Dante's pov
The moment their eyes met, Dante's world shattered and reformed around a single, devastating truth.
Mine.
The word roared through him with the force of a tidal wave, obliterating every carefully constructed plan, every political calculation, every promise he'd made. His wolf, usually so disciplined and controlled, surged forward with a possessiveness so fierce it nearly brought him to his knees.
The mate bond didn't gently click into place. It *snapped*—like a rope pulled taut between them, vibrating with power that made his teeth ache. Golden light exploded behind his eyes, and suddenly he could *feel* her. Her fear, her confusion, her wild joy at finally having her wolf. The emotions crashed over him in waves, foreign yet intimate, as if someone had reached inside his chest and connected their heartbeat directly to his.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
Celeste was his intended. The alliance with the Silvercrest Pack had been arranged since childhood. Their bonding ceremony was scheduled for the spring equinox, six months away. Everything was planned, negotiated, settled. His father had made it clear that this marriage was more than personal—it was strategic, essential to the Nightshade Pack's continued dominance.
But fate, apparently, had other ideas.
"No," he said again, the word tasting like ash in his mouth. "This is impossible."
Yet even as he spoke, his wolf was howling in triumph, straining against his control, demanding he close the distance between them and claim what was rightfully his. The silver wolf before him was magnificent—smaller than most females but perfectly proportioned, her fur catching the moonlight like spun starlight. And those eyes, even in wolf form, were unmistakably Aria's. Gray as storm clouds, watching him with a mixture of hope and heartbreak that made something in his chest twist painfully.
The nobody girl. The late bloomer. The one everyone mocks.
His fated mate.
The realization sent panic shooting through him, cold and sharp. If anyone found out—if his father discovered that the Moon Goddess had bound him to someone so far beneath his station—
He took a step back, needing distance, needing to think. But the movement made her flinch, and the spike of hurt he felt through the bond nearly stopped his heart.
"Stay back," he managed, fighting for control. His wolf was raging at him, furious that he would reject their mate, that he would cause her pain. "Don't—" He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the sight of her, trying to think past the overwhelming instinct to go to her. "We need to reject this bond. Tonight. Before anyone else finds out."
The words felt like swallowing glass.
When he opened his eyes, the silver wolf's hackles had risen, her lips pulling back to reveal sharp white teeth. The light surrounding her flared brighter, and Dante felt genuine shock ripple through him. He'd never seen a newly shifted wolf display such power. Most were clumsy, uncertain, barely able to maintain their form for more than a few minutes.
Aria looked like she'd been born to it.
"Aria," he said, his voice rougher than he intended. The bond made him hyper-aware of her—he could hear her rapid heartbeat, could smell the pine and moonlight scent that was uniquely hers, could feel the trembling need radiating from her wolf. "I know you can understand me. Shift back. We need to talk about this."
For a moment, he thought she might comply. Then her form began to shimmer, the silver light pulsing once, twice—
And she shifted.
Dante had the presence of mind to look away as her human form emerged, giving her privacy even as every instinct screamed at him to *look*, to memorize every detail of his mate. He heard rustling as she grabbed a jacket someone must have dropped during her transformation, heard her harsh breathing as she struggled to process what had just happened to her.
When he turned back, she was standing twenty feet away, wrapped in an oversized academy jacket, her dark hair wild around her face. Even in the moonlight, he could see that her gray eyes were now flecked with silver—a permanent mark of her wolf's emergence.
She was beautiful.
The thought came unbidden, undeniable. Not in the carefully cultivated way Celeste was beautiful, with her designer clothes and practiced smiles. Aria looked raw, real, like something wild that had been caged too long and had finally broken free.
"You want to reject the bond," she said, and her voice was different now—stronger, layered with an authority that hadn't been there before. Her wolf was still close to the surface, lending her strength. "Before anyone finds out that the great Dante Nightshade's fated mate is the academy's biggest joke."
"That's not—" he started, but she cut him off.
"Don't lie." She took a step toward him, and Dante found himself rooted to the spot, caught between his wolf's desperate need and his human mind's racing calculations. "I can feel what you're feeling, remember? The bond goes both ways. I feel your shame. Your panic. Your *disgust* that fate would saddle you with someone like me."
"It's not disgust," he said, the truth forcing itself out. "It's—"
"What? Inconvenience?" Her laugh was sharp, bitter. "I finally get my wolf after eighteen years of being nothing, and the first thing I discover is that the universe has an even crueler sense of humor than I thought."
She was shaking—he could see it even from this distance. Whether from the shock of transformation, the mate bond, or rage, he couldn't tell. Probably all three.
"The alliance with Silvercrest—" he began.
"Is more important than the mate bond. Yes, I understand." Aria wrapped the jacket tighter around herself. "Your arranged marriage to the perfect Alpha's daughter is more valuable than whatever fate intended between us. Political power trumps the Moon Goddess's will. Trust me, I've already done the math."
Dante's hands clenched into fists. Through the bond, he could feel her pain like shards of glass in his gut, but underneath it was something else—something fierce and unbroken that his wolf recognized and responded to with savage approval.
She was stronger than he'd thought. Stronger than anyone had given her credit for.
"I'm trying to protect you," he said, and meant it. "If people find out we're fated mates, if my father finds out—you don't understand what you'd be walking into. The politics, the expectations, the enemies who would use you against me. Rejecting the bond is the kindest thing I can do."
"Kindest." She repeated the word like it was poison. "You want to tear out a piece of my soul before I've even had a chance to understand what it means to have one, and you call that *kind*?"
"Better a clean break now than—"
"Than what, Dante?" She took another step forward, and this time he saw the silver light beginning to gather around her again. Her wolf was rising, responding to her emotional turmoil. "Than months of pretending we don't feel this? Than watching you marry someone else while this bond slowly destroys us both? The mate bond doesn't just go away because it's inconvenient. It—"
She stopped abruptly, her eyes going wide. Dante heard it too—voices calling from the direction of the main building. Professor Chen's distinctive baritone, probably accompanied by half the staff. They'd seen the silver light, had witnessed Aria's transformation. Soon this place would be swarming with witnesses.
"We're out of time," he said, taking an involuntary step toward her. His wolf howled in approval, desperate to close the distance. "Aria, please. Let me—"
"No."
The word cracked like a whip through the night air.
Aria's eyes blazed silver as her wolf surged forward again. She didn't fully shift, but her presence became something more—something that made even Dante's Alpha-blooded wolf take notice.
"Don't you dare touch me," she said, her voice carrying an otherworldly resonance. "You made your choice the second you told me you wanted to reject this bond. You chose your political alliance over your fated mate. Fine. That's your decision to live with."
The mate bond between them pulsed with anguish, but underneath it, Dante felt something new—her will, iron-strong, pushing back against the instinct to submit to him.
"But I didn't wait eighteen years to find my wolf just to let someone—even you—tell me what I'm worth." She backed toward the forest edge, her eyes never leaving his. "Stay away from me, Dante Nightshade. I may be your fated mate, but I will never be yours."
"Aria—"
But she was already shifting, the transformation happening faster this time, more controlled. The silver wolf emerged in a flash of light, and then she was running—not away in fear, but with purpose, disappearing into the forest with a speed that spoke of her newfound strength.
Dante stood frozen, his wolf howling in agony as their mate fled. Every instinct screamed at him to follow, to chase, to bring her back and never let her go. His muscles trembled with the effort of staying still.
Mine,bhis wolf snarled. Ours. Go after her. Claim her. Don't let her leave.
But his human mind held firm, even as it felt like ripping his own heart out.
This was for the best. It had to be. The alliance with Silvercrest was critical. His father's expectations were absolute. The fate of the entire Nightshade Pack rested on maintaining their position of power.
One girl—even his fated mate—couldn't be worth risking all of that.
Could she?
"Mr. Nightshade!" Professor Chen's voice rang out as the instructor appeared around the corner, several others in tow. "What happened? We saw the silver light—was that Aria Kane's emergence?"
Dante turned to face them, his expression carefully blank despite the war raging inside him. "Yes. Her wolf finally emerged. She shifted and ran into the forest. Probably overwhelmed."
"And you were speaking with her?" Chen's eyes were sharp, assessing. "Did something else happen?"
For a moment, Dante considered telling the truth. But the words wouldn't come. Instead, he said, "Nothing of consequence. I was simply in the area when she shifted. I tried to help calm her, but her wolf was too agitated."
It wasn't technically a lie. But through the bond—the bond he'd told her he wanted to reject—he felt Aria's flash of bitter recognition. She'd heard him. Even deep in the forest, even in wolf form, the bond let her know that he was already denying what they were to each other.
He'd just broken his mate's heart to save his own future.
And the worst part was, he wasn't sure he'd made the right choice at all.