The world had just shattered, not just for Aria, but for Rowan too. As his obsidian eyes locked onto hers, a jolt, primal and undeniable, ripped through him.
It wasn't the polite recognition of an acquaintance, or the casual assessment of a pack member. This was a seismic shift, an ancient energy thrumming through his very bones, vibrating in every cell of his being.
The scent of pine and ozone that had always been his own now mingled with a new, intoxicating fragrance—wildflowers and rain-kissed earth, unmistakably Aria.
His wolf, usually a stoic, disciplined presence, was roaring, a tempest unleashed within his chest, demanding, *claiming*.
No.
Impossible. Rowan's mind screamed in fierce denial.
This scrawny, meek omega, the one he had tormented and dismissed for years, the unwanted sister of his future Luna, could not be his.
His mate. The very thought was a grotesque mockery, a cruel twist of fate that threatened to unravel his entire meticulously planned future.
He was Rowan Blackthorn, the future Alpha, bound by duty, by lineage, by an engagement that secured his pack's future.
He was not meant for a girl who couldn't even summon her wolf until her eighteenth birthday, a girl whispered to be an embarrassment, a defect.
Yet, as he took those first, instinctual steps, his body moved without his conscious command, drawn by an invisible, unbreakable thread.
Every fiber of his being yearned to close the distance between them, to feel the fragile warmth of her skin, to breathe in the intoxicating scent that had suddenly become his anchor, his obsession.
His gaze, usually cold and impenetrable, was now alight with a possessive fire he couldn't extinguish, even as his mind raged against it.
Aria watched him approach, a cold dread seeping into her bones.
The realization had struck her like a physical blow, a visceral punch to her already reeling senses.
Her mate. Rowan.
*Him*. The boy who had made her childhood a living hell, whose chilling disdain had been a constant companion.
The future Alpha, who was already betrothed to her perfect sister, Selene.
Her awakening wolf, still raw and untamed, whined with a horrifying recognition, a desperate urge to lean into the powerful aura he exuded.
But her human heart, bruised and scarred by years of his cruelty, recoiled in utter revulsion. No.
Not him. Never him.
This was her worst nightmare made flesh, a prison more suffocating than any she had imagined. The freedom she had craved, the escape she had painstakingly planned, was now a cruel, distant dream.
"Stay back!" she hissed, the sound thin and reedy compared to the primal growls that had just ripped from her.
Her wolf, however, bristled, a low, warning snarl echoing in her ears, a fierce rejection of the bond.
Rowan faltered, just for a moment, his jaw tightening.
The rejection, even in its nascent form, stung with a sharp, unexpected pain. His wolf howled internally, offended, enraged.
But he pushed past it, his stride regaining its purposeful intensity. He was almost there, just a few feet separated them, the stunned faces of the pack a blurry backdrop to their terrifying, undeniable connection.
Selene, who had finally scrambled to her feet, her hand still pressed to her bleeding cheek, stared at Rowan with wide, disbelieving eyes.
The chaos in the dining hall had quieted to a stunned silence, all eyes now fixed on the unfolding drama.
She saw the way Rowan's gaze was glued to Aria, the raw intensity that burned there. She saw the way he was moving towards her sister, utterly ignoring the blood on her own face, ignoring her tears, ignoring their broken engagement.
A cold, venomous suspicion began to coil in her gut. No.
It couldn't be. Not *Aria*.
"Rowan?" Selene's voice was a desperate whisper, laced with hurt and a rising, dangerous edge.
"What are you doing? Are you blind?
Look at her! She's a pathetic, unhinged omega!
And she attacked me!"
Rowan didn't even glance at her. His focus remained solely on Aria, his eyes blazing, a desperate plea warring with an iron-hard possessiveness.
He dropped to one knee before her, ignoring the gasp that swept through the room, ignoring the indignant cry from Selene.
He reached out, his hand hovering inches from her face, as if afraid to touch her, yet unable to resist the pull.
"What is this, Aria?" His voice was a low growl, rough with a desperation she had never heard from him.
"Tell me what this means. It's… it's a mistake. It has to be." Even as he uttered the words, his wolf pulsed with frantic denial, even as his senses screamed the truth.
Aria flinched away from his hovering hand, her terror giving way to a fierce, desperate anger.
"It means," she spat, her voice trembling but firm, "that you are my absolute worst nightmare. And I reject it. I reject *you*."
The words hung in the air, a declaration of war. A collective gasp rippled through the pack.
To reject a mate, especially a future Alpha, was an unforgivable affront, a violation of the most sacred bond.
But before the pack, before her family, before Selene could react, before even Aria could fully process the ramifications of her defiant declaration, Rowan's hand shot out.
He grasped her arm, his grip surprisingly gentle yet utterly inescapable. His eyes, now devoid of any denial, burned with a terrifying, primal possessiveness.
"You can reject all you want, little Omega," he growled, his voice a low, dangerous rumble that vibrated through her very bones, "but the bond is already formed. And I will never, *ever*, let you go."