Chapter 3

Elise Castaneda POV:

I stepped out of the bathroom and picked up my buzzing phone from the vanity.

"Toby, why are you calling so late?"

"Luna, come to the training grounds—now!" Toby's voice cracked through the speaker. "The Alpha's gone mad. He's already knocked out more than a dozen senior Warriors. No one can stop him!"

The image of Jaxon's back as he stormed out earlier flashed through my mind.

"If he's hurt people, call the Pack Doctor. Why me?"

"Because he keeps roaring about tearing some mysterious man to pieces!" Toby sounded close to tears. "Luna, if you don't calm his wolf, he's going to tear the whole training grounds apart!"

I tightened my grip on the phone. He was tearing up the training grounds over a rival who didn't even exist.

"I'm coming."

I hung up, threw on a cashmere shawl, and took the private elevator down into the freezing northern night. The wind carried the dull thuds of bodies hitting the ground and low beast growls.

At the entrance to the outdoor training arena, I stopped in the shadows. Jaxon was in the center of the grounds, stripped to the waist under the floodlights. Sweat ran down his back as he slammed a massive Gamma warrior into the reinforced wire fence. His eyes glowed blood-red—his inner Dire Wolf was close to breaking loose.

The surrounding Warriors all shrank back. None dared enter the ring.

My gaze dropped to the faint scar below his collarbone, and my throat tightened. Ten years ago, during my first Shift, in the agony of bones breaking and reforming, I collapsed from heat exhaustion; he shifted into a Dire Wolf for the first time and took a rogue's claws in that exact spot while shielding me.

Jaxon caught my scent on the night wind. His head whipped around, blood-red eyes locking onto me. He shoved a Beta guard aside and marched over, every step radiating heat.

"Why did you come?" He stopped inches away, looking down at me. His hoarse voice held a trace of something—maybe hope. "To laugh at me?"

"Toby said you lost control. Until the Council of Elders finalizes the dissolution, I'm still Luna. I can't let you destroy Pack property."

The light in his eyes died instantly.

"Your duty?" His voice turned hostile. "Right now your head's probably full of ways to run back to that bastard."

I looked up at him. One last hint—I couldn't help it.

"Jaxon. Ten years ago, the northern junior training camp. A sixteen-year-old boy shifted into a Dire Wolf for the first time and saved a dying girl. He has a deep scar below his left collarbone." I stared into his eyes. "Do you think there's a second man like that in this world?"

His brows knitted. For a moment, he seemed to search his memory. Then he let out a cold laugh.

"Eleven years ago when I was at the camp, hundreds of pups got clawed! Don't use some cheap bedtime story to cover for the bastard who seduced you!"

He had gotten the year wrong by one year—erasing me completely from his memory.

A hollow laugh escaped me. The last thread snapped.

"Right. It doesn't matter anymore." I turned to leave. "Keep going mad if you want. I'm going back to sleep."

Before I could take a step, his hand clamped around my wrist and yanked me against his burning, sweat-slicked chest. Cedar and adrenaline flooded my senses. My heart skipped a beat.

"You think you can brush me off and run to him?"

He lowered his head and scraped his rough jaw hard against my cheek. A shiver ran down my spine.

"Let go of me!"

I pushed against his chest with both hands. His arm locked around my waist like a steel band.

"Listen to me, Elise." His voice rasped against my ear, dark and full of possession. "Before the Council stamps that scroll, you belong to my territory. If any man looks at you, I'll bury him."

I stopped struggling. My voice dropped to freezing point.

"Do whatever you want. But remember—you threw our contract away first."

Jaxon froze. A flicker of regret crossed his face, and then he slowly released my waist and stepped back.

I pulled my shawl tight and walked out of the training grounds into the dark corridor, my hand slipping into my pocket to check that the wallet holding my pups' parchment was still there.

When I reached the bedroom door, Toby hurried over and handed me a cold black alloy jewelry box.

"Luna… the Alpha ordered me to deliver this earlier. Your anniversary gift."

I opened the lid. A standard diamond necklace—bought from the Pack's corporate compensation account. No handwritten card inside.

Jaxon Rice POV:

I stood shirtless in the cold wind, watching Elise's slender figure disappear down the corridor. The fire in my chest burned hotter than before. Why had she mentioned the junior training camp scar with red eyes?

Before I could sort out the mess in my head, my inner Dire Wolf let out a deafening, jealous roar. It wanted me to hunt down the phantom man who had stolen my mate's heart. I clenched my fists until my knuckles cracked and blood dripped onto the frost-covered concrete.

But a very small voice in my head asked: Ten years ago, what exactly did I forget?