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“No,” I reply, and she retracts as if struck. “My father arranged our betrothal to unite the Clans. He needed them for the war against your people.”
“Where is the princess now, Malak? Does she know you have come? Did you give her your mark and a promise you’ve no intention to keep?” she asks accusingly. “Like you did to me?”
“No.” Her words are sharp barbs in my heart. “A wolf only marks one person in their entire life. I told her that I could not bond with her. That I still—”
“Stop!” She holds out her hand. “I do not want to hear it.”
“You are my mate, Luna.” I clench my jaw. “We swore a vow to each other.”
“I don’t belong to you, Malak. Youleftme,” she says accusingly. “Or have you forgotten?”
“I had to. It was the only way to keep you safe.” I shake my head. “But I’m here now.”
“Three years too late,” she snaps back.
Jealousy churns deep within as the smell of the other male on her skin and clothing is carried toward me on the cool breeze. “Who was that male you were dancing with?”
“Prince Duren of Avalor,” she replies. “We are to be betrothed this night.”
A low growl rises in my chest as my inner wolf claws beneath the surface, desperate to escape and end this male who dares think he can claim her.
She ismymate.Nothis.
“You pledged yourself to me,” I remind her. “We swore vows to each other.”
“I do not understand you,” she says incredulously. “Youtold me to forget you, and so I moved on. And now you show up, and lure me into the woods…” She bites her bottom lip to stop it from quivering and turns her back to me.
“You cannot marry another, Luna,” I plead. “You are my mate. You carry my mark, and I am yours.”
Her back is still turned to me as I step closer. So close that the warmth of her body radiates to mine. Gently, I dip my head to the elegant curve of her neck and scent her, as I used to do so often.
“Please,” her voice quavers, and I can smell the salt of her tears. She steps away from me, and straightens, tipping up her chin. “I have to get back.”
“Luna, please, we must talk.”
“Not out here,” she says, her voice devoid of emotion. She glances down at her loosened bodice. “I need to get back. I—” Her voice catches. “I cannot be seen like this.”
“Why?”
“I need to sneak back to my room and change. Something like this—” she gestures to her torn bodice—“could so easily be misconstrued, and then I would be ruined and my parents would be shamed.”
“Humans and their strange proprieties,” I grumble.
“Perhaps they are strange to you,” she says icily, “but I have had to live with them for the past three years.”
I open my mouth to ask, but she pins me with a piercing gaze. “We were at war with your people, and I carried your mark. The mark of a wolf’s mate. You have no idea what it was like. I—” Her voice catches, and she swallows hard before continuing. “Everyone overlooks it now because with my hand comes a handsome dowry from my father. Even the royal family of Avalor would ignore it to restore their fortune.”
With one hand holding her bodice to her chest, she grips the skirt of her dress with the other and starts back toward the house.
“Luna, wait,” I call out. “We need to talk.”
She levels an angry glare at me over her shoulder before she pushes through the back gate. A sharp cry rings out, startling us both. Lightning fast, I pull Luna behind me, and my eyes widen when I see her betrothed with another female.
The woman gasps as she pushes to her feet. Her dress is halfway down her body as she rushes away, trying desperately to fit her arms back in the sleeves.
Struggling to pull his pants back up his legs, Luna’s betrothed trips and falls forward in the grass. His jaw drops as Luna steps out from behind me.
“This—this isn’t what it looks like,” he says. “I—I swear.”
