Chapter 1

I dated Kellan, future Alpha of the Voss Pack, for eight years. Everyone thought I would be his Luna.

But at the Mating Ceremony, Kellan claimed the weakest Omega as his true mate and Luna.

He threw me away in front of the whole pack.

Then I feel it, a pull. Something raw and jagged, like a hook dragging through my ribs.

A howl rises from the far edge of the grounds, low, broken, starving.

Gold eyes lock onto mine.

Garrick Thane.

The rogue who wandered onto our territory three moons ago. Three previous mates all dead.

--

His wolf is responding to my scent.

I feel the bond trying to latch on. My wolf stirs, restless, confused. She wants to answer. My body wants to step forward.

I don't move.

The Ceremony grounds go dead silent. Then the whispers start.

"A Gamma's daughter, Moon-paired with a rogue?"

"Well, at least it matches."

The crowd parts as Kellan walks away with Meadow, my brothers Ronan and Flynn flanking them. Nobody looks back.

The crowd is thinning out.

The four have already disappeared around the Elder's tent.

I follow, not sure what I'm going to say. Not sure what there is to say.

Then I hear their voices.

Kellan's voice. Ronan's. Flynn's.

Low. Careful. Pleased.

"I knew it." Kellan exhales like he's been holding his breath for months.

"I've been sensing her for weeks, every time Meadow walked past, my wolf went insane. I just needed the Ceremony to make it official."

Ronan keeps his voice down. "So that's why you had me sign Briar up."

The words hit me like a slap.

And I remembered the things before the Ceremony.

Kellan and I have been together eight years. Eight years of him telling me he'd mark me soon, not yet, not now, the timing isn't right.

I never pushed.

Then a few weeks ago, he had Ronan sign me up for the Mating Ceremony behind my back.

By the time I found out, it was too late to pull my name.

"Just a formality," he said. "If the Goddess pairs us, I'll mark you that same night. It's best blessing, isn't?"

I believed him. But lately something had been off.

The way Kellan's eyes lingered on her a beat too long at pack gatherings. The way he tensed when she stood too close.

I noticed. I always noticed. I just told myself it didn't mean anything.

Now I know everything. It is a trap he sets me up.

Kellan keeps saying, "If the Goddess confirms it in front of the whole pack, nobody can say I chose this."

"It's not me leaving Briar, it's the Goddess's will." Kellan pauses. "Who's going to argue with that?"

"What about Briar?"

Kellan's voice doesn't waver. "She's a Gamma's daughter. No wolf is lining up for her. As long as she thinks nothing's changed between us, she'll stay."

"Worst case, she rejects the rogue. She'll feel some pain. After that, she's got no Moon-given mate. Nowhere to go. She'll have no choice but to stay by my side."

Flynn laughs softly. "Just sweet-talk her a little. She'll get over it. She always does."

I stand in the dark, and a bitter laugh scrapes out of me.

So the Ceremony wasn't a formality.

He needed the Moon Goddess to hand him an excuse, and she did.

Fine.

If this is what the Goddess gives me, I'll take it.