My Mate Tried to Kill Me

The morning air bit at my skin as I stumbled to keep pace with the pack. My human legs burned, muscles screaming with every step while wolves the size of small cars streaked past me in blurs of fur and power.

I wasn't allowed to shift. Omegas ran in human form during ceremonial hunts—a reminder of our place at the bottom of the hierarchy. A reminder that we were less.

Kieran's wolf led the pack, massive and silver-gray, his Alpha aura rolling off him in waves that made my weak wolf cower. Beside him ran a smaller wolf with golden fur that caught the sunlight like spun honey.

Ava.

They moved in perfect sync, their bodies flowing together like they'd been running side by side for years instead of months. My chest tightened. That should have been me. That was supposed to be me.

The forest path narrowed, forcing me closer to the edge where rocks jutted out like broken teeth. I focused on my footing, on breathing, on anything except the bond that kept pulling me toward the silver wolf at the front.

Then Ava's wolf dropped back.

I didn't understand why until her shoulder slammed into my legs.

The world tilted. My feet left the path. I had one heartbeat to realize I was falling before my body hit the embankment, tumbling over rocks and roots that tore at my skin and dress. Pain exploded across my ribs, my shoulder, my face.

I came to rest at the bottom in a heap, tasting blood and dirt.

Laughter echoed from above. The pack elites had stopped to watch, their wolves' eyes gleaming with amusement. Entertainment for the privileged.

Paws thundered on the path. The silver wolf appeared at the top of the embankment, and for one stupid, hopeful second, I thought he'd come to help.

Kieran shifted, his human form replacing his wolf in a ripple of power. He stood there naked and perfect, looking down at me like I was something he'd scraped off his shoe.

"Clumsy," he called down, his voice carrying to the watching pack. "The Moon Goddess punishes weak blood. Maybe if you'd been stronger, you wouldn't keep falling."

More laughter. Ava shifted beside him, and he immediately draped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

They left me there.

All of them left me there.

I lay in the dirt until the sound of paws faded, until I was sure they were gone. Then I dragged myself up, every movement agony, and limped back toward the pack house.

---

The Silver Lake gardens were supposed to be neutral ground—a place of peace where visiting wolves could find solace away from pack politics. I stumbled through the ornate gates, desperate for somewhere to hide, somewhere to breathe.

Moon Flowers grew in a secluded corner, their white petals luminescent even in daylight. The sight of them stopped me cold.

Kieran had planted Moon Flowers outside my bedroom window when we were seventeen. "So you can see them every morning," he'd said, dirt under his fingernails and hope in his eyes. "So you'll think of me."

I sank onto a stone bench, my battered body grateful for the rest. The flowers swayed in the breeze, innocent and beautiful, and I hated them for reminding me of everything I'd lost.

Footsteps crunched on gravel.

I looked up to find Kieran standing at the garden entrance, still in his running clothes, dirt smudged across his chest. His eyes locked on the Moon Flowers, and something dark crossed his face.

He crossed the garden in long strides and grabbed the nearest plant, ripping it from the soil with savage force. Roots tore. Dirt flew. White petals scattered like snow.

He moved to the next one. And the next.

"Stop." The word left my mouth before I could stop it.

His head snapped toward me. For a moment, we just stared at each other across the ruined garden, him holding an uprooted flower, me bleeding and broken on the bench.

Then he walked over and threw the plant at my feet. Dirt splattered across my torn dress.

"These were always a lie," he said, his voice flat and cold. "Pretty things hiding poison underneath. Just like you."

I couldn't speak. Couldn't move.

"Tonight," he continued, brushing dirt from his hands with deliberate care, "at the ceremony, I'm going to reject you. Formally. In front of every Alpha in the region." He crouched down, bringing his face level with mine. "I'm going to sever our bond completely, Estelle. No more cursed connection. No more mistakes. Just me and my true mate."

My wolf howled inside me, a sound of pure anguish.

"You'll watch me mark Ava," he said softly, almost gently. "You'll watch me choose her. And you'll know, finally, that the Moon Goddess never meant for us to be together."

He stood, looking down at me one last time.

"Wear something nice. I want you to look presentable when I destroy you."

He walked away, leaving me surrounded by uprooted flowers and the ruins of everything we'd been.