"Evander, what are you doing!?"I can't believe what I'm seeing. Evander's malevolent grin is so far out of character for him, it's hard to believe this is the same man I married.My gaze shifts to my father who is struggling to regain consciousness after Evander knocked him out. My ex could be harsh at times, but I've never before felt such…evil."You're coming with me," my blood-soaked former mate tells me. He crosses the room in two great strides, then takes hold of my arm."We can't go anywhere!" I protest. "You're injured, all that blood, and my dad… What did you do to my father?"My brain is having a hard time keeping up with all that I'm witnessing. None of this makes any sense. Five minutes ago, I believed Evander to be on the brink of death, mortally wounded in an ambush that took him and the pack by surprise.But now, he seems as fit as ever despite all the blood on his tattered clothes.His grip on me tightens painfully. I look into his eyes, but instead of finding the man
“I can't have two mates at the same time. I'm rejecting our bond. I want a divorce.”Those three sentences, spoken by my mate, by the love of my life, shattered my heart and set me on the path to my destiny.***I give our dining room another critical look, making sure everything is in place. I want this to be perfect. Tonight is our third wedding anniversary.Three years! I can hardly even believe it.I want our memories of tonight to be the kind we look back on throughout our lifetime. Stories for the grandkids. I love the idea so much, I can't stop smiling.As if on cue, I hear the crunch of my mate's boots on the path to our front door. Evander is a strict Alpha, often harsh, but he makes the same demands of himself that he expects from every member of the pack. Absolute punctuality is the least of it.My heart sings as each step brings him closer to me. I’ve waited for this moment all day long! I can’t wait for him to see how much love I put into our celebration.He opens the doo
The light is too bright. It penetrates my closed eyelids, beaming into my retinas, searing the back of my skull."Aurora?"A man's voice. "Evander?" Why does his name stick in my throat? "Turn off the light.""Aurora, listen to me. This is Dr. Oliver. You're in the hospital. I need you to open your eyes if you can.""Hospital?" I open my eyes as the doctor asked, blinking under the harsh glare. As the world comes into focus, my memories return. Our anniversary. Evander. Nalani.The rejection.The doctor's low baritone fades into the background as I recall the shambles of my marriage. I'm about to become a former Luna, and not because I'm passing the crown down to my heirs like I always dreamed, but rather because my mate and Alpha no longer have any need of me. I've loved Evander since the moment we met. I always know my love for him is greater than his for me.But I am proved ridiculously wrong. I am nothing more than a tool, one that can be easily discarded when useless.How... how
A sob from deep in the shadows at the end of the hallway catches my ear, and when I investigate, I find my personal maid, Sylvie, slumped down and sniffling in the corner.Upon noticing my arrival, Sylvie only cries harder. "I tried to stop them, ma'am, I did. But they wouldn't listen." She looks up then, glaring at the staff entering and exiting my room.I hear her words, but all I can see is the faint outline of a handprint of her round cheek, the red, distinctive marks of a full-on face slap. Aghast, I hunch down beside her. "Who did this to you?""I did."The voice sends a shiver of revulsion down my spine. Anger curls my upper lip and I rise to my feet, ready to face my enemy head-on. "Why did you do this, Nalani?"I examine her as she makes me wait – the newly coiffed hair, her skintight silk dress, strappy six-inch heels, and layers of makeup. She doesn’t look like someone who just woke up from a coma. In fact, the transformation from the poisoned woman lying in a hospital bed
Silence meets my declaration, and my announcement seems to echo off the walls. I'm pregnant with your child! – I can't believe I blurted it out the way I did.I take some fierce gratification from seeing the shock on Nalani's face, her smug smirk nowhere in evidence now. My joy is short-lived, however. At first, I read surprise in Evander's gaze, then – dare I think it? – happiness. But that flash of brightness in his eyes is gone before it can take root, quickly replaced by cold, hard regard."You are all dismissed," Evander says to the servants, his gaze never leaving mine.The household helps scurries to get as far away from what is about to happen as possible. The tension in the air is electric, like the eye of a storm, and I fear I'm the one who's about to be struck by lightning."Wait, you," Evander says, pointing to the tattletale. "Get me my Beta. Tell Ralfi I want him here now.""Yes, sir," the servant replies, bowing his way out the door.Evander waits until the hallway is e
I keep my head down as Ralfi leads me to the guest room. I can’t bear to see the looks on the servant's faces when I pass them, though I can hear their whispers. Every member of the staff is abuzz with my rejection. The shame keeps my eyes on the ground, following Ralfi's feet through the meandering halls."Here we are," Ralfi says, opening the bedroom door for me. "Go on in, Aurora. This is where you'll spend your last night in the pack house.""Ralfi…""No," he says, holding up a hand to halt my words. "I serve my Alpha, and this is his command. You can go inside yourself, or I can carry you in. That is the only choice you have now."Rejected and dejected, I can only nod and enter the room under my own volition. Ralfi follows me inside, then holds out his hand to me. In the center of his palm rests a single pill. "I met with the Alpha and Luna while you were still in the hospital. Evander asked me to give this to you. Since you don’t have a wolf, the rejection will hurt you more th
The guards surround me, corralling me out of the guest room, down the corridor, then out of the house. I am led into the arena on the edge of the training grounds.Panic has me shaking, struggling to make even the tiniest sound. Nalani's poison is potent though and I remain mute as I'm guided onto the field. My stomach sinks even further when I catch sight of the wooden structure ahead of me – an elevated platform that reminds me all too much of gallows.I look up into the stands at the gathering crowd and find only cold indifference on the faces looking back at me. I have no allies in this pack, no friends, and everyone attending today makes that explicitly clear. There's no sympathy for a wolfless Luna. Only my dear, sweet maid, Sylvie sheds a tear for me.Once I'm on the platform, more guards join the first three, creating a tight circle around me. The crowd chitters, buzzing with excitement over my impending downfall, and all I can do is open and close my mouth, gaping like some k
Prince Mykal? I repeat stupidly to myself, unable to stop gaping at the breathtaking man before me. I knew the name, of course. It always pays to know the name of your enemy.Prince Mykal Boreal, eldest son of the Lycan King, and next in line for the throne.Everything in me stops suddenly. Wait, did he just say I was his mate? I look at him, aghast. How is that possible? He's a Lycan! I'm a Werewolf. We're enemies. And yet…His scent fills my head again and I know that this irrefutably strong response I feel toward him is our mate bond taking hold. I just lost my first mate, and now, instantaneously, I have a new one? How can this be?But even as I try to cast-off the thought as absurd, in my heart of hearts I know this man is my second chance mate.I found my second chance mate! "I thought our business was done, Mykal," Evander says, breaking into my whirlwind of thoughts. "We finished the trade our superiors commanded us to make. What are you still doing in my lands?"If the princ