On her 18th birthday, Tessa thought everything would change. She was in love with Alpha Jaxon, hoping he'd finally see her. Instead, he cruelly rejects her, leaving her shattered and humiliated. Just when she thinks things can't get worse, two mysterious brothers, Rafe and Dante, step into her life. They're dangerous, seductive, and hiding secrets, but Tessa can't help being drawn to them. Torn between the twins' pull and the heartache Jaxon left behind, Tessa's world spirals even more when her father forces her into a marriage she doesn't want. Now, she has to choose-fight for love or protect herself. Either way, no one's walking away unscathed.
Chapter 1 I - THE BROKEN BOND
Sharp as a knife the cold was clawing at my skin as I sat by the stream with my knees hauled in tight to my chest. The earth beneath me was wet, and my dress saturated, but I couldn't care less. The tears were coming hard now, burning hot down my face, each heave ripped from my chest like it had been there too long. I hated how it made me feel weak. I hated that I couldn't lock it all away and be strong like everyone seemed to expect.
The hissing of waters filled in the silence, almost drowning out the thoughts spinning inside my head. I squeezed my arms tighter around myself, holding everything in, but the ache in my chest grew only heavier. His words. They echoed in my mind. "You'll never be enough.".
I was strangling on the boulder of my throat, forcing myself to breathe past it. How could I have been so dumb? How could I have convinced myself tonight was different? He would look at me, see me, and everything would change. I had been living in a fantasy. and now reality had hit me in the gut like a fist.
It was so still, that the only sounds were made by the water and the rattling of the leaves in the breeze. It seemed all the world had decided to give up on me, to let me be sad here, alone, to wallow in my misery. I wanted to disappear, sink into the earth and never come back again. At least that would be easier than facing the pack again. facing him. They'd all seen it. the way he had rebuffed me like a discarded thing.
A twig snapped behind me, and my entire body locked up. I smoothed at my face, scrubbing furiously at the tears as if I could somehow obliterate what had just happened, though I knew it was a pointless gesture. My eyes were probably red, my cheeks blotchy, my hands still shaking.
Footsteps crunched through the fallen leaves, slow and careful. I didn't turn around. Whoever it was, they should have just kept walking. I didn't need anyone to see me like this.
"Tessa.".
Mara's voice was soft, almost tentative, and I closed my eyes for a moment before turning finally. She stood there, hands stuck in her jacket pockets, a look of soft concern on her face. Of course, it was her. She never left me alone, not when I really wanted her to.
"Go away," I muttered, turning back to the water, my voice hoarse and shaking.
I could hear the leaves crunch again as she stepped closer. Then she sat down beside me close enough that her arm rubbed mine, though I wished she wouldn't do that either. We sat there a long while without saying a word. The stream kept going, and I concentrated on it, the steady rhythm of it letting it distract me from the tight knot of shame twisting in my stomach.
"I saw what happened," she whispered softly after what felt like forever. Her voice was soft, as though she was afraid one wrong word would break me completely.
My throat cramped all over again. I didn't want to talk about it, didn't want to say the words out loud. But there was no avoiding it. Everyone had seen. Everyone knew.
"He rebuffed me," I whispered, my voice stumbling over the words. "In public."
Mara didn't say a word. She just let the silence hang between us, as if she knew I needed that space to let it out.
"I said tonight would be different," I choked out, feeling the tears start to spill over again. "I said. maybe. he'd notice me. But he didn't. He never does."
I knew Mara was watching, but she said nothing. Instead, she reached over and clasped my hand in hers, the warmth of her touch against my chilled skin should have been comforting, but all it did was serve as a reminder of how really alone I was.
"You didn't deserve that, Tessa," she said after a while. "Not from him. Not from anyone."
I let out a harsh laugh, shaking my head. "He's right, though. I'm an Omega. There will never be enough of me for a guy like him."
"You're more than that," she said hotly, squeezing my hand tight. "You're stronger than any of them are giving you credit for. You just don't see it yet.".
Still, those words floated through the air, never quite settling into my skin. Not really. There was some kind of wall around me that just wasn't letting any of it in that didn't feel right. I knew she'd meant it. She always did. But nothing changed what had happened. or how badly it had broken me.
I don't know how to face them again," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "How do I go back after that? How do I even look at him knowing. knowing that he thinks I'm nothing?
Mara said nothing for a long time. Then she turned to me, voice low but steady. "You keep your head up. You walk back in there, and you show them that Jaxon does not get to decide your worth. You do.".
I blinked, unsure of what to say. Part of me wanted to believe her. wanted to believe that I had the strength to do what she was saying. But the other part-that part crushed by Jaxon's rejection-wasn't sure at all.
"I don't know if I can," I said, barely audible.
You can," she insisted. "And you will. Because if you don't, he wins. And I know you, Tessa. You're not some-one who lets anyone win that easy.".
She was trying to pull me out of this shit, reminding me who I was. or at least who I was supposed to be. And still really hurt so damn much. Even if I wanted to fight back, I wasn't even sure I had it in me.
She rose up and stretched out her hand towards me. I stared at it a moment, then reached out to take it, letting her hoist me up onto my feet. My legs were wobbly, but Mara's hand was firm, steadying me.
"Come on," she said softly. "Let's get out of here. You don't need to face them now. Not yet.".
I just nodded, not up to arguing. We started walking through the woods, crunching leaves beneath our boots, the wind picking up around us. The cold air cut much sharper now and bit into my flesh, but still, I welcomed it. Better than suffocating warmth in the pack house.
We walked in silence. The wind rustled through the trees and their branches creaked like whispers in the night. The path we had taken was one I knew well, but tonight it felt different as if the forest sensed something. The moon peered out through the branches, casting a pale light across the ground. Everything looked silver, still.
And then, suddenly, we emerged into a glade, and the trees fell back to let us see the sky ablaze with stars. I paused, looking up. The breath caught inside me for a moment. There was something about the stars, the way they seemed so high and so far off, as if nothing could reach them and all this wreckage down below. For a moment, the ache in my chest loosened a little.
Mara moved up alongside of me, speaking barely above a whisper. "Isn't it just gorgeous?"
I nodded wordlessly, unable to tear my eyes from the sky. "Yeah. it is.".
We just stood there, staring up into the stars for what might have been an eternity. Each of us was too caught up in our own worlds to say a word. The wind whipped around us, jerking at my hair, but I didn't even care. Something peaceful about this moment made everything feel just that little bit less crushing.
When the cold started to creep too deep into my bones, Mara pushed me gently. "Let's head back," she said and, looking back at my pack for the first time that day, I nodded, knowing it was time.
So we moved slow, taking our time. And as we moved through the woods, I knew maybe Mara was right, and that maybe I could find a way through this. Maybe I didn't have to know yet exactly how. but the stars above us reminded me that the world was bigger than this pain.
And maybe that was enough for now.
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