Chapter 3

Elena did not wait for an answer. "You've been together for three years. But Lucien and I have known each other for five years.

"He had only come of age then, and I had been abandoned in the border woods. He found me, saved me, brought me back to the pack.

"Everyone knew how he felt about me. Then people from the human kingdom arrived, announced I was some nobleman's bastard daughter, and took me away."

She paused, her gaze traveling over me. "But I never truly got him out of my head."

"Are you finished?" I said, meeting her eyes.

Elena glanced toward the wooden shelf by the bed and reached for the crystal ball.

Lucien had traded a rare moonstone for the crystal ball three winters ago.

Inside, a small handful of snow was sealed away, never melting. A gentle shake, and the snow would swirl and dance within the globe.

He told me it was crafted by human artisans, and they called it "Eternal Snow."

"Not bad," she said, rolling the crystal ball in her palm, tilting it to catch the light.

"Give it back," I said.

She glanced at me, her lips curving into something caught between a smile and a smirk. "Selena, don't be so possessive. I am only looking at it."

"I said, give it back." I reached for it, but she sidestepped me. The crystal ball slipped from her fingers and struck the stone floor.

There was a sharp crack. Snowflakes burst outward, moonstone shards scattering everywhere. The magically sealed snow, preserved for three years, melted into water the moment it touched the ground.

Elena let out a small cry. "Selena, please don't be angry. I swear, it was an accident."

The wooden door swung open. Lucien stood in the doorway, the blinding midday sun at his back.

He spotted the shards on the floor, then Elena huddled in the corner. "What happened?"

Elena's eyes were rimmed with red. "Lucien, I only wanted to see the crystal ball, and Selena was about to strike me."

Lucien's face darkened. I had never seen that expression on him before, full of disappointment and irritation. He asked, "Selena Ashburn, what in the world are you doing?"

I stared at the shards on the floor. The water from the melted snow had already seeped into the cracks between the stones and dried away.

The moonstone fragments still gleamed faintly, like every bit of care I had poured into the past three years, now shattered beyond mending.

He continued, "Elena went through so much to escape the human kingdom. Must you truly make this into something so enormous?"

He walked over and rested a hand on Elena's shoulder. "It is only a crystal ball. I will buy you a new one tomorrow."

I looked up. "That crystal ball was the very first gift you ever gave me. You traded an entire moonstone for it.

"You told me the snow inside would never melt, the same way you swore your promise to me would never fade."

Lucien's expression flickered.

Elena clung to Lucien's sleeve, her knuckles white. "Lucien, I truly did not realize it meant so much to her."

"It is all right," Lucien said, patting her hand. Then he turned back to me. "Selena, she did not mean any harm."

"Lucien." I cut him off. "Do these three years we shared mean anything to you at all?"

He went still.

I continued, "At the Mate Ball, the moment she returned, you held her in front of the entire pack.

"And when you brought her into my home, you did not ask me. You decided everything on your own."

"Selena, I am not forcing you to accept her," Lucien said.

"No, you are not." I crouched down, picked up a shard of moonstone, and slipped it into my pouch. "You simply assumed I would go along with it.

"You assumed I would be the understanding one. Assumed I would let it slide, the way I always do, and never make a fuss over something that supposedly does not matter."

Lucien stayed silent.

I slung the pouch over my shoulder and walked past him. At the door, I paused, the shard of moonstone cool against my palm. "You gave this to me once. I am keeping this piece. The rest is yours to clean up."

Lucien moved toward the doorway, and for the first time, his voice cracked. "Selena."

I did not look back. I kept my head down and descended the wooden stairs. Wolfkin peered out from the bushes lining the forest path, then pulled back into the shadows.

When I reached the last step, I heard him shout my name from above.