But then, without warning, he had turned away and said nothing. No comfort. No explanation. Just a command to lock her up.
Footsteps echoed down the hallway. She sat up as the heavy iron door creaked open. In walked two guards, followed by the same man from the forest.
The Alpha.
He was dressed now-black shirt stretched across broad shoulders, sleeves rolled to his elbows. His eyes were colder in the light, like they'd decided something he wasn't going to explain.
"Stand," he ordered.
She didn't move.
He stepped closer. "I said stand."
Something inside her responded-her wolf, obeying the natural authority in his voice. She stood, fists clenched at her sides.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I told you-my name is Lira Hale. I live in Crescent Hollow. I work at-"
He cut her off. "Don't lie to me. You shifted under the full moon, unaided. That takes control. Training. You came from somewhere."
"I didn't know I was a wolf," she said sharply. "I thought I was-normal."
He studied her. For a moment, silence stretched between them.
Then he took a slow step forward. "Do you feel it?"
She swallowed. "Feel what?"
"The pull. Between us."
She did. Her entire body ached when he was near, but it was more than physical. It was a connection-wild, magnetic, unexplainable.
Her lips parted. "What is it?"
He stepped back like her voice burned him. "You're my mate."
Lira's breath hitched. "What?"
"It's a bond forged by the Moon Goddess," he said, voice cold. "Irrevocable. Eternal."
"So... we're meant to be together?" she whispered.
He met her gaze and-for a fraction of a second-there was pain in his eyes. Then he said the words that shattered her:
"I reject you."
The world tilted.
She staggered back, as if he'd struck her. Her chest burned, a sharp, searing pain unlike anything she'd ever known. Her wolf cried out inside her, clawing at the walls of her soul.
"You-what? You can't just-"
"I can," he said flatly. "And I have. You don't belong here. You're a threat."
"I'm not a threat!" she shouted. "I didn't even know what I was!"
He turned to leave.
"I didn't ask for this!" she screamed, her voice breaking.
He paused, hand on the door. "Neither did I."
Then he was gone.
The door slammed shut behind him.
Lira collapsed to her knees, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. Her whole body trembled-not from fear, but from the jagged edges of the rejection that echoed in her bones.
She didn't know who she really was. But she swore on whatever blood ran in her veins-
She would never let him break her again.