Chapter 1

The first time my Alpha mate chose his childhood sweetheart over me, I forgave him.

After all, Dylan saved my life seven times.

Seven lives saved. Seven chances given.

That was the deal I made with myself.

Then Dylan skipped our Mate Anniversary to celebrate her birthday.

He gave her the moonstone ring I’d carved for him with my own hands, saying she needed it for protection.

And when rogues attacked us both, he stepped right past me as I lay wounded and carried her to safety first.

I never fought him over any of it.

Each time he chose her, I silently crossed off one of the lives I owed him.

The pack thought I loved my Alpha so desperately that I would forgive him no matter how many times he put another Omega before me.

But I was only waiting until all seven lives I owed him had been repaid.

Then one day, he broke the Mate Vow we’d sworn at the Moon Altar for her yet again.

“She has no one else,” he told me. “You’re my Luna. You should understand.”

And just like that, the last of what I owed him was gone.

“That’s seven. We’re done.”

I picked up my suitcase and headed for the Nordic Wolf Alliance in herbal medicine.

Dylan and I were over, and I would never see him again.

Chapter 1

“Ariana, what are you doing standing here all by yourself?”

Dylan’s voice came from behind me, casual and unconcerned.

I turned as he strode in carrying a white pastry box.

Eva followed behind him in a pale blue sweater, Dylan’s black coat draped over her shoulders. Around her neck hung an intricately crafted silver wolf pendant.

Dylan had bought it at an auction in the North last month.

At the time, he’d told me the wolf’s eyes reminded him of mine when I shifted, and that it would make the perfect Mate Anniversary gift.

Now it was around Eva’s neck.

“I brought you your favorite pastries.”

Dylan set the box on the table and flipped open the lid.

“Eat them while they’re fresh.”

I walked over and glanced inside.

There were only three kinds of pastries: honey cake, moonberry cream puffs, and almond cookies dusted with silvermoon pollen.

I didn’t like any of them.

Worse, silvermoon pollen made me break out in red welts. Dylan had known that since our first year as mates.

“I don’t eat any of these.” I looked away.

Dylan’s hand paused over the box.

“Don’t you love that bakery on the east side?”

“I love their lavender cake.”

He visibly faltered.

Eva immediately stepped forward, looking timid.

“Ariana, don’t blame Dylan. I mentioned I was craving the moonberry puffs, so he picked some up while he was out.”

The bakery was forty minutes in the opposite direction.

He had gone out of his way to buy what she liked, then come home and told me he’d brought my favorites.

I gave a faint smile and glanced at the box. “If they’re what you wanted, you should have them.”

“Oh, I couldn’t.” Eva waved her hands, her eyes already turning red. “Dylan bought them for you. If I ate them, you’d only feel worse.”

She turned to Dylan as if asking him to rescue her.

“Dylan, please explain. This is all my fault for mentioning them.”

Dylan frowned, clear disapproval settling over his face.

“Ariana, Eva made one harmless comment. Do you really have to make her feel this bad?”

“I’m not.”

“You won’t even take one bite. How is that not you sulking?”

He pushed the plate of almond cookies toward me.

“Just try one with Eva. She can’t finish all of these herself.”

A fine layer of silvery powder coated the cookies. My throat had already started itching from the smell alone.

“I’m allergic to silvermoon pollen. It gives me a rash.”

Dylan froze.

For several seconds, his brow drew tighter and tighter, as though he were struggling to remember something he should never have forgotten.

Then he looked away, his voice stiff.

“It’s been so long since you’ve had a reaction. I forgot.”

He’d forgotten.

For the past three years, I’d carefully avoided anything containing silvermoon pollen because I never wanted my allergy to ruin an occasion for him.

Because I never ate it, he’d apparently decided there was nothing to remember.

“It’s fine.” I pushed the cookies back. “Eva can have them.”

Eva hovered awkwardly, unsure whether to take the plate, her expression turning anxious as she looked to Dylan.

Dylan sighed and put the pastries back in the box.

“Enough. If you don’t want them, don’t eat them. This is too small a thing for both of you to make such a fuss over.”

He adjusted his cuff, and that was when I noticed his left ring finger was bare.

“Where’s your ring?”

Dylan glanced down, and something evasive flickered across his face.

The moonstone ring I’d carved for him with my own hands was gone.

“Eva got scared by a rogue a few days ago. She hasn’t been sleeping well. Moonstone calms the wolf, so I let her wear it for a couple of days.”

Eva lowered her head and twisted her fingers together.

Only then did I notice the moonstone ring on her right ring finger.

“I didn’t ask him for it, Ariana. Dylan saw that I couldn’t stop shaking and took it off himself. He said… it was only a ring.”

Only a ring.

I gave a small nod. “It looks nice.”

“Don’t read too much into it,” Dylan said quickly. “Eva needs it more right now. If it bothers you, I’ll take it back.”

He reached for Eva’s hand, moving slowly enough that it was obvious he expected me to stop him.

“Don’t.” I turned toward the stairs. “It suits her.”

Behind me, Dylan let out a breath of relief.

“I knew you’d understand. You’re my Luna. You’ve always been more reasonable than everyone else.”

I went back to my room and closed the door behind me.

That made four.

Three more chances, and the seven lives I owed Dylan would be repaid.

Outside, Eva’s maid Chloe was chatting with my maid, Nora.

“Nora, the Alpha is so good to my lady. Even when he buys pastries, he remembers exactly what she likes.”

“He was already going that way!” Nora snapped.

“And somehow what was ‘on the way’ was exactly what she wanted. Sounds like fate to me.”

I opened the window. Dylan and Eva were still downstairs, laughing together.

“Nora.”

She answered at once. “Luna?”

“Give Chloe the crystal glasses that arrived yesterday.”

“Luna! Alpha had those brought all the way from the North especially for you!”

“I don’t want something after someone else has had their hands all over it.”

Chapter 2

“Ariana, Dylan only went with me to see the healer. Please don’t blame him.”

Eva stood in the doorway, holding a steaming cup of moonherb tonic.

Tonight was the Moonlight Festival.

Dylan had promised me two weeks ago that he would take me into town to see the moon lanterns.

I had always loved the festival, and he had promised to find me the brightest moon lantern in the entire city.

An hour earlier, we had been walking through the lantern market together.

The celebration had barely begun when several rogues broke through the outer line of guards. Screams tore through the square as people scattered in every direction.

Dylan caught my hand at once and pulled me close. “Stay with me.”

Then Eva screamed as a rogue lunged through the crowd toward her.

Dylan reacted before anyone else. He let go of me, shifted, and threw himself between Eva and the rogue.

The guards brought the rogue down almost immediately, but the crowd surged in panic. Someone slammed into my shoulder from behind, and I lost my footing.

I hit the stone hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs. Boots rushed past on every side, and for several terrifying seconds I could not get back up.

By the time the guards cleared the square, my palms were torn open and bleeding. And Dylan was already carrying Eva away after she twisted her ankle.

I was left sitting on the stone pavement as he disappeared into the crowd with her.

I walked all the way back on my own.

The night wind was bitterly cold. The blood on my palm had already dried, mixed with dirt and grit, and the wound stung sharply.

I stopped beneath the eaves and looked at Eva.

“How’s your ankle?”

“The healer said it’s just a sprain. Nothing serious.” She bit her lower lip. “Dylan insisted on carrying me back. I couldn’t talk him out of it. Ariana, please don’t be angry with him.”

“I’m not.”

Dylan came out of Eva’s room with a bottle of healing salve in his hand.

The moment he saw how pale I was, he strode over. “When did you get back?”

“Just now.”

“You could’ve waited for me.”

There was reproach in his voice, but guilt lingered underneath it.

“Eva was frightened and hurt her ankle. I panicked and didn’t have time to look after you too. But you know your way home, Ariana. I thought you’d be fine on your own.”

I lifted my hand and held my scraped, dirt-streaked palm out in front of him.

Dylan’s voice stopped abruptly. He stared at my hand, his brows drawing together.

“What happened?”

“I got knocked down in the crowd.”

“How could you be so careless?” His voice rose, frustration slipping through. “I told you before we went out that the festival would be crowded. I told you to stay close to me.”

“I was holding your hand.”

“What?”

“When the crowd surged, I was holding your hand. You let go.”

Dylan froze. His lips parted as if he wanted to explain.

“I saw the rogue going for Eva. I reacted on instinct. Are you really going to hold that against me?”

He reached for my injured hand, but I drew it back.

“I went back for you as soon as I knew she was safe.”

Eva’s eyes filled with tears. “Dylan, don’t blame Ariana. She fell because of me. She has every right to be upset.”

Dylan turned to her automatically. “This isn’t your fault. Go inside and rest.”

When Eva was gone, he held the medicine out to me. “I know I should have made sure you were safe first.”

He paused, then added, “But Eva has no parents. When I saw that rogue coming at her, all I could think was that she had no one else to protect her.”

“What about me? My parents are dead too.”

The words stopped him cold. “Ariana, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

His wolf shifted restlessly beneath his skin. “You’re my Mate. You’re my Luna. You’re strong, and everyone in this pack would protect you. Eva isn’t like you.”

Before I could answer, Chloe hurried toward us. “Alpha, Eva’s wolf is agitated again.”

A crash sounded from Eva’s room. Dylan’s attention snapped toward it.

“Ariana…”

I lowered my eyes to the medicine in my hand.

“Go.”

He hesitated, unease tightening his expression. “I’ll be right back.”

Back in my room, I washed the grit and blood from my palm. The cuts stung sharply, but I kept cleaning them.

Once the cuts were cleaned and bandaged, I opened the old wooden chest at the foot of the bed.

At the very bottom lay a worn black leather bracelet. Dylan had given it to me after the first time he saved my life.

We were seventeen. I’d gotten lost in a blizzard and wandered into rogue territory, where three fully grown rogues cornered me in a ravine.

When Dylan realized I was missing, he followed my scent there alone. He killed two of them and knocked the third off me.

On the way home, his hind leg was mangled from a bite, but he still refused to put me down.

The next day, he fastened the bracelet around my wrist.

“If you’re ever in danger again, wait for me.”

Seventeen-year-old Dylan lowered his head to secure the clasp, his expression almost stubborn in its seriousness.

“No matter where you are, I’ll come get you.”

I believed those words for years.

Tonight, I carried the bracelet to the fireplace and opened my hand. The leather dropped into the flames and quickly curled black.

Nora happened to pass the doorway. Her face changed when she saw what I’d done.

“Luna? Isn’t that the bracelet Alpha gave you?”

“It was,” I watched the last strip of leather disappear into the fire. “but I don’t need it anymore.”

I finished bandaging my palms in front of the mirror. The woman in it looked strangely cold.

Dylan, that was the fifth time you chose Eva.

I only had two more chances left to give you.

Chapter 3

“Ariana, the Luna cloak for this year’s Winter Moon Festival is too dark. Eva thinks white would look better on you.”

Dylan walked in carrying a newly made white cloak and dropped it onto the table.

The Winter Moon Festival was less than a month away.

It would be the third one I’d presided over since becoming Luna of Silver Moon Pack.

I set aside what I was working on and rested my fingertips against the edge of the table.

“Where’s the cloak I chose?”

“It’s still in the ceremonial room. Eva thought the dark blue was too somber, so she had a new one made.”

“Every Luna before me has worn a dark blue cloak embroidered with silver for the ceremony.”

Dylan paused, and his expression immediately soured.

“Eva doesn’t know all the rules. She just thought white would suit you better. Why do you have to come at her so hard?”

“She doesn’t know. What’s your excuse?”

“It’s a cloak, Ariana. Do you really have to turn this into some sacred pack tradition?”

He tugged impatiently at his collar.

“My mother said everyone’s busy getting ready for the Festival, and you can’t handle everything alone. Eva pays attention to details. From now on, she can help you with this stuff.”

“Help me?”

“Yes,” Dylan said as though it were obvious. “She went through the ceremonial room yesterday. She thought the moonflowers you picked were too dark, so she already had them replaced with white ones.”

“What else?”

Dylan continued, “She also had them put away the fur mantle you were planning to wear over the cloak.”

That mantle was one of the things my mother had left me.

“That mantle belonged to my mother.”

Dylan frowned.

“Old things fall apart eventually. And you shouldn’t be wearing something worn-out to the Festival anyway. Eva was trying to help. Don’t be so ungrateful.”

“Fine.”

I stood and crossed to the table, running my fingers lightly over the new white cloak.

“If she likes white so much, give it to her.”

Dylan looked surprised. “You want to give the cloak to Eva?”

“You’re the one who said she likes it. Let her wear it.”

“Ariana, are you trying to be sarcastic?”

“I’m not.” I called for Nora. “Take this cloak to Eva’s room.”

“And go to the ceremonial room. Bring me my mother’s mantle.”

The tension in Dylan’s face eased.

“That’s more like it. Eva’s been running around for the Festival for days, and her ankle still isn’t fully healed. Giving her something might stop her from feeling like she’s only getting in your way.”

Eva and Dylan had grown up together. Dylan had always insisted he thought of her as a little sister.

For a long time, I believed him.

It took watching him choose her over me again and again to realize how wrong I’d been.

“Dylan.”

He stopped. “What?”

“Do you remember what you promised me the first time we stood before the Moon Goddess and took our vows?”

I paused for a moment, then said, “Never mind.”

Dylan came over and reached for my hand. I stepped back before he could take it.

His hand hung awkwardly in the air before he withdrew it.

“Ariana, are you still angry about what happened in the forest?”

“No. There’s just been a lot going on. I’m tired.”

His expression relaxed almost immediately.

“Then get some rest. I’ll come see you later.”

Dylan had barely reached the end of the hall when Chloe came up to him.

“Alpha, my lady wants to go into town to see the new moonstones. She wanted to know if you’d go with her.”

“Now?”

Chloe quickly explained that there was only one blue moonstone left.

Dylan hesitated for a beat, then followed her.

“Let’s go. If we’re late, she’ll only be disappointed.”

Their footsteps faded down the hall.

I stood there for a moment, then turned back to the room.

Dylan, this was the sixth time you chose Eva.

Only one chance remained.

Chapter 4

“It’s only a dress, Ariana. Did you really have to make Eva get on her knees over it?”

Dylan’s voice rang through the room, anger barely held in check.

I stood beside the table, staring at the white gown crumpled across the floor.

Dylan and I had completed our mating mark three years ago, but we had never held the formal Marking Ceremony. The ceremony had been postponed again and again because of pack affairs, and this year he had finally promised we would do it properly.

We had chosen the gown together.

Now the skirt had been torn nearly from hem to waist, and dark moonberry dye soaked through the white fabric.

Eva knelt beside it with tears streaming down her face. “Ariana, I swear I didn’t mean to. I only wanted to help move the gown before the ceremony. I tripped, and the dye spilled…”

Dylan immediately bent to pull her up. “Get up. Your ankle hasn’t healed yet.”

Eva refused to move. “If Ariana won’t forgive me, I’m not getting up.”

Dylan’s brow tightened. “Ariana, enough. She’s already on her knees apologizing. What more do you want?”

I stood where I was.

“Did I ask her to kneel?”

Dylan stopped.

From the moment I found the ruined gown to the moment Eva dropped to her knees, I had not accused her of anything.

“You didn’t have to,” he said. “Standing there like that is enough to make her feel guilty.”

He pulled Eva firmly to her feet and moved her behind him.

“It’s a dress. I’ll have ten more made for you if that’s what it takes.”

Ten more.

I laughed.

“Dylan, that was the dress we chose for our Marking Ceremony. Did you forget?”

His expression froze, and a flicker of panic crossed his eyes.

“I... I forgot.”

But he quickly straightened, his voice turning defensive again.

“Even so, it’s still just a dress. We can have another one made. Eva didn’t do it on purpose. Are you really going to push her this far over something that can be replaced?”

Something that could be replaced...

I lowered my eyes to the torn dress on the floor and suddenly found the whole thing absurd.

What gave him the right to decide, with such casual certainty, how much the dress we had chosen for our Marking Ceremony was allowed to matter to me?

He could risk his life seven times to save mine, yet because he was so sure I would never leave, he could keep giving Eva the tenderness and leaving me with the hurt.

“Ariana, Eva is an Omega with no one. I’m all she has.”

“You’re my Luna. The entire Silver Moon Pack stands behind you. You have everything. Why can’t you let one mistake go?”

So that was how he saw it. I had everything.

The man I had been mated to for three years suddenly felt like a stranger.

“Fine. I forgive her.”

Dylan had clearly braced himself for anger. My surrender caught him off guard instead.

His wolf stirred uneasily beneath his skin, and a flicker of alarm crossed his face.

“Ariana…” He reached for my wrist as I turned away. “Wait.”

I turned and walked back to my room without looking back.

Once the door was locked, I packed the last few things into my suitcase.

I didn’t own much. Everything fit into one bag.

My father had died years ago in a pack war, and my mother had wasted away from grief a few years later.

For years, Dylan had been almost the only thing keeping me here.

Now there was nothing left in this pack I wanted to stay for.

My mother had taught me herbal medicine from the time I was a child. As an adult, I’d gone on to study remedies for wolf injuries and compounds used to stabilize the wolf.

Two years ago, at the Pack Alliance Summit, I’d met the chief herbalist of the Nordic Wolf Alliance.

He’d seen one of my formulations and invited me to continue my research at their Herbal Institute. I’d turned him down because of Dylan.

Three days ago, I contacted him again.

His reply was simple:

“The invitation still stands.”

At two in the morning, the house was finally quiet.

I changed out of the clothes I wore as Luna and slipped out through the side entrance with my suitcase.

I said goodbye to no one and made sure no one saw me leave.

I reached the airport before dawn.

By the time boarding was called, Dylan still hadn’t realized I was gone.

The plane had already started taxiing when his voice finally came through the mind-link, rough with sleep but edged with sudden urgency.

“Ariana, you’re out early. Where are you going?”

There wasn’t even a ripple left in my heart. I cut off the mind-link.

A moment later, the plane lifted off.

From that moment on, Dylan and I were over forever.