Chapter 2

Elara Nightwind POV:

The minutes I spent waiting in the council chamber stretched into an eternity. Poppy had scurried off, her small frame radiating a nervous energy that was the complete opposite of the stillness that had settled deep in my bones.

My gaze drifted to a large tapestry on the wall, a detailed weaving of a dense, ancient forest. It reminded me of home. Of the scent of damp earth and wild things.

The image opened a floodgate in my mind, pulling me back thirteen years to the day I first set foot in the Stonecrest packhouse.

I was fifteen, a new wolf, scrawny and scared. My pack had been destroyed, and I was an orphan seeking refuge, a charity case. I remembered standing in the great hall, dwarfed by the high ceilings and the powerful, arrogant wolves who stared at me as if I were something they'd scraped off their boot. My clothes were too big, my scent of rain-washed forest and night-blooming jasmine still faint and uncertain.

Their scents were overwhelming. Granite and whiskey. Steel and rage. And his-thunderstorm and pine, even then, crackling with dominance. They judged my scent, my presence. *Too weak,* their disdainful looks said. *An omega, surely.*

Ryker, the Alpha's son, had been pushed in front of me by his father, Alpha Silas. He was already tall and broad-shouldered, his handsome face twisted into a mask of pure arrogance and annoyance.

The moment our eyes met, it happened. The Mate Bond. A jolt, powerful and undeniable, shot through me. My young wolf whimpered with a joy so pure it ached. His wolf roared in his mind, a possessive, primal sound I could almost hear. *Mine!*

But Ryker's face didn't show joy. It showed shock. And then, disgust.

He scowled, turning to his father. His voice wasn't a shout, but it was loud enough for everyone nearby to hear, sharp and cruel. "Her? She smells like mud and weeds. How could *she* be my mate?"

Mud and weeds.

The words were a silver dagger, poisoned and sharp, and they plunged straight into my fifteen-year-old heart. The fragile hope that had just bloomed within me withered and died on the spot. That insult, that single moment of public humiliation from the one person who was supposed to be my other half, became a ghost that haunted me for thirteen years.

I could still feel the heat of my shame, the desperate urge to turn and run, to disappear back into the forest they thought I smelled of. I heard the stifled snickers from the pack members around us.

Then, a flicker of warmth. Ryker's mother, Luna Lyra, stepped forward. I saw the flash of anger and disappointment on her face as she looked at her son. She reprimanded him sharply, but the damage was done. The seed of our relationship had been planted in the toxic soil of his contempt.

Lyra had gently pulled me behind her, shielding me from the judging eyes. "Don't listen to him, child," she'd said, her voice a soft comfort. "Your scent is a gift from the Goddess. It's unique and beautiful."

The memory didn't make me sad anymore. It only made the ice in my veins colder, harder. Whatever love I might have had for Ryker was murdered on the day we met. Everything that came after was just a slow, painful execution of my soul. My vow to Lyra wasn't just about repaying her kindness; it was about honoring the only person in this pack who had ever truly seen me.

A heavy tread of footsteps outside the chamber door pulled me back to the present.

They were here. Ryker, his Beta, and his Gamma.

I straightened my spine, schooling my features into a mask of cool neutrality. I could smell him before he even entered. His scent was stronger now, more oppressive, laced with the victory of his recent battle. And something else. The cloying, sweet perfume of another she-wolf. Seraphina Blackwood.

The scent didn't spark jealousy. It sparked relief.

The door swung open. Ryker strode in, his face a thundercloud of irritation, his golden eyes narrowed in a silent question: *What the hell is this?*