Dante's POV
I smashed my wine glass against the wall.
The crystal burst into a thousand pieces, and everyone at the party stopped talking. They all turned to stare at me with shocked faces.
"Alpha Storm?" Beta Marcus stepped forward carefully. "Is everything alright?"
No, everything was not alright. Something was wrong with me, and I couldn't figure out what.
"I'm fine," I lied, taking another glass from a passing waiter. "Continue with the celebration."
But I wasn't great. I hadn't been fine all day. There was this weird feeling in my chest, like something important was about to happen. Like the world was about to change forever.
I hated feeling out of control.
The pack celebration was meant to be perfect. We were introducing new trade deals with three different packs. My mother had planned everything down to the last detail. The food, the music, the guest list - all meant to show everyone how powerful the Storm Pack was.
So why did I feel like running away?
"Alpha, the Morrison Pack leader wants to discuss territory borders," someone said beside me.
I nodded and tried to focus on the talk, but my mind kept wandering. Every few minutes, I caught myself looking toward the windows. Searching for something. But what?
My wolf was moving restlessly inside my head. He'd been restless all day, whining and scratching like he wanted to get out and run. But when I asked him what was wrong, he couldn't give me an answer.
"The northern territories would be perfect for expanding our training grounds," Alpha Morrison was saying.
"Mmm," I agreed, though I had no idea what he was talking about.
My mother emerged at my elbow, smiling that fake smile she used at formal events.
"Dante, darling, you seem distracted tonight," she whispered in my ear. "Several important Alphas are here. This is not the time to be rude."
She was right. I was being a bad host. But I couldn't shake this feeling that something was calling to me. Something outside these walls.
"I need some air," I told her.
"You need to focus on your duties," she replied sharply. "You're the best Alpha in the country. Act like it."
I wanted to snap at her, but she was right. I had duties. The Storm Pack relied on me to be strong and in control at all times.
So I forced myself to smile and rejoined the talk about territory borders. But my wolf kept scratching at my mind, asking me to pay attention to whatever was outside.
That's when I smelled it.
The most incredible smell I'd ever experienced. Wild strawberries and rain on summer grass. Sweet and clean and totally perfect.
My wine glass slipped from my hand and crashed to the floor.
"Mate," my wolf howled in my head. "MATE!"
No. That was impossible. I was twenty-four years old and had never found my mate. I'd started to think I didn't have one. And now, suddenly, during a pack celebration?
The smell was getting stronger, making my head spin. It was coming from outside.
I turned toward the window and froze.
A girl was crouched behind a car in the street, looking at the hotel. Even from this distance, I could see she was young and small. Her clothes were dirty and torn. Her hair looked like it hadn't been washed in days.
She was clearly a criminal.
And she was my friend.
Our eyes met through the glass, and the world burst.
The mate bond hit me like lightning, shooting electricity through every part of my body. I could barely breathe. My knees almost gave out.
Green eyes. She had the most beautiful green eyes I'd ever seen. Even covered in dirt and looking half-starved, she was beautiful.
But she was a rogue. The lowest kind of dog there was.
"What are you looking for, Alpha?" someone asked behind me.
I couldn't answer. I couldn't think of anything except the girl outside. My mate. My difficult, inappropriate mate.
"Nothing," I managed to say. "I thought I sensed... never mind."
But I couldn't stop looking at her. And she couldn't stop looking at me.
The mate bond was pulling us toward each other like magnets. I wanted to run outside and grab her, hold her, claim her right there in the street.
Instead, I stood frozen by the window, trying to figure out what to do.
A mate was supposed to be a good thing. It meant the moon goddess had picked someone perfect for you. Someone who would make you stronger and happy.
But rogues didn't make Alphas stronger. They made them weak. They were distractions from job and responsibility.
My mother had taught me that since I was little. "Mate bonds are for weak Alphas," she always said. "Strong leaders don't need anyone else."
But looking at the girl outside, I didn't feel weak. I felt more alive than I ever had before.
Then she stepped on something that made a loud crack, and everyone near the window turned to look outside.
"There's someone out there," Beta Marcus said, pointing at my mate.
Security guards were already moving toward the door. They would drag her away, and I might never see her again.
I couldn't let that happen.
I followed the guards outside, my heart racing. The moment I stepped into the cool night air, her smell hit me full force. It was even stronger out here, making my wolf go absolutely crazy.
"Mine," I whispered before I could stop myself.
She was standing twenty feet away, surrounded by guards, but she might as well have been the only person in the world. Those green eyes were locked on mine, and I could feel the mate link connecting us like a golden thread.
"What's your name?" I asked, walking toward her.
"Aria," she said in a voice so soft I almost didn't hear it.
Aria. Even her name was perfect.
"I'm Dante."
"I know who you are," she responded.
Of course she did. Everyone knew who I was. But did she know what she was to me? Could she feel the bond too?
"And you're..."
"A rogue," she finished. "Nobody important."
The word hit me like a slap. Rogue. My mate was a criminal.
Everything I'd been told said this was wrong. Impossible. Unacceptable.
But my wolf didn't care about any of that. He only cared that we'd found our other half.
"That's impossible," I said, trying to convince myself as much as her. "The moon goddess wouldn't..."
Pair the biggest Alpha in the country with a homeless rogue. It made no sense.
"I should go," Aria said, taking a step back.
"No." The word came out harder than I meant it to. "Don't go anywhere."
I needed time to think. To find out what to do with this impossible situation.
"Alpha Storm," one of my guards said. "Should we escort her away from the property?"
I looked at Aria one more time. She was watching me with those beautiful green eyes, waiting to see if I would refuse her.
The smart thing would be to send her away. Pretend this never happened. Find a nice Beta's daughter to marry and forget about mate bonds totally.
But I couldn't do it.
"Yes," I said, hating myself. "Remove her from the premises. Rogues aren't welcome here."
The hurt that flashed across her face almost brought me to my knees.
"But sir," the guard said, looking confused. "She's your—"
"She's nothing to me," I cut him off quickly. "Just another rogue looking for trouble."
I turned and walked toward the hotel, each step feeling like pain. The mate link was screaming at me to go back to her.
But just before I reached the door, I couldn't help myself.
"Actually," I said without turning around. "Bring her to my office tomorrow morning. There's something I need to talk with her."
It was a terrible plan. Seeing her again would only make this harder.
"And find out who she really is," I added. "I want to know everything about her background."
Because something about her was familiar. Those green eyes, the shape of her face - I'd seen them before somewhere.
As the guards dragged her away, I pulled out my phone and rang a number I hadn't called in years.
"Alpha Victor Nightwood, please," I said when someone answered. "Tell him it's about his missing daughter."
The person on the other end gasped. "Sir, are you saying you found her?"
I watched Aria fade into the darkness, my chest aching from the broken mate bond.
"Yes," I said quietly. "I found her. And tomorrow, I'm going to have to break both our hearts."
Because there was no way Victor Nightwood would let his precious daughter mate with someone who had rejected her. And there was no way I could be with someone my pack would never accept.
But first, I needed to know why the Alpha's lost daughter was living as a rogue.
And why she looked at me like I was her whole world.