Nora woke up in a room she didn't recognize.
For a moment, she forgot where she was. Then it all came rushing back. The rejection. The pain. Kael Blackwood taking her away from Silver Moon Pack.
She sat up slowly. Her body still ached from the broken mate bond. It felt like someone had carved out a piece of her soul and left a raw, bleeding wound behind.
The room was beautiful. Massive. Way bigger than her old room at the Silver Moon packhouse. Floor to ceiling windows showed a forest that seemed to go on forever. The bed was huge and comfortable. Everything was expensive and elegant.
She was still wearing her mother's dress from last night. It was wrinkled now, and there was a tear in the skirt. Nora looked at herself in the mirror across the room and almost didn't recognize the girl staring back.
Her brown hair was a mess. Her hazel eyes were red from crying. But there was something else there too. Something angry. Something that refused to stay broken.
A knock on the door made her turn.
"Come in," she said.
Kael entered, carrying a tray with food. He'd changed from his formal clothes into dark jeans and a black shirt. He looked less intimidating now. Almost normal. Except for the power that seemed to radiate from him.
"You should eat," he said, setting the tray on the table by the window. "You haven't had anything since yesterday."
Nora's stomach growled at the smell of bacon and eggs. She hadn't realized how hungry she was.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
Kael leaned against the wall, watching her as she sat down and started eating. His dark eyes were thoughtful.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"Like death," Nora admitted. She touched her chest where the bond had been. "Does it ever stop hurting?"
"Eventually," Kael said. "But not for a while. Rejecting a mate bond is like losing a part of yourself. It takes time to heal."
"You sound like you know from experience."
His jaw tightened slightly. "I do."
Nora wanted to ask more, but something in his expression told her not to push. Instead, she asked, "What happens now?"
"Now," Kael said, "you have choices. You can stay here as long as you need. Rest, heal, figure out what you want to do next. Or..." He paused. "You can train with me."
"Train?"
"You said last night you think you're more than an ordinary wolf," Kael said. "I believe you. I've been watching you for three years, Nora. Ever since you saved my life."
Nora's eyes widened. "Watching me?"
"Not in a creepy way," Kael said quickly. "I just... I kept tabs on you. Made sure you were safe. And I noticed things. The way other wolves reacted to you. The way animals in the forest followed you. The way plants seemed to grow better in the pack hospital when you were there."
Nora frowned. She'd never thought about those things before. They just seemed normal to her.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying you have power, Nora. Real power. But you've been suppressing it your whole life because Silver Moon Pack made you feel small. Made you feel weak." Kael's eyes burned with intensity. "Let me help you unlock it. Let me help you become what you were always meant to be."
Before Nora could answer, her phone rang. The new one Kael had given her this morning.
She looked at the screen. Her best friend, Emma, was calling. The only person from Silver Moon who'd tried to reach her.
"Hello?" Nora answered.
"Nora! Oh my god, where are you? Are you okay?" Emma's voice was frantic. "Everyone's looking for you. Damien is going crazy—"
"I don't care about Damien," Nora cut her off.
"But... he said he made a mistake. He's saying the rejection was a test or something. That he wants you back."
Nora laughed. Actually laughed. "A test? He humiliated me in front of the entire pack. He broke our bond. He chose Sienna. And now he thinks he can just take it back?"
"He's the Alpha, Nora. He can do whatever he wants."
"Not with me, he can't." Nora's voice was cold. "Tell him I'm done. Tell him I'm never coming back. Tell him he made his choice and now he has to live with it."
"Nora—"
She hung up.
Kael was smiling. "Feel better?"
"Actually, yes." Nora stood up, feeling stronger than she had in hours. "I want to train. I want to learn everything you can teach me. I want to become powerful enough that Damien Cross regrets ever letting me go."
"Good," Kael said. "But understand this, Nora. Training with me won't be easy. I'm going to push you harder than you've ever been pushed. You're going to want to quit. You're going to cry, scream, maybe even hate me sometimes."
"I don't care."
"And there's something else you should know." Kael's expression grew serious. "When you unlock your true power, everything changes. Your scent changes. Your eyes change. Other packs will sense you. Some will fear you. Others will want to control you or kill you."
"Let them try," Nora said fiercely.
Kael studied her for a long moment. Then he nodded. "We start tomorrow at dawn. Don't be late."
He turned to leave, but Nora called out, "Kael? Why are you really doing this? It can't just be because I saved your life once."
Kael stopped in the doorway. He looked back at her, and for just a second, she saw something in his eyes. Something that looked almost like pain.
"Because someone once threw me away too," he said quietly. "And I wish someone had been there to help me become who I needed to be. Consider this my way of making sure history doesn't repeat itself."
Then he was gone.
Nora stood alone in the beautiful room, her mind racing. She walked to the window and looked out at the Blackwood territory. The forest was dark and wild, nothing like the neat, controlled woods around Silver Moon.
This was her new beginning.
Her phone buzzed. Another text. This time from Damien himself.
Nora, please. I need to see you. I made a terrible mistake. Sienna means nothing. You're my true mate. Come home.
Nora deleted the message without responding.
Home? Silver Moon had never been her home. It had been a prison that made her small. A place that told her she wasn't enough.
But here, in Blackwood territory, with an Alpha who saw her potential?
Here, she could become something incredible.
She touched her chest where the broken bond still ached. The pain was still there, but underneath it, she felt something else. A heat. A power. Something ancient and wild stirring awake after years of sleep.
"You wanted to reject me, Damien?" Nora whispered to herself. "Fine. Watch what I become without you."
Outside her window, she saw Kael in the training yard, moving through combat forms with deadly grace. He was incredibly strong, incredibly fast. And he'd promised to make her just as powerful.
Nora smiled.
The girl who'd been rejected yesterday was gone.
The woman who would rise from those ashes was just beginning.
She was about to show everyone, especially Damien Cross, the biggest mistake of his life.