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"Diana Nightshade, I said—Kneel!" Luna Hazel's power slammed into me. I didn't flinch. Across the room, Asher froze. Five years ago he rejected me in front of the whole pack. Wolfless. Worthless. Mated another while I bled through the bond. Now he was waiting for me to break against his chosen Luna. I didn't give it to him. "I serve the pack," I said, meeting her gaze. "But I do not serve you." Her power flickered, died against my skin. "What the h-ll are you?" she hissed. I didn't answer. They don't deserve to know. The doors opened. The air shifted. I felt him before I saw him. His eyes locked onto mine. His wolf was pushing, barely held. Hazel turned, snarl melting into honey. "Alpha King—" He walked past her. Crossed the room in three strides. Stopped in front of me. Then the horns blared. Rogues at the border. I moved past him. Toward the forest. The first rogue fell. Second. Third. I lost count. I cleared the ridge. My head lifted. Sweat on my neck. Blood on my knuckles. Behind me, the Alpha King's voice cut through the night—low, ragged, final. "Mate. Mine." I turned. His gaze was burning. Out of the corner of my eye, Asher's jaw went slack. Hazel staggered back with a gasp. And I knew—nothing would ever be the same. *** “I, Asher Stormrider, Alpha of Crimson Fang, reject you, Diana Nightshade, as my luna.” The words struck like a blade forged from ice and fire. For a heartbeat, the world did not exist. The bonfire crackled somewhere far away. The murmurs of the pack faded into a dull, ringing void. Then the pain came—violent, consuming, merciless. It tore through Diana’s chest as though invisible claws were shredding her from the inside. Her knees buckled, breath leaving her lungs in a broken gasp. It felt as if her soul were being ripped from her body, dragged out through her heart inch by agonizing inch. She clutched at her chest, fingers trembling, nails biting into fabric as tears burned behind her eyes. No pain—no wound, no broken bone, n
