The moon hung high, drenching the stone walls of Verauno’s palace in an icy silver glow. The kingdom that had bound me in chains for so long lay quiet beneath the stars, its wolves dreaming of power, blood, and unrelenting duty. At the edge of it all, I stood, a satchel slung over my shoulder. It was light, but the weight in my chest was crushing.
Leaving wasn’t a choice. It was the only way to survive.
I had replayed that moment over and over since the mate ceremony, each time feeling the words carve deeper into me, sharper and colder than before. I reject her. Asher’s voice echoed endlessly in my mind, detached and unyielding, as though those three words hadn’t splintered me into a thousand irreparable pieces.
For days after, I had drifted through the palace like a phantom. My head bo
