Chapter 1

Tonight is my eighteenth mating ceremony under the full moon, and once again every wolf in the pack files out behind my adopted sister.

My father's mindlink slams into my head, sharp and impatient.

"Ivy's wolf is whining again. She can't shift. We're taking her to the healer. Call it off. You know the drill."

Then Rhea, my maid of honor, my best friend since we were pups, cuts into the link with a scoff.

"Selene. Your mate bond is not more important than Ivy's wolf. She almost dropped on the ceremonial grounds and you didn't even come check. When did you get this cold?"

And my chosen mate doesn't even open the bond.

He just fires one flat line down the mindlink: Ceremony's off. Talk later.

Then he slams the bond shut on his end. My head goes dead silent.

Eighteen times he's used that same line.

A cold laugh comes out of me and I feel nothing at all.

Eighteen times. Enough.

I'm done crawling for scraps from wolves who already made their choice. Whatever comes next, my wolf and I handle alone.

I climb the moonstone altar. The whole platform is buried in wolfsbloom violets. Ivy's favorite. Never mine.

I lift the ceremonial horn.

"I'm sorry. Tonight's mating ceremony is called off."

Not a single wolf in the crowd looks surprised.

Their mindlinks are wide open. They think I can't hear them. I can.

"Ha. Called it. Not one of these ceremonies has ever made it to the mating bite. If I were her I wouldn't have dragged myself out under this moon."

"You seen the way the whole Vane pack fawns over the little one? Please. If I were Selene I'd hand him over and bolt for the border. At least keep my throat in one piece on the way out."

"You really don't know? The elders swear she's Silver-Born. Every pack she sets foot in gets fat and happy. Word is every time Alpha Kaelen even thinks about ditching her, Silverpine wakes up to dead livestock and empty snare lines by morning."

"Oh, he's tested it. More than once. Lost half his hunting grounds each round. Last winter three of his warriors got shredded by rogues right at the border. That's the only reason his ass is still standing next to hers."

I walk off the altar under their stares.

My lips pull into something that's not a smile.

This time it won't stop at a dying territory.

I shift out of my ceremonial robe on the walk back and pull on plain clothes at the Vane pack house. I'm packing a bag when the front doors bang open.

Ivy at the center of a parade. Every wolf laughing and fussing over her like she just walked off a battlefield.

The second they spot me, every smile drops.

Kaelen's eyes go pitch black. His Alpha aura fills the whole hall and every wolf under his rank drops their gaze.

Except me.

"Selene. You called the ceremony off in front of every neighboring pack and didn't give a reason? Now every wolf between the mountains and the coast is going to blame Ivy again. That's on you."

My father scoffs and won't even look at me.

"You dropped the ball this time, Selene. Every other ceremony you handled the packs yourself and we never had to think about it. Send word to the border packs. Tell them you were the one being difficult."

Rhea is already on her mindlink.

"I'll get word to every pack from here to the coast. If Selene sends a formal apology through the runners tonight, we can still save face. Push a few rogue rumors about her along the border and by next moon no one will even remember Ivy's name."

I don't answer any of them.

I just stand there.

Fine. Enough.

Three days.

Three days to cut every last tie and cross the Vane border for good.

"Selene. Are you even listening? If you don't fix this, I'm not promising when the next moon is."

Kaelen stops right in front of me. His voice is sharp, and his aura is pushing straight into my chest, trying to make my wolf submit.

She doesn't. She just watches him.

Then Ivy finally opens her mouth, voice thin and shaking.

"It's my fault. My wolf ruined everything. Kaelen, please don't be angry at Selene. Blame me."

"There are still a few good moons left this month. Please don't push it back any further."

She starts coughing before she finishes.

Kaelen crosses the hall and pulls her against his chest, rubbing slow circles down her back.

"It's not your fault. Don't overthink it. Her wolf can't survive without mine anchoring hers. Once we complete the bond, my wolf holds hers. Doesn't matter when we mate."

The whole hall hears him.

He just said, in front of every wolf in the Vane pack house, that he plans to use our mate bond to keep another female's wolf alive.

Something inside my chest goes very, very quiet.

"Then you're the one overthinking it."

Those are my first words since I walked in.

Every wolf in the hall freezes.

I lift the bag in my hand.

"I'm leaving."

The words are barely out.

The next second, a crack splits the air.

My mother's hand connects with my face and the slap echoes off every wall of the pack house.