Isla's POV
The growl comes from everywhere and nowhere at once.
Every wolf at the ceremony freezes. Even the Alphas look afraid. But I can't focus on that because my body is tearing itself apart.
The silver light pouring from my skin grows brighter. Hotter. It feels like I'm burning from the inside out.
"What's happening to me?" I gasp, falling to my knees.
My bones crack. Reshape. My spine curves. My hands become paws. Fur—silver as moonlight—erupts across my skin. The pain is so intense I can't even scream anymore.
Then, suddenly, it stops.
I stand on four legs. I have a wolf. After twenty-one years of waiting, praying, hoping—I finally have a wolf.
But something is wrong. Terribly wrong.
The other wolves aren't celebrating. They're staring at me with wide, terrified eyes. Some back away. Others whisper to each other, their voices frantic.
"Silver fur..."
"Look at her eyes!"
"That's not possible—"
I don't understand. What's wrong with silver fur? Why are they scared?
Then I feel it. Power. Raw, ancient power flowing through my veins like liquid lightning. It's not just my wolf that emerged tonight. Something else woke up inside me. Something huge.
The silver light pulses again. Every unmated wolf in the circle drops to the ground like puppets with cut strings. They bare their necks in submission. Even some of the mated wolves kneel.
What is this? What am I?
Through my confusion and fear, another sensation cuts through everything else. A golden rope, warm and bright, suddenly snaps into place around my heart. It tugs. Pulls. Connects me to someone else.
The mate bond.
My wolf's instincts take over. My head turns, following that golden thread. It leads directly to Callum.
Our eyes lock across the ceremony grounds.
For one perfect, beautiful moment, I see everything I've ever wanted in his face. Recognition. Wonder. The same pull I'm feeling—he feels it too.
We're mates. The Moon Goddess chose us for each other. Everything I dreamed about is real.
Callum takes a step toward me. His lips part like he's about to say something. His hand reaches out.
Then his expression changes.
The wonder drains away. His golden eyes fill with something that makes my new wolf whimper. Horror. Absolute, crushing horror.
"No," Callum whispers. "This can't be happening."
The mate bond floods with his emotions. Panic. Fear. And worst of all—regret.
He doesn't want me.
The realization hits harder than the shift did. My mate—the boy I've loved since childhood—doesn't want me.
"Callum?" I try to speak, but it comes out as a wolf's whine.
I need to shift back. Need to talk to him. Need to understand why he looks at me like I'm a monster.
I focus, trying to pull my human form back. It's harder than I expected. My new wolf doesn't want to let go. But finally, painfully, I shift back to human.
I'm on my hands and knees in the dirt, naked except for the shredded remains of my dress. Someone throws a blanket over me. Maya, probably.
"Callum," I say again, my voice breaking. "You feel it, right? The bond?"
He stands frozen. Behind him, Sienna Blackwood watches with narrowed eyes. The visiting Alphas look shocked. Our own pack members whisper frantically.
"Say something!" I beg.
Callum's father, Alpha Reid, pushes through the crowd. His face is red with anger. "What is the meaning of this? Silver fur? That kind of power?" He turns to Callum. "Did you know?"
"I—no, Father, I didn't—"
"She's dangerous," Alpha Reid snarls. "An anomaly. We should—"
"She's my mate!" The words burst out of Callum before he can stop them.
The crowd gasps. Sienna's face goes pale.
For a second, hope flares in my chest. He admitted it. He feels the bond.
Then Alpha Reid's expression turns cold. "No. Absolutely not."
"Father—"
"You will NOT mate with a girl who radiates that kind of power. We don't even know what she is!" Alpha Reid's voice drops to a deadly whisper. "The Blackwood alliance is too important. Sienna is your mate. Not her."
"But the Moon Goddess—"
"The Moon Goddess made a mistake!"
Those words echo in the sudden silence. You can't say that. You never say that about the Moon Goddess's choices.
But Alpha Reid doesn't care. He grabs Callum's arm. "You will reject her. Now."
My whole world stops.
"What?" I whisper.
"No," Callum says, but his voice shakes. "I can't—"
"You can and you will. Unless you want our pack destroyed." Alpha Reid leans close to his son. "The Blackwoods will withdraw their alliance if you choose her. We'll be vulnerable. Weak. Is she worth hundreds of lives?"
I watch Callum's face. Watch him struggle. Watch him look between me and Sienna.
"Callum, please," I whisper. The mate bond pulses between us, golden and bright and begging him to choose me.
He takes a step toward me. Hope flares again.
Then Sienna speaks. "Callum, darling, we had plans. We were going to announce our engagement tonight, remember?"
The world tilts.
"What?" I gasp.
Callum won't meet my eyes. "Isla, I—I'm sorry. The alliance was arranged months ago. Before I knew you were my—before tonight—"
"You were going to marry her?" My voice rises. "But you promised me! You said—"
"I know what I said!" Callum's voice cracks. "But I didn't know you'd be like this. I didn't know you'd have this kind of power. Everything's different now."
"I'm still me!" Tears stream down my face. "I'm still the same Isla you've known forever!"
"Are you?" He finally looks at me, and his eyes are full of fear. "Look what you did to everyone. That power—it's not normal. You're not normal."
Each word is a knife in my heart.
The mate bond twists, turning from gold to gray. I feel Callum pulling away, fighting against it.
"Don't do this," I beg. "Please don't do this."
Alpha Reid's voice cuts through everything. "Reject her, Callum. Now. That's an order."
Callum closes his eyes. When he opens them again, they're empty. Decided.
"I, Callum Reid, future Alpha of Crescent Hollow Pack..."
"No!" I scream.
"...reject you, Isla Morven, as my mate."
The bond shatters.
It doesn't just break—it explodes. Agony rips through my chest like someone reached inside and tore out my heart. I scream. Can't breathe. Can't think. Can only feel pain so intense I want to die.
I collapse. Someone catches me before I hit the ground.
Through my tears and agony, I see strong arms. Smell something wild and dangerous. Look up into eyes like frozen silver.
The wolf from my dreams is real.
And he's holding me.
"Mine," he growls, his voice making every wolf at the ceremony submit.
Then everything goes black.
But before I lose consciousness, I feel it—another bond, snapping into place where the first one shattered.
A second-chance mate bond.
With the monster who killed my parents.