THE ALPHA WHO REJECTED HIS LUNA

The growl did not come from her.

It came from inside her. Low, rough, and wrong. It sounded like two voices growling at the time. Only one of them was hers.

Every head in the ballroom turned. Four hundred years of pack instinct made every wolf in the room drop into a position. Their brains caught up with their bodies a moment later. Glasses stopped mid-air. The band stopped playing.

Luna felt it happen before she understood it. Heat crawled up her spine. Her vision sharpened at the edges. Her nails dug into her palms.

Not here. Not now. Not in front of him.

She swallowed it down by willpower. The growl stopped like someone had flipped a switch. The silence that followed was worse.

"Luna." Kade's voice was quiet behind her. He was trying not to scare her. "What did they do to you?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," she said, forcing her hands to relax.

"Everyone in this room just heard…"

"I said it's not your concern." She turned to face him. Her expression made him take a step back. She watched him regret it. "You gave up the right to worry about me two years ago. Remember? On that stage. In front of everyone."

His jaw clenched. "I didn't give up anything. I told you why…"

"You told me a story." Her voice dropped. It was sharp enough to cut. "Convenient timing too. Right when I show up wearing something you can't explain, suddenly you've got a reason for the thing that nearly killed me."

"You think I'm lying to cover for…" He stopped himself. He rubbed his face. "You always thought the worst of me."

"You gave me plenty of practice."

A throat cleared behind them. It was deliberate. Amused. Luna turned to find a woman in ice- silk watching them both with a polished smile.

"Kade, darling." The woman took his arm as she owned it. "You didn't tell me the entertainment tonight included a reunion."

Luna's stomach dropped. Darling.

"Luna," Kade said. He looked genuinely afraid for the time that night. "This is Priya. My…”

"Fiancée," Priya finished sweetly. She held up her hand. The ring on it caught the light. Luna felt something behind her ribs. It had nothing to do with whatever Dravens people had put inside her. "It's lovely to meet the famous Luna Reyes. Kade told me little about you. Funny isn't it? A man usually mentions the woman who almost destroyed pack law."

"Priya," Kade said. His voice was low and warning.

"What? I'm being friendly." Priya's smile didn't change. Her eyes did. They slid over Luna like she was cataloging her. "The wedding's in six weeks. You should come. I'd love to introduce myself to the woman he rejected on a stage in front of four hundred people."

Luna smiled. It could have cut glass. "I wouldn't miss it."

"Luna…" Kade started.

"No, it's fine," she said. She meant it, possibly. "I actually came here for business. I only stopped because you grabbed my wrist, Alpha. Let's not confuse tonight for something it's n't."

She walked toward the terrace doors. Her heels struck the marble in a rhythm. It took everything she had not to break into a run.

The night air hit her like water. She gripped the stone railing. She breathed hard. The wrongness rose in her chest again. It was faster this time. It was hungrier.

"You shouldn't have come back."

Luna spun around. A man she didn't recognize stood in the shadows. He was tall. His eyes were pale. He wore Draven colors on his collar. Her stomach turned to ice.

"You," she breathed. "How did you find me?"

"We never lost you." He smiled. It wasn't a smile. "You're still ours, Luna. A rejection ceremony doesn't undo what we did to you in that lab. You know that better than anyone."

"Get away from me.

"What?" He tilted his head. He seemed curious. "You'll growl at me as you did there? Cute.. You and I both know you can't fully control it yet. Not without help. Not without us."

Behind her, she heard the terrace doors open. Kade's footsteps were fast and urgent. He called her name.

The Draven man's eyes flicked past her shoulder. His smile widened.

"Perfect timing," he murmured. "He should hear this too."

He raised his hand. Luna saw the syringe glinting in his palm. He lunged. The last thing she heard before the world went white and silent was Kade screaming her name. He was too far away to reach her in time.