He rejected me on the night of the Blood Moon. In front of the entire pack. In front of the elders. In front of every wolf who had watched me grow up, who had known my mother, who had seen me train and fight and earn my place beside him.

Kael stood in the center of the bonding circle and he looked at me — really looked at me, for the first time in months — and he said: "I, Kael Ashwood, Alpha of the Ironwood Pack, reject you, Luna Ashwood, as my fated mate."

The words hit like a physical thing. I felt the bond snap. I felt it the way you feel a bone break — a clean, terrible sound inside your chest, and then the cold that follows.

I did not fall. I want to be clear about that. I stood in the bonding circle in the Blood Moon light and I did not fall.

The pack was silent. Even the elders were silent. I think they had expected me to beg. I think Kael had expected it too.