knees. Her eyes widened in sheer terror.

"Celine is my Fated Mate," I snarled, rounding the desk to tower over her. "She is the future Luna of this Pack. You will never speak her name with disrespect again."

Before Marina could fight the compulsion to reply, my Beta rushed into the office, his face pale. He held a thick parchment envelope sealed with shimmering silver wax—the crest of the Silver Crescent Pack.

The compulsion lifted slightly, and Marina gasped for air.

Despite her terror, her venomous nature clawed its way back. “See?” she sneered, though her voice trembled. “She’s sending letters already. Probably demanding money. That’s all she ever wanted.”

A desperate, pathetic spark of hope ignited in my chest. Maybe Marina was right. Maybe Celine was just angry. Maybe I could still fix this with wealth, with apologies, with anything she wanted.

I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe that Celine was just another gold-digger, that I could throw wealth at the wound and make it heal.

But I knew the truth. I had read the reports. Celine Moon was the granddaughter of a former Alpha King. She had more money and power in her little finger than I had in my entire Pack.

And yet, a desperate, pathetic spark of hope ignited in my chest anyway. Maybe she wants to negotiate. Maybe she still wants something from me.

My hands trembled as I broke the silver wax seal.

I turned the envelope over.

A piece of plastic clattered onto the polished wood of my desk.

It was the limitless black card I had instructed my assistant to deliver to her yesterday—an insult I had sent through a third party because I couldn’t even be bothered to face her myself. I had never thrown it in her face. I had never touched her with it. But the cowardice of that gesture made it worse, not better.

Then, the heavy parchment slid out.

It wasn't a demand for money. It wasn't a letter of negotiation. It was a Rejection Scroll, written in cold, shimmering ink. At the bottom, Celine Moon’s signature was already slashed across the page, elegant and ruthlessly final.

Marina’s smug laughter died in her throat.

I stared at the scroll, the air leaving my lungs. The black card mocked my arrogance, but the scroll... the scroll was a death sentence. My Inner Wolf let out a bloodcurdling howl of pure devastation as the reality of what I had lost finally, truly shattered my soul.

She wasn’t coming back. Not for money. Not for apologies. Not for anything I could offer.