Sierra
The window quietly opened as Sierra packed her bag. The familiar scent coming in before Dominic's large body appeared. How dare he show his face after everything he'd done. She felt her wolf stirring as she turned around, a growl escaping.
"Get out," she said, in a voice rough from crying. The silver streak in her hair gleaming in moonlight, a permanent reminder of what he'd done.
Dominic froze, with one leg inside her bedroom, dressed in plain black t-shirt and jeans, like he was trying to leave the Alpha who had humiliated her behind. Her stomach turned as his unique scent of pine and mountain air, once so appealing, surrounded her.
"Sierra, please... " he said urgently.
"Alpha Silvercloud," she hissed, mimicking his icy tone. "Isn't that what you called yourself when you destroyed me before the pack?"
Pain flashed across his features before they hardened. "We need to talk."
"There is nothing to talk about," Sierra replied, turning back to push medical supplies into her duffel bag with trembling hands. Her grandmother's cottage wasn't safe any longer. No place in Silver Moon territory was. "You made yourself clear at the ceremony."
Dominic entered and closed the window. Even after everything, Sierra's traitorous wolf still responded to his nearness, longing to get closer while her human side imagined tearing his eyes out.
"It isn't what you think," he said, running his hands through his hair. Dark circles shadowing his blue eyes, his normally clean appearance disheveled.
Sierra laughed, a sound like breaking glass. "Wasn't it? You rejected me, destroyed my offering, then announced your mating to Sasha Mooncrest. What part am I misinterpreting?"
"I had no choice," Dominic said, stepping toward her.
"Don't." Sierra raised her hands, backing until she hit the wall. The ceremony's pain still roared in her chest. "Everyone gets to make choices, Dominic. You made yours."
Dominic clenched his jaw, practically shaking with frustration. "Things are happening that you don't understand," he said through clenched teeth.
"Then tell me!" she shouted. Her grandma stirred next door. Sierra dropped to a fierce whisper. "For years, we've circled each other. For years, you gave me every reason to believe we were meant for each other. Your touch, your words when we were alone, were those lies?"
Dominic's eyes flashed gold, his wolf surging forward. "No," he growled. "None of it was a lie."
"Then why," she whispered, throat raw.
He stepped closer, close enough she could feel his heat. "I can't tell you everything, but you need to leave Silver Moon territory. Tonight. You're not safe anymore."
Sierra stared in disbelief. "Not safe? This is my home, my pack—"
"Not anymore," he interrupted gently. "After what happened, the traditionalists are talking. A rejected mate whose hair changes color, who collapses in pain? They're terrified of what that could mean."
At the reminder, Sierra's hand unconsciously went to the silver streak. It wasn't just physical changes, something inside felt different too. Her wolf felt more active, and the strange tingling in her fingertips was new.
"I didn't ask for this," she whispered.
Guilt flashed across Dominic's face. "I know. But you need somewhere safe, somewhere I—" he stopped suddenly.
Sierra narrowed her eyes. "Somewhere you what? Can't find me? Won't look for me? Or somewhere your pretty mate-to-be won't see the woman you tossed aside?"
He growled low. "This isn't about Sasha."
"Then what is it about?" Sierra stepped into his space, anger overriding sense. "Tell me the truth, Dominic. You owe me that."
He glanced at the window and door, checking for eavesdroppers. He spoke barely audibly. "Someone threatened the pack. They threatened you particularly."
Sierra's heart skipped. "Who?"
"It doesn't matter." He reached for her face, hand stopping short of her cheek. "What matters is getting you safe until I can deal with it. The rejection had one purpose, to get you out, to find a way to protect you."
Sierra gazed at him, trying to believe but unable to forget how he coldly crushed her offering. "So, you want me to believe you broke my heart to 'protect' me? Without saying a word?"
"I couldn't take the risk—"
"No," she interrupted, fury rising. "You couldn't risk trusting me. You didn't give me the benefit of choice. You made that choice for both of us."
Dominic's expression darkened. "As Alpha—"
"Don't you dare." Sierra jabbed his chest. "Don't hide behind that title. That wasn't an Alpha's decision, it was cowardice."
His control broke. Dominic caught her wrist and pulled her close, plunging his other hand in her hair, bringing his face near hers. "You think this was easy?" he growled, breath warming her lips. "To watch you walk to me, hope in your eyes, knowing what I had to do? To feel the bond screaming as I tore it apart?"
Sierra's heart raced, body responding despite her mind's protest. "Let go," she demanded weakly.
"I did what I did to keep you alive," he insisted, grip gentle. "You think I don't feel it too? This constant pain since I rejected you? This wasn't supposed to happen. Rejected mates don't share pain. The one who rejects isn't meant to feel like they're dying inside."
Sierra felt treacherous hope flicker, but ruthlessly snuffed it out. "Words can't reverse actions. You made the choice before the whole pack. You can't have both."
"Please, Sierra." His eyes searched hers. "Just trust me. Leave tonight. Go to Blue Moon territory. I've arranged with Alpha Bolton, he'll provide sanctuary."
"You arranged for another Alpha to take your rejected mate?" Sierra laughed bitterly, pulling free. "How considerate. Did you suggest he claim me too? Two birds with one stone?"
Dominic's eyes flashed dangerously. "It's not like that."
"Then what is it like?" When he didn't answer, something snapped. "Get out! Out of my room, my home, my life!"
She pushed against his chest with both hands. Instead of standing immovable like during training, something strange happened. When her palms met his chest, bright silver light flared between them, electric, from her hands.
Dominic shot backward like lightning struck him, smashing into the opposite wall with a force that cracked the plaster. Silver light stayed where she'd touched, burning through his shirt into skin.
Sierra looked at her hands in shock. They glowed with the same silver light, pulsing to her racing heartbeat. This wasn't werewolf ability—this was something completely different.
Dominic looked at her, eyes wide with pain and amazement, holding his burned chest. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air.
"What are you?" Dominic whispered, staring at blistered palms while Sierra stared in horror at her glowing hands, power flowing through her body.
The silver light faded, leaving normal-looking hands still tingling with power. Sierra's mind raced. This power, the silver streak, the strange rejection pain, all connected, but she had no idea what it meant.
"I don't know," she answered honestly, voice shaking. "But you'd better leave. Now."
Dominic pushed to his feet, grimacing. The chest burn was healing at werewolf speed, but slower than it should, as if the silver light was like silver itself, the one thing that could truly wound their kind.
He moved slowly toward the window, keeping distance between them. He paused before climbing out, looking at her with an unreadable expression.
"Whatever this is, it's why they want you," he said vaguely. "Sierra, be careful who you trust. Even those closest may not be who you think."
"Like you?" she countered, still shaken.
A sad smile touched his lips. "Especially me." He hesitated, then added, "If you ever truly need me, howl along the northern border. I'll hear you."
Before she could reply, he was gone. Sierra stood frozen, looking at her hands as if they weren't hers. The power still pulsed faintly beneath her skin, strange yet familiar, like a part of her she never knew existed.
A wolf howled outside, a lonely hurting sound, matching the vacant space in her chest. Tears pricked her eyes as she recognized Dominic's howl, his wolf calling to hers one last time.
Sierra turned back to her half-filled bag. Dawn was hours away, but she had to be gone before first light. She would head to Timber Ridge to Maya, who had left hours earlier. Blue Moon territory wasn't an option, she wouldn't go anywhere Dominic arranged. She would make her own way, figure out what was happening on her own terms.
Sierra's fingertips glowed silver once more as she closed the bag, just long enough to light the way to her grandmother's ancient werewolf lore volume on her bedside table. She paused, then added it to the pack. Whatever she was becoming, whatever power coursed through her veins, she would own it, then find out why Dominic had betrayed her, no matter the cost.