Run from Me, If You Can

The ballroom sparkled with golden light from the crystal chandeliers, casting dancing shadows across the marble floors. Pack members filled every corner, their laughter and conversation creating a warm buzz that should have been comforting. Instead, it felt like a prison closing in around me.

I pressed myself against the wall near the grand staircase, clutching the leather journal so tightly my knuckles ached. My wolf was restless beneath my skin, pacing and whining with an urgency that made my hands shake. She could sense him—Killian was somewhere in this crowd, and her reaction was getting stronger by the minute.

"Breathe," I whispered to myself, but my heart was already racing.

Then I saw him.

Killian stood at the center of the room like a dark star, commanding attention without even trying. His black suit fit him perfectly, emphasizing the broad shoulders and lean strength that marked him as our future Alpha. The crowd seemed to orbit around him naturally, drawn by that magnetic presence that made my chest tight with longing.

My wolf went absolutely feral.

Heat flooded through me like wildfire, starting deep in my core and spreading outward until every nerve ending burned. My breathing became shallow, ragged, as my body began releasing pheromones I couldn't control. The sweet, desperate scent of an unmated female calling to her mate filled the air around me.

No. Not here. Not now.

I tried to retreat further into the shadows, but it was too late. Several pack members near me had already caught the scent, their heads turning in my direction with knowing looks. Whispers started, spreading like ripples through water.

"Is that Elara?"

"Poor thing, she's completely overwhelmed."

"How embarrassing."

My face burned scarlet as the humiliation crashed over me. Everyone could smell what I was feeling, could sense my wolf's desperate need for her mate. There was nowhere to hide from the pitying stares and barely concealed amusement.

But worse than all of that was when Killian's head turned toward me.

Our eyes met across the crowded room, and I watched his expression shift from mild curiosity to disgust. His jaw clenched as he took in my flushed face and the obvious source of the pheromones flooding the air. Those storm-gray eyes that had haunted my dreams now looked at me like I was something dirty he'd stepped in.

He said something to Marcus, his Beta, who glanced in my direction and shook his head with what looked like sympathy. For Killian, not for me.

I wanted to disappear. To melt into the marble floor and never face another soul again. But my feet seemed rooted in place, my wolf still howling for her mate even as my human heart shattered.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Killian's voice cut through the crowd like a blade, commanding instant silence. He'd moved to the raised platform at the front of the room, his presence filling the space with Alpha authority. "Thank you all for celebrating my twenty-first birthday with me tonight."

Applause rippled through the room, but I barely heard it over the rushing in my ears. My wolf was going crazy, responding to his Alpha voice with a desperation that made my knees weak.

"As you know," Killian continued, his voice carrying easily across the silent room, "tonight marks not just my birthday, but my official readiness to assume the role of Alpha. And an Alpha needs a Luna by his side."

My heart stopped beating. Around me, unmated females held their breath, hope shining in their eyes. But I knew better. I'd heard what he really thought of me just last night.

"I'm honored to announce that I've found the woman who will stand beside me as this pack's Luna." Killian's smile was radiant, genuine in a way I'd never seen before. "Seraphina Blackwood has agreed to be my chosen mate."

The world tilted sideways.

Seraphina stepped onto the platform like she belonged there, her golden hair catching the light like a crown. She was everything I wasn't—tall, confident, beautiful. A warrior who could fight alongside him, not a weak little mouse who hid in shadows.

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause, but all I could hear was a high-pitched ringing in my ears. My vision started to gray at the edges as the reality crashed over me like a tidal wave.

Chosen mate. Not true mate. He was rejecting the bond before it could even be acknowledged.

Seraphina smiled and waved at the crowd, then leaned up to kiss Killian's cheek. The casual intimacy of it, the way he smiled down at her like she was precious, sent a spike of agony through my chest that had nothing to do with the mate bond and everything to do with my breaking heart.

"I know some of you might be wondering about the Moon Goddess's choice," Killian continued, his voice taking on a harder edge. "But as your future Alpha, I have the right to choose a Luna who will strengthen this pack, not weaken it."

His eyes found mine across the room, and there was no mistaking his meaning. This was a public execution, and I was the condemned.

"I formally reject any mate bond the Moon Goddess may have intended," he declared, his voice ringing with Alpha command. "I choose my own path."

The words hit me like physical blows. The mate bond, which had been humming beneath my skin since yesterday, suddenly felt like it was being torn apart fiber by fiber. Pain exploded through my chest, so sharp and brutal that I couldn't breathe.

I doubled over as agony ripped through every cell of my body. The connection that had felt so right, so perfect, was being severed by his rejection. It felt like dying, like having my soul carved out with a rusty knife.

A metallic taste filled my mouth, and I realized I was bleeding. Blood dripped from my lips onto the marble floor as my vision blurred and darkened. Through the haze of pain, I could see Killian on his platform, his jaw set in determination.

He wasn't even looking at me anymore. I was nothing to him. Less than nothing.

The last thing I saw before the darkness took me was his profile—strong, cold, and completely indifferent to my destruction.