Silver Moon Rising

Chapter 1

MADISON

"You're nothing to me, Madison. You never were."

The words hit me like a physical blow, stealing the air from my lungs as I stared at Ryker's cold blue eyes. My mate. The one person in this world who was supposed to love me unconditionally was looking at me like I was dirt beneath his shoe.

"Please," I whispered, hating how weak my voice sounded. "We're mates. The moon goddess herself—"

"The moon goddess made a mistake." Ryker's voice cut through me sharper than any blade. The pack gathering behind him murmured their shock, but he didn't care. "I, Ryker Stone, future Alpha of the Crimson Pack, reject you, Madison Ryder, as my mate and Luna."

The bond between us shattered like glass, sending white-hot pain through every nerve in my body. I collapsed to my knees in the dirt, clutching my chest as invisible claws tore through my heart. Some of the pack members gasped, others laughed. Most just watched with pity in their eyes as I writhed on the ground.

Through my tears, I saw her. Veronica. Standing beside Ryker with her perfect red lips curved in a satisfied smile. She'd won. The pack princess had gotten exactly what she wanted—my mate.

"Get her out of here," Ryker commanded, already turning away from me like I was yesterday's garbage. "I don't want to see her face again."

Strong hands grabbed my arms, hauling me to my feet. My legs wouldn't work properly, still shaking from the rejection. As they dragged me toward the pack house entrance, I caught Ryker pulling Veronica into his arms, kissing her like I wasn't bleeding out on the ground ten feet away.

"Wait," I managed to croak out. The guards paused. "My things. I need my—"

"You have five minutes," one of them growled. "Then you're gone."

They shoved me toward the servants' quarters where I'd lived for the past three years, ever since my parents died in the rogue attack. I stumbled through the narrow hallway, my vision blurring with tears I refused to let fall. Not here. Not where they could see me break completely.

My room was barely bigger than a closet, but it held everything I owned in this world. I grabbed the worn backpack from under my bed and started shoving clothes inside with trembling hands. A picture of my parents fell from the nightstand, the glass frame cracking when it hit the floor. I stared at their smiling faces, remembering how proud they'd been when they found out I would be mated to the future Alpha.

"Your bloodline isn't strong enough anyway," a voice said from my doorway.

I spun around to find Veronica leaning against the frame, examining her perfectly manicured nails.

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice raw.

"Just wanted to make sure you understand something." She stepped into my room, her designer heels clicking against the worn wooden floor. "Ryker was never yours. I've been warming his bed for months. The only reason he waited this long to reject you was because his father made him."

The revelation shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. Some part of me had suspected, had seen the looks between them, but I'd been too desperate to believe in the mate bond to accept it.

"You're pathetic," Veronica continued, her voice dripping with disgust. "A weak omega playing at being Luna. Did you really think someone like Ryker would want someone like you?"

Before I could respond, she was gone, leaving only the scent of her expensive perfume behind. I grabbed my mother's necklace from the dresser—a simple silver moon pendant that was the only valuable thing I owned—and clasped it around my neck.

The guards were waiting outside when I emerged, my entire life stuffed into one backpack.

"Move," one of them barked, shoving me toward the pack borders.

The walk felt endless. Pack members lined the path, some looking away in shame, others smirking at my humiliation. I kept my head high, even as my wolf whimpered inside me, wounded and weak from the rejection.

At the border, the guards stopped.

"You're now officially rogue," the taller one announced. "If you step foot on Crimson Pack territory again, you'll be killed on sight."

They turned and walked away without another word, leaving me standing alone in the darkness. The forest stretched out before me, vast and terrifying. I'd never been outside pack territory alone. Never had to fend for myself.

A branch snapped somewhere to my left, and my heart jumped into my throat. Rogues. Real ones, not rejected wolves like me. They hunted these woods, looking for easy prey.

I forced my feet to move, one step, then another, deeper into the forest. My wolf was too weak to shift, the rejection still burning through our bond. Every shadow could be danger. Every sound could be death approaching.

Hours passed. Or maybe minutes. Time lost meaning as I stumbled through the underbrush, branches tearing at my clothes, roots trying to trip me. The humiliation kept replaying in my mind. Ryker's cold eyes. Veronica's cruel smile. The pack's indifference.

A howl echoed through the trees, too close. My blood turned to ice. That wasn't just any howl—it was a hunting call. Multiple voices joined in, creating a symphony of danger that sent my survival instincts into overdrive.

I ran.

Branches whipped at my face, leaving stinging cuts. My backpack caught on something and I abandoned it without thinking, needing to be faster, lighter. Behind me, I could hear them now. Paws hitting the ground. Getting closer.

The ground suddenly disappeared beneath my feet.

I tumbled down a steep ravine, rocks and roots battering my body as I fell. When I finally stopped rolling, everything hurt. My ankle screamed when I tried to stand. Blood ran from a gash on my forehead into my eyes.

Above me, I could see shadows moving at the ravine's edge. Yellow eyes gleaming in the darkness.

"Well, well," a rough voice called down. "What do we have here? A little lost omega?"

They'd found me. The rogues had found me, and I was injured, alone, and completely defenseless.

As they started making their way down the ravine, their intentions clear in their predatory movements, I closed my eyes and did something I hadn't done since my parents died.

I prayed.

Not to the moon goddess who'd cursed me with this fate, but to anyone who might be listening. Anyone who might care that Madison Ryder was about to disappear from this world without anyone noticing she was gone.

That's when I smelled it.

Pine and thunderstorms. Power and dominance.

An Alpha.

But not just any Alpha.

My eyes snapped open as a massive black wolf launched itself from the opposite side of the ravine, taking down two rogues before they even knew what hit them. The others scattered, yelping in fear as the wolf tore through them like they were made of paper.

In less than a minute, it was over. The rogues were gone—dead or fleeing—and I was alone with the enormous wolf now stalking toward me.

My heart hammered against my ribs as those silver eyes fixed on me. This was it. I'd escaped one death just to meet another. But as the wolf got closer, that scent wrapped around me again, and my wolf—weak as she was—stirred with something I didn't understand.

The wolf shifted, and my breath caught.

Standing before me was the most devastatingly handsome man I'd ever seen. Tall, muscled, with jet-black hair and those impossible silver eyes. Power radiated from him in waves that made my skin tingle.

"You're injured," he said, his voice deep and rough like whiskey and smoke.

I tried to scramble backward, but my ankle gave out. "Please, I'm not on your territory. I'm just passing through. I'll leave, I promise—"

"Stop." The command in his voice froze me instantly. He crouched down, studying me with an intensity that made me want to hide. "You've been rejected."

It wasn't a question. Somehow, he knew. Fresh tears burned my eyes.

"Yes," I whispered.

Something flickered in his expression. Not pity. Something darker. Angrier.

"His loss," he said simply, then scooped me up into his arms like I weighed nothing.

"What are you doing?" I gasped, instinctively pressing my hands against his bare chest. His skin was hot, almost burning.

"Taking you somewhere safe."

"I don't even know who you are."

He looked down at me, and for the first time, his lips curved into something that might have been a smile.

"I'm Nile Jarvis, Alpha of the Shadow Mountain Pack." His arms tightened around me as he started walking. "And you're under my protection now."

As he carried me through the forest, my head spinning from pain and exhaustion, one thought kept repeating in my mind:

Why would the most feared Alpha in the region save someone like me?