Chapter 4

• SELENA
• The mating contract burned in my sister's hand. I stared at it. That old parchment, yellowed at the edges. Damian's signature slashed across the bottom in black ink, bold and confident. Mine underneath, smaller. Shaky. Three years ago, I'd signed it thinking it meant forever. Thinking it meant safety.
• "Contracts don't break," my sister repeated. She smiled like she'd won something. Like she'd finally trapped me. "Bonds can snap. Feelings can die. But law is law, Father. And by pack law, Selena Callahan belongs to your son until death."
• Until death. The words hit like ice in my veins. Cold. Final.
• Kieran didn't look at her. His gold eyes stayed on me. Watching my face. Watching my reaction. Like he was measuring how much of me would shatter if he pushed. Like he was counting the cracks.
• "Give it to me," he said. Quiet. To her.
• "No." She lifted the contract higher, like holding it above her head would make it stronger. "You taught me pack law yourself. Article seven, section three. A signed mating contract stands even if the bond breaks. The only way to dissolve it is-"
• "Death," I finished for her. My voice sounded far away. Like someone else was speaking.
• Damian stepped forward. His face was still pale from the office, but now there was something else there. Triumph. Ugly and sharp. "She's right, Father. You can't have her. Not without killing me first. That's the law you wrote."
• The room went silent. Even the rain stopped for a second.
• My wolf surged forward inside me, teeth bared. He thinks he won. He thinks the paper means more than the blood. Show him. Tear it. Tear him.
• But I couldn't move. Because if Kieran killed Damian to claim me... then I'd never be free of guilt. I'd be the reason a son died by his father's hand. The pack would tear itself apart. Blood would run in the gutters and my name would be on all of it.
• Kieran saw it. I saw him see it. That was the worst part. He read me too easy. Always had.
• He turned to my sister. Took one step. Then another. She didn't back down, but her hand shook. The parchment rattled.
• "You think a piece of paper binds her," he said. His voice was low. Dangerous. "You think ink is stronger than blood."
• "It's the law," she whispered.
• "The law," Kieran agreed. He stopped in front of her. Close enough that she had to tilt her head up to meet his eyes. "The law also says an Alpha can declare a challenge for a mate. For cause."
• Damian's head snapped up. "You wouldn't-"
• "I would," Kieran cut him off. Still not looking at him. Still watching my sister. "The cause is clear. You bonded her under false pretenses. A weak bond. A shadow bond. You knew, Damian. You felt it wasn't true from the start. But you signed anyway. Because you wanted the status. Because you wanted to tie her down before her real mate found her."
• Damian flinched. Hard. Because it was true. I saw it on his face. The truth Kieran pulled out with two sentences.
• My sister's smile cracked at the edges. "You can't prove that."
• "I don't need to." Kieran reached out. Didn't take the contract. Just touched her wrist. The same way he'd touched mine in his office. Gentle. Unavoidable.
• She gasped. Stumbled back a step. Because his Alpha power wasn't just strength. It was truth. It pressed down until lies became heavy. Until your bones wanted to confess.
• "Tell me," he said softly. "When you signed that, did you think the bond was true?"
• She opened her mouth. Closed it. Sweat beaded on her forehead despite the cold. "Tell me," he said again. Gentler. Deadlier.
• "No," she whispered. The word fell out of her. "I... I didn't know. But Damian did. He felt it. He told me the bond felt thin. Like a thread. But he said we could make it work. He said three years would make it real."
• The confession hung in the air like smoke. Damian's face went white. Bloodless.
• "You don't get to-"
• "I do," Kieran said. He finally looked at his son. And his eyes weren't a father's eyes anymore. They were the Alpha's. Gold, molten, ancient. The eyes that had ruled this pack for twenty years. "You deceived her. You deceived the pack. That's cause enough under our law."
• He turned back to me. Held out his hand. Not to take me. To offer. Palm up. Waiting.
• "Selena," he said. My name steady in the chaos. "The law says you're bound until death. But the blood says otherwise. Your wolf knows it. I know it. The only question is what you choose."
• My heart hammered against my ribs. Revenge had been simple. Hurt Damian. Make him kneel. Walk away. This wasn't simple. This was choosing Kieran. Choosing war. Choosing to break pack law in front of everyone and watch the pieces fall.
• If I took his hand, Damian would challenge him. My sister would scream betrayal. The pack would split down the middle. Old wolves versus young. Blood versus blood.
• If I didn't... I'd be trapped. Bound to a man my wolf didn't want. Bound by paper and guilt and three years of lies. I'd die slowly, one day at a time.
• My sister saw my hesitation. She shoved the contract toward me. "Sign it again. Right now. Reaffirm it. Prove you choose him. Prove you don't want the Alpha."
• Damian held out a pen. His hand shook too. "Sign it, Sel," he said. His voice cracked. "You said you loved me. You said forever. Was that all lies? Was I always second best?"
• I looked at the pen. At the paper. At my name already there, three years younger, three years more naive. Three years before I knew what a true mate felt like.
• Then I looked at Kieran. At his outstretched hand. At the gold in his eyes that didn't hurt to look at. That felt like coming home after being lost.
• My wolf didn't howl for revenge anymore. She purred. Low. Deep. And pressed against me from inside, urging me forward. This way. Always this way.
• I reached out. Not for the pen. Not for the contract.
• My fingers slid into Kieran's palm. Warm. Solid. Real. The calluses on his skin from years of training and war.
• His fingers closed around mine. Tight. Like he'd been waiting to hold on.
• Damian made a sound like he'd been shot. Like the air left his lungs.
• My sister screamed, "You can't- That's illegal-"
• "I just did," I said. And the words felt like freedom. Like cutting chains. Like breathing for the first time.
• Kieran's thumb brushed my knuckles. Once. Then he pulled me to his side. Behind him. Out of reach. A wall of muscle and Alpha between me and the rest of the world.
• He looked at his son. At the contract still in my sister's shaking hand. "The challenge is declared," Kieran said. Voice calm. Final. No room left for argument. "For mate-right. For cause. Under Alpha law. You have until the full moon."
• Lightning flashed outside. Lit up the whole room white.
• And for one second, I saw it in Kieran's eyes. Not triumph. Not hunger. Fear. Deep and old.
• Because he'd just declared war on his own son. For me.
• The full moon was in seven days.
• And the pack was going to burn.