The wind smelled like pine, smoke, and endings.
I stood at the edge of the cliff where Alpha Nolan Blackthorn was to be laid to rest, my black cloak fluttering behind me like wings. Below, the whole Silverfang Pack had gathered—wolves, elders, even rogues who dared to step onto sacred land for one last farewell.
But I wasn't here for closure. Not really.
I was here because I made a promise to a dying man.
And because fate was about to make me break a rule no wolf ever should.
"Leona," a voice growled low beside me. Deep. Familiar. Cold.
I turned my head slowly and met the steel-gray eyes of Alpha Ryker Blackthorn—my ex-mate. The man who marked me, claimed me, then threw me aside like I was nothing.
I didn't flinch.
"Alpha," I said, the title a blade on my tongue.
"You shouldn't have come," he said. "You're no longer part of this pack."
I smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "I was born here. That's more than you can say for your new Luna."
His jaw twitched. A hit.
His new Luna stood down below in the crowd. Dainty, fragile, and proud. She wore my title now. My necklace, too.
Ryker didn't reply, and I didn't give him the satisfaction of another look. My eyes scanned the crowd until they stopped—on him.
The man cloaked in black at the edge of the gathering. He stood apart. Silent. Unmoving. Watching me.
His presence was like a shadow wrapped in thunder. And when our eyes met, my wolf stirred—sudden, violent, hungry.
Killian.
Ryker's brother.
The one who disappeared five years ago.
The one everyone thought was dead.
But he was very much alive.
And something inside me shifted the moment I saw him. A strange heat rose under my skin. My heart didn't just skip—it dropped, rolled, then took off at a sprint.
No. No, it couldn't be.
Not him.
Not Killian Blackthorn.
I tore my eyes away, but it was too late. The bond had sparked. I felt it in my bones. My wolf had recognized him.
Fate had made a mistake.
Because Killian was my ex's brother.
And worse?
He was my true mate.