Kira's POV
The wolf pup whimpered in my arms, and I knew we were losing her.
Come on, sweetie, I whispered, pressing the bottle to her tiny mouth. Just a little more. Please.
Her eyes golden and barely open looked up at me with trust I didn't deserve. Three days ago, hunters left her for dead in a trap. Three days I'd stayed awake, feeding her every two hours, watching her fight for every breath.
She had to live. They all had to live. That's why I built this place.
The pup's tongue finally touched the bottle. She drank. Relief flooded through me so fast my hands shook.
That's my girl, I breathed. That's my brave girl.
Dawn light crept through my office window at the Moonstone Sanctuary. I'd been here all night again. My back ached. My eyes burned. But the pup was drinking, and that made everything worth it.
The office door burst open.
Kira, you look terrible, Elena announced, walking in with two coffee cups. My best friend and the sanctuary's vet never knocked. Did you sleep at all?
She's drinking, I said, ignoring the question.
Elena's face softened. She handed me coffee and peered at the pup. She's stronger. You did good.
I took a long drink of coffee. It tasted like heaven. We saved three wolves last week. If we can save her too
Four wolves, Elena corrected. You're allowed to be proud, you know.
Pride felt dangerous. The moment I got comfortable, something always went wrong. Seven years running this sanctuary taught me that.
What's that? I asked, noticing the fancy envelope in Elena's other hand.
She frowned. Came by special courier. Woke me up at five in the morning. She held it out. It has a seal on it. Red wax. Looks old fashioned and important.
My heart stopped.
Red wax. A seal.
No. It couldn't be.
My hands trembled as I took the envelope. The moment I saw the symbol pressed into the wax, my world tilted.
A wolf howling at the moon. The Royal Pack seal.
I hadn't seen that symbol in seven years. Not since the night I ran away from everything I was supposed to be.
Kira? Elena's voice sounded far away. You're shaking. What is it?
I couldn't answer. Couldn't breathe. The envelope felt heavy as stone in my hands.
Kira, you're scaring me. What's wrong?
I broke the seal. My fingers felt numb as I pulled out thick, cream-colored paper. Expensive. Official. The kind of letter that changed lives.
The words swam before my eyes:
Dr. Kira Thorne,
This letter serves as official notice that the land currently occupied by the Moonstone Wolf Sanctuary is ancestral territory of the Royal Pack, specifically the Blackwood family line. Recent review of historical land records has confirmed that the deed transferred to you seven years ago was done so illegally, without proper pack authority.
As Alpha King of the Northern Territories, I am exercising my right to reclaim this land under Section 4 of the Pack Territory Act. You have sixty (60) days from receipt of this notice to vacate the premises. All structures must be removed. All wolves currently housed must be relocated.
There are no exceptions to this order.
Signed,Alpha King Rowan Blackwood
The letter slipped from my fingers.
Everything stopped. The sunrise. The coffee smell. My heartbeat.
Rowan.
His name on that paper felt like a knife between my ribs.
Kira! Elena grabbed my shoulders. Talk to me! What does it say?
I stared at the letter on my desk. At his signature. Strong, bold strokes. Just like him.
Just like he used to be.
They're taking the sanctuary, I heard myself say. The land. It belongs to the Royal Pack. I have sixty days to My voice broke. Sixty days to leave.
What? Elena snatched up the letter. Her face went white as she read. This can't be legal. You bought this land. You have a deed!
Apparently the deed was illegal. My voice sounded hollow. Pack law beats human law. If the Alpha King says the land is his... I couldn't finish.
Seven years. Seven years I'd poured everything into this place. Every dollar. Every dream. Every piece of my broken heart.
And Rowan was taking it away.
Who is this Rowan Blackwood? Elena demanded. Some power hungry alpha throwing his weight around? We'll fight this. We'll get lawyers
We can't fight him.
Why not?
Because Rowan Blackwood wasn't just any alpha. He was the most powerful wolf in the Northern Territories. The king who ruled over every pack from here to the mountains.
And seven years ago, he was mine.
Kira. Elena's voice went quiet. Careful. Why can't we fight him?
I looked at the wolf pup sleeping peacefully in her blanket. At the forty-three wolves outside depending on me. At the sanctuary I built from nothing.
All of it sat on land that belonged to the mate I destroyed.
Because My throat closed. I hadn't said his name out loud in seven years. Hadn't let myself think about what I did to him. To us. Because I know him.
You know the Alpha King? Elena's eyes went wide.
I knew him, I corrected. Before he was king. When he was just... I stopped. Rowan was never just anything. Even as a third son with no power, he'd been everything. We were close. A long time ago.
How close?
The question hung in the air between us.
I thought about lying. Saying we were friends. Acquaintances. Anything but the truth.
But Elena deserved to know why our world was ending.
He was my fated mate, I whispered.
Elena's coffee cup hit the floor. Brown liquid spread across the wood, but neither of us moved.
Your what?
My fated mate. The words tasted like ash. We met seven years ago. The bond it was instant. Powerful. Everything the stories say mates should be.
And you never told me? Elena looked hurt. In seven years, you never mentioned you had a mate?
Because I rejected him.
Silence. Complete, horrible silence.
Wolves didn't reject their mates. It went against every instinct. Against nature itself. The mate bond was sacred the one thing we spent our whole lives searching for.
And I threw mine away.
Why would you Elena stopped. The scholarship. The university. Your doctorate.
I nodded. I was twenty-two when I met Rowan. I'd just won a full scholarship to study wildlife biology at the best human university in the country. My dream since childhood. The chance to learn how to save wolves like the ones I'd always loved.
But accepting the mate bond meant staying in pack territory. Becoming someone's mate. Living the life my pack expected.
I had to choose: my dream or my mate.
I chose wrong.
I performed the rejection ritual, I said. My voice cracked. I spoke the words that severed us. Then I left for university the next day. I never looked back.
Oh, Kira. Elena's face was full of pity.
I thought I could have both eventually. My education and then I laughed bitterly. But you can't go back. You can't unrejected someone. The damage is done.
I picked up the letter again. Rowan's signature blurred as tears filled my eyes.
He was the third son. Nobody important. Just a sweet wolf who loved the forest and wanted to help people. I touched the paper where his name was written. I broke his heart. Then his father and brothers died in an attack. He became Alpha King overnight. And I heard he changed. Became cold. Ruthless. Everything he wasn't before.
Because of you? Elena asked quietly.
I don't know. Yes. I did know. Maybe.
And now he owns your land.
Now he owns everything. The sanctuary. My dream. The life I built to prove rejecting him was worth it.
All of it belonged to the mate I destroyed.
Elena grabbed my hand. We'll figure this out. There has to be a way to
There's no way, I cut her off. When an Alpha King claims territory, that's final. I have sixty days. Then it's over.
The wolf pup whimpered again. I looked at her tiny face, at all the wolves outside who trusted me to protect them.
How was I supposed to tell them I failed?
What are you going to do? Elena asked.
I stared at Rowan's signature for a long moment. Then I made a decision that would either save everything or destroy what was left of me.
I'm going to Silverpeak. The words came out steady despite my shaking hands. I'm going to see him. Beg if I have to. Maybe I swallowed hard. Maybe he'll show mercy.
You think he will? After you rejected him?
I thought about the Rowan I knew. Gentle. Forgiving. Kind.
But that Rowan died seven years ago.
The Alpha King who replaced him? I had no idea what he'd become.
I have to try, I said. For them. For all of them.
I looked out the window at my sanctuary. At the wolves roaming free in their enclosures. At the dream I built from the ashes of the biggest mistake of my life.
Elena followed my gaze. Then she asked the question I'd been dreading.
Kira... who is Rowan Blackwood to you? Really?
I closed my eyes. Felt the phantom ache where the mate bond used to be. The emptiness that never quite healed.
He's the man I destroyed seven years ago, I whispered.
Then I looked at the letter again. At the cold, formal words. At the signature of someone who clearly hated me.
And now he's going to destroy me.