Chapter 1

Skylar.

“Before the moon goddess, I, Alpha Jameson Shaw, reject you, Skylar Warren, as my Luna and mate.”

His words made every wolf in the Council hall go still. I stood on the raised floor where my father had presented me at every pack gathering since I was a pup.

Pain ripped through my chest the moment the words left his mouth. The bond tore free like it had been ripped out of me, making me stagger, my breathing heavy.

Jameson stood three feet away in his ceremonial black. Behind him, Capri Ward waited near the Elders’ bench in deep green, her chin lifted, with her hand resting where his mark would soon sit.

“Say it again.” I said. “Say it so every wolf here understands exactly what you’re doing.”

“I reject you as my Luna and mate.” He said. “Capri Ward is who I choose.”

My father, Alpha Abel Warren, sat rigid at the head of the bench. He’d raised Jameson into this seat because of me, because our bond had convinced everyone a boy from a minor bloodline could carry an Alpha's mantle. I dug my nails into my palm and made myself breathe through it. My wolf paced under my skin, snapping at the bond as it unraveled, and I pushed her back down.

“I, Skylar Warren, accept your rejection.” I said. The bond shattered completely. Another wave of pain hit both of us. Jameson made a low, broken sound and wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Skylar.” Jameson called. “The houses, the accounts, the river trade rights, all of it stays with you.” Jameson said. “I won’t touch any of it. I know how much they mean to you.”

I’d run this pack’s ledgers since I was nineteen. I didn’t need a scribe to do the math. “Fine. Draw up the papers. I’ll sign right now.”

Jameson looked shocked, his eyes going wide. “You’re not going to ask me why.”

“I already know why.” I said. “I’ve known for three weeks.” Three weeks since I’d given him a choice across our own table. To send Capri to the northern outpost, or end the bond. He hadn’t answered. He’d just walked out to the training grounds and come back smelling like someone else — Capri.

He looked like he wanted to argue, but decided against it. A scribe brought the severance scroll, and I signed without reading it twice.

“Eleven years.” Jameson said quietly, pen hovering over the parchment. “That’s what we’re ending here.”

“I didn’t come here for a eulogy. Sign it.”

He stared at me confused for a second, before finally signing.

I turned for the doors, and the hall parted around me. I was three steps from freedom when Jameson turned to murmur something to Capri.

“It’s over now.” He told her. “You don’t have to hide anymore.”

Hide anymore? Not hide it. What did he mean by that?

I stopped walking, and turned to look at them. Capri’s collar shifted, and light caught a mark on her throat, pink and new, days old at most. It was definitely done before tonight’s ceremony.

“How long?” I asked. “How long has that mark been on her neck?”

Jameson opened his mouth, but Capri spoke first, chin lifted. “Ask him how long he’s been telling me to wait.”

The hall went dead silent. For the first time all night, he was the one who looked rejected.

A Council Elder slammed his staff against the stone floor. “Enough. The severance is signed. Whatever quarrel remains will be settled outside this Council’s walls.” They were trying to protect the council from any backlash.

I didn’t wait for permission. I walked, and I made it three steps into the corridor before a hand closed around my wrist.

“You’re not leaving yet.” Winnie Shaw. Jameson’s mother, and one of the senior wolves on Thornwood’s Council.

“I have nothing left to discuss with this family tonight.”

“The east quarter houses were built with pack funds. My son was so stupid for leaving everything to you.” Winnie said. “You’ll return what belongs to Thornwood before you crawl off to whatever gutter you’re planning to hide in.”

“The east quarter houses were built with my mother’s inheritance.” I said. “I’ve balanced this pack’s ledgers since I was nineteen. I know exactly what belongs to Thornwood, and exactly what belongs to me. The two lists don’t overlap as much as you’d like.”

She had no answer for that, so I turned and left her standing in the corridor.

Behind me, I heard Jameson try to push past the Elders to follow, boots striking stone fast enough that he was almost running. Two Council guards stepped into his path without being asked. I didn’t turn around to see what was happening.

Outside, the cold air hit hard enough to sting, and only then did my hands start shaking, from the effort of holding still for an hour while everyone waited for me to break. I pulled out my phone.

Skylar: He rejected me tonight, in front of the whole Council. Capri’s already wearing his mark.

WHAT??? Audrey wrote back within a minute. I’m coming to Thornwood right now.

Don’t, I typed. I’m leaving Thornwood tonight. I’ll explain once I’m out of pack territory.

Audrey: Are you actually okay?

My wolf was still pacing under my skin, restless, unwilling to settle now that the bond she’d carried for years had been severed.

I’m fine, I typed.

I wasn’t fine, but it didn’t matter anymore.

One stop remained before I crossed the border for good. I’d scheduled the appointment two weeks earlier, back when I still thought I had a mate and a future with him. Now I just needed answers before I left them behind.

The healer’s den sat at the edge of Thornwood land, close enough to the border that I could already smell the neutral woods beyond it, pine and cold stone instead of Thornwood pine and home.

The healer, an old wolf named Fennimore who’d delivered half the pups born in Thornwood, looked up when I stepped through his door still in my ceremonial gown, my knuckles scraped.

“Rough evening, Luna?” He caught himself. “Forgive me. Force of habit.”

“Don’t apologize. Just tell me what the tests say.”

He motioned me to the exam table without another word, avoiding my eyes.

“Skylar.” He said quietly, setting a folder down between us. “You need to sit down for this.”