“I will talk to my sister,” Darius said finally, his tone measured but heavy with meaning. “But I cannot guarantee anything, Calvin. My sister has her own mind, and I will not order her to do something she does not want.”
Calvin’s face tightened, but he nodded slowly. He understood the weight behind Darius’s words. This was not just about Roselyn. It was about Elaine. It was about a betrayal that still cast its shadow over both packs.
For the first time, Calvin truly felt the sting of uncertainty-the same pain his sister had endured when she had learned of Michael’s bond to another. So this is what she felt, he thought, bitter and hollow. This pain of knowing your fated mate but not knowing if you’ll be allowed to keep them.
His heart squeezed painfully in his chest. Moon Goddess, he prayed silently, staring at the doorway where Roselyn had vanished. Please. Please let her give me a chance. Let me show her that I can be the mate she deserves.
Let me prove I am not the man she thinks I am.
The music of the ball swelled around them again, but for Calvin, it was only a distant echo. His world had narrowed to one truth, one plea, one hope: Roselyn.
Roselyn’s heels clicked sharply against the polished floor as she pushed her way out of the ballroom, barely noticing the startled looks of guests she brushed past. Her breath came ragged, her chest tight as though an iron band had wrapped around her ribs. She didn’t stop until she burst through a side door into one of Silverblade’s quiet corridors. The cool air hit her face, but it did little to calm the storm raging inside her.
Her wolf clawed at her from within, a low whine echoing in her head. Mate. Ours. Go back. Claim him.
“No!” Roselyn gasped aloud, her voice trembling as she pressed her hands against the stone wall for support. “No, not him. Not with them.”
Her heart still raced from the moment her gaze had locked with Calvin’s. She had felt it instantly-the rush of recognition, the spark of bond, the undeniable pull of destiny. It was everything the elders described, everything young wolves dreamed about. But instead of joy, it had filled her with dread.
She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting against the warmth trying to seep into her chest. Moon Goddess, why him? Of all wolves, why give me someone from this pack? From the pack that destroyed Elaine’s life?
Images of her best friend flashed through her mind: Elaine’s tear-streaked face, her broken voice when she had whispered how Silverblade had turned its back on her. Roselyn had held her through nights of pain and fury, had sworn to stand by her like a sister when her own family had failed her. And now, fate had the audacity to tie her to them? To him?
Her wolf whimpered, unsettled by her rejection of the bond. He is ours, the wolf insisted, pacing within her. Strong. Loyal. The bond would heal us both.
Don’t turn away.
“Loyal?” Roselyn spat bitterly under her breath. “If he was loyal, he would have stand by with Elaine. If he was loyal, her story would not be one of betrayal and being alone in this pack.”
She hugged her arms around herself, trying to contain the shaking. Her gown, once a symbol of hope for the night, now felt like a trap, suffocating and heavy. She wanted to tear it off, to shed everything that tied her to this place, this pack, this bond.
Calvin stood frozen at the great hall, his hands clenched at his sides as though holding himself together by sheer force of will. The echo of her retreating footsteps carved through him, each one a blade that cut deeper into his chest. His wolf strained violently within him, clawing, growling, begging him to chase after her, to drag her back, to never let her go again.
But he didn’t move. He couldn’t.
The look on her face haunted him-the raw pain, the fury, the betrayal in her eyes.
He knew it. He had seen it.
He pressed his palm against his chest, his breath uneven, Moon Goddess… why? Why would You tie me to her? Why give me a mate who has every reason to hate me?
His mind replayed Roselyn’s words, sharp and unforgiving. “Not after what this pack did to Elaine. Not after they abandoned her.”
Calvin remembered the day everything had unraveled. He remembered Kathy’s silence, Michael’s choices, the pack’s obedience to their alpha’s command. He had stood there, a beta sworn to loyalty, torn between his duty to his alpha and the gnawing sense that what was happening was wrong. He had said nothing. He had done nothing.
And in his silence, Elaine had been left to suffer.
He had buried that guilt for years, convincing himself that it wasn’t his place to question the alpha’s decisions. That he had no right to interfere. That his duty was loyalty, even when his heart rebelled against it.
But Roselyn painful eyes tore open that wound, raw and festering.
I was part of the silence that destroyed Elaine, he admitted to himself. And now his sister best friend the Alpha of Crescent Moon sister is the mate the Goddess has given me. The one person who could may not forgive me for what I didn’t do.
His wolf whined pitifully inside him, restless and anguished. She is ours. She is meant for us.
Don’t let her go. Fix it.
Calvin sank against the wall, raking a hand through his hair. “How?” he muttered bitterly under his breath. “How do I fix the unfixable?”
Images of Roselyn burned in his mind-the fire in her eyes, the way her wolf’s presence had surged against his, the invisible tether that pulled at his very soul. He wanted to run after her, to fall to his knees and beg her to give him a chance. To prove that he wasn’t the man she thought he was. That he wasn’t just another Silverblade wolf who had turned his back on
Elaine.
But was that a lie?
Because hadn’t he turned his back to Elaine, his sister? Hadn’t his silence and blind loyalty to the previous Alpha a sin?
His chest constricted with the weight of truth. He had turned away. He had obeyed when he should have fought. And now the Moon Goddess had bound him to someone who could see that truth clearer than anyone.
Calvin closed his eyes, his hands trembling. Moon Goddess, please. Give me strength. Give me a way. Don’t let her slip through my fingers before I even have the chance to make this right.
The sounds of the mating ball seeped faintly through the walls behind him-laughter, music, the clinking of glasses-but they felt like echoes from another world.
Because his world had just shifted.
It had narrowed to one truth, one reality: Roselyn was his mate. And she hated him for it.
Darius found her in one of the side gardens, her figure hunched on a stone bench beneath the glow of the moonlight. The delicate flowers that lined the path swayed in the cool night breeze, their fragrance soft and calming, but Roselyn sat rigid and trembling, her arms. wrapped tightly around herself. Her wolf’s sorrow rolled off her in waves that made his own chest ache.
“Roselyn,” Darius said gently, approaching but careful not to crowd her.
She didn’t look at him. Her eyes stayed fixed on the fountain ahead, water trickling in the silence. “Why did you make me come here?” Her voice was raw, broken, more accusation than question.
Darius exhaled slowly, guilt pricking at him. “Because you’ve been hiding from the world. From life. From the bond you were destined to find.” He lowered himself onto the bench beside her, though he left enough space to give her breathing room.
“I wanted you to have a chance at happiness, even if you didn’t believe you are not ready yet.”
Her head snapped toward him, eyes glistening, anger cutting through her tears. “Happiness? With him? Do you even realize who my mate is, Darius? Do you understand what kind of cruel joke the Goddess has played on me?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.