THE ALPHA WHO REJECTED HIS LUNA

The time Luna Reyes was in this hall, she was on her knees begging Kade Ashworth not to say four words that would change her life.

Now Luna Reyes was back. This time she was not the one who was going to break.

Two years ago, the entire pack had gathered to watch Luna Reyes. She remembered the smell of it. Pine smoke, wet earth, four hundred wolves holding their breath. Luna Reyes remembered Kade Ashworth's face; it was like stone, his eyes refusing to meet hers even as the mate bond between Luna Reyes and Kade Ashworth screamed like a wire.

Kade Ashworth had said, "I, Kade Ashworth, Alpha of the Ridgeback Pack, reject you, Luna Reyes, as my mate."

The pain had dropped Luna Reyes to the floor. Rejection did not just break a heart; it tore something out of the chest, something that did not grow back right. Luna Reyes remembered clawing at her ribs, gasping, and looking up to see Kade Ashworth walk away without a single glance back.

Luna Reyes had promised herself she would never set foot in Ridgeback territory again.

Yet Luna Reyes was here, standing at the edge of the same hall two years later in a black dress with a smile that did not reach her eyes.

"Luna Reyes." The voice hit her spine before she even turned.

It was deeper, now rougher like something in Kade Ashworth had been worn down.

Luna Reyes turned slowly, chin high. "Alpha Ashworth."

Kade Ashworth stood ten feet away. For one humiliating second, Luna Reyes' wolf surged toward Kade Ashworth as if no time had passed at all.

Kade Ashworth looked wrecked, not like heartbreak but like a man who had not slept properly in two years.

He was staring at Luna Reyes the way you stare at a ghost you're not sure you are allowed to touch.

"You are not supposed to be here," Kade Ashworth said quietly.

Luna Reyes smiled, sharp as a blade. "I was invited."

"By who?" Kade Ashworth asked.

Luna Reyes said, "By the man arranging your wedding."

She let the words land, watching something flicker behind Kade Ashworth's eyes was that panic?

Luna Reyes said, "World, Alpha, my new pack does business with your new in-laws."

Kade Ashworth's jaw tightened. "You are pack now; whose pack are you?"

It was not a question; it was a demand, possessive, the kind of tone an Alpha used on someone who belonged to him, except Luna Reyes did not belong to Kade Ashworth anymore.

Kade Ashworth had made sure of that when he rejected Luna Reyes.

Luna Reyes said, "That is none of your concern; you rejected that when you rejected me."

Luna Reyes turned to walk past Kade Ashworth. That was when he caught her wrist.

Then Kade Ashworth's skin touched her, and something happened that had not happened once in two years: the bond, the one Kade Ashworth had supposedly severed, lit up like a struck match.

Kade Ashworth froze; his breath caught audibly.

"That is not possible. The bond breaks when you reject it; it is supposed to be gone." He said

"Let go of me." She said

Kade Ashworths voice cracked, the Alpha of Ridgeback Pack, the man who had not shown a flicker of feeling the day he destroyed Luna Reyes.

"Luna, I need to explain…" he said quietly

"You had two years I do not want your explanation." She said

"They were going to kill you the Draven pack found out about the bond before the ceremony was even finished they sent word that night mate the Alpha of Ridgeback and you die within the month I rejected you in front of four hundred witnesses so no one would ever believe there was a bond left to protect." He said

The hallway tilted slightly under Luna Reyes' feet.

"You are lying." She whispered

Kade Ashworths eyes were burning now raw in a way Luna Reyes had never seen from him.

"I have never lied to you in my life I let you hate me because hating me kept you alive I have regretted it every day since." He said

For one second Luna Reyes almost believed Kade Ashworth almost let two years of scar tissue crack open just to see what was underneath.

Then Luna Reyes remembered what she had become in those two years and exactly what she was hiding under this dress, under her skin, under a heartbeat that no longer sounded fully human.

"It does not matter anymore whatever you did it for; it is too late, Kade." She said quietly

"Why?" he asked

Luna Reyes looked at Kade Ashworth, then looked and let him see the truth in her eyes before she turned to walk away.

"Because Dravens pack did not just threaten to kill me; they caught me, and what I came back as is not something your rejection can protect you from anymore." She said

Luna Reyes walked into the crowd. Did not look back, but she felt it the exact moment Kade Ashworth's whole body went rigid behind her, the exact moment the Alpha of Ridgeback Pack realized that the woman he had broken to save her life had come home carrying something far more dangerous than a grudge.

Somewhere in the ballroom, a glass shattered.

Every wolf in the room lifted its head, at once because the growl that ripped through the hall had not come from Kade Ashworth.

It had come from Luna Reyes.