The kitchen knife slipped from my trembling fingers, slicing deep into my palm. Blood welled up immediately, crimson drops spattering across the marble countertop like tiny fallen stars. But the sharp sting that should have made me cry out never came.

Because I could feel him.

Killian was close—somewhere in the packhouse, his presence washing over me like a tide I couldn't resist. My heart hammered against my ribs, drowning out everything else. The mate bond hummed beneath my skin, electric and alive, making even the pain fade to nothing.

I pressed a dish towel against the cut, watching the white fabric bloom red, but my attention was already drifting toward the hallway. Every instinct screamed at me to find him, to be near him, even though I knew he barely acknowledged my existence.

The sound of his deep laughter echoed from the main hall, and my feet moved before my brain could stop them. I abandoned the bloodied towel and crept toward the staircase, my bare feet silent against the cold marble floors.

From my hiding spot behind the banister, I could see him perfectly. Killian stood near the grand fireplace, his dark hair catching the golden light as he spoke with his Beta, Marcus. Even from this distance, his presence was overwhelming—broad shoulders filling out his black shirt, the easy confidence in his stance that marked him as our future Alpha.

He was everything I wasn't. Strong where I was weak, commanding where I was invisible.

As if sensing my gaze, his head turned sharply in my direction. Our eyes met across the space, and the world tilted on its axis.

The mate bond exploded between us like lightning striking dry earth. My soul recognized his with a violence that left me breathless, every cell in my body crying out in recognition. This was him. This was my mate. The other half of my very existence.

But Killian's expression darkened. His jaw clenched, and those storm-gray eyes that had just ignited my entire being now looked at me with something that made my stomach drop.

Disgust.

He frowned and deliberately turned away, dismissing me as easily as swatting a fly.

The rejection hit me like a physical blow. I gripped the banister so hard my knuckles went white, fighting the urge to double over from the pain radiating through my chest. The bond that had felt so right, so perfect, now felt like a gaping wound.

I should have left then. Should have retreated to my room and licked my wounds in private. But something kept me frozen in place, watching him like a moth drawn to flame.

"So, any thoughts on your future Luna?" Marcus asked, his voice carrying easily across the hall.

Killian's laugh was sharp, bitter. "I know exactly what I want."

"Oh? Care to share with your faithful Beta?"

"I want a mate who's worthy of standing beside an Alpha," Killian said, his voice cutting through the air like a blade. "Someone strong. Powerful. A warrior who can fight alongside me, not some pathetic weakling who needs constant protection."

My breath caught in my throat.

"Someone like Elara, you mean?" Marcus's tone was carefully neutral, but I caught the underlying question.

Killian's response shattered what remained of my heart.

"Gods, no. Elara is exactly what I don't want. She's weak, Marcus. Completely useless. Can't shift properly, has barely any wolf strength, and don't even get me started on her combat skills." He shook his head in disgust. "I need a Luna who won't be a liability. Someone the pack can respect, not pity."

"That's... harsh, Killian. She's not that bad—"

"She is." Killian's voice was final, absolute. "The Moon Goddess better not be cruel enough to saddle me with someone like her as a mate. I'd rather reject the bond entirely than be tied to such weakness."

The words hit me like physical blows, each one driving deeper than the last. Weak. Useless. Liability. The man destined to be my other half thought I was nothing more than a burden.

I pressed my hand to my mouth, stifling the sob that threatened to escape. The mate bond, which had felt like salvation moments ago, now felt like a curse. How could the Moon Goddess be so cruel? How could she pair me with someone who saw me as everything wrong with the world?

Tears blurred my vision as I stumbled backward, desperate to escape before they noticed me. But my foot caught on the edge of the rug, and I had to grab the wall to keep from falling.

The small sound made Killian's head snap toward the stairs again, his eyes narrowing as he searched the shadows. I held my breath, pressing myself against the wall, praying he couldn't see me.

After what felt like an eternity, he turned back to Marcus, but I could see the tension in his shoulders. He knew someone had been listening.

"Anyway," he continued, his voice lower now, "tomorrow's my birthday celebration. Twenty-one years old, officially ready to take over as Alpha. Maybe the Moon Goddess will finally reveal my true mate."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Then I'll choose my own Luna. Someone worthy."

I couldn't listen anymore. Each word was another nail in the coffin of my foolish dreams. Clutching the gift I'd spent weeks preparing—a leather-bound journal engraved with his initials—I fled up the stairs as silently as possible.

In the safety of my small room, I finally let the tears fall. The journal felt heavy in my hands, mocking me with its careful craftsmanship and the hours of love I'd poured into it. What had I been thinking? That a simple gift would make him see me differently?

I was exactly what he'd said—weak, useless, unworthy.

But as I sat there in the darkness, something else began to bloom alongside the pain. A small, stubborn spark of defiance. Tomorrow was his birthday celebration, and everyone in the pack would be there. Including me.

Maybe I was weak now, but I didn't have to stay that way forever.

The mate bond still hummed beneath my skin, a constant reminder of what could never be. But for the first time, instead of yearning, I felt something else entirely.

Determination.

The ballroom sparkled with golden light from the crystal chandeliers, casting dancing shadows across the marble floors. Pack members filled every corner, their laughter and conversation creating a warm buzz that should have been comforting. Instead, it felt like a prison closing in around me.

I pressed myself against the wall near the grand staircase, clutching the leather journal so tightly my knuckles ached. My wolf was restless beneath my skin, pacing and whining with an urgency that made my hands shake. She could sense him—Killian was somewhere in this crowd, and her reaction was getting stronger by the minute.

"Breathe," I whispered to myself, but my heart was already racing.

Then I saw him.

Killian stood at the center of the room like a dark star, commanding attention without even trying. His black suit fit him perfectly, emphasizing the broad shoulders and lean strength that marked him as our future Alpha. The crowd seemed to orbit around him naturally, drawn by that magnetic presence that made my chest tight with longing.

My wolf went absolutely feral.

Heat flooded through me like wildfire, starting deep in my core and spreading outward until every nerve ending burned. My breathing became shallow, ragged, as my body began releasing pheromones I couldn't control. The sweet, desperate scent of an unmated female calling to her mate filled the air around me.

No. Not here. Not now.

I tried to retreat further into the shadows, but it was too late. Several pack members near me had already caught the scent, their heads turning in my direction with knowing looks. Whispers started, spreading like ripples through water.

"Is that Elara?"

"Poor thing, she's completely overwhelmed."

"How embarrassing."

My face burned scarlet as the humiliation crashed over me. Everyone could smell what I was feeling, could sense my wolf's desperate need for her mate. There was nowhere to hide from the pitying stares and barely concealed amusement.

But worse than all of that was when Killian's head turned toward me.

Our eyes met across the crowded room, and I watched his expression shift from mild curiosity to disgust. His jaw clenched as he took in my flushed face and the obvious source of the pheromones flooding the air. Those storm-gray eyes that had haunted my dreams now looked at me like I was something dirty he'd stepped in.

He said something to Marcus, his Beta, who glanced in my direction and shook his head with what looked like sympathy. For Killian, not for me.

I wanted to disappear. To melt into the marble floor and never face another soul again. But my feet seemed rooted in place, my wolf still howling for her mate even as my human heart shattered.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Killian's voice cut through the crowd like a blade, commanding instant silence. He'd moved to the raised platform at the front of the room, his presence filling the space with Alpha authority. "Thank you all for celebrating my twenty-first birthday with me tonight."

Applause rippled through the room, but I barely heard it over the rushing in my ears. My wolf was going crazy, responding to his Alpha voice with a desperation that made my knees weak.

"As you know," Killian continued, his voice carrying easily across the silent room, "tonight marks not just my birthday, but my official readiness to assume the role of Alpha. And an Alpha needs a Luna by his side."

My heart stopped beating. Around me, unmated females held their breath, hope shining in their eyes. But I knew better. I'd heard what he really thought of me just last night.

"I'm honored to announce that I've found the woman who will stand beside me as this pack's Luna." Killian's smile was radiant, genuine in a way I'd never seen before. "Seraphina Blackwood has agreed to be my chosen mate."

The world tilted sideways.

Seraphina stepped onto the platform like she belonged there, her golden hair catching the light like a crown. She was everything I wasn't—tall, confident, beautiful. A warrior who could fight alongside him, not a weak little mouse who hid in shadows.

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause, but all I could hear was a high-pitched ringing in my ears. My vision started to gray at the edges as the reality crashed over me like a tidal wave.

Chosen mate. Not true mate. He was rejecting the bond before it could even be acknowledged.

Seraphina smiled and waved at the crowd, then leaned up to kiss Killian's cheek. The casual intimacy of it, the way he smiled down at her like she was precious, sent a spike of agony through my chest that had nothing to do with the mate bond and everything to do with my breaking heart.

"I know some of you might be wondering about the Moon Goddess's choice," Killian continued, his voice taking on a harder edge. "But as your future Alpha, I have the right to choose a Luna who will strengthen this pack, not weaken it."

His eyes found mine across the room, and there was no mistaking his meaning. This was a public execution, and I was the condemned.

"I formally reject any mate bond the Moon Goddess may have intended," he declared, his voice ringing with Alpha command. "I choose my own path."

The words hit me like physical blows. The mate bond, which had been humming beneath my skin since yesterday, suddenly felt like it was being torn apart fiber by fiber. Pain exploded through my chest, so sharp and brutal that I couldn't breathe.

I doubled over as agony ripped through every cell of my body. The connection that had felt so right, so perfect, was being severed by his rejection. It felt like dying, like having my soul carved out with a rusty knife.

A metallic taste filled my mouth, and I realized I was bleeding. Blood dripped from my lips onto the marble floor as my vision blurred and darkened. Through the haze of pain, I could see Killian on his platform, his jaw set in determination.

He wasn't even looking at me anymore. I was nothing to him. Less than nothing.

The last thing I saw before the darkness took me was his profile—strong, cold, and completely indifferent to my destruction.

The rain hammered against my skin like frozen bullets, each drop a reminder of how far I'd fallen. My fever burned through me in waves, making the world tilt and spin as I stumbled through the muddy wasteland beyond our pack's borders. The rejection wound in my chest felt like a gaping hole, raw and bleeding, but somehow I kept moving.

One foot in front of the other. That was all I could manage.

My clothes were soaked through, clinging to my shivering frame like a second skin. The designer dress I'd worn to Killian's birthday celebration—the one I'd saved for months to buy—was now torn and stained with mud and blood. A fitting metaphor for my shattered dreams.

Another wave of fever hit me, and I collapsed to my knees in the thick mud. The cold seeped through my bones, but the fire in my blood burned hotter. My wolf was silent, retreating deep inside where the rejection couldn't reach her. She was protecting herself the only way she knew how—by disappearing entirely.

"Get up," I whispered through chattering teeth. "You have to get up."

But my body wouldn't listen. The fever was winning, pulling me down into darkness where the pain couldn't follow. I could feel myself starting to slip away, my consciousness fading like smoke on the wind.

Then I felt it.

A warmth in my abdomen, gentle but insistent. Not the burning fever that consumed the rest of me, but something else entirely. Something protective. The sensation spread outward like golden honey, wrapping around my heart and lungs, shielding my vital organs from the worst of the fever's assault.

My eyes snapped open, rain blurring my vision. What was that? The warmth pulsed again, stronger this time, and with it came an overwhelming sense of... determination. Not my own, but something smaller, more fragile. Something fighting with every ounce of strength it possessed.

Something that needed me to survive.

The realization hit me like lightning. The nausea, the exhaustion, the strange cravings I'd been having. I'd attributed it all to stress, to the mate bond's effects, but now...

"Oh gods," I breathed, my hand instinctively moving to my stomach. "You're there, aren't you?"

The warmth pulsed again, as if in answer. My baby. Killian's baby, though he would never know it. The tiny life growing inside me was fighting to protect us both, lending me strength when I had none left.

For him. For her. For this precious secret that was mine alone.

I forced myself to my feet, swaying but standing. The fever still raged, but the protective warmth in my core gave me something to hold onto. My baby needed me to be strong, needed me to survive this nightmare.

"I won't let you down," I whispered, my voice lost in the storm. "I promise."

I started walking again, each step a monumental effort. The landscape around me was barren and hostile, nothing but rocks and scrubland stretching endlessly in every direction. This was rogue territory, the no-man's-land between pack borders where only the desperate and dangerous dared to venture.

A howl echoed through the night, closer than I'd like. Then another, answering from a different direction. My blood turned to ice as I realized what that meant.

Rogue wolves. And they'd caught my scent.

Panic flooded through me, but beneath it, something else stirred. The warmth in my abdomen pulsed urgently, and with it came a fierce protectiveness I'd never felt before. These rogues weren't just threatening me—they were threatening my child.

I could hear them now, paws splashing through the mud as they closed in from multiple directions. Three, maybe four of them. In my weakened state, I should have been terrified. Should have been preparing to die.

Instead, I felt my lips pull back in a snarl.

The first rogue emerged from the darkness like a nightmare made flesh. His fur was matted and scarred, his eyes gleaming with predatory hunger. He was massive, easily twice my size, with yellowed fangs that promised a painful death.

"Well, well," he growled, his voice rough from years of violence. "What do we have here? A little lost pup, all alone in the big bad world?"

Two more rogues flanked him, their postures relaxed and confident. They thought I was easy prey. A weak little omega who would cower and beg for mercy.

They had no idea what they were dealing with.

"Please," I whispered, letting my voice shake with feigned terror. "I'm just trying to find shelter. I don't want any trouble."

The lead rogue laughed, a sound like breaking glass. "Oh, sweetheart, you found trouble the moment you set foot in our territory. But don't worry—we'll make it quick. Mostly."

He lunged forward, jaws snapping toward my throat. In the past, I would have screamed. Would have frozen in terror and waited for death to claim me.

But that was before. Before I had something worth protecting.

Instinct took over, primal and absolute. I ducked under his attack and came up inside his guard, my teeth finding the soft flesh of his throat before my conscious mind even registered what I was doing. The taste of copper flooded my mouth—hot, metallic, intoxicating.

Power.

I bit down harder, my canines—sharper than they'd ever been—piercing through skin and muscle until I felt his windpipe collapse beneath my jaws. His struggles grew weaker, more desperate, until finally he went limp.

I released him and stepped back, blood dripping from my lips. The other two rogues stared at me in shock, their confidence evaporating like morning mist.

"Impossible," one of them breathed. "She's just an omega."

But I wasn't just anything anymore. I was a mother protecting her young, and that made me more dangerous than any Alpha.

The taste of blood on my tongue was like awakening from a long dream. For the first time in my life, I understood what real strength felt like. Not the borrowed power of a mate bond or pack hierarchy, but something that came from within. Something that belonged entirely to me.

The remaining rogues exchanged nervous glances, suddenly unsure of their odds. They'd expected easy prey and found a predator instead.

"Your move," I said softly, my voice carrying a new edge that made them flinch.

The warmth in my abdomen pulsed again, and I smiled. My baby had given me the strength to fight back. Now it was time to show the world what we were really capable of.