Chapter 2

Brooke POV:

The Alpha's Command to "Stay in the car" was more than a suggestion. It was a physical weight, a set of invisible chains locking my muscles in place. My hand, which had instinctively reached for the door handle, froze in mid-air. I was a prisoner in a thousand-dollar suit jacket, trapped in a luxury car, forced to watch my world end.

Through the windshield, I saw them reappear in a small clearing, illuminated by the cold, impartial light of the full moon.

And then Kelly began to dance.

It was the Mating Dance. An ancient, sensual ritual meant to entice a mate, to prove her worth to the male and the Moon Goddess. Her body swayed, her hips moving in a hypnotic rhythm. Every movement was a promise meant for him, and a curse meant for me.

My inner wolf, a creature I thought had been beaten into permanent silence, whimpered in the back of my mind. A tiny, pathetic sound of absolute heartbreak.

Easton just stood there, his arms crossed over his chest. For a moment, a wild, stupid flicker of hope ignited in my chest. He was resisting. His posture was stiff, his own wolf fighting the primal pull of the dance. He was my fated mate, designated by the Goddess herself. He had to feel it. He had to choose me.

But then Kelly's shoulders began to shake. She started to cry, her sobs carrying on the still night air. It was her trump card. It always was.

I saw Easton's shoulders slump in defeat. He walked to her, took her hand, and let her lead him deeper into the woods, toward her pack house, until they disappeared from my sight completely.

Humiliation burned hotter than the silver on my skin. He left me.

As the distance between us grew, the invisible chains of his command began to weaken. The oppressive weight on my shoulders lessened, the lock on my muscles loosening its grip. His focus was entirely on her now. I was already forgotten.

The moment I could move my fingers, I didn't hesitate.

I slid over the center console and into the driver's seat. The leather was still warm from his body. His scent-pine after a thunderstorm and expensive whiskey-clung to the air. It used to feel like home. Now it smelled like betrayal.

My hands were steady on the wheel as I started the car. The drive back was a blur of dark trees and deserted roads. My mind, for the first time in five years, was painfully, brutally clear.

I walked into the Alpha's residence-a house I had meticulously cared for, but had never been allowed to call home. Every step on the cold marble echoed in the cavernous silence. He wasn't here. He was with her.

My first stop was the fireplace in the grand hall. I didn't hesitate. I reached into the pocket of the simple dress I wore and pulled out the folded, five-year contract. The paper felt brittle in my hands, a dead thing. Five years of my life, summarized in cold, legal ink.

I tossed it into the flames.

The edges curled, turning black before a burst of orange flame consumed the signatures-his, bold and arrogant; mine, timid and hopeful. I watched until it was nothing but grey, floating ash. An ending.

I went to my room and pulled out the single, worn suitcase I owned. My belongings were a pathetic collection. A few simple dresses, a handful of books, and a small, carved wooden wolf-the last gift my father gave me before the Blackwood pack conquered us.

Our pack, the Silvermoon, had been weavers and artists, not fighters. My mother, our Luna, was the greatest of them all. When the Blackwood warriors stormed our village, she tried to shield our most sacred tapestry with her own body. The attack crushed her throat, leaving her unable to ever speak again. A living, breathing symbol of everything we had lost.

I took this contract for her. For her safety, for her care. I had convinced myself that my love for Easton was a noble reason, a fated destiny. But the truth was, it was a sacrifice born of desperation.

I had just finished packing when the front door slammed open, the sound cracking through the silence like a gunshot.

Heavy, furious footsteps stormed into the hall.

"Brooke!"

Easton's roar was filled with a rage I had never heard directed at me before. It wasn't the cold command of an Alpha. It was the raw fury of a man.

I walked out of my room to face him. He stood in the entryway, his chest heaving, his grey eyes blazing with a storm of fury. Kelly clung to his arm, her face a perfect picture of distress, her eyes red-rimmed from what I was sure were perfectly fake tears.

"What did you do?" he snarled, his voice a low growl that vibrated through the floor. The sheer force of his Alpha presence pressed down on me, a physical weight demanding submission.

"I did what you told me to do," I said, my own voice surprisingly steady. "I came home."

"Don't play games with me!" he roared, taking a step forward. "Kelly's moonstone necklace. It's gone. It was a gift from her mother, a priceless heirloom of the Crimsonfang pack."

Kelly let out a small, theatrical sob. "I just had it at the party, Easton. I only took it off for a moment..." Her gaze slid to me, full of poisonous insinuation. "I think... I think I saw Brooke near my wrap before we left."

My blood ran cold. The accusation was so blatant, so absurd, that for a moment, I could only stare at them.

"You think I stole from you?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Easton's face was a mask of cold conviction. He took another step, closing the distance between us until he was towering over me. His scent, that intoxicating mix of pine and storm, filled my senses, but now it was laced with the bitter smell of his rage.

"I know you did," he said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. He reached out and grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into my skin like steel bands.

The moment his skin touched mine, a jolt-powerful, undeniable, and utterly shocking-shot up my arm and straight to my core. It was The Electric Touch. A supernova exploded behind my eyes. My heart hammered against my ribs, my blood boiling in my veins. A scent, his true scent, crashed over me: a blizzard over a forest of cedar, mixed with wild berries and a deep, aching loneliness. My soul, which had felt fractured my entire life, suddenly clicked into place, whole and at peace.

And in the deepest part of my mind, my inner wolf, a creature I thought was dead, rose up and howled a single, possessive word.

*Mine!*

His eyes widened in shock, his grip tightening. He felt it too. I could see it-the confusion, the dawning horror, the undeniable truth warring on his features.

The Moon Goddess hadn't been wrong. He was my mate.