EMBER
Kael just protected her.
The Alpha who spent three years hunting her across four territories just attacked his own Beta to keep her alive.
Ember's brain could not process it.
The mate bond pulsed between them like a living heartbeat. Warm and insistent and completely wrong. Her wolf whined and pushed toward the surface, desperate to go to him. To accept what the Moon Goddess offered.
Her human side wanted to scream.
Not him. Anyone in the entire world but him.
Kael Dravenwood. Son of the Alpha who led the massacre. Mate of the monster who smiled while killing her mother. The wolf who swore a blood oath to execute her.
The bond did not care about any of that. It only knew they belonged to each other.
Ember stumbled backward until her spine hit the warehouse wall. Her chest felt split open. The rejection she threw at him earlier was tearing through her own body like claws.
Rejecting a mate bond was supposed to hurt. The Goddess did not take kindly to wolves denying her gifts. But Ember would rather die screaming than accept this cruel joke.
Her wolf howled in protest. Begging her to stop fighting. To give in.
Never.
Kael stood over his Beta, chest heaving, looking as confused as Ember felt. His enforcers watched their Alpha with wide eyes. They did not understand what was happening. Could not feel the invisible rope trying to tie Kael and Ember together for life.
The dark-skinned wolf slowly shifted back to human form. Ronan. She heard Kael call him that earlier. His Beta and best friend based on the way he moved with easy familiarity.
Ronan stared at Kael like he was looking at a stranger.
"What are you doing?" His voice came out careful. Like he was talking to someone dangerous. "Why did you stop me from killing her?"
Kael's jaw worked but no sound came out. His hands were shaking. Storm-blue eyes flicked to Ember and then away. Like looking at her hurt.
Good. Let it hurt. Let him feel even a fraction of the pain his family caused hers.
"Alpha." Ronan stood slowly, hands raised in a calming gesture. "Tell me what is happening. Why is she still breathing?"
One of the other enforcers whined. A young wolf who looked barely old enough to be part of a hunting party. His eyes darted between Kael and Ember with growing fear.
Ember understood that fear. Wolves needed their Alpha to be strong and certain. Kael was neither right now. The bond was ripping him apart just like it was destroying her.
She hated that she could feel his emotions bleeding through the connection. Confusion. Anger. Need. The desire to claim her warring with his oath to kill her.
It made her want to vomit.
"She is my mate." Kael's voice came out barely above a whisper.
The warehouse went dead silent.
Ronan's eyes went wide. Then narrow. Then hard.
"No." He shook his head. "That is impossible. She murdered Seraphina. The Goddess would not bond you to your Luna's killer."
"And yet here we are." Kael's laugh sounded broken.
Ember's wolf whined at the pain in his voice. She shoved it down hard. She would not feel sympathy for him. Would not let the bond manipulate her emotions.
"Then reject her." Ronan's voice turned sharp. "Officially. In front of witnesses. Sever the bond before it takes hold."
Kael's eyes found Ember again. The look in them made something in her chest clench.
"She already rejected me."
The enforcers sucked in shocked breaths. Rejections were rare. Sacred bonds did not get thrown away lightly.
Ronan's expression shifted. Understanding followed by something that looked like relief.
"Good. Then this is simple. The bond is broken. Kill her and fulfill your oath."
Kael did not move. His hands curled into fists at his sides. Every muscle in his body locked up tight.
He could not do it. The bond was still there, still pulling, even after her rejection. She felt it too. The invisible rope fraying but not broken. Not yet.
It would take time for a rejection to fully sever. Days maybe. Weeks if they stayed close to each other.
Ember's wolf realized it at the same time she did. They were still connected. Still mates in the eyes of the Goddess.
Still vulnerable to each other.
"I cannot." Kael's voice was rough gravel. "My wolf will not allow it."
Ronan's face went hard. "Then you are compromised. Step aside and let me finish this."
"No."
The word came out as an Alpha command. Power slammed into every wolf in the room. They dropped to their knees under the crushing weight of it.
Except Ember.
She stood against the wall, blade in hand, watching Kael lose control of everything he built. Watching the mate bond destroy him.
Part of her felt savage satisfaction. Let him suffer. Let him know what loss feels like.
But another part, the part connected to him through the bond, felt his pain like her own. Felt him breaking and wanted to fix it.
She hated that part of herself.
Ronan struggled to his feet, fighting the Alpha command. His loyalty to Kael was strong enough to push through.
"You cannot protect her." His voice shook with effort. "The pack will never accept this. Other Alphas will see it as weakness. They will come for Silvercrest. For you."
"I know."
"Then kill her now before it is too late."
Kael's eyes blazed blue. "I said no."
The two wolves stared at each other. A lifetime of friendship cracking under the weight of impossible choices.
Ember could end this. She still had her blade. Kael was distracted, arguing with his Beta. She could drive silver through his heart before anyone stopped her.
If she killed him, the bond would break completely. No more pull toward him. No more feeling his emotions. No more cruel fate tying her to her enemy's bloodline.
Her wolf snarled a warning. Begging her not to. But her wolf was an idiot who did not understand what accepting Kael would mean.
It would mean forgiving Seraphina's crimes. Accepting the pack that slaughtered hers. Becoming Luna to the wolves who murdered her family.
She would rather die.
Ember pushed off the wall and moved toward Kael. Silent. Deadly.
Ronan saw her coming and opened his mouth to warn his Alpha.
She was faster.
Her blade flashed toward Kael's exposed back. Right between the shoulder blades. A killing strike.
Kael spun at the last second. His hand caught her wrist again. How did he move so fast? His eyes locked onto hers, burning with Alpha fire.
"Do not." His voice was a growl. Half human. Half wolf.
"Let me go."
"No."
They were close again. Too close. The bond flared hot between them. Her wolf purred at his nearness. At the warmth of his hand wrapped around her wrist.
Ember wanted to scream.
"I will never stop trying to kill you." Her voice shook. "The bond does not change that."
"I know."
"I hate you. I hate your family. I hate everything you represent."
"I know that too."
"Then why are you protecting me?"
Kael's thumb brushed across her racing pulse. Gentle. Reverent. His eyes searched her face like he was trying to memorize it.
"Because you are mine. And I do not let go of what is mine."
The possessiveness in his voice should have terrified her. Instead something hot and unwanted coiled in her stomach.
The bond was poison. Making her feel things she did not want to feel.
"I rejected you." Ember yanked against his grip but he held firm. "The bond is broken."
"Not yet it is not." Kael pulled her closer. So close she felt his heart pounding against her chest. "And until it is, you are under my protection whether you want it or not."
"I would rather die than be yours."
Pain flashed across his face. The rejection was hurting him. Good.
But her wolf whimpered at causing their mate pain. The conflict made her head pound.
Ronan moved toward them slowly. "Kael. Think about what you are doing. If you claim her, the pack will revolt. Dorian will attack. You will lose everything."
Kael did not look away from Ember. "I already lost everything the night Seraphina died. This just makes it official."
One of the enforcers spoke up. A gray wolf with scared eyes.
"Alpha, we should leave. More wolves will come. The bounty on her head is too high. This place is not safe."
Kael finally broke eye contact with Ember. He looked around at his wounded enforcers. At the bodies on the floor. At the warehouse that smelled like blood and death.
"You are right. We move now." His grip on Ember tightened. "She comes with us."
Ember's stomach dropped. "What?"
"You are my prisoner until I decide what to do with you."
"I am not going anywhere with you."
Kael's eyes hardened. "You rejected the mate bond. That means you are just a rogue who murdered my Luna. And rogues do not get choices."
Before Ember could fight back, Kael moved. His hand came up and struck the pressure point at her neck. Her vision exploded in stars. Her legs gave out.
She felt him catch her before she hit the ground. Felt his arms wrap around her like she was something precious instead of his enemy.
Her wolf sighed in contentment at being held by their mate.
Ember wanted to claw her own wolf's eyes out.
"Get the silver chains." Kael's voice sounded far away. "Make sure they are thick. She is stronger than she looks."
Cold metal wrapped around Ember's wrists. Silver burned against her skin. She tried to fight but her body would not respond. The pressure point strike left her paralyzed.
Kael lifted her easily. Cradling her against his bare chest like she weighed nothing.
The last thing Ember saw before darkness took her was Ronan's worried face and the warehouse fading into the distance.
She was being taken to Silvercrest territory. To the pack that slaughtered hers. To face wolves who wanted her dead.
And the mate bond still pulsed between them, laughing at her failed rejection.