Chapter 2

Elara Vance's POV:

I burst into the room they'd given me, a small, forgotten space in the most remote wing of the packhouse that felt more like a converted storage closet than the chambers of a future Luna. I slammed the door shut and leaned against it, my chest heaving with sobs I refused to let escape. The humiliation was a physical weight, crushing me.

The door flew open with a violent shove from the outside, throwing me stumbling forward onto the rough wooden floor.

Ryker's towering frame filled the doorway, his eyes blazing with a fury even more intense than in the garden. "What other games are you planning to play?" he snarled, stepping inside and slamming the door behind him. The sound echoed the splintering of my composure.

Scrambling to my feet, the pain and injustice of it all finally erupted. "Games? I'm playing games?" My voice cracked. "Ryker, we are fated mates! The Moon Goddess chose this!" My belief in the Goddess, in the sanctity of the bond, was the last bedrock of my sanity. It was all I had left.

He laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. "Don't you dare use the Goddess to justify your scheming. We both know what this is."

He stalked toward me, forcing me back step by agonizing step until my shoulders hit the cold, unforgiving stone wall. "I don't know anything!" I cried, finding a sliver of courage. "The Elders told us we were meant for each other. That we were the only one for each other."

"The Elders?" His voice was laced with poison. "The same Elders you whined to? The ones you manipulated with your pathetic, innocent Omega act?"

The accusation struck me like a physical blow. "I didn't! I never did anything like that!"

"Didn't you?" His voice was a low, dangerous growl. "Didn't you tell them how you were an orphan, all alone in the world? Didn't you hint that Nora's presence made you feel threatened?"

I froze. I had spoken to the Elders about my past, about the loneliness that had defined my life. But it had been honesty, not a calculated ploy. My momentary hesitation was all the confirmation he needed.

"I knew it," he hissed, his fingers clamping onto my jaw, forcing my head up. His touch was like a brand. "You orchestrated this whole thing. You pushed Nora out of the way just to get your hands on the Luna title."

The scent of him, that intoxicating mix of mint and forest, was a suffocating cloud. My wolf writhed, torn between the instinct to submit to her mate and the agony of his rejection. "No," I whimpered, pain and despair making my voice tremble. "I never wanted to take anything from anyone."

"Then give it up," he whispered, his tone shifting to one of deadly persuasion. "Go to the Elders. Tell them you made a mistake. I might even be generous enough to let you stay in this pack."

I looked into his eyes, searching for a flicker of something, anything other than this cold, hard calculation. There was nothing. He wasn't here to understand. He was here to erase me.

A spark of defiance, born from the ashes of my broken heart, flared to life. "No," I said, the word clear and steady. "This is the Goddess's will. I will not defy her."

His patience snapped. With a snarl of disgust, he shoved me away. My head cracked against the stone wall with a sickening thud, and black spots danced in my vision.

"Fine," Ryker's voice was chillingly calm, heavy with menace. "You want this position so badly? Then you can enjoy all the 'honors' that come with it."

He gave me one last look, a look of such profound revulsion it made my stomach turn. He yanked the door open, his hand lingering on the knob.

"And if I ever see you near Nora again," he warned, "it will be much worse than a simple Alpha's Command."

The door slammed shut, leaving me in a silence that was louder than his shouting, surrounded by the cold, empty air that still smelled of him.