Chapter 1

At my mating ceremony, my fated mate brought another woman to the altar—and ordered me to crown her Luna.

The heavy oak doors opened just as the priest called Ronan’s name.

Relief rushed through me.

After nine years of waiting, he had finally come.

Then I saw the woman holding his hand.

Vivienne Sterling walked beside him in a white Luna gown.

My Luna gown.

The silver embroidery across its bodice had belonged to my mother. I had spent months repairing every loose thread, imagining the moment Ronan would see me wearing it.

Now it was wrapped around another woman’s body.

For several seconds, I could not move.

I kept telling myself there had to be an explanation.

Perhaps the dress had been damaged.

Perhaps Vivienne had come as part of some political ceremony.

Perhaps Ronan would release her hand, walk toward me and explain everything.

But he led her through the rows of guests and stopped beside the altar.

He never let go of her.

Hundreds of Moonveil wolves turned toward me.

Some looked shocked.

Some looked away.

Their pity hurt almost as much as the sight of Ronan standing beside her.

He faced the crowd and smiled.

"Meet your new Luna."

The mating bond inside my chest twisted so violently that I nearly dropped my bouquet.

I looked at Ronan.

He had promised that today would belong to us.

For nine years, I had waited for him to fulfill that promise.

Whenever the loneliness became unbearable, I reminded myself that he was protecting Moonveil until my wolf awakened. I told myself every late meeting, every postponed ceremony and every night spent alone would be worth it when we finally stood together before the Pack.

Now Vivienne stood in the place I had imagined for myself.

Ronan met my eyes.

There was no guilt in his expression.

Only impatience, as though my presence had complicated a decision he had already made.

"Vivienne has awakened Alpha blood and the support of the Sterling Pack," he announced. "She is what Moonveil needs."

The words landed one after another.

She was what Moonveil needed.

Which meant I was not.

When my father died, I had been eighteen, and my Alpha wolf had not yet awakened. Enemies surrounded our territory, so I transferred my dormant power to Ronan and made him acting Alpha.

He had held my hands at the Moon Goddess altar and sworn he would return everything when my wolf awakened.

He had said we would rule together.

I believed him so completely that I never prepared for the possibility that he might choose to keep what I had given him.

For nine years, he wore my father’s title while I carried the Pack behind him.

Every crisis reached my desk.

Every victory was announced in his name.

I had never minded.

I thought we were sharing the burden.

I did not realize I was only making it easier for him to replace me.

Ronan stepped closer.

"You will remain Chief Advisor," he said quietly. "You will continue managing the Pack."

For a moment, I simply stared at him.

He was taking away my place beside him, but he still expected me to stay.

To write his orders.

To solve his problems.

To watch another woman receive the respect I had spent nine years earning.

A painful pressure gathered behind my eyes.

I lowered my gaze before anyone could see it.

Vivienne smoothed the sleeve of the gown I had prepared for myself.

"Thank you for taking care of everything for so long, Elara."

Her voice sounded gentle enough for the crowd.

Then she leaned closer.

"Thank you for keeping my place warm."

My fingers crushed the flower stems.

I looked at Ronan.

Some small, foolish part of me still expected him to stop her.

He knew what I had sacrificed.

He knew how long I had waited.

Surely he would not let her reduce my entire life to keeping a place warm.

Ronan said nothing.

He did not even look uncomfortable.

That silence broke something inside me.

It told me Vivienne was not acting alone.

She knew she could humiliate me because Ronan had already assured her that I no longer mattered.

He turned toward the altar and lifted the sacred silver Luna crown.

It had belonged to my mother.

My last clear memory of her was standing beside my father with that crown resting on her dark hair.

When she died, I had held it in my hands and promised that one day I would wear it with the same dignity she had.

Ronan carried it toward me.

"Take it."

I did not understand until he pushed it closer.

"Crown her."

A stunned murmur passed through the hall.

My chest tightened.

It was not enough for him to choose another woman.

He wanted me to place my mother’s crown on her head.

He wanted the Pack to watch me bless my own replacement.

"You want me to do this?" I asked.

My voice sounded thin, almost unfamiliar.

Ronan’s expression hardened.

"Do what is best for Moonveil."

The same words.

For nine years, those words had persuaded me to give up one thing after another.

My power.

My authority.

My time.

Every time I felt hurt or overlooked, Ronan reminded me that the Pack came first.

I had believed sacrifice was proof of love.

Now I understood that he had simply learned how easily those words controlled me.

Vivienne stepped in front of me and lowered her head.

The smile at the corner of her mouth remained.

Ronan held the crown between us.

"Do not make a scene."

Heat rushed into my face.

Everyone was watching.

If I refused, Ronan would call me jealous.

If I cried, Vivienne would win.

If I obeyed, I would be placing the final seal on my own humiliation.

For one terrible moment, I wanted to ask Ronan what I had done wrong.

Why nine years of loyalty had not been enough.

Why he had allowed me to prepare for this ceremony when he already knew another woman would take my place.

But I already knew the answer.

Nothing I gave him would ever be enough because he had never expected to give anything back.

Slowly, I reached toward the crown.

Ronan’s shoulders relaxed.

Vivienne’s smile widened.

They thought I had surrendered.

The instant my fingertips touched the silver, pain exploded through my body.

A blinding light raced across the crown.

The mating bond tore open inside my chest, and an invisible force seized the Alpha power buried deep within me.

It dragged the power toward Ronan.

Then through him.

Toward Vivienne.

I gasped and pulled my hand back.

The truth struck me at once.

This was not merely a coronation.

The crown had been turned into a transfer seal.

If I placed it on Vivienne’s head, my remaining Alpha power would be permanently bound to them.

My wolf would never awaken.

I would never reclaim my father’s throne.

They intended to leave me powerless while I spent the rest of my life governing Moonveil for them.

The grief inside me changed.

Until that moment, a part of me had still believed Ronan had chosen Vivienne for an alliance.

That perhaps he was selfish, but not cruel.

I had been wrong.

He did not only want another Luna.

He wanted to make certain I could never take back what belonged to me.

The crown slipped from his hand and crashed onto the altar.

Ronan’s face darkened.

"Pick it up."

I looked at the man I had loved for nine years.

My chest still hurt.

I was still humiliated.

And I still hated myself for remembering every kind word he had once spoken to me.

But the hope was finally gone.

I dropped my bouquet at his feet.

The white petals scattered across his boots.

"No."

Ronan froze.

"Elara," he warned.

I pulled the silver mating ring from my finger.

My hand shook as I looked at it.

For nine years, that ring had meant patience.

Loyalty.

A future I thought was waiting for me.

Now it meant nothing.

I placed it beside the fallen crown and turned toward the doors.

"If you walk out now," Ronan called after me, "you will lose everything."

I stopped.

The words still hurt because once, losing him had been my greatest fear.

But he had already taken the man I loved away from me.

All that remained was a thief wearing his face.

I looked back at him.

"No, Ronan."

My voice trembled once, then steadied.

"You will."

I walked out of the grand hall.

Behind me, Ronan shouted my name, but I did not turn around.

Only when the doors closed did I allow one tear to fall.

I wiped it away and crossed the dark courtyard toward the Moon Goddess temple.

Maeve, the old priestess who had helped transfer my power nine years ago, stood beside the altar.

Her eyes dropped to the burn across my palm.

"Elara?"

I closed the temple doors behind me.

"I gave him my power because I loved him."

The words scraped painfully through my throat.

My inner wolf stirred in the darkness of my soul.

For the first time in years, I felt her claws pressing against the walls that held her.

I lifted my head.

"He used that love to steal everything from me."

I looked at Maeve.

"Help me take it back."