He exiled me before the council could ask a single question. Rowan Ashford — Alpha of Blackthorn Pack — threw out his own healer and called it done. What he doesn't know: my rejection never finished the bond. And the scent he dismissed as weakness isn't weakness at all. was bleeding on Graypine Road when Cassian Reed found me. Alpha of Ashborne. Blackthorn's oldest rival. He looked past my face, past my rank, and said the one thing no records keeper should ever hear: *That is not a healer's scent. He invoked sanctuary to stop Rowan's enforcers from dragging me back. I stood between both packs and named my terms. For one breath my eyes flashed silver-gold — and an elder whispered what Rowan spent years burying. Now the binding mark on my palm is cracking. Rowan wants me on Blackthorn stone. The council wants the truth buried. And the rival Alpha who saw me first is the only one Rowan can't control. What happens when your exiled fate is decided by the enemy who recognized your Luna blood before your own mate ever could?