Chapter 2

A soft glow bloomed from my palms. Wherever it touched, frostbitten wounds sealed shut, fractured bones knit together, and even the dead moss in the corners flushed green again.

I heard a howl.

Not from the distance—from the depths of my own soul.

Behind me, the spectral form of an enormous silver-white wolf materialized. Its mane shimmered like woven moonlight, its eyes bright as twin stars.

It spoke to me in a low murmur:

"I am the Moon Wolf. My bonded one shall become the wolves' once-in-a-thousand-years Healer."

A Healer.

The legendary being who could cure any ailment, pull the dying back from the brink, even reverse curses.

None had appeared among the wolves in three hundred years.

And I—the one they called worthless—was…

A knock thundered against the door.

No—not a knock. Someone was ramming it.

"Someone's in there!" a rough voice shouted. "I smell blood—a stray wolf!"

The Shadowfang Pack. Their territory bordered the Bloodmoon Pack's, and the two had been at each other's throats for years.

They must have picked up the scent of my blood from the backlash.

The door exploded inward.

Three large men filled the doorway, their eyes glowing green.

"Well, well. A young woman." The one in front flashed a grin. "Bloodmoon? What are you doing out here all alone?"

I shrank into the corner. The moonlight retreated into my body, and my silver eyes faded back to dull gray.

They couldn't sense the awakening.

To them, I was just a helpless she-wolf with no fight left in her.

"Please… let me go…" I bit my lip, voice trembling—half an act, half genuine exhaustion. The awakening had drained almost everything I had.

"Let you go?" The leader licked his lips. "It's late. Why don't you keep us company for a while?"

He reached for my arm.

The instant his skin touched mine, he froze.

"Your… your blood…" His eyes went wide. "That power—"

Too late.

The Moon Wolf inside me snarled. Silver light erupted from my palm and blasted him off his feet. He slammed into the far wall hard enough to crack the timber.

The other two stood paralyzed.

"A Healer… no, that's impossible—"

I dragged myself upright on my last shred of strength and fixed them with an icy stare. "Get out."

All three scrambled over each other getting through the door.

I slid down the wall and sat on the floor, gasping.

Then a violent pulse ripped through my consciousness—from the direction of the mating bond.

Wait.

The bond was severed.

How could I still sense Kane?

And he was supposed to be suffering backlash too. So why did his presence feel so… panicked?

I closed my eyes and followed the frayed remnants of the bond.

His thoughts drifted to me in fragments, scattered like ashes on the wind:

"…she… awakened… Moon Goddess… no… impossible… I severed it… damn it… I did this myself…"

I yanked my consciousness back.

So that was how it worked.

Severing the bond was a one-sided act. If the other fated mate awakened a higher power, the bond would repair itself—on one side only.

He could sense me. I could block him out.

Because he was the one who rejected me.

Pack law was absolute: the one who rejects the mating bond bears the greater backlash and forfeits all right to reclaim it—forever.

So all Kane could do now was kneel on the ground, peering through the torn bond, watching me awaken, watching me grow stronger—and realizing exactly what he had thrown away.

I stood and looked out at the moonlight.

A small smile curved my lips.

"Thank you, Kane," I murmured, "for setting me free."