Kade's POV
The moment I saw her, my entire body caught fire.
It wasn't a normal feeling. It wasn't the kind of thing I'd ever experienced before. It was like something ancient inside me had been asleep for my whole life and suddenly woke up screaming.
Rose.
My wolf knew her name before my brain caught up.
She was standing in the shadows at the edge of the clearing, wearing that grey servant dress that made her invisible to everyone else. But I could see her. I could smell her. I could feel her like she was the only real thing in the entire world and everything else was just smoke and mirrors.
The bond between us was so strong it actually hurt.
It felt like a rope wrapped around my chest, pulling me toward her, demanding that I acknowledge her, claim her, tell the entire pack that she was mine. My wolf was roaring inside me, pushing against my skin, wanting to shift right there in front of five hundred wolves and run to her side. It wanted to mark her. Protect her. Make sure every single wolf in Blackwood Valley knew that she belonged with me.
This was impossible.
I was supposed to be mating Elena.
The council had made it clear. Elena's family was powerful. Her bloodline was strong. The alliance would protect the pack. Victor had been pushing it for months. My father's old advisors said it was the right move. The smart move. The move that proved I was an Alpha who thought about his pack instead of his own feelings.
Emotions were weakness.
My father had taught me that before he died. Control your feelings or your feelings will control you. An Alpha who gets emotional is an Alpha who makes mistakes. An Alpha who makes mistakes gets people killed.
I was not going to be that kind of Alpha.
So I stood there in front of the entire pack with this bond screaming inside me, pulling me toward a girl I barely knew, telling me to do something that would destroy everything I'd worked for. And I forced myself to stay still.
Elena walked into the circle. She was beautiful. Perfect. Exactly what a Luna should look like. She smiled at me like she already knew how this story ended.
The bond got worse.
It was like being torn in half. Part of me wanted to run to Rose, and part of me knew that if I did, the pack would fall apart. Victor would take control. The weak wolves would take over. Chaos would follow. And it would be because I couldn't control my own wolf.
I opened my mouth to say the bonding words.
Nothing came out.
Instead of words of bonding, I said the first thing that came to my mind. The first thing that could possibly explain why I was breaking this bond, why I was rejecting Elena, why my entire body was vibrating with need but I couldn't move.
I lied.
"I can't," I said, and my voice sounded like someone else's. Someone cold and far away. "I won't. This bond is wrong."
Elena's smile dropped.
The entire pack went silent.
Inside my chest, my wolf was screaming at me. Screaming at me to stop. To tell the truth. To go get her. But I pushed him down. I pushed down everything that wanted to run toward those shadows where Rose was standing.
I could feel her watching me. I could feel her hope dying.
Good. That's what I told myself. Good. Better she hates me now than spends her life waiting for an Alpha who could never give her what she deserves.
The council was looking at me like I'd lost my mind. Victor's face had gone dark. The elders were whispering to each other. The wolves in the pack were confused, their excitement turning into something confused and uncomfortable.
I had to make them understand.
I had to make Rose understand that this wasn't about her.
So I did the cruelest thing I could do.
I let my gaze slide across the crowd, and I locked eyes with her across all those bodies and all that firelight. For one second, just one, I let her see what was actually happening inside me. I let her feel the bond. I let her feel my wolf calling to her like she was the only reason it existed.
Then I looked away.
And I destroyed it.
"Some bonds aren't real," I announced to the entire pack, and I made sure my voice was loud enough that every single wolf could hear me. "Some connections are just things we think we feel. They're not true. They're not important. Some wolves aren't worthy of real bonds."
I let the words hang in the air.
"Some are just here to serve."
The pack laughed. It was cruel and relieved all at once. The tension that had filled the clearing for the last few minutes broke like a wave. The impossible connection that everyone had felt was dismissed. It was fake. It was nothing. The Omega servant had probably just imagined the whole thing.
I watched Rose's face.
I watched hope die behind her eyes.
I watched her straighten up like someone had just hit her. Her hands clenched into fists. Her whole body went rigid. And then, like she was moving through water, she turned away from the ceremony.
She wasn't looking at me anymore.
The bond was still there, still screaming inside my chest, still pulling me toward her. But it was different now. It was desperate. It was dying. Because the woman on the other end of it had decided to let go.
Rose walked away from the Moon Ceremony.
She walked like someone who'd finally accepted something she'd been dreading. She walked like she was leaving something behind. She walked toward the forest path that led away from the pack house, away from the ceremony, away from everything she'd ever known.
The other servants called after her, asking where she was going, asking if she needed help with anything. But Rose didn't turn around. She didn't answer. She just kept walking, disappearing into the darkness between the trees.
My wolf went insane.
It threw itself against my skin, demanding that I shift, that I follow her, that I tell her the truth. It was clawing at me from the inside, telling me I was making the biggest mistake of my life.
I ignored it.
I stood in the center of the pack clearing while Elena stared at me with confusion and hurt, while Victor looked satisfied like he'd planned this entire thing, while the elders whispered about weakness in leadership, and I watched the only real thing in my life disappear into the forest.
By the time she was completely gone, I couldn't even see where she'd gone.
But I could feel her leaving.
I could feel the bond stretching across the distance as she ran. I could feel her wolf asking questions. I could feel her heart breaking. And I did nothing to stop it because protecting the pack meant destroying what I felt.
That was what I told myself anyway.
That was the lie I would tell myself for the next five years.