DANE POV
Reign tried to kill Sable last night.
Not metaphorically. Not a figure of speech. My wolf literally seized control during an intimate moment and snapped at my mate's throat with killing intent.
I'd barely managed to stop him in time.
"It was just a slip," I told Dr. Whitmore now, sitting in his clinic trying to explain the unexplainable. "My wolf got... aggressive. That's normal, right? Alphas are dominant during—"
"Dane." The old doctor cut me off gently. "Your wolf tried to rip out your mate's throat. That's not dominance. That's rejection."
The word hung in the air like poison.
"Wolves don't reject their fated mates," I said flatly. "It's impossible."
"Usually impossible," Dr. Whitmore agreed. He'd been pack doctor for forty years—he'd seen things most wolves couldn't imagine. "But I've heard stories. Old stories about wolves who were tricked into marking the wrong mate. Their inner wolves knew the truth even when the human half didn't."
My chest constricted painfully. The phantom pain that had been plaguing me since the mating ceremony flared worse.
"Are you suggesting Sable isn't my mate?" I tried to laugh but it came out wrong. "I marked her. The bond is complete."
"Is it?" Dr. Whitmore leaned forward. "Tell me honestly—do you feel the mate bond? The connection other mated pairs describe?"
I opened my mouth. Closed it.
The truth was... no. I felt nothing. No cosmic connection, no overwhelming love, no sense that Sable was my other half. I cared about her, respected her, enjoyed parts of our relationship.
But the all-consuming mate bond that wolves spent their lives searching for?
Nothing.
"The stress of leadership—" I started.
"Has nothing to do with this." Dr. Whitmore pulled out a silver instrument I didn't recognize. "I want to try something. Give me your hand."
Reluctantly, I extended my hand. The doctor pricked my finger with the instrument, drawing a single drop of blood. The silver began to glow, pulsing with light.
"This detects mate bonds," Dr. Whitmore explained. "If you're truly bonded to Sable, it will glow gold and point toward her."
We waited.
The silver didn't turn gold. Instead, it glowed a strange, sickly green—the color of corrupted magic.
And it pointed away from where Sable was in our chambers.
It pointed toward the Beta's house.
"What does green mean?" My voice came out hoarse.
Dr. Whitmore's face was grim. "Interference. Someone's used magic to manipulate a mate bond. This only happens with dark magic, Dane. The kind that requires blood sacrifice."
My world tilted sideways.
"You're saying someone cursed me?"
"I'm saying your bond isn't natural." He capped the instrument carefully. "Whether that's Sable's doing or someone else's, I can't tell. But that green glow? That's not the Moon Goddess's work."
Before I could respond, Reign surged forward with more strength than he'd had in weeks.
CORRUPTED! my wolf howled. THE BOND IS CORRUPTED! I TOLD YOU! I TRIED TO TELL YOU!
"Why didn't you say something clearer?" I shouted internally. "Why just snap and snarl and—"
BECAUSE YOU WOULDN'T LISTEN! Reign's anguish flooded through me. I showed you! Every time that female was near, I recoiled! Every time the OTHER one was close, I reached for her! But you pushed me down, silenced me, chose wrong!
The other one.
Grey eyes flashed through my mind. A thin, pale face. The girl who lurked at the edges of every room, who I couldn't stop noticing even though I wanted to ignore her.
Thea.
"No," I said aloud, making Dr. Whitmore jump. "That's insane. Thea is Sable's sister. If anyone was my mate, it would be—"
HER! Reign roared. IT WAS ALWAYS HER!
I stumbled out of the clinic in a daze, Dr. Whitmore's warnings ringing in my ears about investigating the bond corruption. But I couldn't think straight. Couldn't breathe.
If what he said was true—if the bond was corrupted—then everything I'd done was wrong.
I'd marked the wrong woman. Mated the wrong woman. Cast aside my true mate without even knowing.
And if my true mate was Thea...
Oh gods. The way I'd treated her. The cruel words. The dismissive attitude. If she'd been feeling the real mate bond all along while I'd been blind to it—
"Alpha!" Kieran jogged up to me. "There you are. The pack dinner starts in twenty minutes. Sable's been looking for you."
Right. The dinner. Where I'd have to sit next to my fake mate and pretend everything was perfect.
"I'll be there," I said numbly.
The dining hall was packed with pack members. Sable held court at the head table, laughing and charming everyone like the perfect Luna. I took my seat beside her, feeling hollow.
"Where were you?" Sable whispered, her smile not reaching her eyes. "You disappeared for hours."
"Doctor's appointment."
"Are you sick?" Concern flooded her voice, but something about it felt... calculated. Performed.
Had it always been like that? Or was I just noticing now?
"I'm fine," I lied.
Servers brought out food. I barely noticed until one of them approached our table.
Thea.
She moved carefully, setting down plates with shaking hands. She looked worse than I'd ever seen her—skeletal, with bruise-dark circles under her eyes. Her neck was wrapped with a scarf despite the warm room.
Our eyes met.
My chest exploded.
Not phantom pain this time. Real, searing agony that stole my breath. And through it, I felt something impossible—an emotion that wasn't mine. Anguish so deep it had no bottom. Longing mixed with resignation. Love twisted with despair.
Thea's emotions. Bleeding through a connection that shouldn't exist.
MATE! Reign howled triumphantly. FINALLY YOU SEE! FINALLY!
Thea's hand trembled so badly she nearly dropped the plate. I caught it reflexively, my fingers brushing hers.
Electricity shot up my arm. The bond—the REAL bond—roared to life between us like a sleeping dragon waking. For one crystal-clear moment, I felt everything.
Her suffering. Three weeks of torture, feeling every moment I'd spent with Sable. The one-sided bond burning her alive from the inside out. The family that had silenced her. The mate who couldn't feel her.
All of it crashed over me at once.
"Thea—" I breathed.
She jerked away like I'd burned her. "Excuse me, Alpha."
She practically ran from the table.
I started to stand, to follow, but Sable grabbed my arm. "Dane? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."
I stared at my wife. My fake mate. The woman who'd somehow tricked me into marking her.
Had she known? Had she known about Thea all along?
"I need air," I said roughly, pulling free.
"But the dinner—"
I left without answering. Left Sable confused, left the pack whispering, left everything behind as I stumbled outside into the cool night.
My chest felt like it was splitting open. The bond with Thea was fully awake now, and I could feel her pain like it was my own. Three weeks of agony. Three weeks of watching her mate choose her sister. Three weeks of suffering in silence while I'd been too blind to see.
I'd marked the wrong woman.
I'd destroyed my true mate's life.
And the worst part?
I still didn't know how to fix it.
"Moon Goddess," I whispered to the silver moon above. "What have I done?"
The wind picked up, carrying a scent I'd been subconsciously tracking for weeks.
Honeysuckle and rain. Thea's scent.
And underneath it—blood.
I ran.