Chapter 1After five years of hiding our fated bond, my Alpha heir mate chose my best friend as his Luna.
I simply severed my Pack Link, changed my name, drifted south alone, and opened a small flower shop where no wolf would recognize my scent.
One day, a warrior from my old unit suddenly shoved open the door to my shop.
The second he caught my scent, shock exploded across his face. "You're alive? Then why the hell haven't you gone back to Draven Bloodmire? Do you have any idea he walked away from his own Luna Ceremony and hasn't claimed anyone since?"
I only lifted my hand and flashed the silver band on my ring finger. "I'm already mated."
The moment those words left my mouth, the air went cold.
After he kept shooting me frantic looks, I turned around.
Draven stood in the doorway in full warrior leathers, his wolf simmering just beneath his skin as he glared at me with barely leashed rage.
I felt nothing but confusion.
Back then, Draven and I had hidden our bond for five years. He'd always refused to bring me to the Pack council or let me meet the elders.
Then, on my mother's birthday, I came home alone and found a formal scroll on the hall table.
Alpha Heir: Draven Bloodmire.
Future Luna: Celeste Nightbrook.
My mind went blank. I was about to mindlink him and demand answers when his voice drifted in from the entryway.
"Maven, don't tell Sage about the ceremony yet. She's been trailing after me since we were pups. If she finds out I'm taking a Luna, she'll probably make a scene again..."
He stopped mid-sentence when he noticed me standing there. The easy smile slid right off his face.
My mother didn't catch it. She just smiled and said, "Sage, Draven's claiming your best friend as Luna. When are you bringing your mate home so we can finalize things?"
A bitter smile tugged at my lips.
"He's dead."
"Just last night."
My mother froze.
Then she gasped, "So sudden? When you came home yesterday, didn't you say his unit was handling rogue attacks and he couldn't make it, but he still sent me a birthday gift?"
At the reminder, a raw ache spread through my chest.
My mother had known for years I had a mate. She just never knew who he was.
Every year, she'd hoped I'd bring him home so the bond could be made official before the Pack council.
But Draven never wanted that. He always said the timing wasn't right.
So my mother wouldn't worry, I bought gifts for my parents every year in his name.
He never knew.
He never cared.
Now, hearing my mother's words, Draven's jaw tightened.
While she sighed in regret, he closed the distance between us and lowered his voice. "Celeste's father was torn apart during a border skirmish. I wanted to cover the healer costs, but you know how proud she is. She wouldn't accept charity, so the only way I could help was to fold it into a Luna bride-price and make it look legitimate."
"Don't," I warned quietly. "If Maven ever finds out what we were, it'll destroy her."
"She won't find out."
She'd never find out.
She'd never know Draven and I had been fated mates for five years—that the Goddess herself had bound us.
Something dark flickered in his eyes.
"Do what you want."
"But Celeste and I are holding the Luna Ceremony next week. She wants to look perfect when I Mark her. As her best friend and sister warrior, you'll help her prepare, won't you?"
He looked at me with that same gentle expression he used to give me late at night in the barracks—as if we'd never curled up together under the stars, as if he'd never pressed his forehead to mine and whispered that I was his forever.
"Sage, Draven..."
Celeste's bright voice rang from the doorway.
She breezed in like nothing was wrong, looping her arm through mine with a dazzling smile.
"My mom made all our favorite dishes tonight. She sent me to get you both for dinner."
Our three Packs had been allied for generations.
Every major moon cycle, our families gathered to feast and renew old bonds.
To me, Celeste had never been just a friend. She'd been the sister I trusted with everything.
Now, her gaze was still warm and open.
But beneath it, I could see the sharp edge of caution she was trying to hide.
"You knew I was fated to Draven."
"You figured out he was my mate."
"Celeste... how could you do this to me?"
My voice came out low and shaking, quiet enough that only she could hear.
The night before I left for elite training, she'd stayed over at my den.
She'd found my journal—the one where I'd written every secret hope about my bond with Draven, things I'd never dared say aloud.
She'd read it and laughed so hard she'd rolled across my bed.
When she finally stopped, she'd grinned and said, "If you're fated to Draven, why don't you just tell him?"
"If you're too chicken, I'll tell him for you."
"And when you two finally do the Luna Ceremony, you have to let me stand as your witness!"
But now, there wasn't a flicker of guilt in those soft doe eyes.
She bit her lip and murmured sweetly, "Sage, I love him. And he chose me."
"When you two had your bond before, I really did wish you well."
"But now I'm the one becoming his Luna. We fought side by side, and you're my best friend and sister. I know you'll give us your blessing."
Chapter 2
When I heard that, rage, grief, and the brutal ache of being cast aside by my own fated mate crashed through me all at once.
My eyes burned, and my wolf whimpered low in my chest as if every ounce of strength had been ripped away.
My mother noticed immediately and stepped in. "Sage isn't feeling well tonight. We won't keep you from your families' dinner. We can gather again at the next moon feast."
Draven stared at me for a long, heavy moment.
Then, without a word, he took Celeste's hand and walked out of our den.
My mother believed my mate really had died in a rogue ambush.
After they left, worry flooded her eyes, and she tried to comfort me.
"Sage, you're still young. You have your whole life ahead of you. If the Goddess didn't let him live to bond with you, that's his loss. The next mate will be stronger."
I forced a tight smile at the concern in her gaze.
"I'm fine, Maven. Just tired. I need to rest."
I dragged my bag to my room and shoved the door open.
The first thing I saw was the line Draven had carved into the wooden beam above my bed.
Run with me to the summit.
When I'd first started elite training, the brutal pace had nearly broken me.
I'd wanted to quit more times than I could count.
Draven knew.
Even though he hated writing anything down, he'd stayed up through three full moons drafting field notes for every trial I'd face.
He'd shoved them at me and growled, "If you still can't pass after reading these, don't show your face around me again. You'll embarrass your unit commander."
Along with those notes, he'd carved that line into the wood.
It meant he wanted me to rise high enough to stand beside him when he became Alpha.
In the end, my work and his guidance got me assigned to Ironfang Pack's elite forces—right alongside him.
Now, remembering what he'd just said downstairs, I climbed onto my bed, dug my claws into the beam, and tore the carving clean off. I hurled it into the trash.
When I turned back, I spotted the photo still sitting on my desk.
It had been taken right after basic training, when the three of us had gone on leave together.
In the shot, I stood in the middle.
Draven and Celeste flanked me on either side, both leaning slightly toward me without realizing it.
I could still remember that moment.
Right before the shutter clicked, Celeste had nudged me closer to Draven and whispered, "This is your shot. Don't waste it. There are plenty of she-wolves eyeing him. If you don't make a move, someone else will."
My expression went cold.
I threw the photo frame into the trash too.
If they were the ones who gave up on our bond first—the sacred tie the Moon Goddess herself had woven—then why the hell should I hold on?
I tore through my room, gathering everything that had anything to do with them.
Combat journals Celeste had left behind.
Birthday tokens Draven had given me over the years.
And the mate confession letter I'd written when I was eighteen but never had the guts to give him.
That night, after Maven went to bed, I hauled the trash bag outside.
"That looks heavy. Why didn't you just mindlink me?"
A low, rough voice came from behind me.
I turned.
Draven stood there in dark civilian clothes, hands shoved in his pockets, watching me like this was all some kind of game.
I used to hate lugging trash down from the den.
Whenever Maven told me to take it out, I'd whine until Draven handled it for me.
That got worse during the five years we were bonded in secret.
"Not talking? Still pissed?"
He raised a brow and stepped closer, reaching for my wrist.
I pulled back and kept my distance.
Surprise flickered across his face, and his jaw tightened.
I met his eyes without flinching. "Now that everyone in the territory knows you're taking a Luna, it's not appropriate for us to keep meeting like this. Don't contact me unless it's Pack business."
Draven didn't take me seriously. He let out a harsh laugh.
"I'm only bonding with Celeste as a favor. We'll dissolve it soon enough. It's one thing if the Pack doesn't know the truth, but why are you acting like it's real?"
Chapter 3
Before I left for Maven's den the day before, I'd asked him three times if we should finally tell the elders about our bond.
His dark eyes had lingered on me, and he'd smiled that lazy, infuriating smile. "Are you really that desperate to get Marked? I didn't realize you were in such a rush to make it official."
I'd swatted at him, half-annoyed.
He'd caught my wrist and yanked me against his chest.
Then he'd rubbed soothing circles along my spine and murmured, "Easy. When the timing's right, I'll tell them."
For five years, I'd waited for the day he'd finally claim me in front of the Pack council.
I couldn't wait for every wolf in the territory to know that I, Sage Thornwood, was Draven Bloodmire's fated mate.
The reason I never challenged him in public wasn't because I didn't care.
It was because I didn't want to humiliate my family.
I didn't want Maven or myself to become Pack gossip.
---
"Draven, Senna's not feeling well. She needs her tonic, but I don't know which blend she takes. Come help me."
Celeste appeared at the edge of the courtyard with my mother trailing behind her.
She was all bright smiles.
When she called Draven's mother "Senna," it rolled off her tongue like she'd been saying it for years.
Draven's jaw tightened, but he didn't finish whatever he'd been about to say to me.
He left the Moonshadow grounds with her.
Watching them disappear down the path, Maven let out a quiet sigh.
"I used to think you and Draven would end up mated. I didn't expect Celeste to be the one he chose. Good thing I never pushed you two together, or every gathering would be unbearable now."
I pressed my lips together and said nothing.
She continued, "When you find your next mate, learn from Celeste. No matter how tied up Draven is with Alpha duties, whenever her family needs him, he takes leave and goes back with her."
"Then there's you. I still don't know what kind of wolf you were bonded to before. Every moon feast, when I asked you to bring him home, he always had some border patrol excuse..."
Maven kept talking.
But my mind had gone blank.
It was like the whole world had been swallowed by silence.
I couldn't hear anything anymore.
On every major moon cycle, I'd asked Draven if he'd come home with me to meet the elders.
He'd always said, "Sage, I just became Alpha heir. The Pack's demanding as hell right now. When things settle, I'll go back with you."
He'd claimed there were rogue incursions.
He'd said there were alliance negotiations.
I'd believed him.
I'd never once doubted him.
But the truth was that every time he turned me down, it was so he could be with her.
"Maven... do they come back here often?"
The bitterness clawed at my chest, and my voice came out hoarse.
"Of course. Last month, on your birthday, Celeste's mother had a bad fall. Draven rushed back and handled everything. He found her the best healer in the territory and stayed at the Nightbrook den for days helping Celeste care for her."
Hearing that, I suddenly remembered my birthday last month.
Draven had taken one call, then casually tossed a small wrapped box at me.
He'd said, "Emergency council meeting. Rogue activity spiked near the border, and I need to handle it personally. I'll be gone a few days. Don't be mad. I'll bring you something when I get back."
Before he'd left, I'd asked him if the Pack mattered more than I did.
He'd stared at me for a long beat, then said flatly, "Sage, we're both warriors. Don't ask me childish questions."
I'd thought his only choices were the Pack and me.
I never imagined Celeste had been part of it all along.
