CELINE
I stood there in that stupid white dress my stepmom had picked out. It was too tight around the ribs and the hem was already dirty from me walking across the pack square. My hands wouldn't stop shaking. I kept smoothing the skirt down like that would make me look less pathetic. Everyone was staring. Some were smiling, some whispering. I could hear them even over the drums.
"She really thinks Vance is gonna pick her?"
"Girl's got hope, I'll give her that."
I ignored it. I'd been ignoring crap like that my whole life. Tonight was supposed to be different. Tonight the Moon Goddess was finally giving me something good. Vance. My Vance. The boy who used to sneak me extra meat when the pack dinners left me with scraps. The one who said, when we were fourteen and the mate bond first snapped into place for both of us, "Don't worry, Celine. One day I'm gonna make them all eat their words."
He was walking toward the platform now. Black suit, hair pushed back, that same half-smile he always gave me when nobody was looking. My stomach flipped. I felt the bond tugging so hard it hurt. I took one tiny step forward without meaning to.
The Elder cleared his throat. "Alpha Vance Silverclaw, do you accept Celine of the Star Woods Pack as your fated mate and future Luna?"
The whole square went dead quiet. Even the wind stopped.
Vance climbed the three steps. He stopped right in front of me. Close enough that I could smell his cologne and the forest on him. I looked up. Waited for him to say yes. Waited for him to pull me into his arms like we'd dreamed about a hundred times.
His eyes were cold.
"I, Alpha Vance Silverclaw," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "reject you, Celine, as my mate and as future Luna of this pack."
The words punched the air out of me. My knees almost gave, but I locked them. People gasped. Someone laughed. I couldn't breathe right.
He kept going. "You are weak. You carry the blood of a traitor. Your father tried to murder my father. You think I'd let that poison sit beside me?"
My mouth opened but nothing came out. This wasn't real. This was a nightmare. Any second I'd wake up in my tiny room and laugh about how stupid it was.
Vance turned away from me like I was nothing. He walked straight to Vanessa. My stepsister. The one who'd spent years smiling to my face while sharpening knives behind my back. She was in this sparkly silver dress that made her look like a princess. Her blonde hair was perfect. She lifted her face to him like she'd been waiting her whole life.
Vance cupped her cheek. "Vanessa Sterling is the Luna this pack deserves."
Then he kissed her. Right there. In front of me. In front of everyone. The pack roared. Cheering. Whistling. Like I'd never existed.
I just stood there. The rejection burned in my chest like someone had shoved hot coals under my ribs. The bond was snapping, tearing, ripping me in half from the inside.
Vanessa pulled back from the kiss and gave me that sweet little smile she's so good at. "Celine, sweetie," she said, loud enough for the front rows to hear, "I really think it'd be best if you left the pack lands. For everyone's safety. We wouldn't want another… incident, would we?"
A few people nodded. Some looked away. Nobody spoke up for me.
Vance didn't even glance back. "Exile," he said to the guards. "Effective immediately."
Two guys grabbed my arms. I didn't fight at first. I was still waiting for him to turn around and say it was a joke. A test. Something. But he never did.
They dragged me through the crowd. People I'd grown up with stepped back like I had a disease. Someone spit on my dress. A kid I used to babysit threw a rock that hit my shoulder. I didn't feel it.
The walk to the border took forever and no time at all. My bare feet bled on the stones. The guards didn't care. When we got to the line of white stones that marked pack land, one of them shoved me so hard I fell face-first into the dirt.
"Run, traitor's daughter," he sneered. "Rogues love fresh meat."
I pushed up on my hands. My dress was ripped and brown now. My hair stuck to my face with tears and snot. I looked back just once. The lights of the pack square glowed in the distance. Music was still playing. They were still celebrating.
I turned and ran.
Branches slapped my face. My lungs burned. I had no idea where I was going. Just away. Away from the laughing. Away from the way Vance had looked through me like I was already dead.
I don't know how long I ran. Hours maybe. My legs gave out near a river. I crawled to the water and puked until there was nothing left. Then I just sat there shaking, hugging my knees, whispering his name like an idiot. Vance. Vance. Why?
The mate bond was still shredding itself inside me. Every rip felt like dying. I wanted it to finish the job.
That's when I heard the growls.
Low. Close. Too many.
I scrambled up. Eyes glowed in the dark between the trees. Rogues. Five, maybe six. Their smells hit me—rotting meat and old blood. One stepped forward, bigger than the rest, lips curled back over yellow teeth.
"Look what the pack threw away," he rasped. "Pretty little thing. Bet you taste sweet."
I backed up until the river stopped me. Cold water soaked my legs. I had no weapon. No strength left. I was done.
The big one lunged.
I screamed and threw my arms up, waiting for teeth in my throat.
It never came.
A blur of black crashed into the rogue so hard I heard bones snap. The rogue went flying, hit a tree, didn't get up. The others snarled and circled—then scattered like scared dogs when they saw who it was.
A man stood between me and them. Tall. Broad. Hooded cloak hiding his face. Two swords strapped across his back. Even the wind seemed afraid of him.
The last rogue tried to run. The man moved so fast I barely saw it—one second the rogue was there, next second his head was rolling across the leaves.
Silence.
I couldn't stop shaking. My teeth chattered so hard it hurt.
The man turned. Moonlight hit the lower half of his face—sharp jaw, scar running through his lip. He crouched in front of me, slow, like I was a cornered animal.
I tried to crawl backward into the river. He caught my wrist. His hand was warm. Rough.
"Easy," he said. Voice low, gravelly. "I'm not gonna hurt you."
I laughed. It came out broken and wet. "Everyone hurts me. It's fine. Just get it over with."
He tilted his head. Pulled his hood back a little. I couldn't see his eyes, just shadows where they should be.
"I watched the whole thing," he said. "Your ceremony. Your rejection. Cute party."
My stomach twisted. "You… you were there?"
"Close enough." He glanced at the dead rogues, then back at me. "Name's not important yet. But you, Celine… you're going to live, little wolf."
I shook my head. "I don't want to."
"Yeah, you do." He stood up, yanked me to my feet like I weighed nothing. My legs buckled. He caught me before I hit the ground. "You just don't know it yet."
I tried to pull away. "Let me go. Please. I just want it to stop hurting."
He leaned in close. I felt his breath on my ear.
"It's gonna hurt worse tomorrow," he whispered. "And the day after that. And the day after that. But one day you're gonna wake up and the pain's still there… and you'll realize you're still breathing anyway. That's the day you start fighting."
I stared at him. Tears kept falling. I didn't have the energy to wipe them.
He let go of me, stepped back. "You coming, or you wanna wait for the next pack of rogues to finish what your mate started?"
The bond in my chest gave another vicious tear. I pressed my hand over my heart like I could hold it together.
I looked back toward the pack lights one last time. They were gone now. Just darkness.
I turned to the stranger.
"I don't even know who you are," I said, voice cracking.
He gave a small, dark laugh. "You will."
Then he started walking into the trees. I stood there for three whole seconds.
The howls started again behind me. Closer this time.
I ran after him.
He didn't slow down, didn't check if I was keeping up. I stumbled, barefoot and bleeding, through the dark, following the shape of his cloak.
Just before the trees swallowed us whole, he spoke without turning around.
"You're going to live, little wolf," he said again. "Whether you want to or not."