Chapter 1

The day I left the ICU, my fated mate had already erased me from the pack I had spent nine years helping him run.

A month earlier, Lucian Thorne rejected me before the entire pack. Then he shoved me down the stone stairs.

The bond shattered on impact. White-hot agony tore through me as both legs broke and my skull struck the stone. Blood soaked the ceremonial gown I'd worn for him.

Before darkness took me, I saw Lucian at the top of the stairs, frozen and staring at what he'd done.

I spent a month in the ICU. When I finally opened my eyes, the healers told me I was lucky to be alive. They said my wolf was stronger than anything they'd ever seen. They called it a miracle.

It wasn't a miracle. It was nine years of swallowed rage finally finding its way out.

I lay in the hospital bed and stared at the ceiling. Then I reached out to my mother through our mind-link. She'd married into a pack overseas years ago, and she'd been asking me to come home ever since.

"Mom." My voice was steady. "That offer to come back and inherit the Alpha title of the New Moon Pack. I'm in."

She didn't hesitate. "I've been waiting for this call for nine years, Evelyn."

I closed my eyes. "I know."

The day I checked myself out, I took a cab straight to Thorne Pack headquarters. I'd worked in that building for nine years.

Nine years of late nights and early mornings. Nine years of sitting in on council meetings, drafting trade agreements, managing logistics while Lucian took all the credit.

Now I couldn't even get through the front door.

My security badge was dead. My name had been scrubbed from the directory.

The receptionist who used to bring me coffee every morning walked right past me without a flicker of recognition. In one month, they'd erased me like I'd never existed.

The warriors at the entrance blocked my path. "State your business."

"I'm here to see Lucian."

"The Alpha isn't taking visitors."

I tried his number. Straight to voicemail. Again and again.

Then my phone lit up with an incoming video call.

Sienna.

"Evie, sweetheart. I can't believe they let you out of the hospital already." Her smile dripped with fake pity.

"Lucian's been so worried about my safety lately—no exiled members are allowed inside. But don't worry. I'll tell the guards to let you in. Just this once."

The doors clicked open.

I walked through the familiar corridors like a ghost drifting through a graveyard.

There was the conference room where I'd prepped Lucian for his first council meeting. There was the break room where we'd shared coffee during late-night negotiations. There was the window ledge where I'd sat on our third anniversary, waiting for him to show up.

He never did.

His office door was cracked open. I pushed through.

And there they were—Sienna sprawled across the leather sofa in a silk robe that was falling off one shoulder, and Lucian beside her, shirtless, the air thick with the smell of them.

I walked to his desk and set down a file.

Lucian's jaw tightened. "What the hell is this?"

"My resignation."

"Don't be dramatic."

"I'm not." I looked him dead in the eye. "Sign it."

He stepped toward me, already launching into his excuses. "Sienna just got back from her pack. You know how the elders feel about the alliance. Her father's been pressuring us—"

"She's more qualified to be Luna than I am," I said flatly. "Yeah. You've mentioned that before."

"Actually," Sienna cut in, holding up her wrist to show off a fresh, intricate tattoo, "that's not the only thing he's mentioned. Didn't you hear, Evie? Lucian and I are getting bonded next month. Invitations just went out. I made sure you got one."

Lucian had a matching mark. He didn't deny it. He didn't explain. He just stood there watching me with that calm, patient expression—waiting for the meltdown. Waiting for the tears. Waiting for me to fall apart the way I always used to.

I nodded. "Okay."

He blinked. "Okay?"

I tapped the folder on his desk. "My exit application is filed. I've already offloaded all my Luna-in-waiting duties. Transition docs are in the shared drive. You'll need someone to handle the quarterly trade negotiations, but everything else should be covered."

Lucian stared at me like I'd grown a second head. "You can't just—"

"I just did."

I turned and walked out. Behind me, I could feel their shock hanging in the air like static.

The pain in my legs flared with every step—a sharp, nagging reminder of the assembly. I could still see it. The stone steps rushing up to meet me. The crack of bone. The spray of blood. And Lucian at the top of the stairs, frozen, watching me fall.

He caught up to me in the hallway. Wrapped his arms around me from behind. Buried his face in my neck the way he always did when he wanted me to forgive him without actually saying the words.

"Sienna and I grew up together," he murmured against my skin. "She knows we're fated mates. Of course she's jealous. But the bonding ceremony—it's just politics. The alliance with the Garrick Pack is critical for the northern trade routes. Her father—"

"I don't care."

"Evie—"

"I don't care about the alliance." I pulled free of his arms.

"I don't care about Sienna's jealousy. I don't care about your trade routes or your politics or your father's expectations. I'm done, Lucian. Sign the damn papers."