Chapter 3

For a moment, the pain disappears.

It should hurt more. It should tear me open.

Instead, my chest goes numb, like my heart has finally decided it is done begging.

Damon betrays me. Lila steals from me.

Now they both expect me to bleed for their pup.

"You won't mark me," I say. "You won't give me a true mate bond. But you still want my blood?"

Damon's jaw tightens. "This isn't about what I want. It's about the pack."

"The pack," I repeat.

That word has been used on me since I was a pup.

"The pack needs your healing, Selene."

"The pack gave you a home, Selene."

"The pack must come first, Selene."

I turn to Lila. "And you? What is this about for you?"

Her eyes turn wet at once.

"Selene, I never wanted to hurt you," she whispers. "But fated mates can't be denied. You know that."

She leans closer to Damon. "And the pup is innocent."

Her voice is soft.

"You have the gentlest heart," she says. "You save wounded pups, sick omegas, even birds with broken wings."

"You wouldn't let an unborn pup die because you hate me, would you?"

The eyes shift back to me.

Some wolves feel sorry for me. Some are enjoying this.

But most of them are just waiting for me to give in, because that is what I am supposed to do.

They all know I have no birth pack left. Blackthorn took me in after my family died.

If Damon casts me out now, I have nowhere safe to go.

But they expect Damon to offer me scraps, and for me to still kneel willingly for them?

I won't.

Slowly, I lift my hands and remove my veil.

The pearls slide through my fingers.

Damon's expression eases.

He thinks I am calming down, that I have looked at the room, counted my enemies, and chosen to survive.

He has never understood the difference between surviving and surrendering.

I walk past him. Straight to Lila.

Her eyes widen. "Selene?"

I stop in front of her and look at the fang pendant.

Damon's voice cuts across the altar. "Don't."

I grab the leather cord and snap it from her neck.

Lila gasps and stumbles back, both hands flying to her belly.

"You scared me!" she cries.

I do not answer.

The fang lies in my palm, smooth from years against my skin.

I know the tiny crack near the root.

Damon once told me it made the fang special, because even strong things carry scars.

I believed every word.

I walk to the Altar.

Damon watches me with disbelief and anger.

I throw the fang at his feet.

It strikes the stone with a small, hard click.

"Your promise is dead," I say. "So is this mating."

Damon's face changes.

For the first time today, he looks truly furious.

"Selene," he warns.

Someone clears his throat. "It's not so simple."

"It is," I say. "Did Damon mark me?"

The man hesitates. "No."

"Did I accept his bond?"

"No, but—"

"Then under pack old law, the mating is not sealed."

His face drains of color.

He glances at Damon, then at the empty seat where Luna Seraphine, Damon's mother, should be.

Finally, he says, "Under old law, that is correct."

The hall erupts.

Damon steps toward me. "Do you understand what you're doing?"

His eyes flash gold. His wolf presses close to the surface, offended and possessive.

I turn to face the gathered wolves.

Below the altar, the allied packs' Alphas stand with their heirs.

"If Damon Blackthorn refuses to take me as his mate," I say, "then I won't force him."

Damon goes still.

I raise my voice. "Any unmated wolf here who is willing to accept me now, step forward."

The room goes wild.

Damon stares at me like he has never seen me before.

"You wouldn't dare," he says.

I glance at the fang lying by his boots.

Then I look him in the eye.

"I just did."