His golden eyes locked onto mine, and I watched the exact moment his control began to fracture. The morning air between us crackled with tension as thick as honey, and I could practically taste his wolf's recognition of me.

"Training," I repeated, letting the word roll off my tongue like a challenge. I took a deliberate step closer, close enough that my scent would hit him full force. "I realized I've been... weak. Passive. That's not the kind of Luna this pack deserves."

Dominic's jaw clenched so hard I could hear his teeth grinding. His hands fisted at his sides, and I caught the flash of his canines as they partially extended—a sure sign his wolf was fighting for control.

"You should train elsewhere," he said, his voice strained and rough. But he didn't move away. If anything, his body seemed to lean toward mine, drawn by invisible threads.

I tilted my head, letting my new shorter hair catch the early morning light. "Why? This is pack land. I have every right to be here." I moved closer still, until I could feel the heat radiating from his skin. "Unless..."

"Unless what?" The words came out as more of a growl than human speech.

I looked up at him through my lashes, my voice dropping to barely above a whisper. "Unless you're afraid you can't control yourself, Alpha."

The effect was instantaneous. His eyes flashed from brown to molten gold and back again, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he fought some internal battle. The scent of pine and leather and something uniquely him wrapped around me like a drug, making Luna stir weakly in my mind.

"Don't." His voice was barely human now, all gravel and warning. "Don't test me."

But I was past caring about warnings. Three months of being ignored, of watching him lavish attention on another woman while I slowly died inside, had burned away my caution. I stepped even closer, so close that our bodies were almost touching.

"Test you how?" I asked innocently, even as I let my gaze drop to his lips, then back to his eyes. "I'm just trying to have a conversation with my Alpha."

His control snapped like a rubber band stretched too far. In one fluid motion, he grabbed my shoulders, his grip firm enough to leave marks. For a heart-stopping moment, I thought he might kiss me, claim me right there on the forest path.

Instead, he pushed me away with enough force to make me stumble.

"Train somewhere else," he snarled, his voice thick with barely contained need. "That's an order."

He turned and ran, leaving me standing alone on the path with my heart hammering and a triumphant smile spreading across my face. I'd seen the hunger in his eyes, felt the tremor in his hands when he'd touched me. His wolf wanted me, even if the man was too stubborn to admit it.

It was a start.

---

That evening, I made sure to walk past the dining room just as Dominic and Vivienne were finishing their dinner. I caught a glimpse of them through the doorway—her delicate hand resting on his arm, his face a mask of polite attention that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Darling, you seem distracted tonight," Vivienne's voice carried clearly into the hallway, sweet as poisoned honey. "Is everything alright?"

I slowed my pace, pretending to examine a painting on the wall while I listened.

"I'm fine," Dominic replied, but even from here I could hear the tension in his voice.

"You've barely touched your food." There was a note of petulance creeping into her tone. "And you keep... looking around. Like you're expecting someone."

I held my breath, wondering if he would mention our encounter this morning.

"Just pack business," he said finally. "Nothing for you to worry about."

But I could hear the lie in his voice, and apparently so could she.

"Dominic." Her voice turned sharp, losing some of its practiced sweetness. "I've been back for months now, and you still seem... distant. I thought once we were together again—"

"We are together," he interrupted, but there was no warmth in his words.

"Are we?" The question hung in the air like a challenge.

I didn't wait to hear his response. I'd heard enough to know that my morning's work was already bearing fruit. Dominic's wolf was stirring, making him restless and distracted. It was only a matter of time before his human resolve crumbled entirely.

---

Three days later, I woke to a sensation I hadn't felt in months—heat building low in my belly, spreading through my limbs like liquid fire. At first, I thought it was just the usual ache of the incomplete bond, but as the intensity increased, I realized with growing alarm what was happening.

My heat. Weeks early.

Dr. Elena had warned me this might happen. The stress of the incomplete mate bond was wreaking havoc on my natural cycles, and now my body was desperately trying to complete what should have happened months ago.

I stumbled to my bathroom, splashing cold water on my face, but it did nothing to cool the fire building inside me. Within an hour, my scent had intensified to the point where it was seeping through the walls of my room, flooding the pack house with pheromones that would drive every unmated male into a frenzy.

I could already hear the signs of chaos beginning—raised voices in the hallway, the sound of scuffling as males fought for dominance, the worried calls of mated females trying to control their partners.

"Shit," I whispered, pressing my back against my bedroom door. This wasn't part of the plan. I'd wanted to seduce Dominic gradually, on my terms. Not like this, when I was weak and vulnerable and barely in control of my own body.

Luna whimpered in my mind, her voice stronger than it had been in weeks. "Mate," she whispered. "Need mate."

The heat was building to unbearable levels now, making my skin feel too tight and my thoughts scatter like leaves in the wind. I crawled onto my bed, curling into a ball as waves of need crashed over me.

Somewhere in the pack house, I heard a door slam with enough force to shake the walls. Heavy footsteps pounded down the hallway, getting closer and closer to my room.

My heart hammered as I recognized the familiar rhythm of his stride.

Dominic was coming.