Chapter 9
Selena’s POV
Iquicken my pace toward the Council chambers, my breathing ragged enough to sell it, controlled enough to be believed. Every tremor in my voice rehearsed.
“Alpha Roland, Luna Vivienne,” I say, bursting through the heavy oak doors where the council has gathered. I clutch my chest as if the mate bond physically pains me. “I need your help. Something’s wrong with Ronan.”
Alpha Roland rises from his chair, concern etching deep lines across his weathered face. “Selena, what’s happened?”
I allow my voice to crack just enough. “The bond, it’s pulling me somewhere. Strongly. But Ronan told me he had pack business tonight.” I meet each council member’s eyes in turn. “I think he’s in danger. Or worse.”
My wolf purrs inside me. Perfect. Just perfect.
Luna Elena approaches, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Are you certain? The mate bond doesn’t typically...“
“I’ve never felt it like this before,” I interrupt, injecting desperation into my tone. “Please, we need trackers. Now.”
Alpha Roland studies me for a long moment. I keep my expression open, vulnerable, everything I’m not feeling inside.
“Get Justin and his team,” he finally commands. “If Selena believes Ronan is in trouble, we must investigate.”
Within minutes, four of the pack’s elite trackers assemble. I press my palm against my heart, feigning concentration.
“This way,” I say, leading them north toward the forest edge. “The pull is strongest in this direction.”
Justin, the lead tracker, nods solemnly. “We’ll follow your lead, Selena.”
As we move deeper into the woods, I allow my shoulders to tense, my steps to falter occasionally, all while my inner wolf remains perfectly calm, almost smug. I know exactly where he is. I’ve known for weeks about Ronan’s secret cabin, about his Thursday night “meetings” with Candice.
“Are you holding up?” Justin asks as the path narrows.
I nod, wiping away a nonexistent tear. “I just need to find him.”
The forest thins as we approach a small clearing. There, nestled among ancient pines, stands a rustic cabin. Light spills from its windows, casting long shadows across the ground.
“The bond is strongest here,” I whisper, my voice deliberately shaky.
Justin inhales deeply, his nostrils flaring. The other trackers do the same, and I watch as recognition dawns on their faces. The scents are unmistakable, sex, sweat, the distinct markers of betrayal.
“Ronan is definitely inside,” Justin confirms, his expression hardening. “And he’s not alone.”
I allow my face to crumple in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Selena...” Justin begins, but I cut him off with a raised hand.
“I need to see for myself.”
Before anyone can stop me, I stride toward the cabin door. My heart beats steadily despite my outward agitation. This moment, this perfectly orchestrated revelation, has been months in the making.
I push the door open without knocking.
The scene inside freezes in perfect, damning clarity: Ronan, shirtless, his hair disheveled, has Candice pressed against the wall. Her dress is bunched around her waist, her lipstick smeared across both their mouths. Their heads snap toward me in unison, eyes wide with shock.
For one perfect moment, nobody moves.
Then Ronan steps forward. “Selena...“
“Don’t.” My voice cuts through the room, clear and strong. The trackers file in behind me, witnesses to it all.
“I see the truth now,” I say, my tone steady despite the trembling I allow in my hands. “How long has this been happening, Ronan? How many times have you dishonored our bond?”
Candice straightens her dress, her expression flickering between fear and defiance. “You’re overreacting...“
“It’s exactly what it looks like,” I interrupt, addressing not her but the room of witnesses. “By the sacred law of the Moon and before these witnesses, I formally reject Ronan as my mate for betrayal of the bond.”
Gasps echo through the small cabin. Rejection of a mate is rare, almost unheard of. Then silence slams into the room.
“I call for a full investigation into Ronan’s activities,” I continue, “and his fitness as Alpha heir of this pack.”
Ronan’s face darkens with rage. “You have no right...“
“I have every right,” I counter. “The evidence is before everyone’s eyes.”
Justin steps forward. “We will report what we’ve witnessed to Alpha Roland.”
Candice laughs, the sound brittle. “This is ridiculous. You’re making something out of nothing. Tell her, Ronan.”
But Ronan’s focus is solely on me now, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “You planned this,” he hisses, low enough that only I can hear. “You manipulative bitch.”
I don’t flinch. Inside, satisfaction blooms like a dark flower, but my expression remains one of dignified pain.
“You can’t reject me,” Ronan suddenly declares, his voice booming with alpha command. “The bond doesn’t work that way.”
Power surges from him, directed at me through our mate bond. I feel it like a physical force, his attempt to dominate, to control, to bend me to his will. The bond between us pulls taut, vibrating with his rage.
Deep inside me, where my wolf resides, a different power stirs. Instead of submitting, something pushes back against Ronan’s intrusion. The mate bond stretches, trembles, and then it hits something stronger, ancient, and rebounds., the force of Ronan’s command deflected.
His eyes widen in disbelief.
The bond between us doesn’t break completely, but it changes, weakens. And in that moment, I realize something profound: it no longer controls me.
Ronan feels it too. His control slips with confusion and fury as he lunges toward me. “What have you done?”
Before I can react, someone lifts Ronan by the throat. Ronan’s feet lift off the ground. His hands claw at his throat, gasping..