The time Luna Reyes was in this hall, she was on her knees begging Kade Ashworth not to say four words that would change her life.

Now Luna Reyes was back. This time she was not the one who was going to break.

Two years ago, the entire pack had gathered to watch Luna Reyes. She remembered the smell of it. Pine smoke, wet earth, four hundred wolves holding their breath. Luna Reyes remembered Kade Ashworth's face; it was like stone, his eyes refusing to meet hers even as the mate bond between Luna Reyes and Kade Ashworth screamed like a wire.

Kade Ashworth had said, "I, Kade Ashworth, Alpha of the Ridgeback Pack, reject you, Luna Reyes, as my mate."

The pain had dropped Luna Reyes to the floor. Rejection did not just break a heart; it tore something out of the chest, something that did not grow back right. Luna Reyes remembered clawing at her ribs, gasping, and looking up to see Kade Ashworth walk away without a single glance back.

Luna Reyes had promised herself she would never set foot in Ridgeback territory again.

Yet Luna Reyes was here, standing at the edge of the same hall two years later in a black dress with a smile that did not reach her eyes.

"Luna Reyes." The voice hit her spine before she even turned.

It was deeper, now rougher like something in Kade Ashworth had been worn down.

Luna Reyes turned slowly, chin high. "Alpha Ashworth."

Kade Ashworth stood ten feet away. For one humiliating second, Luna Reyes' wolf surged toward Kade Ashworth as if no time had passed at all.

Kade Ashworth looked wrecked, not like heartbreak but like a man who had not slept properly in two years.

He was staring at Luna Reyes the way you stare at a ghost you're not sure you are allowed to touch.

"You are not supposed to be here," Kade Ashworth said quietly.

Luna Reyes smiled, sharp as a blade. "I was invited."

"By who?" Kade Ashworth asked.

Luna Reyes said, "By the man arranging your wedding."

She let the words land, watching something flicker behind Kade Ashworth's eyes was that panic?

Luna Reyes said, "World, Alpha, my new pack does business with your new in-laws."

Kade Ashworth's jaw tightened. "You are pack now; whose pack are you?"

It was not a question; it was a demand, possessive, the kind of tone an Alpha used on someone who belonged to him, except Luna Reyes did not belong to Kade Ashworth anymore.

Kade Ashworth had made sure of that when he rejected Luna Reyes.

Luna Reyes said, "That is none of your concern; you rejected that when you rejected me."

Luna Reyes turned to walk past Kade Ashworth. That was when he caught her wrist.

Then Kade Ashworth's skin touched her, and something happened that had not happened once in two years: the bond, the one Kade Ashworth had supposedly severed, lit up like a struck match.

Kade Ashworth froze; his breath caught audibly.

"That is not possible. The bond breaks when you reject it; it is supposed to be gone." He said

"Let go of me." She said

Kade Ashworths voice cracked, the Alpha of Ridgeback Pack, the man who had not shown a flicker of feeling the day he destroyed Luna Reyes.

"Luna, I need to explain…" he said quietly

"You had two years I do not want your explanation." She said

"They were going to kill you the Draven pack found out about the bond before the ceremony was even finished they sent word that night mate the Alpha of Ridgeback and you die within the month I rejected you in front of four hundred witnesses so no one would ever believe there was a bond left to protect." He said

The hallway tilted slightly under Luna Reyes' feet.

"You are lying." She whispered

Kade Ashworths eyes were burning now raw in a way Luna Reyes had never seen from him.

"I have never lied to you in my life I let you hate me because hating me kept you alive I have regretted it every day since." He said

For one second Luna Reyes almost believed Kade Ashworth almost let two years of scar tissue crack open just to see what was underneath.

Then Luna Reyes remembered what she had become in those two years and exactly what she was hiding under this dress, under her skin, under a heartbeat that no longer sounded fully human.

"It does not matter anymore whatever you did it for; it is too late, Kade." She said quietly

"Why?" he asked

Luna Reyes looked at Kade Ashworth, then looked and let him see the truth in her eyes before she turned to walk away.

"Because Dravens pack did not just threaten to kill me; they caught me, and what I came back as is not something your rejection can protect you from anymore." She said

Luna Reyes walked into the crowd. Did not look back, but she felt it the exact moment Kade Ashworth's whole body went rigid behind her, the exact moment the Alpha of Ridgeback Pack realized that the woman he had broken to save her life had come home carrying something far more dangerous than a grudge.

Somewhere in the ballroom, a glass shattered.

Every wolf in the room lifted its head, at once because the growl that ripped through the hall had not come from Kade Ashworth.

It had come from Luna Reyes.

The growl did not come from her.

It came from inside her. Low, rough, and wrong. It sounded like two voices growling at the time. Only one of them was hers.

Every head in the ballroom turned. Four hundred years of pack instinct made every wolf in the room drop into a position. Their brains caught up with their bodies a moment later. Glasses stopped mid-air. The band stopped playing.

Luna felt it happen before she understood it. Heat crawled up her spine. Her vision sharpened at the edges. Her nails dug into her palms.

Not here. Not now. Not in front of him.

She swallowed it down by willpower. The growl stopped like someone had flipped a switch. The silence that followed was worse.

"Luna." Kade's voice was quiet behind her. He was trying not to scare her. "What did they do to you?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," she said, forcing her hands to relax.

"Everyone in this room just heard…"

"I said it's not your concern." She turned to face him. Her expression made him take a step back. She watched him regret it. "You gave up the right to worry about me two years ago. Remember? On that stage. In front of everyone."

His jaw clenched. "I didn't give up anything. I told you why…"

"You told me a story." Her voice dropped. It was sharp enough to cut. "Convenient timing too. Right when I show up wearing something you can't explain, suddenly you've got a reason for the thing that nearly killed me."

"You think I'm lying to cover for…" He stopped himself. He rubbed his face. "You always thought the worst of me."

"You gave me plenty of practice."

A throat cleared behind them. It was deliberate. Amused. Luna turned to find a woman in ice- silk watching them both with a polished smile.

"Kade, darling." The woman took his arm as she owned it. "You didn't tell me the entertainment tonight included a reunion."

Luna's stomach dropped. Darling.

"Luna," Kade said. He looked genuinely afraid for the time that night. "This is Priya. My…”

"Fiancée," Priya finished sweetly. She held up her hand. The ring on it caught the light. Luna felt something behind her ribs. It had nothing to do with whatever Dravens people had put inside her. "It's lovely to meet the famous Luna Reyes. Kade told me little about you. Funny isn't it? A man usually mentions the woman who almost destroyed pack law."

"Priya," Kade said. His voice was low and warning.

"What? I'm being friendly." Priya's smile didn't change. Her eyes did. They slid over Luna like she was cataloging her. "The wedding's in six weeks. You should come. I'd love to introduce myself to the woman he rejected on a stage in front of four hundred people."

Luna smiled. It could have cut glass. "I wouldn't miss it."

"Luna…" Kade started.

"No, it's fine," she said. She meant it, possibly. "I actually came here for business. I only stopped because you grabbed my wrist, Alpha. Let's not confuse tonight for something it's n't."

She walked toward the terrace doors. Her heels struck the marble in a rhythm. It took everything she had not to break into a run.

The night air hit her like water. She gripped the stone railing. She breathed hard. The wrongness rose in her chest again. It was faster this time. It was hungrier.

"You shouldn't have come back."

Luna spun around. A man she didn't recognize stood in the shadows. He was tall. His eyes were pale. He wore Draven colors on his collar. Her stomach turned to ice.

"You," she breathed. "How did you find me?"

"We never lost you." He smiled. It wasn't a smile. "You're still ours, Luna. A rejection ceremony doesn't undo what we did to you in that lab. You know that better than anyone."

"Get away from me.

"What?" He tilted his head. He seemed curious. "You'll growl at me as you did there? Cute.. You and I both know you can't fully control it yet. Not without help. Not without us."

Behind her, she heard the terrace doors open. Kade's footsteps were fast and urgent. He called her name.

The Draven man's eyes flicked past her shoulder. His smile widened.

"Perfect timing," he murmured. "He should hear this too."

He raised his hand. Luna saw the syringe glinting in his palm. He lunged. The last thing she heard before the world went white and silent was Kade screaming her name. He was too far away to reach her in time.

CHAPTER 3: THE THING IN THE DARK

The syringe did not touch Luna's skin.

Luna's body moved fast. Before she even knew what was happening. The same feeling that had gotten her into trouble in the ballroom now saved her life. Her hand snapped up. Grabbed the Draven man's wrist. She was strong. Stronger than she should be for someone her size. His bones hurt under her fingers. He made a hissing sound. The syringe fell to the ground, rolling into the dark.

"That's new," he said, breathing hard, staring at his wrist as it had surprised him.

"Get out of my territory, " Luna said. Her voice sounded wrong. It was deeper. There was another sound underneath it. It was like something was trying to get out of her throat.

Kade hit the Draven man hard. With all his Alpha strength. And the man fell against the railing. He did not fight back. He did not even look surprised.

"I got what I came for, " the man said, having trouble breathing, grinning up at Luna and Kade with blood on his teeth. "I wanted to see if Luna would change in front of you. I guess I have my answer."

"Change into what?" Kade's hands were clenched in the man's collar, his whole body shaking with anger. "What did Draven do to Luna?"

"Ask Luna, " the man said, looking at her with a gleam in his eyes. "Ask her what happens on the moon now. Ask her if she still remembers what she is."

Kade's grip on the man's collar loosened for just long enough. The man twisted free, jumped over the railing, and dropped two stories into the gardens below without stumbling. By the time Kade got to the edge, there was nothing, just some disturbed grass and a fading scent that did not smell like anything.

"Luna," Kade said, turning back to her. His face was pale. Paler than Luna had ever seen it before. "What did he mean?"

Luna was staring at her hand. Still curled from where she had hurt the Draven man's wrist. Her heartbeat sounded strange. Too slow, too fast, then something in between that did not make sense.

"Luna," Kade said, walking towards her slowly, his hands out as if she might run away. "Talk to me."

Luna did not know what to say. "I do not know what I am anymore," she said. Her voice was smaller than she wanted it to be. "I know what I used to be. A wolf. Simple. I used to be yours for a while before you took that back too."

Kade started to say something. Luna kept talking. "They took me three months after you rejected me," she said. "I was weak. Half-feral from the bond break. Easy to grab. They kept me in a facility for eleven months. I do not remember most of it. I remember waking up. I remember the full moon after. I do not have a memory of what happened during it. Just blood on my hands the morning that was not mine."

Kade made a sound. Something between a growl and a groan.

"Eleven months," he said, his voice empty. "I looked for you, Luna. I tore apart three territories looking for you. I need you to know that. I never stopped."

Luna laughed. "You rejected me. Then you looked for me?" she said. "That is very you, Kade. You do things halfway. Call it devotion."

Kade stopped himself. Closing his eyes. "It does not matter now," he said. "It clearly did not work. They got you anyway."

Luna said, "No, it worked the way they wanted it to. You rejected me publicly, so no pack in the territory thought to protect what already looked abandoned. You made me an easy target, Kade. You just did not know you were doing it."

The silence that followed was worse than anything they had said.

"There is something. The full moon is in four days." She said

"I know." He said

"You do not understand. Whatever they put inside me. It is not on the moon's schedule anymore. It is on its own. It is getting stronger every time something provokes it." She said.

As if her words were a summons, pain shot through her, sharp and electric. It dropped her to one knee on the ground. Kade caught her before she hit the ground, and the second his hands touched her skin, she felt it again. The bond, screaming.

"Luna, stay with me, " Kade said.

"Something is happening. Kade, it is not the moon. It is not supposed to be happening." She said

Her spine arched. Her nails got longer against Kade's arm, drawing blood. He did not even seem to notice. Somewhere, behind them, through the doors, Priya's voice rang out. Announcing to the guests that she had wonderful news to share with her fiancé.

Right as Luna Reyes began to change into something that had never existed in Ridgeback territory before.