I sat on the edge of my bed in the guest quarters of Silverstone Pack, staring at the phone in my trembling hands. The confrontation with Bradley replayed in my mind—his flushed face, Kelsey's smirk, the casual way he'd dismissed two years of my life as an "obligation."

But beneath the anger and humiliation, something else stirred. A pull I'd been suppressing for so long it had become background noise. A scent memory of sandalwood and rain that didn't belong to Bradley. A pair of amber eyes that had watched me across a crowded room during a college pack gathering, seeing something in me I'd been taught to hide.

My wolf paced restlessly, whimpering with a need that had nothing to do with the broken contract.

*Do it,* she urged. *Call to him. He's been waiting.*

I closed my eyes and did something I hadn't allowed myself in years. I opened the mind-link I'd kept locked tight, the one that connected to a consciousness that wasn't Bradley's cold authority or my father's disappointed expectations. The one that hummed with warmth and barely restrained hunger.

*Walker?*

The response came instantly, blazing through our connection with such intensity I gasped. *Margaret.* His voice wrapped around my name like a caress, rough with emotion. *Finally. I've been waiting so long, sweetheart.*

Tears pricked my eyes at the endearment, so different from Bradley's clinical "contracted mate." *I didn't know if you'd still...*

*Still want you? Still recognize you as mine?* Walker's Alpha growl resonated through the link, protective and possessive in a way that made my wolf purr. *I've wanted you every second since I first scented you. Every day I've watched from a distance, knowing you were suffering under that bastard's contract. Tell me you're free, Margaret. Tell me you're ready.*

The words tumbled out—Bradley's betrayal with Kelsey, the broken contract terms, his plan to reject me in two weeks anyway. With each revelation, Walker's presence through our link grew fiercer, his Alpha aura so powerful I could almost feel him beside me.

*I'm flying back tonight,* he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. *I'm in Italy right now, but I'll abandon these negotiations. You're more important than any territory deal. Can you meet me at the neutral clearing by Blackwood Forest? The one with the old oak?*

My heart hammered. *When?*

*Midnight. Under the full moon.* His voice softened. *If you're sure, Margaret. If you're truly ready to claim what the Moon Goddess intended. I won't force this bond on you. It has to be your choice.*

I thought of Bradley's 999 rules, his scheduled intimacy, his cold dismissal. Then I thought of Walker's patient waiting, the way he'd respected my arrangement even when it must have torn at his wolf. The way he was offering me choice, not control.

*I'll be there,* I whispered through our link. *I'm sure.*

---

The Blackwood clearing was silver in the moonlight when I arrived just before midnight. My wolf was vibrating with anticipation, her silver markings seeming to glow beneath my skin. I'd worn a simple black dress—no white, never white again—and my hair hung loose down my back.

I scented him before I saw him. Sandalwood and rain, mixed with something wild and Alpha-strong that made my knees weak. Then he stepped from the tree line, and my breath caught.

Walker West was larger than I remembered, his wolf's power evident even in human form. Dark hair fell across his forehead, and those amber eyes locked onto me with an intensity that should have been frightening but instead felt like coming home. He moved toward me slowly, each step deliberate, giving me time to run if I wanted.

I didn't run.

"Margaret." My name on his lips was a prayer. He stopped an arm's length away, his hands clenched at his sides. "My wolf is screaming to mark you right now. To erase every trace of him from your skin. But I need to hear you say it. Tell me this is what you want."

I could see the strain in his jaw, the way his Alpha aura pulsed around him barely restrained. Two years of watching his mate suffer under another's contract. Years of patient waiting. And still, he was giving me the choice.

I closed the distance between us, placing my hand on his chest. His heart thundered beneath my palm. "I want you to claim me, Walker. I want you to mark me and show me what a true mate bond feels like. I want to be yours, the way the Moon Goddess always intended."

His control shattered.

Walker pulled me against him with a growl that rumbled through both our chests. His lips found mine, and the kiss was nothing like Bradley's clinical obligations. This was heat and hunger and coming home all at once. His hands tangled in my hair, tilting my head back as he deepened the kiss, and my wolf sang with recognition.

*Mine,* his wolf snarled through our link. *Finally, finally mine.*

When he pulled back, his eyes had shifted to his wolf's amber, and his canines had elongated. "The marking, Margaret. Once I do this, there's no going back. The Moon Goddess's bond is eternal."

"I know." I turned my head, exposing my neck where Bradley's mark had never properly set, where the skin had always rejected his claim. "Make it permanent, Walker. Make me yours."

His lips brushed my throat, gentle despite his wolf's desperation. Then his canines sank into the traditional marking spot, and white-hot pleasure exploded through every nerve. My wolf howled in triumph as the true mate bond snapped into place, flooding me with Walker's emotions—his love, his possessiveness, his absolute devotion.

When he pulled back, licking the wound closed, the mark glowed silver in the moonlight before settling into my skin. Not the angry red of Bradley's attempted claims, but a perfect permanent brand that felt right.

"My Luna," Walker murmured against my neck. "My mate. My everything."

I turned in his arms and claimed his mouth again, tasting my own blood mixed with his wild scent. This was what the contract could never give me. This was what I'd been born for.

This was home.

Walker's study was all dark wood and leather, but I barely registered the elegant surroundings as I pulled out my phone with trembling fingers. The mate bond hummed between us, still new and intoxicating, but beneath the warmth ran a thread of cold fury I'd been suppressing for two years.

"Show me," Walker said quietly from behind his desk. His amber eyes tracked my movements with predatory focus, his wolf barely restrained beneath the surface. "I need to see exactly what he did to you."

I scrolled to the document I'd carried like a curse. "The contract has 999 rules. Bradley was very... thorough."

Walker's jaw tightened, but he gestured for me to continue. I opened the file and began reading, my voice steady despite the shame that still tried to claw up my throat.

"Rule 34: The contracted mate shall present herself for marking sessions on Tuesdays and Fridays at precisely 8 PM, freshly bathed and wearing only the provided ceremonial robe."

A low growl rumbled from Walker's chest. I kept going.

"Rule 127: During marking sessions, the contracted mate shall not speak unless directly questioned. All responses must be limited to 'Yes, Alpha' or 'No, Alpha.'"

Walker's fist slammed onto the desk, making papers jump. "He silenced you during—" He couldn't even finish the sentence.

"There's more." I scrolled further, my eyes glinting with something darker than pain. This was the moment Bradley's systematic degradation would become his undoing. "Rule 458: Following each contractual fulfillment, the contracted mate must express gratitude verbally. Acceptable phrases include: 'Thank you for honoring our agreement, Alpha' or 'I appreciate your time, Alpha.'"

The sound that tore from Walker's throat was barely human. His eyes had shifted fully to his wolf's amber, and his Alpha aura exploded through the room, so powerful the windows rattled. Papers scattered from his desk as he stood, his hands braced against the wood like he needed it to keep from shifting entirely.

"He made you thank him." Walker's voice was gravel and rage. "After treating you like—" He broke off, breathing hard. "Margaret, I'm going to destroy him. Not just professionally. I'm going to take everything that bastard thinks he owns."

I stood and walked to him, placing my hand on his chest where his heart hammered. The mate bond pulsed between us, and I let him feel my cold determination through our connection. "We're going to destroy them both. Bradley and Kelsey. Systematically. The way they deserve."

Walker's arms came around me, pulling me against him as he buried his face in my neck, breathing in my scent. "Tell me your plan, Luna. Tell me how we make them pay."

I smiled against his shoulder. "Kelsey thinks she's clever. She's been Bradley's assistant for three years, handling pack communications and sensitive documents. She knows too much about Moonridge Pack's operations."

"And she's jealous." Walker's voice had regained some control, though his wolf still simmered beneath the surface. He pulled back to meet my eyes. "She thought she'd be Luna once you were gone."

"Exactly." I moved to the desk, pulling up the documents on my own phone. "You mentioned your expansion plans in Italy. The alliance negotiations with the Romano Pack."

Walker nodded slowly, understanding dawning in his expression. "Moonridge Pack is pursuing the same alliance. Bradley's been trying to undercut my proposals for months."

"What if," I said carefully, "Kelsey had access to falsified documents about those negotiations? Documents that made it look like you were vulnerable. Like your expansion plans had fatal flaws."

Walker's eyes gleamed with predatory satisfaction. "And if she believed selling that intelligence would secure her position..."

"She'd take the bait." I pulled up notes I'd made about Kelsey during my time at Moonridge Pack. "Rule 672 required me to observe and report on pack dynamics. I know her insecurities. She's ambitious but paranoid. She thinks everyone underestimates her because she came from a lower pack rank."

"We offer her what she wants most." Walker was already reaching for his laptop, his strategic Alpha mind working. "A Luna position. But not with Bradley."

"A rogue faction," I finished. "One that promises her power in exchange for intelligence about Bradley's negotiations. She'll think she's making a smart move, securing her future after Bradley inevitably tires of her too."

Walker pulled me into his lap as he typed, his arms secure around my waist. The casual intimacy still made my wolf purr—this was what mate bonds should feel like. Partnership. Trust. Not contracts and gratitude.

"My intelligence network can create the fake rogue contact," Walker said, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "We'll make it convincing. Promise her everything Bradley never would."

I leaned back against his chest, watching him work. "She'll photograph the documents. Send them thinking she's buying her way into a new pack."

"And instead," Walker murmured against my ear, "she'll be handing us evidence of treason. Betraying pack secrets to rogues is grounds for permanent expulsion. Or worse."

"Bradley will have to punish her publicly." My voice was soft but deadly. "He'll lose his chosen mate, his assistant, and his reputation. All because he couldn't honor a simple contract."

Walker's arms tightened around me. "You're magnificent, you know that? Absolutely magnificent."

I turned in his arms, meeting those amber eyes that saw me as an equal, not an obligation. "Let's begin."