THE WOLF WHO REJECTED ME

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a knife.

The second was a man holding it against my throat.

"Say it again, Lyra."

His voice was cold enough to freeze the blood in my veins.

I couldn't breathe.

Not because of the knife.

Because I knew that face.

Dark hair. Sharp jaw. A thin scar running across his left eyebrow. Golden eyes that belonged to a predator wearing the skin of a man.

Darian Voss.

Alpha of the Blackthorn Pack.

And the male lead of the werewolf romance novel I'd abandoned at three in the morning because the heroine was too stupid to live.

My eyes widened.

No.

Absolutely not.

I had spent the previous night reading The Alpha's Forsaken Luna, a ridiculously popular novel about a weak omega who fell in love with her destined mate, sacrificed everything for him, and was eventually betrayed by the very man who had sworn to protect her.

Her name was Lyra Vale.

And according to the final chapters I'd managed to read, she was supposed to die tonight.

I swallowed.

The knife pressed harder against my skin.

"Lyra." Darian's eyes narrowed. "I'm waiting."

My gaze darted around the room.

A grand hall. Hundreds of werewolves. Silver chandeliers. Black roses arranged along the walls.

A blood-red moon hung beyond the enormous windows.

Oh, Moon Goddess.

This was the Blood Moon Banquet.

The night Lyra would publicly accuse her mate's childhood friend, Seraphina, of seducing him.

The night Darian would reject her in front of the entire pack.

The night her life would begin its spectacular downward spiral.

And the night she would make one final mistake.

She would beg.

In the original story, Lyra would fall to her knees, clutch Darian's trousers, and plead with him not to abandon her.

He would look down at her with disgust.

Then he would pronounce the words that would destroy her.

I, Darian Voss, Alpha of Blackthorn, reject you, Lyra Vale, as my mate and Luna.

The rejection would shatter her wolf's spirit.

Her health would deteriorate. Her family would disown her. Her enemies would hunt her.

And months later, she would die alone in a freezing forest.

I stared at the man holding the knife.

Then at the crowd waiting for me to humiliate myself.

A strange calm settled over me.

If I was going to die in this world, it wouldn't be because I begged a man to love me.

Not today.

Not ever.

I lifted my chin.

"You can put the knife down, Alpha."

A murmur rippled through the hall.

Darian's eyes flashed.

"Do you dare give me orders?"

"No." I glanced at the blade against my throat. "I'm simply wondering whether threatening an unarmed woman is the height of Alpha authority."

Someone in the crowd choked on a laugh.

Darian went completely still.

For three years, the original Lyra had never spoken to him like that.

She had loved him desperately. Every insult had made her cling harder. Every rejection had convinced her she needed to become more beautiful, more obedient, more worthy.

But I wasn't Lyra.

I was a woman who had once screamed at a fictional character through her phone screen.

And if the Moon Goddess had decided to throw me into this ridiculous novel, then I would write myself a better ending.

Darian slowly lowered the knife.

"You're behaving strangely tonight."

"Perhaps I'm finally behaving sensibly."

His jaw tightened.

Then a woman's voice floated through the crowd.

"Lyra, please. Don't make this worse."

Seraphina Wren stepped into the light.

She was beautiful in the way expensive things were beautiful-flawless, polished, and designed to make everyone stare. Her golden gown shimmered against her pale skin. A delicate diamond necklace rested at her throat.

Darian's expression changed the moment he looked at her.

The hostility disappeared.

His eyes softened.

It was a small change.

But I noticed.

And suddenly, I understood something that the original Lyra had refused to accept.

Darian wasn't incapable of tenderness.

He simply didn't want to give it to his mate.

Seraphina approached me, her eyes glistening with carefully arranged tears.

"I know you're upset because Darian and I are close, but I swear to you, nothing inappropriate has happened between us."

I nearly laughed.

That was rich.

In the original novel, Seraphina had been secretly manipulating the pack for years. She wanted Darian, the Luna title, and the power that came with ruling Blackthorn.

And Lyra, desperate to expose her, had fallen into every trap laid for her.

I studied Seraphina's trembling lips.

Then I smiled.

"That's wonderful."

She blinked.

"What?"

"I'm happy for you both."

The hall fell silent.

Darian stared at me.

Seraphina's tears stopped halfway down her cheeks.

I took a step backward, away from both of them.

"Actually, I think you two would make a lovely couple."

Someone dropped a glass.

Darian's face darkened.

"Enough."

I turned toward him.

"No, Alpha. I think I've said enough for tonight."

His golden eyes burned into mine.

"You're my mate, Lyra."

The words landed heavily between us.

For one brief second, something inside my chest twisted.

A sharp, unfamiliar ache.

The mate bond.

Even though my mind belonged to someone else, this body recognized him. My wolf-small, frightened, and painfully lonely-reached instinctively toward the man standing before me.

I pressed a hand against my chest.

Oh, sweetheart, I thought, feeling a sudden wave of sadness that wasn't entirely mine. I know you love him.

But love wasn't supposed to feel like a knife held against your throat.

I looked Darian in the eye.

"Being your mate doesn't mean I have to accept being humiliated by you."

His expression changed.

For the first time that evening, he looked genuinely uncertain.

I drew a slow breath.

"Since you seem so determined to make a spectacle of me, let me save you the trouble."

I extended my trembling hand.

A small, elegant blade rested on the ceremonial table beside us.

I picked it up.

The crowd erupted in alarm.

Darian lunged forward.

"Lyra!"

But I had already pressed the blade against my palm.

A thin line of blood appeared.

The mate bond shuddered.

The pain that followed was so intense that my knees nearly buckled. Somewhere deep inside me, a wolf whimpered.

I wanted to scream.

Instead, I held Darian's gaze.

"You wanted me to prove how much I love you," I whispered. "You wanted me to beg."

My blood dripped onto the marble.

"Well, I'm done begging."

Darian's face had gone pale.

"What are you doing?"

I swallowed against the agony.

"I reject the life you've planned for me."

The hall became so silent I could hear the rain striking the windows.

Then I said the words that were never spoken in the original novel.

"I, Lyra Vale, refuse to spend another day fighting for a place in the heart of a man who has never wanted me."

A strange warmth spread through the blood on my palm.

The red moon outside flickered.

Once.

Twice.

And then every candle in the hall went out.

Someone screamed.

A deafening howl shook the building.

Not from the wolves outside.

From inside my own chest.

I collapsed.

The last thing I saw before darkness swallowed me was Darian dropping to his knees beside me, his hands hovering over my body as though he was afraid to touch me.

"Lyra!"

For the first time in the entire novel, the Alpha sounded terrified.

Then a voice whispered inside my mind.

A voice that was neither mine nor Lyra's.

"Finally."

I froze.

"The first daughter of the Moon Goddess has awakened."

My heart stopped.

What?

"Run, child."

A vision exploded behind my eyes.

A ruined kingdom.

A throne made of black bone.

A man with silver eyes standing beneath a sky full of burning stars.

And a crown of white fire resting upon my head.

"Because the man who was destined to reject you," the voice whispered, "is the least of your enemies."

Then everything went black.