Chapter 1
Prologue
“I, Dominic Blackthorn, reject you, Elena Vale, as my fated mate.”
For a moment, Elena forgot how to breathe.
The words echoed through the pack hall, loud enough for every person present to hear. Hundreds of eyes watched her from the surrounding crowd, but she could only stare at the man standing before her.
Dominic. Her mate.
The man the Moon Goddess had chosen for her, the one person she had secretly hoped might finally give her a place where she belonged.
He stood tall in his black formal suit, his expression cold and unreadable. There was no hesitation in his voice, no sign that the words had cost him anything.
Behind him, Isabella Crowe watched with a satisfied smile.
Elena’s knees weakened.
“Please,” she whispered, barely recognizing her own voice. “Dominic, don’t do this.”
His jaw tightened. “I have made my decision.”
A sharp pain tore through her chest as the bond began to break. Her wolf cried out inside her, its desperate whimpers drowning out the murmurs spreading through the hall.
Someone laughed.
Another voice called her a disgrace.
Elena barely heard them. She was too busy trying to understand how the man who was supposed to be her other half could stand before her and destroy the one thing she had never dared to believe she might have.
She had known she was unwanted long before tonight, but Dominic was supposed to be different.
The Moon Goddess had chosen him for her.
Surely that had to mean something.
“Look at me,” Elena pleaded, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Please, just look at me.”
For a brief moment, Dominic’s fingers curled at his sides. Something flickered across his face, but it disappeared almost as quickly as it came.
“Don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be.”
Elena stared at him, and whatever hope remained inside her began to crumble.
“More difficult for whom?” Elena asked, her voice breaking. “You?”
His eyes hardened.
“My responsibility is to this pack. I will not jeopardize its future for a bond I cannot accept.”
A bond he could not accept.
Elena pressed a trembling hand against her chest, trying to ease the unbearable pain. She wanted to scream at him, to demand how he could reject the very person the Moon Goddess had chosen for him. Instead, she stood before him, crying over a man who had already decided she wasn’t worth choosing.
“Enough of this!” Alpha Richard Blackthorn thundered.
His glare settled on Elena with open disdain.
“By sunrise, you will no longer be a member of Blackthorn Pack. You are to leave this territory and never return.”
Elena stared at him in disbelief.
She had just lost her mate. Now she was losing her home, too.
“Where am I supposed to go?” she asked, her voice trembling. “I have no family left. I have nowhere to stay.”
“That is no longer our concern.”
Elena turned toward Dominic, searching his face for any sign that he would intervene. He had rejected her, but surely he wouldn’t allow his own pack to cast her into the wilderness without a place to go.
“Dominic?”
He looked at her, pain hidden behind a cold expression. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but he looked away instead.
Isabella stepped forward, her smile widening.
“Being the Alpha heir’s mate doesn’t give you the right to threaten the future of an entire pack. You should be grateful that Alpha Richard is allowing you to leave alive.”
Elena stared at her, horrified.
Then Isabella turned toward Richard.
“Why wait until sunrise? She’s the daughter of a traitor and should be treated as one. Throw her out this instant!”
Richard considered her words before nodding to the guards stationed near the entrance.
“Remove her.”
Two guards immediately approached Elena.
“No!” She stumbled backward, shaking her head. “Please, don’t do this!”
One guard seized her arm.
Elena cried out and tried to pull free, but his grip only tightened. The second guard grabbed her other arm, dragging her toward the doors as she struggled against them.
“Let me go! Please!”
Nobody moved to help her.
Elena looked desperately at the crowd. Faces she had known for years stared back at her. Some watched with amusement, others with indifference. A few looked uncomfortable, but none dared to challenge the Alpha’s command.
“Please, somebody help me!”
Her voice echoed through the hall.
“Mrs. Harlow!” Elena spotted the older woman near the serving tables. “Please, you know me! Please tell them I haven’t done anything!”
Mrs. Harlow lowered her eyes and that small gesture hurt more than Elena expected.
She turned toward the other servants, the people she had worked beside for years, but they stepped aside as the guards dragged her past them.
“Please!” she sobbed. “Don’t let them throw me out. I have nowhere to go!”
No one answered.
Then her gaze found Dominic.
He stood near his father, his face rigid as he watched her being dragged away. For one desperate moment, Elena forgot the rejection, the pain, and the humiliation. She saw only the man the Moon Goddess had chosen for her.
“Dominic!”
He didn’t move.
“Please, Dominic! You don’t have to accept me, but don’t let them do this to me!”
His jaw clenched, but he remained silent.
Elena fought harder, her heels scraping against the polished floor.
“I’m your mate!” she cried. “You felt it too! Don't let them do this!!”
“Take her out!” Richard thundered.
The guards dragged her through the doors.
Elena twisted around for one final look at Dominic, tears blurring her vision.
“Please!” she screamed. “Don’t leave me here! Dominic!”
He looked away.
The doors slammed shut behind her.
A moment later, the guards shoved her down the front steps. Elena fell hard onto the cold ground, scraping her palms against the stone. Pain shot through her knees, but she barely noticed it.
The doors opened again, and one of the guards threw a small bag at her feet. It contained the few belongings she had managed to keep in her servants’ quarters.
“Those are yours. Now get off Blackthorn territory.”
Elena scrambled to gather her things.
“Please,” she whispered, looking up at him. “Can I at least stay until morning? It’s dark. I don’t have any money, and I don’t know where to go.”
“The Alpha’s orders are clear.”
The guard turned and walked back inside.
Elena watched the doors close, leaving her alone beneath the night sky.
She hurried after him and pounded on the heavy wood.
“Please! Open the door! I won’t cause any trouble. I’ll leave in the morning, I promise!”
She struck the door again, her hands trembling.
“Please! Somebody, please!”
No one came.
Her hands went limp on her sides as she realized that it was all over.
“Why?” She covered her face, sobbing. “Why did he have to be my mate? He promised, he promised.”
She cried out, remembering how it all started.
