Chapter 1 One
Elara’s POV
The ballroom looked beautiful tonight. Too beautiful. Chandeliers throwing gold everywhere, sconces flickering like they were trying to pretend fire was friendly, marble so shiny I could see my own terrified face staring back up at me. Omegas moved through the crowd holding trays of little perfect bites of rosemary, honey-glazed meat, things that should have made my mouth water but instead made my stomach twist.
Everyone was laughing.
Everyone smelled expensive.
Jasmine, amber, rose, wolf musk, power.
I couldn’t breathe right.
The whispers were worse than the music. They slid under the violins, sharp little knives finding the soft spots.
“He hasn’t looked away from her once.”
“Who even is she?”
“Vespera. You seriously don’t know? The Vespera.”
Someone laughed quietly, mean. “The one who can still turn Alpha Thorne into a lost puppy with one glance.”
My fingers were already digging into Thorne’s sleeve before I realized I’d reached for him. Old habit. Muscle memory. The same way I used to grab him at every formal thing because his arm around me made the room feel smaller, safer. Tonight his arm stayed stiff at his side like it belonged to someone else. I held on anyway, feeling stupid, feeling small, feeling like the only person in the room who hadn’t been told the joke.
Thorne looked like he always did, like he could walk into a war and come out bored. Broad shoulders under black velvet, jaw sharp enough to cut glass, dark hair just messy enough to look effortless. Except tonight that perfect face was turned completely toward her.
She stood across the room in crimson silk, laughing at something a Gamma said. Golden hair catching every light like it was made of fire. She looked exactly like the stories people still told about her.
The whispers kept coming.
“First love. True mates. They were glued together until she walked away and snapped the bond like it was nothing.”
“Why’s she back now? After three years of him belonging to someone else?”
My throat closed so tight I thought I might choke on my own heartbeat.
I turned my head, looking for escape, and there was Selene who's already shoving a glass of red wine into my hand like she’d read my mind from across the room.
Her eyes weren’t soft. They were furious. She glared at Thorne like she was imagining putting her fist through his perfect face.
“Drink,” she muttered. “And don’t you dare cry here.”
I gripped the glass until I felt the stem creak. One long swallow burned all the way down. Tears stung anyway.
“I want to leave.”
“No.” She took the glass back, set it on a passing tray, grabbed my shoulders and turned me so I had no choice but to look at them again.
There they were, Thorne and Vespera heads close, talking like the rest of the room didn’t exist. He leaned in when she spoke. Their eyes caught and held too long. It was a whole conversation I’d never been taught the words to.
Selene’s voice dropped low, almost a growl. “You are not letting that woman walk back into his life like she owns it. You’re his Luna. Go stand next to your mate. Right now.”
She didn’t wait for me to argue. Her hand on my back pushed me forward through the glittering crowd.
The mate bond twisted hard in my chest sharply, hot, angry. They’d known each other forever. Kids together, teenagers in love, fated. She’d rejected him anyway. Walked away from the mark, the title, the whole Luna cage. Left him bleeding.
And then he’d chosen me.
So why did I feel like the stranger tonight?
My heels hit the marble too loud. Neither of them noticed until I was close enough to smell her on the air—jasmine and wild honey, so sweet it made me want to gag.
“Vespera,” I said, forcing the bright Luna smile I’d practiced for years. “What a surprise.”
Her eyes slid to me, cool, measuring. Then they warmed into something almost sweet. “Elara! Goddess, look at you. You’re… radiant.”
The compliment landed like a slap with a smile behind it. Thorne finally turned, sliding an arm around my waist like it was automatic. For half a second I almost felt safe. Then I remembered.
“She got back from Paris last week,” he said. His voice had that warm proud edge that used to be mine. “Couldn’t resist making an entrance. Classic Vespera.”
She flushed prettily, fingers brushing his sleeve. “Stop, you’re embarrassing me.” Then, like she’d just remembered I existed: “Luna Elara, I’m so happy for you both. Sorry I missed the ceremony.”
“It was three years ago.”
Her smile sharpened. “Time flies.” She crossed her arms, eyes locking on mine. “Who would’ve thought.”
The words hung there. Naked. Daring me.
I lifted my chin. “Thought what? That he’d pick someone like me over you?”
Thorne laughed softly against my ear. “Come on, darling. You know that’s not what she meant.”
But he sounded amused. Like it was funny.
“I’m tired,” I said. I stepped out of his arm. “Let’s go up.”
I waited.
One heartbeat. Two.
He didn’t move.
“Go ahead,” he said gently. Too gently. “I’ll join you soon. It’s barely midnight. We have… years to catch up on.”
Tears burned behind my eyes like acid.
“I’ll wait for you then.” I forced the words out, gave Vespera one last thin smile, she lifted her glass in a mocking little toast and turned.
Every stare followed me. Pity in their eyes. Whispers chasing my heels like smoke.
Selene tried to catch me at the stairs. “Elara”
“Don’t.”
I ran.
In our suite I ripped the glittering dress off, tore at the corset until I could breathe, crawled under silk sheets in nothing but a thin nightgown and let the dark swallow me.
Tears came hard quiet at first, then ugly sobs that shook my whole body. Why tonight? Why her? She’d thrown him away once. She knew what she was doing when she walked back in.
So why did the bond still howl that she owned him?
Hours passed. Moonlight slid across the floor like spilled milk. I finally passed out from sheer exhaustion.
The door clicked open just before dawn.
I lay still, pretending to sleep, while Thorne moved through the dark. Jacket. Shirt. Trousers. Everything hit the floor softly.
The mattress dipped. His heat wrapped around me, arms sliding around my waist, pulling me back against his chest like always. His lips brushed the mate mark on my neck, slow, reverent, like it still meant something.
The bond exploded, fire in my veins, aching, desperate, furious.
But under his cedar-storm scent…
Jasmine.
Wild honey.
Her.
He nuzzled closer, breath evening out into sleep, completely unaware I was awake.
That I could smell every place she’d touched him.
That my nails were digging into my palms hard enough to draw blood.
Silent tears soaked the pillow.
He thought the night was finished.
He was wrong.
Because tomorrow morning I wouldn’t be the broken Luna crying in the dark anymore.
I’d be something else.
Something he wouldn’t see coming.
And Vespera?
She had no idea what she’d just started.