Snow was still melting in my hair when I heard her laugh.

"Come on, Damian. Your Luna doesn't have to know everything."

I stopped outside the Alpha's private chamber. In my arms was the laurel sachet I had stitched by candlelight for three months at the Northern Moon Temple. Tomorrow would be our eighth bonding anniversary. I had ridden through the first winter storm to surprise him.

I pushed the door open.

Damian Blackwood, my fated mate and Alpha of the Blackwood Pack, stood bare-chested by the fireplace. On the edge of our bed sat a tall she-wolf in black leather pants. She was wearing his white linen shirt, and she was drinking from his private cup.

She didn't jump. She didn't even set the cup down.

"Evelyn." Damian's brows rose. "You're back early."

"Clearly."

The woman smiled at me. "Relax, Luna. Damian and I are practically brothers."

"I don't think we've met."

"Sienna Vale. Head warrior." She tipped the cup toward me. "Three months now."

So this was the one. The pack letters had mentioned her. She was the she-wolf who had taken a silver arrow for Damian at the border.

My eyes moved across the room. Her combat boots sat beside the bed. Her leather armor hung in our bathroom. The silver moon shawl I had sewn with my own hands lay tossed over the back of a chair like a rag.

"Why," I asked, "is a warrior changing clothes in the Alpha's private chamber?"

Damian reached for a towel. "The border's tense. Sienna reports to me at all hours."

"In your shirt?"

"Her armor was soaked." He tossed the towel aside. "Don't make a normal friendship sound dirty, Evelyn."

I swallowed every word that wanted out. Then I crossed the room and set the sachet on the nightstand.

"Your wolf has been restless," I said quietly. "Keep using my calming herbs at night. Don't skip them."

Sienna plucked the sachet up before I could pull my hand back. She sniffed it and burst out laughing.

"A full-grown Alpha needs his Luna's perfume to fall asleep? That's adorable."

"Put it down."

She ignored me. She leaned toward Damian until her lips almost brushed his ear.

"Maybe what he needs is a stronger she-wolf to wear him out."

I waited for him to push her away.

Damian laughed. He reached over and ruffled her hair like she was a pup.

The blood drained from my face. He didn't notice.

Eight years ago, after the Blood Moon War, silver poison had eaten at his wolf until he couldn't tell friend from enemy. For seven nights I cut my palm open and poured Moon Goddess power into him. The scars were still on my hand. On the eighth morning, he knelt at the Goddess's altar and swore no one would ever hurt his Luna.

I closed my scarred hand into a fist and walked out.

---

The winter hunt feast was held in the Moon Hall that night.

I wore white silk. When I reached the high table, my seat at Damian's right was taken.

Sienna lounged in it, wearing a black battle robe stitched with the Blackwood crest. I knew that robe. Damian had it made last spring. He'd told me it was a gift for his best warrior.

She raised her goblet and shouted something that made the whole table roar.

"Luna." Gavin Cross, one of Damian's senior warriors, didn't stand. "Lost?"

"I'm looking for my seat."

"Funny." Gavin smirked. "Some of us think the woman who fights beside the Alpha deserves it more than the one who mixes herbs in a temple."

Laughter rippled down the table. Damian swirled his wine and said nothing.

I looked straight at Gavin. "Strength isn't measured by how loudly you insult another woman."

The laughter stopped.

Sienna's smile went stiff. She shoved back the chair and stood.

"You want strength, Luna? I'll show you strength."

She pulled a row of silver blades from her belt. One by one, she threw them into the far target. Each one landed dead center. The warriors whistled and pounded their fists on the tables.

She held up the last blade. She turned toward me and winked.

It flew past my face.

Something stung my earlobe. The blade sank into the wooden pillar beside me with a hard thunk. A lock of my silver-gold hair drifted slowly to the floor.

The hall went dead silent.

I touched my ear. My fingertips came away red.

"By pack law," I said, my voice steady, "threatening a Luna in public is an offense. I want it answered."

Sienna's eyes went wide and wet in an instant. "It was a joke. I'd never actually hurt you. Damian, tell her."

Damian rose. He crossed to me and closed his hand around my wrist. His grip was tight.

"Don't embarrass me in front of my warriors," he said low.

I stared up at him. "She drew blood. Do you even care that I was threatened?"

His jaw tightened. "Are you jealous because another she-wolf finally understands my world?"

I didn't cry. I didn't scream.

I laughed. It was one short, broken sound. Damian's grip loosened in surprise.

I pulled my wrist free and sat down in the empty chair at the end of the table. I didn't say another word for the rest of the night.

---

When the feast ended, Sienna threw Damian's cloak over her shoulders and hooked her arm through his.

"Moon's bright," she said. "Training yard? I still owe you a rematch."

"Damian." I stood. "It's late."

He didn't even turn around. "Go back to the chamber. I won't be long."

They walked out together. Her laughter echoed down the hall.

I stood alone in the empty corridor. Through the mate bond, I felt him on the other end.

He was relaxed. He was light. He was happy.

He hadn't felt that way when I walked into the room this afternoon.

For the first time in eight years, I understood. My husband no longer wanted me beside him.

---

Near midnight, my message crystal glowed on the nightstand.

It was a picture from Sienna. She was wearing Damian's shirt and sitting on the Alpha's bed, our bed, with her legs crossed and her smile sharp.

Some she-wolves know how to make an Alpha happy without keeping him on a leash.

My fingers locked around the crystal. A blinding pain tore through the mate mark over my heart. I gasped and doubled over the sheets.

---

Out in the training yard, Damian watched Sienna lower her crystal.

He had seen her send it. He knew exactly who it was for.

"Don't push Evelyn too far," he said.

Sienna stretched her arms over her head and grinned.

"Why? She'll never leave her fated mate."

Damian didn't answer.

Back in the chamber, the mark on my chest kept burning. And for the first time, I wondered what would happen if I cut that bond myself.

The laurel sachet was in the ash bucket.

I found it at dawn, half-buried in gray soot beside the council hall hearth. In its place on Damian's side table sat a flask of black pine liquor and a wolf-fang charm strung on leather.

"Looking for your little perfume pouch?"

Sienna lounged in Damian's private chair. She wore his training coat, and the sleeves were rolled to her elbows. A dozen warriors loitered near the walls, watching.

"That sachet keeps his wolf stable," I said.

"Does it?" She tilted her head. "Or does it keep him needing you? Herbs. Moon blessings. Healing hands every night. Smart trick, Luna. Make an Alpha think he'll fall apart without you."

"The silver poison is suppressed. It isn't gone. His wolf still needs rest and regular treatment. If he stops suddenly—"

Sienna threw her head back and laughed.

"A real Alpha doesn't need his Luna to put him to sleep like a pup."

The warriors snickered.

The side door opened. Damian walked in, and the shadows under his eyes were dark as bruises. I stepped toward him and reached for his temple.

"Let me check your wolf."

He caught my hand before it touched him.

"No more sachets," he announced to the room. "Starting today, Sienna trains with me. High intensity. I'm strong enough without herbs."

"Have you forgotten the nights after the Blood Moon?" I kept my voice low. "You almost turned on your own Beta. Twice."

His mouth flattened.

"I'm your mate, Evelyn. Not your wounded wolf to manage."

Something clenched hard behind my ribs.

I remembered the cave. His body shaking, silver veins crawling under his skin. Me holding his head in my lap night after night, whispering, *Don't be afraid. I'm here.* I'd burned part of the Goddess's power inside me to pull him back. Every winter since, my fingers and toes went numb with cold.

He was already walking away.

---

At noon, a temple messenger delivered my anniversary gown.

I stared at the folded silver silk. Tonight. We were supposed to renew our vows at the Moon Altar tonight.

I'd already made the amulet. Moon-silver wrapped around a blue moonstone. I meant to use it during the ceremony to strengthen the barrier around his wolf.

"The Alpha canceled the ritual," the messenger said, eyes on the floor. "He's attending the winter warrior trials. With Head Warrior Vale."

I took the amulet and went.

---

The training yard was loud with cheering.

Sienna stood pressed against Damian in fitted black armor. She lifted a cloth and dabbed the sweat from his brow, slow, like she had all day.

"Remember that cave on the border?" she called to the crowd. "One fire, one blanket, snow all night. He snores, by the way."

The warriors howled.

"Damian." I stopped at the edge of the yard. "Come back to the temple with me. It's our anniversary."

He didn't move. "My warriors are waiting. Stop putting your feelings above pack business."

"Of course." Sienna grinned. "Luna's only weapon is a ritual. Tie the Alpha up with Goddess vows so he can't wander." She jerked her chin at the platform. "Want to earn his attention? Fight me."

"No."

"Scared?"

"Bored."

Her eyes narrowed. Then her hand shot out and snatched the amulet from my belt.

"Pretty." She dangled it by the chain. "Too delicate for a real warrior, though."

"Give it back. Now."

She weighed it in her palm. "What's so special?"

"Damian pulled that stone from the bottom of Moon Lake eight years ago." My voice came out thin. "Our vow is carved on the back."

She flipped it over and read aloud, mocking.

"*In every lifetime, my wolf chooses yours.*"

Then she tossed it high into the air.

"Oops."

She didn't even try to catch it.

The amulet struck the obsidian ground with a sharp crack. The blue moonstone split apart. Tiny threads of silver light spilled out and faded into nothing.

The mate mark over my heart seared. I folded forward, gasping.

That stone had glowed the night our souls first resonated. It had been the proof.

I dropped to my knees on the frozen black stone and began gathering the pieces. The edges sliced my palms. Blood ran over the carved words.

"Relax." Sienna examined her nails. "I'll buy you a bigger one. Crying over an old rock, Luna? Really?"

Damian's face had gone white. Gold flared in his eyes. His wolf was right there, angry.

"Sienna—"

"I took a silver arrow for you." She said it softly. Just to him. "I almost died. And you'll shout at me over a stone?"

The gold dimmed. His shoulders came down.

He looked at me.

"It's just a stone. Stop turning everything into a tragedy."

I raised my head slowly.

"Was our bond just another thing you could replace?"

He glanced away. "You're too emotional right now. Go back to the chamber and calm down."

Sienna looped her arm through his. "Come on. One more round."

And he went.

I stayed on my knees with the bloody shards in my fist and waited for the tears.

None came.

---

High Priestess Maren nearly dropped her candle.

"Sever a fated bond? Child, do you understand what you're asking? The pain will tear through your soul. You could lose part of your wolf forever."

I set the broken moonstone on her altar.

"Staying is killing me more slowly."

---

I slid the moon-silver ring off my finger. Damian had put it on me himself, kneeling, his hands shaking.

I left it on his desk in the Alpha's chamber, on top of the petition. Then I saddled my mare and rode north toward the Northern Moon Temple.

---

Damian read the petition twice. Then he crushed it in his fist.

"She's bluffing," he snapped at Rowan, his Beta. "Using the bond to threaten me."

"Alpha, the Luna took her horse. She's gone north—"

"She'll come back. A Luna can't just walk away from her Alpha."

The words had barely left his mouth when Sienna's crystal blazed on his belt.

"Damian!" Her voice cracked, sobbing. "Rogues—on the border patrol—there are too many, please—"

He grabbed his cloak and was out the door before Rowan could speak.

The ring stayed on the desk.

---

The storm hit me halfway through the northern gorge.

Snow lashed sideways. My mare stamped and screamed. Ahead, through the white, red eyes opened one pair at a time.

Five rogues. Six.

Behind me, rock thundered down the mountainside and sealed the path.

I raised my bleeding hand and called on the Goddess.

The light flickered. Weak. Fading.

My power was draining away like water through cracked stone.

I fumbled for my message crystal with numb fingers.

"Damian. Northern gorge. Rogues. Please."

The crystal pulsed once.

Then it went dark.

No answer came.

The lead rogue lowered its head and began to stalk toward me.

My mare reared before I could tighten the reins.

The world flipped. I hit the ground hard, and my left leg slammed against a shelf of frozen rock. White pain shot up to my hip.

I bit down on a scream and pushed myself up. My leg buckled. I tried again.

Three rogues stepped out of the snow.

The leader was gray, huge, and thin as a corpse. The stench rolling off him was rot and burned metal. Black veins pulsed under his skin.

My stomach turned. I knew that smell.

"Forbidden silver," I whispered.

These wolves had no minds left. An Alpha's command would slide right off them. Begging wouldn't work either.

"Back," I ordered anyway. My voice cracked in the wind.

The gray wolf snarled and kept coming.

I reached inward for my wolf. *Come on. Please.*

She answered slowly, like she was waking from deep water. Silver-white fur rippled across my arms, then faded. My bones ached and refused to change.

The moonstone. It had held my power steady for eight years. Now it lay in pieces in my saddlebag.

*I'm too weak,* my wolf murmured. *Half of me is missing.*

I stumbled backward until my heel scraped empty air. A cliff. I grabbed the rock face to keep from falling, and its edge split my palm open. Blood dripped red onto the snow.

I pressed my hand to the mark over my heart and pushed my voice down the bond.

*Damian, I'm trapped in the northern pass. Please, I need you.*

---

On the southern border, Damian staggered.

Pain ripped across his chest. His hand flew to the mate mark.

"Evelyn?"

He turned north. Before he could take a step, Sienna crashed into his arms.

"Damian!" She was shaking. "One of them had a bow. Silver arrow. My shoulder—"

Blood soaked the torn leather at her shoulder. His wolf went cold.

"Rowan, get the horses. We're taking her to the healers. Now."

---

*Damian.* I gripped the bond with everything I had left. *They're poisoned. Silver-mad. Three of them. My leg is hurt. If you don't come, I'll die.*

His answer came back flat and annoyed.

*You left me a petition to cut our bond this morning. Now suddenly you're dying?*

"What?" I said it out loud. The wind tore it away.

*Sienna is injured. Stop using our bond to punish me.*

I stared at the snow. At my own blood, already freezing.

*Do you really think I'd lie about dying?*

Through the bond, I heard her. A soft, broken moan right beside his ear.

"Damian, it hurts. Don't leave me."

He was quiet for a heartbeat.

*I'll deal with you when I get back.*

Then the bond went silent.

He hadn't been dragged away. He hadn't lost focus. He had shut the door himself.

I laughed. It came out wet and strange, and it echoed off the cliffs.

The gray wolf leaped.

I threw up my bleeding hand. Moonlight burst from my palm and hurled him back into the drift. For one second I was a Luna again.

Then the second rogue hit me from the side.

His teeth sank into my shoulder. Fire raced into my veins, then deeper, into the place where my wolf lived. I watched silver-white fur bloom across my arm and turn gray. Then black, at the edges.

I fell into the snow.

*He isn't coming,* my wolf whimpered.

"I know."

I closed my eyes. *Moon Goddess. Take whatever you want from me. Just let her live.*

The gray wolf's breath was hot on my face.

A howl split the valley.

It was so deep the snow slid off the branches. The rogues froze. Every hair on my body rose.

A massive silver-black wolf exploded out of the storm. He hit the gray wolf so hard they both rolled into the rocks. The other two lunged at him. He tore one aside and pinned the other with one paw. His power rolled over the valley like a falling sky.

Even the mad ones ran.

The great wolf turned. His shape folded down into a man. He was tall and dark-haired, and his gray eyes were fixed on me.

He knelt and swung his heavy cloak around my shoulders.

"Stay awake. You're safe now."

"Who..." My tongue felt thick. "Who are you?"

"Ronan Whitmore. Alpha of Silvercrest."

My eyes went wide. Silvercrest was the strongest pack in the north. They didn't take in outsiders, and their Alpha didn't rescue strangers.

He pulled the cloak back from my shoulder, and his face hardened.

"Silver. It's spreading." He turned his head. "Tobin! Send word to the border healers. Moonlight purification, ready before we arrive."

"Yes, Alpha!"

He lifted me against his chest and walked into the wind, keeping the cloak between me and the storm. Every step jolted my leg. I clutched the front of his shirt.

"My mate," I rasped. "He didn't... He doesn't believe I'd die."

Ronan looked down at me. When he spoke again, his voice was gentle.

"I believe you, Evelyn."

I started to cry, and I couldn't make it stop.

---

The healer's face went gray when she saw the wound.

"The poison has reached her wolf, Alpha. If the purification fails, she may never shift again. She may not wake."

"Then don't let it fail." Ronan stepped back toward the door. "I'll be right outside. No one enters without her consent. No one."

---

In the Blackwood healing den, the healer wiped Sienna's shoulder clean and frowned.

"It's a scrape, Alpha. No silver. A bandage will do."

Sienna's eyes darted away.

Rowan shoved through the curtain, snow on his boots. "The Luna's mare came back alone. The saddle is covered in blood. The northern patrol found rogue tracks. Poisoned ones."

The color drained from Damian's face.

*Evelyn.* He threw himself into the bond. *Evelyn, answer me!*

Something flickered at the other end. It was faint, like a candle in the wind.

He was out the door and on four legs before Sienna could call his name.

---

The black wolf skidded to a stop outside the Silvercrest den at midnight. Damian shifted and charged the door.

Ronan stood in front of it. His shirt was stiff with dried blood.

Damian stared at it. "That's... Is that hers? Move. I'm here for my Luna."

"Your Luna." Ronan didn't budge. "Where were you when she was begging you to save her?"

"I thought—Sienna was hurt. I thought it was a silver arrow, I thought—"

"It was a scratch. I can smell it on you." Ronan's voice dropped. "The poison is in Evelyn's wolf. She may never shift again. She may never wake up."

Damian's knees hit the frozen ground.

"Evelyn." His voice broke. "Evelyn. *Evelyn.*"

Ronan let him kneel there until dawn.

---

I woke to gray light and a heavy ache in my bones.

"The poison is contained," the healer said softly. "But your wolf is very weak. Rest."

The door banged open.

Damian fell to his knees beside the bed and grabbed my hand. His eyes were red and his cheeks were wet.

"I was wrong. Goddess, Evelyn, I was so wrong. Come home with me. Please. I'll fix this."

I studied him. This was the man who had sworn at the altar that no one would ever hurt me.

"She needed a healer," I whispered. "I needed my mate to save my life. Why did you choose her?"

His mouth opened. Nothing came out.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry—"

I slid my hand out of his. Then I looked past him to the man in the doorway.

"Thank you for believing me."

Ronan crossed the room and stopped at my bedside.

"You never had to earn that."

Damian looked from Ronan to me. Something cold crept into his face. It looked a lot like fear.

"Healer," I said. "My coat."

She brought it over. From the inner pocket I pulled out the temple's sealed copy of the petition. My blood had dried brown across it.

I held it out to Damian.

"I reject you as my mate, Damian Blackwood."

He doubled over and clawed at his chest. Inside him, I heard his black wolf howl like something dying.

"Take it back." He grabbed the edge of the bed. "Evelyn, please. Take it back!"

Beside me, Ronan went still.

His wolf had slept for years. Now it rose and pressed against his ribs and strained toward me.

Over my heart, the Moon Goddess's mark warmed. A thread of silver light curled up through the thin gown. It was new. It didn't belong to Damian.

Ronan's gray eyes locked on it.

Deep inside him, his wolf spoke.

*She's the one the Moon Goddess has been leading us to.*