CELINE
I woke up feeling like absolute garbage. My whole body ached, my head was killing me, and that stupid broken bond in my chest kept throbbing like someone was punching me from the inside. The room was dark, smelled like wood and smoke, big bed with black sheets. Someone had taken off the torn white dress and thrown a huge black t-shirt on me instead. My feet were bandaged and they hurt when I wiggled my toes.
I just lay there for a while trying to piece together how the hell I ended up here. Then it all hit me again. Vance on that stage saying he rejected me, calling me weak, calling me trash because of my dad. Kissing Vanessa right after like I was never anything to him. The pack cheering. The guards dragging me out and dumping me past the border. Rogues circling me. That masked guy showing up and killing them all. Yeah. That.
The door opened and he walked in. No mask now. Tall, black hair all messy, scar across his face, eyes dark as hell. Black jeans, black shirt, looked like he didn't own any other color. He stopped and stared at me like I was a mess he didn't want to deal with.
I pulled the blanket up even though the shirt covered everything. "Where am I?" My voice sounded like I'd swallowed sand.
"My place. Shadow Pack. You're alive. Don't make me regret it." He leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
I knew that name. Mason Blackwood. Even in Star Woods people whispered it like saying it too loud would bring him to your door. "You're the one from last night."
"Mason," he said, like that explained everything.
"Why'd you bring me here?"
He shrugged. "Was watching the whole thing. Your mate dumped you, picked the blonde, threw you to the dogs. Figured you'd be dead in ten minutes. Didn't feel like watching a kid die tonight."
My face got hot. "I have to go back. It wasn't real. Vanessa did something, she's been lying about me forever. If I can just talk to Vance—"
He laughed, short and cold. "He looked you in the eye and told everyone you're nothing. Then kissed her. Then exiled you. That's not a misunderstanding, that's him choosing."
I opened my mouth and nothing came out. He was right and it made me feel so stupid.
"They wanted you gone," he said. "They got it. Stop trying to run back to people who threw you away."
"But he's my mate," I whispered.
"Was." He pushed off the wall. "Bathroom's there. Clothes in the dresser. Food downstairs when you can walk. Don't wander off, my wolves aren't nice to strangers."
Then he left. Door shut. Quiet.
I sat there forever just staring at the wall. Everything he said kept looping in my head. He's right. He's so right and I hate it.
Eventually I dragged myself to the bathroom. The mirror was brutal. Bruises, puffy eyes, that ugly black rejection mark on my neck. I looked like I lost a fight with a truck. Showered until the water went cold. Found sweatpants and another black shirt in the dresser. Everything smelled like him and it was weirdly not terrible.
Went downstairs and got lost twice. The house was huge and cold, all stone and dark wood and weapons on the walls like decorations. Finally found the kitchen.
Three guys eating breakfast. They stopped talking when I walked in.
One with tattoos up his neck smirked. "Look, the stray's awake."
Another grinned. "Thought she'd sleep forever."
I just stood there burning with embarrassment.
An older woman with gray hair and scars walked in and shoved a plate at me. "Sit. Eat. I'm Mara. I cook. That's it."
I sat and ate because I was starving. Steak and eggs and toast. They talked about patrols and some fight coming up. Nobody talked to me.
The whole day was like that. I stayed out of the way. People stared. Some whispered. Mason didn't show up once.
Dinner was the same. Long table. I sat way at the end. Mason was at the head talking to some guy about borders. Didn't look at me. Not even when I dropped my spoon and it clanged super loud. He just kept talking. Like I was invisible.
That actually hurt worse than the rejection mark.
After dinner I went back to the room and just sat on the bed. Kept seeing Vance kiss Vanessa. Kept hearing the cheers. Kept feeling the bond snap over and over. Cried until I had nothing left.
Later I heard two guys outside my door.
"Bet she tries to run by morning."
"Nah, Alpha keeps the broken ones a week then gets bored."
"She's kinda cute though. Shame."
They laughed and walked off.
I stopped crying.
Something hot started in my stomach. Not sad anymore. Angry.
I got up and walked to the wall where a bunch of knives were hanging. Took one down. Small, sharp, felt good in my hand.
Held it tight.
"I'm not broken," I said to the empty room.
"I'm not your damn toy."
I stared at the blade for a long time.
Tomorrow I start fighting back.
******
I didn't sleep after I put the dagger back. Just sat there in the dark holding my knees, waiting for the sun to come up so I could do something, anything, that wasn't crying. When the light finally started creeping in I got up, splashed water on my face, and pulled on the least giant clothes I could find (black leggings and one of Mason's hoodies that still swallowed me but whatever). Tied my hair with a strip I ripped off an old shirt. Looked at the girl in the mirror. Bruises, puffy eyes, ugly black rejection mark. I looked like hell but I was done feeling like it.
I slipped out quiet. Bare feet on cold wood floors. The house was dead silent except for a few snores somewhere far off. Found the kitchen easy this time. Mara was already there flipping bacon like she never slept.
She glanced at me, raised one eyebrow. "You're up early for someone who got thrown to the rogues yesterday."
"Couldn't sleep." I slid into a chair.
She shoved a plate at me without asking. Eggs, bacon, toast, coffee strong enough to wake the dead. I ate like I hadn't seen food in a week. She refilled my coffee without a word.
Two guys wandered in while I was on my second plate. Tattoo-neck and busted-lip from yesterday. They saw me and stopped.
Tattoo guy smirked. "Thought you'd be gone by now."
I just kept chewing.
Mara smacked him on the back of the head with a spatula. "Sit and eat before I make you."
They sat. Kept sneaking looks but didn't say anything else.
I wiped my mouth and stood up. "Where's the training yard?"
Both of them stared like I'd grown a second head.
Busted-lip laughed. "You serious?"
"Dead serious."
Mara pointed out the back window with her spatula. "Past the stables. Big dirt circle. But nobody's out there this early unless Alpha drags them."
I walked out before anyone could stop me.
Cold air hit my face and it felt good. The yard was empty except for one guy with a long braid stretching against the fence. He looked up when I walked straight to the rack of wooden swords and grabbed one.
He jogged over. "Hey, you lost?"
"Nope." I tested the weight of the sword. Felt weird in my hands but not impossible.
"You sure? This isn't the playground."
I got into the stance I'd watched Vance use a million times and looked at him. "Hit me."
He blinked. Then laughed a little. "Alpha know you're out here stealing his gear?"
"Don't care."
He shrugged, grabbed a sword, and came at me slow like he thought I'd bolt.
I didn't. Blocked the first swing. It jarred my arms but I held. Second swing got past me and whacked my shoulder hard enough to make my eyes water. Third one I blocked again and actually managed to shove him back half a step.
He stopped, eyebrows up. "Huh."
"Again," I said.
He didn't go easy after that.
Ten minutes later I was on my ass in the dirt more times than I could count. My shoulder was screaming, my hands were shaking, but every time he knocked me down I got back up. A couple more guys showed up to watch. Nobody laughed after the first few falls.
Finally braid guy stepped back and shook his head. "You're crazy. Go put ice on that shoulder before it swells shut."
I dropped the sword and just stood there breathing hard, sweat stinging my eyes. My whole body felt like jelly but I was grinning and I didn't even care.
That's when I heard the slow clap.
Mason was leaning against the fence in sweatpants and no shirt, arms crossed, watching me like he'd been there the whole time. Everyone else suddenly remembered they had somewhere else to be and disappeared fast.
I wiped my face on the sleeve of his hoodie and tried to stand straight even though my legs were jelly. "Morning."
He didn't say anything at first, just looked me up and down slow. Then he pushed off the fence and walked over. Stopped close enough that I had to look up.
"You're bleeding through my hoodie," he said.
I glanced down. Yeah, the shoulder hit had split the skin. Blood was soaking into the fabric.
He reached out, grabbed my chin gentle but firm, turned my head to check the bruises and the rejection mark. His thumb brushed the black mark and I flinched. He noticed but didn't say anything about it.
"You eat?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"Good." He let go. "Shower. Ice that shoulder. Then meet me in the gym inside."
I stared at him. "Why?"
He started walking away, threw over his shoulder, "Because if you're dumb enough to pick up a sword the day after your whole world ends, you're doing it with me. Ten minutes."
And then he was gone.
I stood there a second feeling dizzy and stupidly alive. My shoulder hurt like hell, my pride was bruised worse, but something inside me felt like it had just woken up.