I woke up to someone pounding on my bedroom door.
"Aria! Get up! The Shadowmoon delegation is requesting a formal meeting!"
Sophia's voice cut through the fog of sleep, and I groaned as the events of last night came flooding back. The mate bond. Kai Blackwood. The way he'd looked at me like I was some kind of plague he'd accidentally caught.
"What time is it?" I called back, my voice hoarse from crying.
"Nearly noon! Your dad's been in meetings all morning, and apparently Kai Blackwood himself is downstairs demanding to speak with you!"
That got me upright fast. I stumbled out of bed, still wearing my wrinkled silver dress from the ceremony, and yanked open the door. Sophia stood there with a tray of coffee and what looked like toast, her dark eyes wide with concern.
"He's here? Now?"
"Along with his father and about six other Shadowmoon wolves." She pushed past me into the room, setting the tray on my dresser. "Aria, what happened last night after you left? The whole supernatural community is buzzing about your mate bond with the Blackwood heir."
I accepted the coffee gratefully, using the heat to warm my numb fingers. "It's complicated."
"Complicated how? You found your fated mate—that's supposed to be a good thing!"
"Not when your fated mate is the son of your uncle's killer."
Sophia's cup clattered against its saucer. "What?"
I gave her the abbreviated version while I picked at the toast, watching her expression shift from confusion to horror to outrage.
"That bastard," she breathed when I finished. "Aria, you can't possibly be considering—"
"I'm not considering anything yet." I set down my coffee and headed for my walk-in closet. "But I need to get dressed and face whatever circus is happening downstairs."
"What are you going to wear?"
I paused, hangers sliding through my fingers as I considered the question. What did you wear to potentially reject or be rejected by your fated mate? What outfit said 'I'm dignified and powerful but also emotionally devastated'?
My hand landed on a deep purple dress—silk, fitted, with a high neckline and long sleeves. Professional but feminine. The color would make my eyes pop and complement my skin tone. If I was going to be humiliated, at least I'd look good doing it.
"Help me with my hair?" I asked Sophia, pulling the dress from its hanger.
Twenty minutes later, I looked almost human again. My silver-white hair was swept into an elegant updo, my makeup was flawless, and the purple dress hugged my curves in all the right places. The moon-shaped birthmark on my shoulder was hidden beneath the fabric, but I could still feel it tingling with residual energy.
"You look beautiful," Sophia said, adjusting a final pin in my hair. "And strong. Remember that—you're Aria Montenegro, future Luna of Silver Creek. You don't need anyone's approval."
I wished I felt as confident as she made me sound.
The formal dining room had been transformed into what looked like a supernatural war room. Dad sat at the head of the long mahogany table, his posture rigid with tension. To his right were Elder Patricia and several other pack officials I recognized. To his left...
The Shadowmoon delegation.
Damien Blackwood commanded attention even while sitting down. He was tall like his son, with the same golden eyes, but his dark hair was streaked with silver and his face was harder, more weathered. The man who'd killed my uncle looked like he could do it again without breaking a sweat.
Beside him sat Elena Blackwood, a woman who would have been my aunt if things had gone differently. She was beautiful in an understated way, with warm brown hair and kind eyes that seemed genuinely pained by the situation. When she saw me enter, she offered a small, apologetic smile.
And at the far end of the table, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world, sat Kai.
He'd changed out of his formal wear from last night into dark jeans and a black button-down shirt that somehow made his golden eyes even more striking. His hair was slightly mussed, as if he'd been running his hands through it, and there were shadows under his eyes that suggested he'd slept about as well as I had.
When I walked into the room, every conversation stopped. I felt the weight of their stares, the subtle assessment as both packs evaluated my appearance, my composure, my worthiness to be part of this discussion.
"Aria." Dad stood, his relief evident. "Please, sit."
He'd saved me the chair directly across from Kai. Perfect.
I walked around the table with my head held high, ignoring the way the mate bond hummed to life as I got closer to him. When I sat down, Kai's eyes met mine for just a moment before he looked away, his jaw tight.
"Now that we're all here," Damien said, his voice carrying the same cultured authority as his son's, "we can address this... situation."
Situation. Like our mate bond was some kind of political mishap that could be filed away and forgotten.
"The Moon Goddess has made her will known," Elder Patricia said carefully. "Fated mate bonds are sacred—"
"Sacred or not," Damien interrupted, "they're not always practical. My son has made his position clear."
"Has he?" Dad's voice was deceptively calm, but I could see the fury simmering beneath the surface. "Because I'd like to hear it from him directly."
All eyes turned to Kai, who looked like he was being slowly tortured. Good. Maybe he was feeling even a fraction of the emotional chaos that was currently shredding my insides.
"I..." He cleared his throat and straightened in his chair. When he spoke again, his voice was steady and cold. "I don't believe mate bonds should override common sense."
"Common sense?" I heard myself ask, though I hadn't planned to speak yet.
His golden eyes fixed on mine, and for a moment, I saw something flicker there—pain, maybe, or regret. But it was gone so quickly I might have imagined it.
"You're beautiful, Aria. And powerful. Any male would be lucky to call you mate." The words should have been a compliment, but his tone made them sound like a consolation prize. "But I can't ignore what our families have done to each other. Too much blood has been spilled."
"So you're rejecting me." The words came out steadier than I felt.
"I'm being realistic."
The mate bond throbbed painfully, and I saw him wince slightly. At least I wasn't the only one suffering.
"Realistic," I repeated. "Right."
"This is bigger than just us," Kai continued, and now he was addressing the room rather than me. "A union between Silver Creek and Shadowmoon would never work. Too many people on both sides would see it as a betrayal."
"That's not your decision to make," Dad said quietly. "If the Moon Goddess has chosen—"
"Then she made a mistake."
The words hit me like a physical blow. I felt my control starting to slip, felt the familiar tingle starting in my birthmark. Around the table, several people shifted uncomfortably, as if they could sense the power building beneath my skin.
"A mistake," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
"Aria," Elena Blackwood spoke for the first time, her voice gentle. "I don't think Kai means—"
"I mean exactly what I said." Kai's eyes were hard now, all traces of regret gone. "Some bonds are better broken."
That's when the dining room doors opened, and everything got infinitely worse.
"Kai? Babe, I've been waiting in the car for twenty minutes. What's taking so—"
The woman who walked in was everything I wasn't. Golden blonde hair that caught the light, blue eyes wide with innocent confusion, a sweet, heart-shaped face that belonged on magazine covers. She was shorter than me, curvier, wearing a sundress that managed to be both modest and sexy at the same time.
And the way Kai's entire demeanor changed when he saw her made me want to crawl under the table and die.
"Madison." His voice was warm now, affectionate in a way it had never been when speaking to me. "You shouldn't be here."
"I got worried when you didn't come back to the car." She approached him with the easy confidence of someone who'd never doubted her welcome anywhere. "Is everything okay?"
The silence in the room was deafening. Madison's gaze swept around the table, taking in the tense faces, the formal atmosphere, and finally landing on me. Her expression shifted from confusion to understanding to something that might have been sympathy.
"Oh," she said softly. "You're her. The one from last night."
"Madison Pierce," Kai said, standing and moving to her side. "I'd like you to meet Aria Montenegro."
He introduced us like we were casual acquaintances at a dinner party, not fated mates whose bond was currently trying to tear my heart out of my chest. Then, while I watched in stunned silence, he wrapped his arm around Madison's waist and pressed a gentle kiss to her temple.
The gesture was soft, intimate, possessive. A clear statement to everyone in the room about where his loyalties lay.
The mate bond screamed in protest, sending a wave of agony through my chest that made me grip the edge of the table to keep from doubling over. Several wolves around the table shifted uncomfortably, and I heard Dad's sharp intake of breath.
"It's nice to meet you," Madison said, and she actually sounded like she meant it. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from Kai's public display of affection. "Kai told me about... about what happened. I'm sorry it's so complicated."
Complicated. There was that word again.
"Kai," Damien's voice carried a warning. "Perhaps you should escort Miss Pierce back to—"
"No." Kai's jaw set in a stubborn line that I was beginning to recognize. "Madison's part of this whether you like it or not. She deserves to understand what she's dealing with."
What she was dealing with? What about what I was dealing with?
"Kai," I said, standing slowly. The purple silk of my dress whispered as I moved, and I saw his eyes track the motion before he caught himself. "Can I speak with you privately?"
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Please." I hated the note of pleading in my voice, but I couldn't help it. "Just five minutes."
He looked like he was about to refuse, but Madison touched his arm gently. "It's okay," she said. "You should talk to her."
For a moment, I actually liked her. Then I remembered that she was the woman who'd stolen my mate before I'd even had a chance to meet him properly, and the feeling passed.
"Five minutes," Kai said finally.
I led him out to the garden terrace, far enough from the dining room that we couldn't be overheard but close enough that I couldn't be accused of trying to seduce him away from his girlfriend. The afternoon sun was warm on my skin, but I felt cold all the way through.
"This is beautiful," Kai said, looking out over the roses and perfectly manicured lawns.
"My mother planted most of these." I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly wishing I'd brought a jacket. "She said gardens were about hope. Planting something today that you might not see bloom for years."
"Aria..."
"Do you feel it?" I interrupted, turning to face him. "The bond? Does it hurt?"
He was quiet for so long I thought he might not answer. When he finally spoke, his voice was rough. "Yes."
"Then why?" The question that had been burning inside me all night finally burst free. "Why bring her here? Why introduce her to me like that? Wasn't rejecting me enough?"
"I brought her because she's part of my life." His golden eyes were steady, but I could see the muscle in his jaw jumping. "Because I want everyone to understand that the mate bond doesn't change anything."
"It changes everything!" The words came out louder than I'd intended. "We're fated mates, Kai. That's not something you can just ignore because it's inconvenient!"
"I can try."
"By throwing your human girlfriend in my face?"
"Madison isn't a weapon." For the first time, there was real anger in his voice. "She's a good person who doesn't deserve to be caught up in supernatural politics."
"And I do?"
"You know what you signed up for when you were born into this world."
The casual cruelty of the statement took my breath away. "I see. So because I'm a werewolf, because I was born into a pack, I deserve to be humiliated and rejected?"
"That's not what I meant—"
"Then what did you mean?" I stepped closer, and I saw his pupils dilate as my scent reached him. The mate bond was practically vibrating between us now, and his control was starting to crack. "Tell me, Kai. What did you mean?"
"I meant that you'll survive this." His voice was getting rougher, more strained. "You're strong. You're powerful. You'll find someone else—"
"There is no one else!" The words exploded out of me, along with a burst of silver light from my birthmark that made him stagger backward. "There's only you! The Moon Goddess doesn't give out backup mates!"
The light faded as quickly as it had come, leaving us both breathing hard. Kai's eyes were wide, and for the first time since I'd met him, he looked genuinely shaken.
"That," he said quietly, "is exactly why this can't work."
"What?"
"That power." He gestured to where the light had been. "Whatever you are, whatever that bloodline makes you... it's dangerous."
"I would never hurt you."
"You already are." The admission seemed to surprise him as much as it did me. "Every second I'm near you, it gets harder to remember why this is necessary. The bond makes me want things I can't have."
"Then stop fighting it!"
"I can't." He turned away from me, his hands clenched into fists. "You don't understand the pressure I'm under. My father, my pack, the expectations—"
"So this is about Daddy's approval?"
He spun back to face me, and now there was real fury in his eyes. "This is about survival. Mine, yours, our packs'. Do you think I want to feel this way? Do you think I enjoy knowing that I'm causing you pain?"
"I think you enjoy the control." The words came from somewhere deep and bitter inside me. "I think you like knowing you can make me beg."
Something dark flashed across his face. "You want to know the truth, Aria? Fine. Here's the truth."
He closed the distance between us in two quick strides, backing me against the stone railing of the terrace. This close, I could see the gold flecks in his eyes, smell his pine-and-storm scent, feel the heat radiating from his body.
"I've thought about you every day for the past month," he said, his voice low and dangerous. "Ever since I heard your name mentioned at a pack council meeting. I've wondered what you looked like, what you would smell like, whether the stories about your beauty were true."
My heart hammered against my ribs. "Kai..."
"I came to your ceremony last night because I couldn't stay away. Not to check for diplomatic reasons, not because my father sent me, but because I had to see you for myself." His eyes dropped to my lips, and I saw him swallow hard. "And when I felt the mate bond snap into place, when I realized you were mine... it was the best and worst moment of my life."
"Then why—"
"Because I can't have you!" The words came out like they were torn from his throat. "Because every instinct I have is screaming at me to claim you, to take you away from here and never let anyone else touch you. Because the bond is so strong it's making me crazy, and I can't afford to be crazy right now."
"Why not?"
"Because my father will disown me if I mate with a Montenegro. Because my pack will revolt. Because—" He stopped abruptly, as if he'd said too much.
"Because what?"
"Because there are things you don't know. Things I can't tell you." He stepped back, putting distance between us again. "I'm trying to protect you, Aria."
"I don't want your protection. I want your honesty."
"Then here's honesty for you." His voice went cold again, all traces of vulnerability gone. "I choose Madison. Not because the bond isn't real, not because I don't feel it, but because I choose her. Because I can have a future with her that doesn't end in bloodshed."
The words hit me like icy water. "And what am I supposed to do with that?"
"Move on. Find someone else. Be the strong, independent Luna everyone expects you to be."
"While you play house with your human girlfriend?"
"Yes."
"While she gets the life that's supposed to be mine?"
"Yes."
I stared at him for a long moment, watching the careful mask slide back over his features. The man who'd just confessed to thinking about me for a month was gone, replaced by the cold, controlled heir to Shadowmoon.
"Okay," I said finally.
"Okay?"
"You've made your choice." I smoothed down my dress, calling on every lesson Dad had ever taught me about dignity under pressure. "Thank you for being honest."
Something that might have been disappointment flickered in his eyes. "That's it?"
"What did you expect? For me to throw a tantrum? To beg you to change your mind?" I smiled, and even I could hear the edge in it. "I'm not that pathetic, Kai."
"Aria, I didn't mean—"
"Yes, you did." I turned to go back inside, then paused at the door. "You want to choose her? Fine. But don't expect me to make it easy for you."
I left him standing on the terrace and walked back into the dining room, where both delegations were pretending they hadn't been listening to every word. Madison looked up at me with those innocent blue eyes, and I felt something dark and ugly twist in my chest.
"I hope you'll both be very happy," I told them, my voice perfectly pleasant.
Then I walked out of the room, up the stairs, and back to my bedroom, where I locked the door and let the dam finally burst.
But this time, I wasn't just crying from heartbreak. I was crying from rage.
Because Kai Blackwood thought he could reject me, humiliate me, parade his human girlfriend in front of me, and walk away unscathed.
He was about to learn exactly how wrong he was.
The birthmark on my shoulder blade began to pulse with silver light, and for the first time since last night, I smiled.