Aria's POV
The mate bond was burning a hole through my chest.
I pressed my hand against my heart, trying to steady my breathing as Alpha Dominic Thorne stood on the ceremony platform above the gathered pack. The Harvest Moon hung full and golden behind him, making his dark hair shine like a crown. My mate. My Alpha. The man who'd whispered promises in my ear for six secret months.
Tonight, he was finally going to announce me as his chosen Luna.
"My pack," Dominic's voice rang out across the clearing, strong and confident. "Tonight, under the Harvest Moon, I claim my mate."
My wolf surged inside me, ready to leap forward. Ready to finally be seen. I took a step toward the platform, my heart hammering so hard I thought everyone could hear it.
Then Dominic smiled and extended his hand.
To Lyssa Hart.
The Beta's daughter walked up the steps like she owned them, her perfect blonde hair catching the moonlight. She was everything I wasn't—powerful wolf, important family, beautiful in that effortless way that made other girls hate themselves.
She took Dominic's hand. He pulled her close.
"Lyssa Hart is my mate," he announced. "My Luna. The future of Silver Crest pack."
The crowd erupted in cheers.
I stood frozen, the mate bond screaming in my chest. This was wrong. This was wrong. The bond was real—I could feel it like a living thing between us, pulling me toward him with desperate urgency.
My feet moved before my brain caught up. I pushed through the cheering wolves, stumbling toward the platform. "Dominic!"
The crowd went quiet. Heads turned.
Dominic's eyes found mine, and for one second—just one heartbeat—I saw panic flash across his face. He felt it too. The bond. The connection that couldn't be faked or ignored.
Then his expression went cold. Blank. Like I was a stranger.
"Dominic, I—" My voice cracked. "The bond. You feel it, don't you? We're—"
"Aria Blackwood." He said my name like it tasted bad. "What are you doing?"
"I'm your mate." The words came out small. Desperate. "You know I am. We've been—for six months, we—"
Lyssa's laugh cut through the air like broken glass. "Is she serious right now?"
"You?" Dominic looked at me the way someone looks at a bug they're about to step on. "You think you're my mate?"
"I know I am." I pressed my hand to my chest again, feeling the bond burn. "I can feel it. You can feel it too, I know you can—"
"Whatever you think you're feeling is a mistake." His voice was flat. Final. "You're too unremarkable to be an Alpha's mate, Aria. Look at yourself."
The pack started laughing. Quiet at first, then louder. Someone whispered "delusional" and someone else said "embarrassing" and the laughter grew until it felt like it was crushing me from all sides.
I searched the crowd for my parents. Mom and Dad would help. They'd tell everyone this was real, that Dominic and I had been together, that I wasn't crazy—
But when I found them in the crowd, my mother was looking away. Dad's face was red with shame. They turned their backs. Actually turned around so they wouldn't have to look at me.
"Dominic, please." I hated how my voice shook. "Just tell them the truth. Tell them about us—"
"There is no 'us.'" He pulled Lyssa closer, his arm around her waist. Possessive. Claiming. "There never was. Whatever fantasy you built in your head, it ends now. You're not my mate. You never were. And you need to accept that."
The mate bond flared so bright it felt like it was burning me alive. He was lying. He had to be lying. We'd been together for six months—secret dates in the forest, stolen kisses behind the pack house, promises whispered in the dark.
He'd told me he loved me.
"You're lying," I whispered. "You're lying—"
"I'm done with this." Dominic waved his hand dismissively. "Someone escort Aria home. She's clearly having some kind of episode."
Two warriors stepped forward. I backed away, shaking my head. The laughter was still echoing around me, wolves pointing and whispering behind their hands. My parents had disappeared into the crowd completely.
"Aria." Lyssa's voice was sweet poison. "Honey, maybe you should see the pack doctor. This level of delusion isn't normal."
More laughter. More stares. More shame pressing down until I couldn't breathe.
I ran.
My wolf gave me speed I didn't normally have, and I crashed through the forest without caring about the branches tearing at my clothes and skin. The bond pulled tight in my chest, yanking me back toward Dominic with every step, but I kept running until my lungs burned and my legs gave out.
I collapsed against a tree, sobbing so hard I thought I might break apart.
He'd rejected me. In front of everyone. Made me look crazy. Made me look pathetic.
And the worst part—the part that made me want to claw my own chest open—was that the bond was still there. Still burning. Still connecting me to the man who'd just destroyed my entire world.
"Why?" I screamed at the empty forest. "Why would you—"
A twig snapped behind me.
I spun around, my wolf surging up on instinct. But it wasn't a warrior sent to drag me home.
It was my father. And he wasn't alone.
Two men in dark clothes stood behind him. Not pack members. Their eyes were cold, their smiles cruel, and when they looked at me, it was the way hunters looked at prey.
"Dad?" My voice came out small. Scared. "What's—"
"I'm sorry, Aria." But he didn't sound sorry at all. He sounded relieved. "But we don't have a choice."
The men moved fast. One grabbed my arms while the other pulled out chains—actual silver chains that burned against my skin.
"Dad! Dad!" I screamed, fighting, but my father just turned away. Just like he had at the ceremony.
"The debt's settled," one of the men said, his breath hot against my ear. "Welcome to Blood Moon territory, little wolf."
They dragged me toward a van hidden in the tr
ees.
And my father walked away without looking back.