Chapter 1

1.

Fifty-six times.

He has rejected marking me fifty-six times.

I stood on the Moon Altar, wearing the white ceremonial gown prepared specifically for tonight. The silver moonlight spilled onto my bare neck―the exact spot where his mark should have been.

My wolf was whimpering inside me.

"Mate..." Her voice trembled in my mind. "Why is he leaving us again?"

I didn't answer her. I didn't know the answer myself.

Five years. For five years, Declan Thorne―the Alpha of the Silver Crest Pack, my fated mate―had used fifty-six different excuses to flee from our marking ceremony.

And every single time, it was for the same woman.

Kylie Raine.

His phone was still buzzing. Her name flashed on the screen, clear as day, even from three steps away.

"Declan, please." I heard my own voice, raspy and pathetic. "Just ten minutes. Ten minutes is all it takes. Let's finish the marking, and then you can go wherever you want."

He didn't even look up at me.

"Sienna, stop making a scene." His tone was like a parent scolding a petulant child. "Kylie says she’s standing on the edge of the ridge. She says if I don’t go, she’s going to jump."

"She says that every time!" My voice rose. I could feel my wolf pacing beneath my skin, wanting to burst out, wanting to howl, wanting to make him see the damage he was doing to us. "Every single time, Declan! She has never actually jumped!"

He finally looked up. What I saw in his eyes wasn't guilt, nor was it heartache.

It was annoyance.

Pure, undisguised annoyance.

"Can you stop being so selfish?" His voice was ice cold. "I am the Alpha. The safety of the entire pack rests on my shoulders. Kylie is one of our strongest Beta warriors. Her life is worth ten thousand times more than your bullshit ceremony."

His words were like silver blades, carving into my chest one by one.

My wolf was wailing inside me.

"Do you understand what responsibility means?" he continued, shoving his phone into his pocket. "You want to be Luna? Then learn to sacrifice. Learn to put the pack first. Stop acting like a spoiled princess who just wants this and that."

Below the altar, the guests were whispering. I could hear them―werewolf hearing is superior to humans―and every word pricked my skin like a needle.

"God, here we go again."

"What number is this? Fifty? Sixty?"

"She’s honestly pathetic. Being treated like a spare tire for five years and still holding on."

"I would have bailed ages ago. I’ve never seen someone so shameless."

My fingernails dug deep into my palms, the metallic scent of blood filling the air.

Declan had already turned toward the door. His back was decisive and cold, as if I were nothing more than an insignificant stranger.

"Declan Thorne."

My voice suddenly changed. It even startled me.

It was no longer a humble plea. It was a low growl rising from the depths of my chest, something I had never heard before.

My wolf.

She broke free of my control. Just for a split second, but it was enough to make my eyes flash gold.

Declan stopped. He turned slowly. His expression finally shifted―not to guilt, but to wariness.

Good.

At least he was finally taking me seriously.

"If you walk out that door today," I said, articulating every word as if squeezing them through my teeth, "we are completely done. I mean it. There will be no next time."

Silence.

The whispers below the altar abruptly stopped. The air felt solid.

Then, Declan laughed.

It wasn't a gentle laugh. It wasn't an apologetic laugh. It was a condescending, mockery-filled laugh.

"Come on, Sienna," he said. "You say this every time. 'This is the last time,' 'I'm leaving you'―and then what? A month later, you're crying and begging me to schedule the next ceremony."

He took a step forward, lowering his voice so only I could hear.

"Where would you go without me? You quit your job at the Council for me. You have no career, no money, nothing to your name. Without me, you are nothing."

He straightened up and shouted toward the door:

"I'm leaving. Once Kylie is stable, I'll come back and talk to you."

And just like that, he left.

He left me standing alone on the empty altar, wearing a white dress whose veil no one would ever lift.

The moonlight hit my body, freezing me to the bone.

My wolf was weeping. Her grief rushed in like a tidal wave, almost drowning me.

Five years.

Five years of waiting. Five years of sacrifice. Five years of lying to myself.

It was all over.

Not because he didn't love me―I had known that for a long time.

But because I finally stopped hating myself enough to endure this.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

When I opened them again, I knew that the pathetic, begging Sienna Vance was dead.

"The ceremony is over," my voice was frighteningly calm. "Thank you all for coming. This will be the last time―the truly last time."

I lifted the hem of my skirt and walked down the altar, step by step.

No one tried to stop me. No one came up to comfort me.

They just watched. With that look reserved for a circus act, they watched me walk through the crowd and out the back door.

I pushed the door open. The night wind hit my face, carrying the scent of pine needles and moonlight.

My wolf suddenly went quiet.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

I didn't know. But I knew that anywhere was better than here.

I took out my phone and dialed a number I hadn't called in five years.

It rang twice before it was picked up.

"...Sienna?" The voice on the other end was thick with disbelief. "Is that you?"

"Commander Ryker," I said. "I want to apply for that classified mission."

A long silence.

Then, that deep, warm voice said, "I've been waiting for this call for five years."