He stepped into the cabin like he owned it, like the gods themselves had carved the air to make space for him.
His tall frame filled the room, every inch of him sharp and sun-kissed, and when his eyes found hers, gray and unforgiving, Jasmine's body shuddered.
The bond struck like a bolt of lightning.
She staggered.
The mate pull slammed into her so hard she had to grip the edge of the table for balance.
Her bones were humming. Her chest tightened. Her wolf, buried deep and weak, suddenly clawed to the surface with such force Jasmine couldn't hold her back.
Her breath hitched. "No...wait—"
But the shift had already begun.
Pain ignited down her spine, ripping through muscle and marrow. She screamed as her body twisted and broke and reshaped, bones grinding into new places, her skin stretching, tearing, healing again.
She collapsed onto the wooden floor, naked and gasping as fur sprouted across her limbs.
Her first shift.
It was supposed to be beautiful.
It was supposed to be sacred.
Instead, when Jasmine opened her eyes through a new lens and looked up at her mate, Adrian took a single step back.
And his lip curled in disgust.
She felt it immediately. Saw it in his eyes.
Horror.
Disdain.
Because her wolf was wrong.
Too small. Too thin. Her back leg was twisted where the old injury had never healed properly, her spine slightly arched, her fur patchy in places like the shift itself had struggled to complete.
She looked like something broken, crippled, a creature the goddess had forgotten to finish.
Adrian's jaw clenched. "What the fuck is that?"
His voice was sharp enough to gut her.
Jasmine whimpered, stepping back in her wolf form, but her paw dragged, unable to lift fully from the ground. She tried to make herself smaller, to hide her shame.
But it was too late.
"You're mine?" Adrian said, his voice laced with disbelief. "That's what the Moon Goddess gave me?"
Tears stung her eyes. She shifted back, the pain a welcome escape this time. Naked and trembling on the floor, she pulled herself upright, using the wall to cover herself with what little dignity she had left.
"Adrian…" she whispered, voice raw.
He stared at her, and for a breath, just one, she thought maybe he'd soften.
But instead—
"I reject you."
The words cracked through the room like thunder.
"I reject you, Jackie O'fell, as my mate."
She gasped, hands flying to her chest as if she could stop the bond from tearing apart inside her.
Her wolf let out a low, agonized whine in the back of her mind, curling into herself.
"Why?" she choked. "Because of how I look? Because of my leg?"
Adrian's face hardened. "Because you're the daughter of a traitor. Because you're a crippled wolf. Because you were never supposed to be chosen, and now I'm stuck feeling this pull toward something broken."
She blinked, stunned. "You…. felt it?"
"Of course I did," he spat. "The bond doesn't care if the person is worthless. It just is. And I hate it."
She backed up slowly, like each word from him was another knife between her ribs.
"But that bond makes you mine," he continued coldly. "So I'm not letting you go."
Jasmine's lips parted, confusion knitting with fear. "You just rejected me."
"I rejected you as my mate," he said, stepping toward her. "Not as my property."
Her knees buckled.
"You'll stay in this pack," he said. "You'll stay here. You'll warm my bed. You'll kneel when I say. You won't leave even when you turn eighteen."
"No…" she whispered, voice trembling.
He tilted his head, eyes glittering with cruel amusement. "You're not a Luna. You're a plaything. And I'll make sure you know the difference every single day."
Something in Jasmine snapped.
With every ounce of fury and heartbreak burning inside her, she lunged toward the door, shoved him hard enough that he stumbled back on instinct, and slammed the cabin door shut behind him.
The bolt scraped as she locked it in place, her breath ragged.
"Jackie, open the door!" he shouted from outside, pounding it with his fist. "You can't lock me out!"
"You're not my mate," she screamed back. "Not anymore!"
His fist slammed against the wood once—twice—and then the sound faded as his footsteps retreated into the forest.
Her hands trembled.
Her wolf curled into a ball in the back of her mind, bleeding and howling.
And Jackie slid down the door and sobbed until the sound of her heartbreak was louder than the wind outside.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Once Adrian realized she wasn't going to open the door for him, he swore.
He was about to break down the door when he saw some eye looking at him
"This isn't the fucking end Angel!" He spat and then he stormed off.
As he left, Gale who had quietly followed him to surprise him and perhaps get fucked in the forest, emerged.
Her face swollen red.
How dare Jackie do this?
That stupid cunt.
Jackie was his mate???
She knew that he had rejected her, she had heard it all.
But she had also heard the part where he had said Jackie would fulfill his exile desires.
A mistress?
She would rather die than share him with anyone else.
She was brewing with rage.
She was going to make that dirty bitch pay!