Chapter 3

ARIAI kept my head down and my mouth shut. I cleaned and served and pretended that my heart wasn’t breaking with every breath, and took all the beatings and punishments that Clarissa dished out just for being born.

But then came the full moon ceremony.

Every pack held them, gathering in the sacred grove to honor the Moon Goddess and let their wolves run free under her light. It was the one night when rank didn’t matter, when even omegas were allowed to shift and join the hunt.

I’d planned to stay in my room. The thought of seeing Kael there, of feeling the bond intensify under the moon’s power, was more than I could bear.

But Clarissa had other ideas.

“You’ll attend tonight,” she’d announced that morning, her smile sharp and cruel. “All pack members must participate. Even the help.”

So I found myself walking toward the grove as the sun set, my stomach in knots. The other omegas were excited, chattering about the hunt, the freedom. I felt like I was walking toward my execution.

The grove was beautiful, I had to admit. The pack was already gathering, wolves shifting and playing, children laughing. It should have been joyful.

But all I could feel was the pull of the bond, stronger now than ever before. He was here. Somewhere in the crowd. And the moon was making it impossible to ignore.

I shifted as soon as I reached the tree line, letting my wolf Eira take over. She was stronger now than she’d been two weeks ago, more confident. She’d been furious with me for avoiding our mate, and tonight she was determined to find Ragnar.

No, I pleaded with her. Please, we can’t.

But she wasn’t listening.

She took off through the trees, following his scent. Pine and leather and alpha. I tried to fight her, to turn back, but she was in control now. The moon had given her power, and she was using it.

We found him in a small clearing, away from the main pack gathering. He was in his wolf form, magnificent and huge, his black fur gleaming in the moonlight. And he was staring right at us.

His wolf was even larger than I’d imagined, all aura and dominance. But his eyes—those same amber eyes—were filled with the same agony I felt.

Mate, my wolf Eira said simply, and his wolf Ragnar responded with a low, yearning howl.

They circled each other, drawn together by forces neither of us could control. The bond was singing now, demanding, insistent. The moon’s power made it impossible to resist.

I shifted back to human form without meaning to, and a moment later, so did he.

We stood there, both naked in the moonlight, the space between us crackling with energy.

“We can’t,” he said, but his voice was rough, desperate. He was taking steps toward me even as he said it.

“I know.” My own voice was shaking. “I know we can’t.”

But the bond didn’t care. And when he reached for me, I didn’t pull away.

His kiss was everything I’d imagined and nothing I’d expected. He was hard, pinning me against himself as he took pleasure in claiming and worshipping all at once. The bond roared to life, flooding us both with pleasure.

We fell to the forest floor, our hands moving, roaming our bodies, frantic, as our lips never left each other.

This was wrong. I knew it was wrong. But it felt so perfectly right that I couldn’t make myself stop.

“Aria,” he groaned against my neck. “My Aria.”

And for that one perfect night, under the full moon, I was his. Completely, utterly his.

We made love until dawn, the bond getting tighter and resealing itself like it should have, that night, with every touch, every kiss. He whispered my name like a prayer. Held me like I was precious. Looked at me like I was the only thing in his world.

But as the sun began to rise, reality crept back in.

He pulled away from me, his face stricken with horror and grief, like he had done something forbidden that he could never take back. “This can never happen again.”

The words were a knife to my heart, but I’d been expecting them.

“I know,” I whispered.

“You understand that, don’t you?” He was sitting up now, not looking at me. “My duty to the pack—”

“I understand.” I reached for my clothes, suddenly desperate to cover myself. The shame was creeping in now, cold and bitter.

He stood, dressing quickly. When he finally looked at me, his eyes were distant. The alpha, not my mate.

“This was a mistake. The moon’s influence made us weak. It won’t happen again.”

I nodded, not trusting my voice. He left without another word, disappearing into the trees.

I sat there alone as the sun rose, my body still humming from his touch, my heart breaking into smaller and smaller pieces.

Four weeks later, I stared at the positive pregnancy test in my trembling hands and knew that I was dead.