Chapter 1

Seraphina POV

The heavy brass '13' on the black door glared at me under the dim lights of the Astoria Hotel's seventh-floor hallway. My fingers trembled as I clutched the sealed leather folder to my chest.

*"Prove your loyalty to the Pack, Seraphina,"* Genevieve Blackwood's voice echoed in my mind. Her tone on the phone earlier had been uncharacteristically warm. *"Deliver this classified territory agreement to the emissary. Tell no one, not even Kael. Do this right, and perhaps you are worthy of being his Luna."*

As a wolfless Omega, I was deaf to the Pack's mind-link. I couldn't reach out to my mate, Kael, to verify his mother's orders even if I dared to. I just wanted to be enough for him. I wanted to erase the disappointment I saw in his eyes every time he looked at his wolfless mate.

Taking a deep breath of the hotel's expensive, sterile perfume, I knocked.

The door swung open. The man standing there-Lazar, the supposed emissary-was tall, heavily muscled, and entirely shirtless. He leaned against the doorframe, a lazy smirk on his face. Despite the heavy cologne he wore, my heightened senses caught a faint, underlying scent. Rust and wild dirt.

A Rogue.

Panic flared in my chest. "I... I just need you to sign this," I stammered, holding out the folder and taking a step back.

Lazar didn't take it. Instead, he reached out and grabbed my wrist, pulling me into the living room. "What's the rush, sweetheart?"

Before I could scream, the heavy suite door was kicked open with a force that splintered the wood.

The air in the room instantly vanished, replaced by a suffocating, crushing weight. Kael Blackwood stood in the doorway. His Alpha aura rolled off him in violent waves of cedar and winter wind, forcing me to my knees. His cyan eyes, which had once looked at me with fated warmth, were now glacial pools of pure hatred.

"Kael!" I gasped, trying to crawl toward him. "Kael, please, it's not-"

He shoved me back so hard my shoulder slammed into the marble coffee table.

Genevieve stepped into the room from behind him. Before I could process her presence, her hand cracked across my cheek in a vicious slap. The sting blinded me for a second.

"You treasonous whore!" Genevieve shrieked, her voice echoing in the silent suite. "Sneaking around with a filthy Rogue to sell out our Pack's borders!"

"No! You sent me here!" I cried out, looking frantically between them. "Genevieve, tell him! You called me!"

"Lies!" Genevieve spat, snatching the folder from the floor. She ripped it open, tossing the papers at Kael's feet.

Kael picked them up. I saw the color drain from his face. I caught a glimpse of the parchment-it wasn't a standard agreement. It was a forged treaty ceding Blackwood territory, and at the bottom, perfectly replicated, was my signature.

"Kael, look at me," I begged, tears streaming down my face. "You know me. Feel our mate-bond. I would never betray you."

He dropped the papers and closed the distance between us, his large hand gripping my jaw with bruising force. His inner wolf, Fenrir, was practically vibrating beneath his skin, demanding blood.

"Don't taint our bond with your filthy mouth," Kael snarled, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"Please..." I whispered, my heart shattering.

He stood up, towering over me like a god of wrath. The air grew so cold my breath plumed. He looked down at me, and with a voice that echoed with the absolute, terrifying power of an Alpha, he spoke the words that would end my life.

"I, Kael Blackwood, reject you, Seraphina Harmon, as my mate."

The agony was instantaneous. It felt as though a jagged blade had been driven into my chest, violently sawing my soul in half. I screamed, clutching my heart as blood rushed to my ears. The pain demanded the required response, tearing it from my throat against my will.

"I... accept your rejection."

A sickening *snap* echoed in my mind. The warm, golden thread that had connected my soul to his vanished, leaving behind a gaping, bleeding void. I collapsed onto the carpet, gasping for air through the blinding pain.

Kael didn't even flinch. He turned his back on me, looking toward the hallway where heavily armed Pack Warriors were already waiting.

"Take them to the cells," Kael commanded.

Two massive warriors stepped into the room, their hands clamping down on my arms like iron vices, dragging my limp body upward.