Ryder's POV
The rogue's growl cut through the forest like a knife, and my blood turned to ice.
"EMBER!" I crashed through the bushes, following her scent—honey and wildflowers mixed with pure terror.
I'd been tracking her for ten minutes, calling her name like an idiot, begging her to talk to me. My wolf was going insane, screaming that our mate was running from us, that we'd already lost her.
But now there was a different scent. Blood and rot. Rogue wolf.
I burst into a small clearing and my heart stopped.
Ember stood frozen against a tree, completely human, completely naked, completely defenseless. And stalking toward her was a massive grey rogue, its eyes yellow with madness, saliva dripping from teeth meant for killing.
She was going to die. My mate—the girl I'd just found, just realized I'd been tormenting for years—was about to be ripped apart.
"NO!" The word exploded from my chest.
I shifted mid-run, my wolf taking over with savage speed. I slammed into the rogue from the side, jaws clamping down on its shoulder. We rolled across the ground in a tangle of fur and fangs.
The rogue was big, but I was bigger. Alpha blood ran through my veins. I'd trained for this my entire life.
But the rogue fought like it had nothing to lose. Its claws raked across my ribs, tearing through fur and skin. Pain bloomed hot and sharp. I bit down harder, tasting rogue blood.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Ember scramble behind the tree, trying to make herself small. Her amber eyes were huge with fear, locked on the fight.
The rogue twisted free and lunged at me, going for my throat. I dodged left, felt teeth scrape my shoulder instead. Then I struck back, my jaws finding the rogue's neck.
One hard bite. One savage shake. The crunch of bone.
The rogue went limp.
I dropped the body and stood there panting, my wolf form covered in blood—some mine, most not. My ribs screamed with pain where the rogue had clawed me.
Then I looked at Ember.
She was pressed against the tree, shaking so hard I could see it from here. Her arms wrapped around herself, trying to cover her nakedness. Tears streaked down her face.
And she was staring at me like I was another monster she needed to escape from.
My wolf whimpered. MATE. SAFE NOW. GO TO HER.
But when I took one step forward, she flinched back so hard she hit her head on the tree.
"Stay away from me," she whispered, her voice breaking. "Please."
The words hit harder than the rogue's claws. She was more scared of me than she'd been of the wolf that almost killed her.
I shifted back to human, ignoring my own nakedness and the blood running down my side. "Ember, you're hurt—"
"I said STAY AWAY!" She was crying now, full-on sobbing. "I don't want you near me! I don't want this bond! I don't want ANY of this!"
Each word felt like a punch to the gut. My wolf was howling, confused and hurt. Why was our mate rejecting us? We just saved her. We protected her.
Because you spent years destroying her, the human part of my brain whispered. Because you're the reason she's terrified right now.
"I know you hate me," I said quietly, keeping my distance even though every instinct screamed to go to her, to comfort her, to make sure she was okay. "I know I don't deserve—" My voice cracked. "Ember, I'm so sorry. For everything. I was cruel and stupid and—"
"Sorry?" She laughed, but it sounded broken. "You're SORRY? You made my life hell for YEARS, Ryder! You humiliated me every chance you got! You made me feel like I was nothing, like I was a mistake, like I didn't deserve to exist!"
"I know—"
"And now the Moon Goddess makes you my MATE?" Her voice rose to a scream. "What kind of sick joke is that? What did I do to deserve this?"
I wanted to argue. Wanted to explain. But she was right. This was a nightmare for her. I was a nightmare for her.
"You can reject me," I heard myself say, even though the words felt like swallowing glass. "If that's what you want. I won't fight it."
It was a lie. My wolf would fight it with everything we had. But Ember deserved the choice. Deserved freedom from me.
She stared at me, those amber eyes full of pain and confusion. "You... you'd let me reject you?"
"Yes." The word came out hoarse. "I'll accept your rejection. Right here, right now. And then I'll leave you alone forever."
It would kill me. The rejected mate bond would literally poison me slowly until I died. But maybe that was fair. Maybe that was what I deserved for what I'd done to her.
Ember opened her mouth, and I knew what was coming. The formal rejection words. The end of everything.
But before she could speak, voices erupted from the forest behind us.
"Ryder!" Jace's voice, panicked. "Where are you?"
"We heard fighting!" That was Marcus, Dad's beta.
"Oh Goddess, is that blood?" Vivian's shriek cut through everything.
I spun around, putting myself between Ember and the approaching pack members. She was still naked, still vulnerable, still MY mate even if she was about to reject me.
Jace burst through the trees first, shifted to human, his eyes going wide. "What happened? Are you—" He saw the dead rogue. "Holy crap."
Then came Vivian, Marcus, and half the training pack. They all froze, taking in the scene: me covered in blood, a dead rogue on the ground, and Ember cowering behind a tree.
"Ryder!" Vivian ran toward me, trying to check my wounds. I stepped away from her touch. It felt wrong now. Everything that wasn't Ember felt wrong.
Vivian's face crumpled. "You're really—she's really your—"
"His mate," Marcus finished, his voice quiet but firm. "We all felt the bond snap into place back at the training grounds."
"This can't be happening," Vivian whispered. Her eyes found Ember behind the tree, and something ugly crossed her face. "Her? You're bonded to HER?"
"Don't," I growled, my Alpha voice coming out without permission. "Don't you dare talk about her like that."
Vivian stepped back, shocked. I'd never used my Alpha voice on her before. We'd been friends since childhood, engaged since we were sixteen. And now I was defending the sister she'd always looked down on.
"Someone get clothes," Jace said quickly, reading the tension. "Both of them need—"
"I'll do it!" Vivian said too fast, too eager. She pulled off her jacket and started toward Ember.
"No." Ember's voice was small but firm. "Not from you."
Vivian froze, hurt flashing across her face.
"I'll go," Jace said diplomatically. He shifted and ran back toward the packhouse.
The silence that followed was crushing. I kept my body between Ember and everyone else, my bleeding ribs screaming at me to sit down, to rest. But I wouldn't move. Not until she was safe.
"Ryder," Marcus said carefully, his beta instincts reading the situation. "Your father's going to want to know what happened. The rogue crossed into our territory. That's an act of war if they're testing our borders."
"Later," I said. "Right now, I need to make sure Ember—"
"I can take care of myself," Ember interrupted. She'd stopped crying, but her voice shook. "I don't need you to protect me."
"You almost died," I said, turning to look at her. Big mistake. Her eyes met mine, and the bond surged between us like electricity. My wolf whimpered with need.
"Because my wolf is new," she shot back. "Not because I'm weak. I'll learn. And then I won't need anyone. Especially not you."
Before I could respond, Jace returned with clothes. He tossed them carefully toward Ember without looking at her, protecting her dignity. Good male. My wolf appreciated that.
Ember caught the shirt and pants, turning away to dress. Everyone politely looked elsewhere. Except Vivian, whose eyes tracked every movement with barely hidden jealousy.
"This doesn't change anything," Vivian said suddenly. "Ryder and I are still engaged. The ceremony is in a month. One stupid mate bond doesn't—"
"The ceremony is off," I said flatly.
Vivian's face went white. "What?"
"I can't marry you. I have a mate." I looked at Ember, who was now dressed and glaring at me. "Even if she rejects me, I can't bond with anyone else. You know that."
"But you don't even LIKE her!" Vivian's voice turned shrill. "You've spent years making fun of her! This bond is obviously a mistake!"
"The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes," Marcus said quietly.
Ember finished dressing and turned to face us all. She looked tiny compared to the group of adult wolves, but something in her eyes had changed. Harder. Fiercer.
"I want to go home," she said. "I want to shower, pack my things, and leave this pack. Tonight."
"You can't leave," I said before I could stop myself.
Her eyes flashed. "Watch me."
"Ember, please—"
"No." She walked forward, forcing the group to part for her. "I don't belong here. I never have. And I'm done pretending." She looked at me one last time. "And I'm done being your victim."
She shifted—the change smooth this time—and ran toward the packhouse in her copper wolf form.
"Let her go," Marcus said when I moved to follow. "Give her space, Ryder. She's been through a trauma."
"I'm her mate. I should—"
"You're the person who bullied her for years," Jace said bluntly. "Right now, you're part of her trauma."
The words stung because they were true.
Vivian made a choking sound and ran back toward the packhouse, crying.
I stood there, bleeding and broken, watching my mate disappear into the trees.
"What do I do?" I asked no one in particular.
"You pray she doesn't reject you," Marcus said grimly. "Because if she does, that bond will kill you within a year."
My wolf howled inside my head, but I barely heard it over the sound of my own heart breaking.
I'd spent years destroying the one person who was supposed to be mine forever.
And now I had to figure out how to fix something I wasn't sure could ever be repaired.