Every wolf in Silvermoon gathered beneath the full moon to watch me be humiliated.
Alpha Eric stood on the ritual stone with his arm around Celeste, the girl who had spent three years borrowing my kindness and returning it as poison.
I knelt because pack law demanded it. I did not lower my eyes.
"I, Eric Thorne, Alpha of Silvermoon, reject Elena Valens as my fated mate."
The bond snapped like a living nerve.
Pain tore through my chest so violently I tasted blood, but I swallowed the sound before the pack could feed on it.
Celeste smiled into Eric's shoulder.
Then the moon changed.
Silver light went red. The wind stopped. Every wolf in the clearing dropped to one knee except me, while my veins burned with an ancient crown-shaped mark no living Alpha had seen before.
Eric's face emptied of triumph.