Chapter 2

"Enough!"

Callum's voice shook the walls. He shoved Luna aside and pulled Tessa behind him, shielding her with his whole body.

He looked at me through the crowd. Not a trace of panic. Not a flicker of shame. Just cold, flat anger — like I was the one who'd done something wrong.

"Josie. We need to talk."

He cleared the room. Luna, the elders, the relatives — all pushed out. The door shut. Just the three of us.

I pulled the bonding token from my neck and tossed it at his feet.

"You made an oath. If you betray the bond, I walk free. I want a rejection."

"I'm not rejecting you."

"Then I'll petition the inter-pack council."

His face went cold. "You go that route, I'll have your mother removed from Silver Ridge by morning. No pack in the region will touch a crippled omega. You know that."

My jaw clenched. Behind him, Tessa's lips curved into a small, satisfied smile.

"Why are you doing this? You want her — just let me go. You can be together. I'm not in your way."

"You haven't wronged me," he said. "But you've destroyed her."

I stared at him.

"Every boyfriend Tessa's ever had, you stole. Every time she finally found someone, you'd move in and take him. You slept with them. Threw them away. She nearly broke because of you."

His voice didn't rise. It stayed flat. Certain. Like he was reciting facts.

"And your mother. You think I don't know what happened? You crashed Tessa's ceremony and stole her intended mate. Your mother helped you cover it up. When they got caught, the whole pack threw them out. That's why no one would take you in. That's why your mother's a wreck. I picked you up out of pity, Josie. Don't forget that."

My head split open. I moved on instinct — my palm cracked across his face so hard his head snapped sideways.

I went for Tessa next. Callum caught my wrist and threw me back.

"Even now — you're still going after her."

I caught my balance. Wiped my face. Forced the words out.

"I didn't do any of that. None of it. Tessa is the one who stole my boyfriends. She seduced my intended mate at my ceremony and ran off with him. My mother watched it happen — that's what caused her wolf-shock. Everything she told you is reversed. There are people from my old pack who can —"

His hand hit my face before I finished. I tasted blood.

"You made up a siren in front of the whole pack this morning. Is there anything you won't say?" He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door. "Let's find out how long you can keep lying."

He dragged me down the slope, through the trees, past the ceremony grounds. I fought. He didn't slow down.

The pack dungeon was underground. Stone walls. Iron door. The cold hit me the second he threw me inside.

"Admit what you did. Get on your knees and apologize to Tessa." His voice came through the iron. "When you do, I'll open the door."

The lock clicked. His footsteps faded up the stairs.

I slammed my hands against the door until my palms were raw. No one came.

The cold crept in fast. My breath clouded in front of my face. I slid down the wall and sat on the stone floor.

There was a way out. A drainage gap in the far wall — I'd walked that path before. In my last life. As a ghost.

I didn't move. My mother was still up there. If I ran, she'd be the first thing they took.

I sat in the dark. Minutes bled into hours. The cold sank into my bones.

Then — footsteps on the stairs. Light. Careful. Not Callum's.

The lock clicked.