Aria's POV
I wake up to someone pounding on my door.
"Breakfast in ten minutes!" A male voice barks. "Alpha wants everyone in the dining hall!"
I sit up, confused. Where am I?
Then it hits me—Stormfang Pack. Kade. My mate who doesn't want me.
Right.
I drag myself out of bed and splash water on my face. The girl in the bathroom mirror looks healthier than yesterday. Clean skin. No dirt. No blood. But my eyes still look haunted.
Ten minutes later, I find the dining hall following the sound of voices. It's packed with wolves eating breakfast and talking loudly.
The second I step through the door, everyone goes silent.
All eyes turn to me. Dozens of them. Judging. Analyzing. Hating.
I want to run. Want to hide. But I force my feet to move forward.
"There." Elena waves from a table near the back. "Sit with me."
I practically run to her, grateful for one friendly face.
"Don't mind them," Elena says quietly as I sit. "They're just curious about their Alpha's mate."
"They're staring at me like I'm a monster."
"You're new. Different. They don't know what to make of you yet." She pushes a plate of food toward me. "Eat. You need your strength."
I pick at the eggs, my stomach too nervous to really eat. Around us, the pack goes back to their conversations, but I catch whispers.
"—can't believe she's his mate—"
"—she's a rogue, look at her—"
"—heard she killed her own sister—"
My fork clatters against the plate. Everyone looks at me again.
"I need air," I mutter, standing up.
"Aria—" Elena starts.
But I'm already walking away, pushing through the crowd toward the door.
I make it outside and gulp down fresh air. The morning is cool and gray, matching my mood.
"Running away already?"
I spin around. Kade stands on the porch, his silver eyes unreadable.
"I wasn't running," I lie.
"You bolted like a scared rabbit." He walks down the steps toward me. "If you can't handle breakfast with the pack, how will you handle living here?"
"Maybe I can't." I cross my arms. "Maybe this was a mistake."
"It's too late for that." He stops a few feet away. The mate bond pulls between us, begging me to move closer. "You're here now. Deal with it."
"You're so warm and welcoming," I snap. "Really making me feel at home."
"This isn't about making you feel welcome. This is about survival." His jaw clenches. "You're my mate. That means you're under my protection. But it also means you represent my pack now. If you act weak, other packs will see it as my weakness."
"So I'm a liability."
"You're a complication," he corrects. "One I'm trying to manage."
"Manage." I laugh bitterly. "That's what I am to you. Something to manage."
"What did you expect?" His voice rises. "Did you think I'd fall at your feet because the Moon Goddess paired us? Did you think I'd ignore your past and pretend you're not—"
"Not what?" I challenge. "Say it."
"A killer." The word hangs between us like poison.
I flinch like he hit me. "I didn't kill her."
"Everyone thinks you did. Your own father thinks you did." Kade's eyes are cold. "Why should I believe any different?"
"Because you're my mate!" The words explode out of me. "Because the Moon Goddess chose us for each other! Because some part of you knows I'm telling the truth!"
"The Moon Goddess doesn't know everything." His voice drops. "She paired me with you, and I didn't get a choice in the matter."
"You think I wanted this?" Tears burn my eyes. "You think I dreamed of finding a mate who looks at me with disgust?"
"I don't—" He stops, his face conflicted.
"Yes, you do." I step closer, angry now. "You look at me and see a burden. A problem. Something you're stuck with. Well, guess what? I feel the same way."
That's a lie. My wolf whimpers inside me, desperate for his acceptance. But my pride won't let me show how much his rejection hurts.
Kade stares at me for a long moment. Something flickers in his eyes—regret, maybe. Or pain.
"This isn't working," he finally says.
My heart drops. "What?"
"You. Here. Living in the pack house." He runs a hand through his hair. "Everyone can feel the tension between us. It's making the pack nervous."
"So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying maybe we need distance. Space." He won't meet my eyes. "Maybe you should stay in the guest house instead. Away from the main building."
The rejection stabs through me like a knife. "You want to hide me."
"I want to give us both space to adjust."
"You're pushing me away."
"I'm trying to make this work!" His voice rises again. "You think this is easy for me? Having a mate I never asked for? Someone I can't trust? Someone who reminds me of—"
He stops abruptly.
"Of what?" I press.
"Nothing." He turns away. "I'll have Elena move you to the guest house. You'll still have protection. Still have everything you need. Just... away from me."
The words hurt worse than any beating. My mate—the one person in the world who's supposed to want me—is literally asking me to leave.
"Fine," I say, my voice shaking. "Hide me away. Pretend I don't exist. That's what everyone else does anyway."
I start walking away, heading toward the trees. Away from him. Away from this pack. Away from everything.
"Where are you going?" Kade calls after me.
"For a walk. Unless that's not allowed either."
"Don't go past the boundary—"
"I won't!" I shout back. "I'm not stupid. I know rogues get killed for trespassing."
I hear him start to follow, then stop. The mate bond stretches between us, painful and raw.
I walk until I can't see the pack house anymore. Until I'm deep enough in the trees that no one can hear me.
Then I finally let myself break.
I collapse against a tree and sob. Great, heaving cries that tear through my chest. Ten years of pain. Ten years of loneliness. And now I finally have a mate, and he doesn't want me.
The Moon Goddess has a cruel sense of humor.
I don't know how long I cry. But eventually, the tears run out.
I wipe my face and stand up. Crying doesn't help. It never has.
I survived ten years as a rogue. I can survive this too.
A twig snaps behind me. I spin around, alert.
A man steps out of the shadows. Not Kade. Someone older, with dark eyes and a smile that doesn't reach his face.
"Hello," he says smoothly. "You must be the Alpha's new mate."
Something about him makes my skin crawl. "Who are you?"
"Damien Cross. Kade's Beta." He steps closer. "I wanted to introduce myself. Welcome you properly."
I recognize the name from somewhere. My childhood? But I can't place it.
"Thanks," I say carefully. "I should get back—"
"No need to rush." Damien's smile widens. "I just wanted to say... I know who you are. Aria Nightshade. The girl who killed her sister."
My blood runs cold.
"I didn't—"
"Of course you didn't." But his tone says he doesn't believe me. "It was an accident. These things happen."
The way he says it makes my stomach twist.
"I should go," I say firmly.
"One more thing." Damien's eyes gleam with something dark. "If you ever need someone to talk to... someone who understands what it's like to be unwanted... my door is always open."
Before I can respond, he's gone. Disappeared into the trees like a ghost.
I stand there, shaking. Something about that conversation felt wrong. Dangerous.
I hurry back toward the pack house, my heart pounding.
When I get there, Kade is waiting on the porch. His face is hard.
"Where were you?" he demands.
"Walking. Like I said."
"You were gone for an hour." He stands, towering over me. "I was about to send wolves to find you."
"Why? Afraid I ran away?"
"Afraid something happened to you." The admission seems to cost him. "You're still my mate. Still my responsibility."
"Right. Your responsibility." I push past him toward the door. "Not your partner. Not your love. Just your responsibility."
I make it two steps before his hand catches my arm. The touch sends electricity through both of us. The mate bond flares to life, hot and intense.
We both freeze.
"Don't," I whisper.
"Don't what?"
"Don't touch me if you're just going to push me away again. Don't give me hope if you're going to destroy it." I pull free. "I can't take it."
His silver eyes search my face. For a moment, I think he might say something. Might explain. Might give me something real.
Instead, he steps back.
"You're right," he says quietly. "I didn't want a mate."
The words crush me.
"But the Moon Goddess doesn't care what I want." He looks away. "She gave me you anyway."
"I didn't ask for this either," I whisper.
"I know." His voice is tired. Defeated. "But we're stuck with each other now. So we make the best of it."
"The best of what? This cold, horrible arrangement where you can barely stand to look at me?"
He doesn't answer.
"That's what I thought." I turn toward the door. "Tell Elena I'm ready to move to the guest house. The sooner I'm away from you, the better."
I walk inside, leaving him standing alone on the porch.
Behind me, I swear I hear him whisper something. But when I turn back, he's gone.
The mate bond aches in my chest. Raw. Bleeding. Broken before it ever had a chance to form.
Tomorrow, I'll move to the guest house.
Tomorrow, I'll start learning to live with a mate who doesn't want me.
Tomorrow, I'll figure out how to survive this new kind of hell.
But tonight, I'll let myself feel the pain.
Just for tonight.