THEA POV
I couldn't breathe.
My lungs wouldn't work. My legs wouldn't stop running. Tree branches whipped my face as I crashed through the forest, but I barely felt them. The only thing I could feel was the bond—burning, blazing, screaming through every vein in my body.
Mate mate mate, Tempest howled inside my mind. Go back! Our mate! He doesn't know!
"He chose her," I sobbed, stumbling over a root. "He kissed her. He claimed her in front of everyone."
Because he doesn't feel us! Tempest's voice was anguished. Something's wrong! Mates always feel each other! Always!
She was right. That's what made this so much worse.
Dane should have felt the bond the moment we locked eyes. I'd seen the confusion on his face, the flash of recognition—and then Sable grabbed him and everything changed. Like someone had flipped a switch. Like he'd forgotten I existed.
How was that possible?
I ran until my legs gave out, collapsing against an old oak tree deep in the forest where no one would find me. My chest felt like it was splitting open. The mate bond wasn't fading—it was growing stronger, wrapping around my heart like chains.
And the worst part? I could feel him through it.
I could feel Dane's emotions bleeding through our connection. His satisfaction. His pride. His pleasure at having Sable by his side. Every positive emotion he felt for my sister stabbed through me like a knife.
"Moon Goddess," I whispered to the dark sky. "Why? Why give me a mate who can't feel me? Why curse me like this?"
The Goddess didn't answer. She never did.
I stayed in the forest until dawn painted the sky pink and gold. My throat was raw from crying. My dress was torn and muddy. But I couldn't stay out here forever. Eventually, I had to go home and face the reality that my twin sister was engaged to my fated mate.
Our house was quiet when I slipped through the back door. Maybe everyone was still asleep. Maybe I could sneak to my room and—
"Where have you been?"
I froze.
My father Corwin stood in the kitchen doorway, still wearing his formal clothes from last night. His face was hard, his arms crossed. Behind him, I could see my mother Vera sitting at the table, her hands wrapped around a coffee mug.
"I went for a run," I said quietly. "I needed to clear my head."
"Clear your head." Father's voice was flat. "While your sister celebrated the most important night of her life, you disappeared like a coward."
Anger flared in my chest—hot and unexpected. "I'm not a coward."
"Then where were you?" He stepped closer, his Beta authority pressing down on me. "Why weren't you there to support your sister?"
The words exploded out before I could stop them: "Papa, something's wrong! I felt the bond with Dane, not Sable! The Moon Goddess chose me as his mate, but he can't feel it and I don't understand—"
The slap came so fast I didn't see it coming.
My head snapped to the side. Pain burst across my cheek. I staggered backward, hand flying to my face, staring at my father in shock.
He'd never hit me before. Never.
"You will never speak those words again." His voice was ice-cold. "Do you understand me? Never."
"But it's true!" Tears burned my eyes—from pain and betrayal both. "I felt it! The bond activated when Dane walked past me, before Sable even—"
"I don't care what you felt." Father grabbed my shoulders, his fingers digging in hard enough to bruise. "Sable is Luna material. Beautiful, confident, strong. You are nothing. You're the spare daughter we never needed. The one who hides in corners and reads books instead of learning how to be useful."
Each word was a slap worse than the physical one.
"Corwin," Mother's voice came weakly from the kitchen. "Maybe we should—"
"Stay out of this, Vera." Father didn't even look at her. His eyes bored into mine. "Listen carefully, Thea. If you claim that bond, if you say one word about it to anyone, I will disown you. Do you know what happens to wolves without a pack?"
I knew. Everyone knew. Lone wolves went feral within months—their minds breaking, their humanity disappearing until they became mindless beasts that had to be hunted down.
"Your wolf will die packless and alone," Father continued. "Is that what you want? To throw away everything for some delusion?"
"It's not a delusion," I whispered. "The mate bond is real. I can feel him right now. Every emotion, every—"
Father shook me hard. "Sable is going to be Luna. That's final. You will smile, you will congratulate her, and you will never mention this insanity again. Am I clear?"
I looked past him to my mother, desperate. "Mama, please. Tell him. You know mates can't be chosen, they're—"
Mother looked away.
She stood up, walked to the sink, and turned her back on me.
The last piece of my heart shattered.
My own mother wouldn't even look at me. Wouldn't defend me. Wouldn't acknowledge that her daughter's entire world was falling apart.
They'd both chosen Sable over me. Just like everyone always did.
"Am. I. Clear?" Father repeated.
What choice did I have? If I spoke up, I'd lose my pack, my wolf, my life. If I stayed silent, I'd lose my mate to my sister and suffer for the rest of my life.
Both options destroyed me.
"Yes," I whispered. "You're clear."
Father released me and straightened his jacket. "Good. Now go clean yourself up. You look pathetic. Sable is bringing Dane to dinner tonight and I expect you to behave appropriately."
He walked out.
Mother followed without a word.
I stood alone in the kitchen, my cheek throbbing, my heart in pieces.
And then the bond flared.
Fire exploded through my chest—not pain exactly, but sensation. Emotion. Dane's emotions flooding through our connection like a tidal wave.
Joy. Desire. Affection.
He was with Sable right now. Holding her. Maybe kissing her again.
And I felt every second of it.
I collapsed to my knees, gasping. This was going to be my life now. Feeling my mate fall in love with my sister. Watching them build a life together. Standing by silently while the bond burned me alive from the inside out.
We have to tell him, Tempest whimpered. We have to make him understand!
"How?" My voice cracked. "He can't feel the bond. And even if I told him, who would he believe? His beautiful fiancée or the nobody sister no one notices?"
Tempest had no answer.
Through the bond, I felt Dane laugh at something Sable said.
The sound echoed in my chest like thunder.
And I realized with crystal clarity that my father was wrong about one thing.
I wasn't going to die packless and alone.
I was going to die right here, in my pack, surrounded by people.
And no one would ever know.