Logan's POV
"Love doesn't work like that." I keep my voice flat. No heat, no softness. "There's no line. No queue. It doesn't go to whoever's been waiting longest."
"But she—"
"She's my fated mate." I hold her gaze. "Moon Goddess chose her. Not me, not my parents, not politics. That's done."
Melissa's composure cracks all the way through.
"She didn't even know she was a werewolf a few months ago." Her voice pitches up, raw and unsteady. Tears break over her lashes. "She knows nothing about our world. Nothing about what it means, what it costs, what it takes." Her breath comes in short, and she doesn't try to control it. "And I've been here. I've always been here. I've wanted you since I was fifteen years old — how is that worth nothing to you?"
I don't answer.
"Our parents—" She pre
