Danger,my wolf growls, hackles rising.
Ronan stalks toward her, his path direct and predatory. The crowd parts, sensing something momentous. Selena doesn’t retreat. Doesn’t cower. She meets his gaze with a steadiness that makes my breath catch.
This isn’t how it happened before.
She tilts her head. “Welcome back, Ronan.”
The air between them crackles, visible energy building like lightning before the strike. I push off the wall, moving closer without conscious thought.
“Holy shit,” someone whispers. “Is it happening?”
The mate bond. I know what’s coming, and still I can’t stop my hands from clenching into fists.
Ronan reaches for her, his fingertips grazing her cheek. The contact triggers an explosion of energy that ripples through the room. Golden light erupts between them, the unmistakable manifestation of a mate bond forming.
Gasps erupt. Someone drops a glass. The sound of it shattering matches the feeling in my chest.
“Mine,” Ronan growls, loud enough for everyone to hear. His arm snakes around Selena’s waist, pulling her against him. “My mate.”
The Silver Moon Pack erupts in exclamations and howls. This is a cause for celebration, their future Alpha has found his mate. The perfect fairy tale.
Except I know how this story truly ends.
I watch Selena’s face, waiting for the breakdown, the overwhelm that should follow. In our past life, she crumbled under the weight of this moment, becoming a shell of herself, malleable clay for Ronan to shape.
But her eyes, they widen, her breath catches, then something remarkable happens. She steadies herself. Her spine straightens. She doesn’t yield completely.
She remembers,my wolf realizes before I do.
“I need air,” she says, her voice tight but controlled.
“You’ll get used to it,” Ronan says, his tone dismissive but pleased. He turns to the crowd. “My father will want to hear this news immediately. Let’s celebrate!”
The pack follows him like the obedient sheep they are, but his grip on Selena doesn’t loosen. She glances around, and for a heartbeat, our eyes lock.
Recognition. Fear. Determination.
My wolf howls inside me, clawing to get out, to go to her. The pull is nearly unbearable.
OURS. PROTECT.
She’s bonded to Ronan,I argue back even as my body strains toward her.We can’t interfere. Not yet.
UNWORTHY. HE IS UNWORTHY.
I can’t disagree with that. The memories of what Ronan becomes, the cruelty, the abuse, the way he nearly destroyed her, burn through me like acid.
My dead mate’s face flashes in my mind again.I’m sorry,I think to her ghost.I couldn’t save you. But I can save her.
Is it betrayal to want Selena this much? Wanting her feels like betrayal. Not wanting her feels impossible.
To feel this pull, this possessiveness for a woman bonded to another? The guilt and desire war within me as I force myself to stay rooted in place.
Something in me snaps.
“Not another one.” The words leave me low, rough, barely restrained.
My wolf surges forward, relentless, pressing against every barrier I have left.
