Leona Carpenter was finally about to walk down the aisle to be mated to Alpha Michael Hansen.

The majestic swell of the ceremonial march flooded the pack’s venue, and Leona, gliding in her billowing white gown, moved gracefully down the aisle toward Michael, who stood waiting for her at the altar. He looked sharp in a crisp white suit, golden gilded light wrapping around him soft as a kiss, highlighting that same easy, commanding Alpha demeanor she’d fallen head over heels for the first day they met.

Three years. They’d weathered a hundred storms and rogue attacks together to get here, and finally, the dream she’d clung to for so long was seconds from coming true. The only dark cloud hanging over the day? Her own pack didn’t approve. They weren’t even here to give their blessing.

When Michael stepped forward to take her hand and offer her the bouquet, Leona’s eyes glistened, hot tears of joy pricking at the corners.

“Alpha Michael, do you take this she-wolf to be your lawfully bound mate? To love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, and be faithful to her as long as you both shall live under the Moon Goddess?” The Pack Elder asked, his gaze warm and soft as it rested on the couple before him.

Leona swallowed down the fluttering chaos in her chest, her inner wolf practically purring, and fixed her eyes on Michael, bright with hope, dying to hear him say yes.

But something shifted in Michael’s face. His expression went dark, empty, completely blank. He hesitated. The words died in his throat before he could even get them out.

That’s when it happened…

“Michael, by the Goddess, it’s terrible!” Remy Hansen came bursting through the doors, her scent spiking with pure panic and her face streaked with messy tears, cutting Michael off mid-silence. She choked on her sobs, broken and gasping, “Aila, she…”

A cold, clawing unease coiled tight in Leona’s chest. Tension carved sharp lines into her face, and instinctively, she clutched Michael’s hand harder, her claws threatening to slip out.

Leona knew better than anyone how much Aila Ellis meant to Michael. She was the one that got away. The impossible, fated love he’d never gotten over.

Years back, when the Hansen pack hit rock bottom, Aila chose a full ride to train with a foreign pack over their bond. Michael was broken, his Alpha pride too wounded to beg her to stay, so he cut her off cold. That’s when he turned to Leona.

But just a month ago? Aila’s familiar scent showed back up on their territory out of the blue.

Michael’s face shifted so fast it was like his inner wolf flipped a switch. His voice, tight and sharp with urgency, cut through the hush that had fallen over the room, “What happened to Aila?”

“She’s hurt bad, a silver blade, and the bleeding won’t stop! The pack healers say she might not make it!” Remy sobbed.

The second the words left her mouth, Michael wrenched his hand free of Leona’s grip and bolted for the door.

“You can’t leave!” Leona lunged after him, her trembling fingers locking tight around his wrist, desperation pouring off every inch of her. She held his gaze, begging, “Michael, today’s our mating ceremony. Are you really just going to walk out on me?”

The whispers of the pack members, their judgmental stares, felt like a thousand tiny claws slicing into her heart. Tears burned at her lash line as she bowed her pride and begged him, “Michael, can’t we just finish the ceremony first? Please?”

“She got hit saving me from a rogue ambush. I can’t just leave her to die.” Michael tried to yank his hand away, but Leona held on for dear life. His face hardened, and his voice came out cold as ice, “Leona, you know this mating was just a deal between us. Just do your job as the Luna of the Hansen Pack. My private life is none of your damn business.”

Leona’s pupils shrank. She stared at Michael’s cold, set face, disbelief washing over her whole body. Shock slowly melted into bitter, cutting irony.

A wry, broken smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She whispered, thick with sorrow, “So… all of this was just a deal to you?”

"Yes!" Michael’s answer was firm, his Alpha aura flaring without a single flicker of hesitation.

My chest tightened, my inner wolf whining in pure agony like my heart had just taken a brutal, silver-laced punch to the gut, a dull, throbbing ache that wouldn’t quit spreading through my ribs. He tossed a casual "sorry" over his shoulder, his scent already fading as he hurried off like I wasn’t even standing there.

I stayed rooted to the spot, watching him leave, and it felt like a dull, rusted blade had just carved my heart open. The pain squeezed so tight I could barely draw breath. Ice crawled up from my toes, numbing every inch of my body, turning me cold all over.

When Michael took over as Alpha, the Hansen pack's territory and businesses were one bad moon away from collapsing, their finances and defenses completely in ruins. He’d sat right across from me and said the pack was still unstable, that he couldn’t promise me the steady future and Luna title I deserved. But he swore by the Moon Goddess that once things settled down, he’d mate me.

For three whole years, I clung to that promise. I schemed, I fought off rogues, I literally clawed my way through pack politics just to pull him from a weak heir to a respected Alpha. All I ever wanted was for my own family to accept him, for us to finally walk down that aisle and complete the mating bond. But after three years together… this whole thing was nothing but a calculated business deal to him.

Turns out, in this so-called love of ours, I was the only fool whose wolf fell head over heels. All my blood, sweat and tears for three years? Just a sick joke, nothing next to his fated one, Aila.

I bit my lip so hard I tasted copper blood, fighting like hell to hold my tears back and keep my wolf from howling in despair, but they spilled anyway—rolling down my cheeks like loose beads off a broken necklace, I couldn’t stop them if I tried. The ache inside me raged so hard my whole body shook uncontrollably.

Remy was standing off to the side, watching me fall apart, her fangs bared in a vicious, smug little smirk. "Leona, if you hadn’t been such a damn clingy, desperate bitch all these years, my brother never would’ve agreed to mate a tacky, low-born mutt like you in the first place. Why don’t you get a clue, tuck your tail between your legs, and get out of the Hansen territory for good?"

Hearing Remy bark that out loud, bold as brass, made the cold in my bones even worse, but my wolf flared with pure, lethal indignation. "Have you already forgotten your place? If it wasn’t for me, the Hansen pack wouldn’t even exist today, let alone be sitting pretty like this. You’d be nothing but scavengers!"

"Cut the crap!" Remy growled, jabbing a clawed finger right in my face, her scent souring with sharp, explosive anger. "You really think you’re some big-shot savior? We’d be doing just fine without a stray like you!"

The way they saw me… it made my heart ache so bad I thought my soul would split in two.

"That’s enough howling for today," Rosalie, Michael’s mother and the former Luna, snapped as she strode over, a suffocating wave of impatience rolling off her. Her eyes were full of nothing but pure disgust, looking at me like I was some rabid rogue she’d scraped off her shoe. "Look at you, pathetic! Making a scene like this is bad enough, but the Hansen pack cannot afford to lose face in front of the other Alphas over you!"

With that, she slapped that fake, practiced Luna smile right back on her face and turned to usher the pack guests away.

I watched as the wolves trickled out in small groups, my mating ceremony—the one I’d dreamed of for years—turning into nothing but one big, humiliating joke. Why did the loyalty and sincerity I bled for them get thrown back in my face like trash? Was it all just because my wolf submitted to a man who never loved me back?

I slowly closed my eyes, tears rolling down my cold cheeks. I felt fragile, helpless, just like a pile of shattered glass no one can bother putting back together.

Thirty minutes later, I found myself wandering aimlessly down a deserted road on the edge of the pack borders, like a lost, mate-less ghost searching for something to ease the ache. I didn’t even notice the rain starting at first: big, heavy drops that quickly turned into a full-on downpour, washing away the scent of the home I thought I had.

I glanced around. There wasn’t any shelter for miles, nothing but an abandoned bus stop far off down the road. I was barefoot, so I hurried toward it, but of course my luck held—a sharp, jagged stone sliced right into the arch of my foot. Because my wolf was so weak and suppressed by the emotional trauma, the wound didn't heal instantly. I flinched, biting down hard on the pain, and limped the rest of the way to the stop.

Suddenly, a blaring horn and the screech of tires cut straight through the quiet of the rain-soaked street, overwhelming my heightened senses.

I stared at the car roaring straight toward me, my eyes blowing wide, pupils blown black with pure, paralyzing fear.

Leona Carpenter’s mind went completely blank, her inner wolf paralyzed. Her legs felt heavy as lead, too heavy to move. A massive black SUV tore past her like a streak of dark lightning, the sheer force of it almost terrifying. The violent gust of wind it kicked up sent her crashing hard onto the wet, unforgiving pavement.

She figured the driver would just speed off to the edge of the territory—there wasn’t a soul around to see what happened. But instead, the beast of a car swung around and screeched to a halt right in front of her.

The door swung open, and a pair of perfectly polished black leather boots stepped out. Long, straight legs strode toward her with terrifying purpose, and a black umbrella tilted over her head to block the unrelenting pouring rain. An overwhelming, suffocatingly powerful Alpha aura rolled off him, heavy enough to bring a weaker wolf to their knees.

"You okay?" Vance Martinez’s deep, rich rumble cut through the drumming of the rain, vibrating straight into her bones.

Leona lifted her gaze to the imposing male standing over her. He had sharp, striking features, a chiseled jawline, and dark, magnetic eyes that pulled her right in. There was a dangerous, ancient glint in them—the look of a true predator—that she couldn't look away from.

Wait… those eyes. Did her wolf recognize them? She couldn’t quite place the primal pull.

Leona shook her head, her voice soft and rough from the shock. "I’m fine, thank you…"

She pushed herself up with effort, but the scrape on her calf and the silver-like burn of the cut on her foot made her flinch hard, and she stumbled right back down, her weak muscles betraying her.

Suddenly, a strong, muscular arm curled around her waist, hauling her forcefully against a solid, scorching-hot frame.

Before she knew it, she was pressed right up against Vance’s chest, completely engulfed in his crisp, overwhelmingly dominant masculine scent—like dark woods and a brewing storm. Her hands landed instinctively on his chest, and she could feel the hard, firm muscle under his dress shirt—and her heart immediately started hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs. Electric tingles sparked across her skin where he touched her, making her inner wolf sit up and bare its teeth in confusion.

Her palms burned like fire, and she tried to scramble back, fighting the unnatural pull. Instead of letting go, he just scooped her up effortlessly into his arms like she weighed nothing.

She bared her teeth, a low warning growl vibrating in her throat, her gaze turning icy. "What do you think you’re doing? Put me down!"

She’d been bonded to Michael Hansen for three years, and they’d barely even touched outside of public appearances. A stranger male being this physically forward, letting his scent invade hers? It made her skin prickle with aggressive discomfort.

Vance held her hostile gaze, his expression completely calm and unshakable. "You’re hurt. You need to get to the healers right now."

"I-I can walk on my own paws," she spat back, struggling. Being this close to him made her jittery; his cool, suffocatingly powerful aura wrapped around her like a physical chain, and it only amplified her nerves.

"Don't move," he ordered. He didn't just say it—he used his Alpha Command. The raw, authoritative power of his voice slammed into her, forcing her spine straight, and all the protests instantly died right in Leona’s throat as her wolf involuntarily submitted to the sheer weight of his dominance.

Once she was settled in the heavy vehicle, a cold chill went through her and she sneezed. Vance reached over to turn down the AC, then noticed she was still shivering, and draped his heavy wool coat over her shoulders. "Don’t let your wolf freeze."

"Thank you." The coat was drenched in his potent scent and intoxicating warmth, and it stirred something weird, wild, and unnameable deep in her chest.

Vance caught the pink rising in her cheeks, and a flicker of predatory amusement glinted in his dark eyes. "I should be the one thanking you."

"What do you mean?" Leona blinked, her wolf utterly confused.

He held her gaze steady, his voice a low, sure purr. "Thank you for letting me apologize. For giving me a chance to make this right."

The massive car ate up the road quickly, and before long they pulled up to a human hospital near the territory borders. Leona stubbornly insisted on walking on her own two feet, fighting the pain, so Vance matched her slow pace as she limped toward the emergency entrance.

When she came back out, smelling of sterile antiseptics that masked her natural scent, she found him with his broad back to her, talking on his phone. The second his heightened senses picked up her approach, he hung up and walked straight over. "Here’s my number. Howl if you need anything at all."

"I don’t need anything else," Leona said politely, keeping her guard up and declining the card he held out. The accident was over, and she liked to keep things simple—no unnecessary messy ties with a dangerously powerful strange Alpha.

She paused, then held out his coat to him. "Here’s your coat. I’ll pay to have your scent washed out of it, of course."

Vance glanced at the coat in her hands, a soft, knowing smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "You need it way more than I do right now."

His simple line warmed her chest all of a sudden, an unexpected comfort to her battered inner wolf. She wondered if she was just extra raw and mate-less today, to get this worked up over a stranger Alpha’s small kindness.

"Thank you, but I’m fine. I really need to go." She turned down his offer of further help—she had urgent matters waiting for her back at the Hansen pack house.

Vance watched her slender figure retreat down the sidewalk, the beast beneath his skin purring as a determined glint burned in his eyes. "We’ll meet again soon, little wolf."