The forest here is dense, the ancient oaks towering high above, their leaves filtering the sunlight into dappled patterns on the mossy ground. The air is cool and still, smelling of damp earth and pine.
I stop in the exact center of the clearing.
This is the place.
Seven years ago, I stood here in my mother’s silver gown, my heart hammering with the naive, fragile hope of a young wolf who believed in destiny. I had stood here and offered my wrist to Kade, waiting for the marking bite that would seal our bond forever.
And I had stood here when he looked at me with cold, empty eyes and said the words that broke my world: I reject this bond.
I close my eyes, letting the memory wash over me. I do not flinch from it. I do not look away. I let myself feel the phantom ache of that humiliatio
