ROWAN'S POV
My wolf is losing his mind.
He's pacing inside my head, snarling and clawing, trying to force a shift right here in the middle of my own engagement party. I grip my champagne glass so hard it cracks in my hand.
"Rowan? Are you even listening?"
Celeste's voice cuts through the chaos in my skull. She's standing next to me in a white dress that probably cost more than most people make in a month, smiling that perfect smile everyone loves. We're supposed to be celebrating. The future Alpha and his future Luna, exactly like everyone planned since we were kids.
"Sorry," I say, forcing myself to focus on her. "What were you saying?"
She pouts. "I was talking about the wedding. Spring or summer? I'm thinking spring. April maybe. The gardens will be gorgeous, and—"
A crash echoes from inside the pack house. Glass breaking. Someone shouts.
My wolf's head snaps toward the sound. Every muscle in my body tenses.
"What was that?" Celeste asks, annoyed. "If the staff is breaking things—"
But I'm not listening anymore. Because suddenly, the air changes.
It's like lightning before a storm. Like the moment before an earthquake. Everything goes still and electric and *wrong*.
No. Not wrong.
*Right*.
My wolf surges forward, and I have to fight him back with everything I have. He's never done this before. Never been this out of control.
*What the hell is happening?*
Then I smell it.
Vanilla and rain and something sweet I can't name. It cuts through every other scent at the party—the roses, the champagne, the expensive perfumes. It wraps around me like a rope and *pulls*.
My head turns without permission.
Across the garden, she stumbles out the back door.
Isla.
Alpha Marcus's bastard daughter. The Omega girl everyone pretends doesn't exist. She's always been small and quiet and invisible. I've made sure to never look at her too long, never acknowledge her, never *see* her.
But right now, I can't look away.
Her eyes—I never noticed they were violet before—lock on mine. And the world explodes.
The mate bond slams into place like a freight train.
*MATE,* my wolf roars. *MINE. OURS. FINALLY.*
No.
No, no, no. This can't be happening.
Not her. Anyone but her.
Isla's face goes white. She feels it too—I can see it in the way her body goes rigid, the way her eyes go wide with shock and horror.
"Rowan?" Celeste tugs on my arm. "What are you staring at?"
But I can't answer. Can't move. Can't breathe.
Because my wolf is screaming that the girl I've ignored for eighteen years, the girl I was *cruel* to, the girl I told myself didn't matter—she's my mate.
She's always been my mate.
And from the look on her face, she'd rather die than accept it.
Isla turns and runs into the forest.
Every instinct I have screams to chase her. My wolf is tearing at my control, demanding I go after her, catch her, claim her, make her *understand*.
"I need to go," I say roughly, pulling away from Celeste.
"What? Rowan, the ceremony starts in ten minutes! You can't—"
I'm already walking away. My best friend Kieran catches my arm.
"Whoa, man. Where are you going? You look like you're about to shift."
"I need—" My voice comes out as a growl. I clear my throat and try again. "I need a minute."
Kieran's eyes narrow. He's my Beta, my brother in everything but blood. He knows me better than anyone. "What happened?"
"Nothing. I just need air."
"Rowan—"
"Five minutes," I snap, and push past him into the forest.
I follow her scent like I'm being pulled by a chain. She ran deep into the trees, far from the party. Smart girl. She doesn't want anyone to see her when her wolf fully awakens.
I find her in a clearing, doubled over and shaking. The full moon lights her up like a spotlight.
"Go away," she gasps without looking at me.
"Isla—"
"I said GO AWAY!" She straightens up, and her eyes flash between violet and bright gold. Her wolf is fighting to the surface. "You can't be here. You can't—"
She screams. The sound is raw and agonized.
I've seen wolves awaken before. It's usually beautiful—a smooth shift, a celebration. But Isla's wolf has been dormant for too long. This isn't beautiful. It's torture.
Her body convulses. Bones crack. She falls to her knees.
"Isla, let her out," I say, moving closer. "Stop fighting it."
"Stay back!" She's crying now, tears streaming down her face. "Don't you get it? I don't want this! I don't want YOU!"
The words hit like a physical blow. My wolf whimpers.
But I deserve it. God, I deserve so much worse than words.
"I know," I say quietly. "I know you don't. But your wolf is awakening, and you need help—"
"I've never needed help before." She glares at me through the pain. "I learned how to survive alone because you and everyone else made sure I had no choice. So I don't need you now. I especially don't need you now."
Another wave of pain hits her. She screams again, and this time her hands shift—human fingers to wolf claws and back again.
I can't watch this anymore.
I close the distance between us and drop to my knees in front of her. "Isla, listen to me. I know I don't deserve your trust. I know I've been—" The word catches in my throat. "—terrible to you. But right now, your wolf needs guidance or she'll tear you apart from the inside. Let me help. Just this once. Then I'll leave you alone. I promise."
She looks at me with so much hate it makes my chest ache.
But she nods.
I place my hands on her shoulders. Her skin is burning up. "Close your eyes. Feel your wolf. Don't fight her—*welcome* her. She's not your enemy. She's part of you."
"She wants *you*," Isla chokes out. "She's screaming for you, and I hate it, I *hate* it—"
"I know. But she's still yours. You're still in control. Show her who's in charge."
Isla's breathing slows. Her eyes close. For a long moment, nothing happens.
Then power explodes outward.
It hits me like a tidal wave—pure, ancient, *massive* power that makes my Alpha wolf want to bow down. This isn't normal Omega energy. This is something else entirely.
Isla's eyes snap open. They're glowing bright silver.
Her wolf has awakened.
And she's *magnificent*.
But before I can say anything, before I can process what I'm feeling, Isla speaks. Her voice is steady now. Cold. Final.
"I, Isla Thorne, reject you, Rowan Blackwater, as my mate."
The words hit me like silver bullets.
Pain explodes in my chest. The mate bond fractures, jagged and bleeding. My wolf howls in agony.
"No," I gasp. "Isla, wait—"
"I reject you," she repeats, louder. "I reject the bond. I reject everything. You don't get to be my mate. You don't get to be anything to me."
She stands up, and despite the tears on her face, she's never looked stronger.
"Stay away from me, Rowan Blackwater. I mean it. Whatever you think this is, whatever you think you feel—I don't care. You had eighteen years to see me. To treat me like a person. You chose not to. So now I'm choosing *not you*."
She walks away.
And I'm left kneeling in the dirt, feeling like my chest has been ripped open, watching the girl my wolf has wanted for three years disappear into the darkness.
The mate bond isn't completely broken—rejections have to be accepted by both sides to fully sever the connection. But it's damaged. Bleeding. *Dying*.
My wolf is thrashing inside me, howling, begging me to go after her, to fix this, to make her take it back.
But I can't move.
Because she's right.
I had eighteen years. And I wasted every single one of them.
Behind me, branches snap. Kieran appears, his face pale.
"The entire pack felt that," he says quietly. "Rowan, what the hell just happened?"
I look down at my hands. They're shaking. "My mate just rejected me."
"Your mate? But Celeste—"
"It's not Celeste." I force the words out. "It's Isla. It's always been Isla."
Kieran's eyes go wide. "The Omega girl? But she's—"
"She's my mate. And I've spent three years pretending she wasn't because I was too much of a coward to break my engagement. And now..." My voice cracks. "Now she'll never forgive me."
"So make her take it back. You're an Alpha. Use the command—"
"NO." The word comes out as a snarl. "I won't force her. I won't—" I can't finish the sentence.
Kieran kneels beside me. "Rowan, rejections can kill both wolves if they're not accepted. You know that, right? If you don't accept her rejection, the bond will keep tearing at both of you until—"
"Then it tears," I say flatly. "I'm not accepting it. I'm not giving up on her."
"Even if it kills you?"
I think about Isla's face. The hate in her eyes. The eighteen years of pain I caused.
"Especially if it kills me," I whisper. "It's the least I deserve."
Kieran swears under his breath. "You're insane."
Maybe I am.
But my wolf is still howling *MATE, MATE, OURS* even as the bond bleeds between us.
And somewhere in the forest, Isla is running away from me.
Just like I taught her to do.