Chapter 1

When we stepped out of the pack's holding grounds, Lyra Ravenshade, her eyes still swollen from weeping, quietly climbed into the front seat of my carriage.

I had no desire to quarrel, so I gathered the reins. Just as my hand settled over them, she reached out and caught my wrist.

Yet her gaze never fell on me. Instead, she looked past me at my mate, Kael Blackthorne.

"I'm frightened," she whispered, her eyes glistening with tears. "I... I don't like riding with anyone else."

She looked so pitiful that anyone would have believed the Moon Goddess herself had abandoned her.

Without hesitation, I pulled my arm free.

"Then step down."

Silence settled over the carriage.

A heartbeat later, Lyra's tears spilled down her cheeks as soft sobs escaped her lips.

From behind us, Kael's voice rang out, cold with disapproval.

"Selene, must you always be so heartless? You know she's still shaken after everything her brother has been through. Can't you show her even a little compassion?" His voice hardened. "Move aside. I'll drive."

Before I could answer, he strode over, flung the carriage door open with enough force to make it creak against its hinges, and the biting night wind swept inside.

I shivered but remained where I was, meeting his eyes without a word.

The Kael who had always been composed suddenly seemed like a stranger. Without the slightest gentleness, he unclasped the safety strap around my waist and pulled me from the driver's seat.

I stumbled, nearly falling onto the frozen earth before barely managing to steady myself.

He never spared me another glance.

Instead, he took my place, then leaned toward Lyra and brushed a few loose strands of hair from her face with infuriating tenderness.

"Hush. I'll see you safely back to your den first."

"Oh, Kael..." Lyra's tearful smile bloomed as she deliberately cast me a triumphant glance. "You're always so good to me."

Before the carriage departed, Kael spoke over his shoulder.

"You're a grown she-wolf. Find your own way back. I'll return after I've taken her home."

I stood alone beneath the pale moonlight as the carriage disappeared into the darkness.

Just before it vanished beyond the bend, Lyra leaned close and pressed a lingering kiss against Kael's cheek.

At that moment, the moonstone tucked inside my cloak began to glow with a soft silver light.

The instant I touched it, my mother's voice echoed gently in my mind.

"My little wolf, have you seen Lucian's portrait?"

Lucian Nightcrest.

The future mate my parents had chosen for me years ago.

A powerful Alpha.

Handsome, noble, and born of one of the oldest bloodlines.

Relief colored Mother's voice through the mind-link.

"You've finally made your decision. Your father has grown old these past few years. Though he has never stopped being angry that you left the pack, he has always waited for the day you would come home."

I lifted my eyes to the countless fireflies drifting beneath the sacred Moon Tree, my thoughts scattering with them.

All those years ago, I had fled my birth pack because I refused to surrender my life to a political mating alliance.

Then I met Kael.

For seven years, I remained beside him, helping him rise from an insignificant wolf with nothing to his name into the Beta everyone admired.

Yet whenever I spoke of completing our mating ceremony beneath the full moon, he would only smile and tell me it was not the right time.

For his sake, I had quietly gone to the pack healer more than once, allowing the tiny lives growing inside me to return to the Moon Goddess before they had the chance to be born.

How foolish I had been to believe that love alone could overcome everything.

Now...

I was simply too tired to hold on.

By the time I returned to our den, Kael had already come back.

Perhaps guilt had urged him home sooner than expected.

He found me kneeling beside the cedar chest, folding my garments one by one into traveling bundles.

A trace of confusion crossed his face.

"What are you doing?"

"Sorting through my belongings," I answered evenly, hoping he would simply bathe and leave me in peace.

The unfamiliar fragrance clinging to his body made my stomach churn.

He lingered for a moment, never suspecting anything was wrong, before continuing to speak as though nothing had changed.