ose cruel

gile darkness of my room. My eyes felt raw, heavy with sleeplessness and grief. I hadn't shifted

e had rejected me in

ords that would sever the bond completely

n't b

ver

, I nev

lf. There were linens to wash. Floors to scrub. Breakfast to be served. Maura

are," she'd said. "You show your face, keep your spine stra

la

lready

I entered the kitchen

d the moment I step

ctuall

he no

's mate? Goddess mus

st rolls meant for the training hall. My wolf, still licking the wounds of the nigh

ed. "Throw yourself at the Alpha, get your scen

it. How could someone l

. "If I were the Alpha

d but kep

hadn't thought it was possible to feel worse than I did last night-but this was a

where the warriors would be gathering. My path took me past the main corr

n Sp

hested and gleaming with sweat under the mor

his body that

at the window I stood behind, as if h

ed, even now-weak,

n't wa

ed me fully. Not in the way

h

stion in my own head, a sneer

ant your poor little omeg

d to se

and smugness, sipping a glass of juice like it was fine wine. Two

change his mind. That if you mope around enough, cry i

g. I didn't h

You're nothing, Ava. An orphan no one

napped-not fully, not

tray dow

I said, voice low. "I did

o? Then why were

ade me go. I had no idea the

matter. You still thought y

e eye. "I didn't.

ent, she

ay again. My voice

added. "The Moon Goddess chose me. You can ques

. "You think that

tter smile. "It m

walke

I didn't know where they'd come from. I didn't even know if I

lances, the low hiss of judgment slithering through the air. But I ke

r

. A tension. A tremor. As if something had cracked loose the moment the

ip had spread far b

warriors look me over with thinly veiled cu

it all-cold, assessing, like he was

the storm was

Da

sought m

o exp

nish the

o apo

for reasons I couldn't under

he still f

adn't l

on wasn't

as w

er I'd su