Chapter 2

The silence in the hall was absolute. Every wolf stared at me, disbelief thick in the air.

Lucas was the first to break it, his voice a sharp, incredulous bark. "Are you out of your mind, Serena? Your mate is barely cold, and you're already looking for another one?"

Even the Alpha and Isabella looked taken aback, though for different reasons.

The Alpha's brow furrowed. "Alexander," he said slowly, a hint of warning in his tone. "This is Serena's choice. It is not your place to question it."

Lucas clamped his mouth shut, but his eyes burned into me, dark with fury.

Isabella wasn't so easily silenced. She stepped forward, her scent sharp with indignation. "Serena, think of what you're doing. Your mate's body isn't even in the ground yet. You so openly reject the bond and announce you're going to take another?

"Do you want the entire werewolf world to think the Umbral Pack is nothing but a den of heartless, opportunistic wolves?"

The Luna, still held back by guards, hissed, "I told Lucas! I told him you would bring nothing but ruin. But he wouldn't listen."

"Lucas loved me," I said calmly, my voice ringing clear. "If he truly did, he would never want me to spend a century wasting away in grief. He'd want me to live. I'll find a new mate."

"You—" Lucas started.

"Enough," the Alpha cut him off, his authority a physical weight in the room. "The choice is hers."

His eyes pinned me. "But the Blood Pact between our packs still stands, Serena. You can take another mate. But if you want to stay in Solarian territory, your next mate must be born of this Pack."

I turned to face the gathered wolves and let my wolf rise beneath my skin. "Is there any wolf here," I called out, voice low and sharp as silver, "who will claim me?"

Silence.

I saw a few young wolves shift, interest flickering in their eyes before their fathers yanked them back with low, warning growls.

Others looked away the moment my gaze met theirs, as if I was a plague they might catch.

A bitter laugh caught in my throat. So this was it. My two choices were a century of solitude or public humiliation. Was fate really something I couldn't change?

Lucas sauntered closer, pitching his voice so only a few nearby wolves and I could hear. "Looks like no one wants a cold-hearted widow, Serena. Maybe you should go crawl back to your mother's pack and learn how to be a proper mate."

His scent was thick with arrogance. It made my wolf snarl with disgust.

And then, a gust of wind stirred the hall. A wolf dropped from the shadows of the high rafters, landing in a silent crouch.

It was Lucian Drake, a wolf of terrifying legend, the Pack's Warlord. His reputation was written in blood, his face a mask of cold, deadly focus.

He ignored everyone. His eyes, the color of winter storms, were fixed on me. "I will. I wanna be your mate. At first sight, I feel the bond pulling me to you."

Lucas's smugness vanished, replaced by a flash of panic. "Lucian," he snapped, "this is none of your concern. I'm giving you a friendly warning. Her mate just died and she's already looking for a replacement. A female with no loyalty.

"You want to tie your wolf to that? You want to risk your life on a mate who will drop you the second things get hard?"

Lucian rose to his full height and stood in front of me in a protective gesture. He frowned, "Alexander, your brother's mate is being insulted in front of the entire Pack. And instead of defending her, you're the one sharpening the knife?"

Lucas's face went red. "I'm speaking the truth—"

Lucian ignored him and turned to me. "Serena, will you take me? I will be loyal to you. Always. I will protect you, cherish you, and stand at your side until the moon falls from the sky.

"By the moon, I swear, if I break this oath, let my wolf be torn from me. Let my soul be scattered to the winds."

My wolf, the one I thought had been beaten into submission long ago, rose up in my chest and howled. It was a sound of recognition, of claiming. This wolf, this brutal, loyal wolf, was meant to be mine.

I looked into his eyes and saw no deception, only an unyielding truth. I squeezed his hand. "Yes, I will."

A tremor of power ran through the hall. The bond snapped into place, hot and fierce, before either of us could stop it. A true, fated-mate bond. A bond that could not be broken, only death.

Lucas's face went white. The claim was made, the vow witnessed. There was nothing he could do.

The Alpha watched the two of us, a strange, knowing look in his tired eyes. He finally waved a hand. "Go," he said, his voice heavy.

Then he turned to the Pack, his announcement booming through the hall. "I am old. The loss of my son has broken something in me. I no longer have the strength to lead.

"In three days, I will step down. Alexander will be the new Alpha."

Alexander's title. Lucas's prize.

Something didn't sit right in my chest. My wolf was restless, pacing beneath my ribs like she smelled a trap we couldn't see. Last time, even after Lucas set me up and got me killed, the Alpha never handed the Pack over to him.

So why now? Why was he stepping down so fast this time?

As Lucian led me away, my hand held firmly in his, Lucas brushed past us in the crowd. I felt him lean in, his scent a sudden, rancid wave of anger and possessiveness.

I heard the words, whispered with a venom meant only for me. "You stupid bitch. You will regret it."