Rejected Revenge

The first time Raven Blackwood saw his mate, he knew he would destroy her to save her life.

The annual Harvest Moon gathering had drawn wolves from every major pack in the northern territories. Lyrix Thorne stood at the edge of the celebration, nineteen and restless, silver hair catching moonlight like spun starlight. She didn't belong to any particular group, hovering between conversations, between the girl she'd been and the woman she was becoming.

Raven felt it the moment their eyes met across the fire. The mate bond slammed into his chest with the force of a physical blow, stealing his breath and making his wolf surge forward with a possessive snarl that nearly dropped him to his knees. Everything in him screamed to claim her before any other male even looked her direction.

But Thaddeus Crimson was watching from the shadows, and Raven's world tilted on its axis.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" Thaddeus's voice slithered into Raven's ear as the older Alpha materialized beside him. "That silver hair. Those eyes. I've been tracking her bloodline for years, waiting for her to come of age." His smile was all teeth. "Imagine what I could breed with a wolf like that."

Raven's hands clenched into fists, claws threatening to break through skin. "Stay away from her."

"Or what?" Thaddeus leaned closer, voice dropping to a lethal whisper. "You'll start a war your pack can't win? I have three allied packs behind me, Blackwood. Your territory is still recovering from last spring's rogue attacks." He paused. "But I'm reasonable. Reject her publicly. Make her worthless to every pack here, and I'll leave her alone. She'll be too broken for my purposes anyway."

"And if I don't?"

"Then I'll kill everyone she's ever loved, starting with her mother, and make her watch before I drag her to my territory in chains." Thaddeus straightened his jacket, expression pleasant as if they were discussing weather. "You have until sunrise tomorrow. Choose wisely, young Alpha."

Raven watched Thaddeus disappear into the crowd, and something inside him shattered. Across the clearing, Lyrix was laughing at something another wolf said, head thrown back, unaware that her future was being decided in shadows. She caught him staring and smiled, tentative and curious, and the bond between them pulled taut.

His wolf howled in agony at what he was about to do.

That night, Raven broke every promise he'd ever made to himself. He found Lyrix walking alone near the river, and the bond made it easy to draw her in. She came to him like a moth to flame, helpless against the pull of fate. They talked until words weren't enough, until his mouth found hers and she melted against him with a soft sound that nearly undid him. He knew he shouldn't touch her, shouldn't make this harder, but he was selfish and desperate and running out of time.