The air in the Blackwood estate was thick with the scent of expensive bourbon and something far more primal, the musk of a predator.
Alessandra Romano sat on the edge of the massive, silk-draped bed, her fingers trembling as they smoothed the lace of her white gown. This was the moment she had been trained for since she was a child. The union of the Romano Syndicate and the Blackwood Pack. A merger of lead and claw.
But for Alessandra, it was more. The moment Killian Blackwood had touched her hand at the altar, a golden spark had ignited in her blood. The Mate Bond. She wasn't just a political pawn anymore; she was his. She was a woman who had finally found her home.
And she had a secret. A secret that made her heart hammer against her ribs. Underneath the tight silk of her corset, her body was already changing. She had found out only hours before the ceremony. She was carrying his child, a miracle that wasn't supposed to happen between a human and a Lycan.
The heavy oak doors swung open with a violent thud.
Killian stood in the doorway. He hadn't bothered to remove his tuxedo jacket, but his tie was ripped open, and his amber eyes were glowing with a terrifying, cold light. There was no warmth in his gaze, no recognition of the bond that was currently screaming in Alessandra's ears.
"Killian," she whispered, rising to her feet. "You're late. The guests have been gone for hours."
He didn't move toward her. He stayed in the shadows of the doorway, looking at her as if she were a stain on his floor. "I wasn't celebrating, Alessandra. I was thinking."
"Thinking about what?" she asked, taking a hesitant step forward. The bond pulsed, urging her to touch him, to soothe the jagged energy radiating off his shoulders.
"About the mistake I almost made," he snapped. The sound was like a whip cracking in the quiet room. "The elders are right. You are a Romano. A human. A fragile, breakable thing that knows nothing of the moon or the hunt. My pack needs a Luna who can bleed for them on the battlefield, not a doll who needs to be protected in a glass case."
Alessandra froze. The air in her lungs felt like ice.
"Killian, what are you saying? The bond... you felt it at the altar. I know you did."
Killian let out a low, mocking growl that vibrated through the floorboards. "A chemical fluke. A trick of the blood. I am an Alpha, Alessandra. I choose my destiny. And I will not choose a mate who makes my pack look weak."
He stepped into the light, and for a moment, she saw the monster the world feared. His jaw was set in stone, his eyes devoid of the man she thought she had seen during their brief courtship.
"I, Alpha Killian Blackwood, reject you, Alessandra Romano, as my Luna and my Mate."
The words hit her like a physical blow. Alessandra gasped, her hand flying to her stomach. It felt as if a hot iron had been driven through her chest, severing the golden thread that had tied her soul to his. The pain was blinding, a roar of agony that made her knees buckle.
She collapsed onto the bed, gasping for air, her vision blurring with tears she refused to let fall.
Killian didn't flinch. He didn't reach out to catch her. He simply watched her suffer with a detached, cruel curiosity.
"The alliance is dead," he said coldly. "Your father has been informed. You have one hour to gather your things and leave Blackwood territory. If you are still here by dawn, my guards will hunt you as a trespasser."
"Killian, wait," she rasped, her voice breaking. She wanted to tell him. She wanted to scream that she was carrying his heir, a child that would be the bridge between their worlds.
But as she looked up at him at the cold, arrogant man who had just ripped her soul apart because he thought she was weak, the words died in her throat.
If he knew about the baby, he would take it. He would raise her child in this cold, heartless pack house, and he would discard her like trash. He didn't deserve to know. He didn't deserve a son or a daughter from a woman he deemed "prey."
A new, cold fire ignited in Alessandra's veins, dulling the ache of the rejection. She stood up, her movements slow and deliberate. She didn't look like a broken bride anymore. She looked like a Romano.
She reached for the clasp of the legendary Blackwood diamonds around her neck and ripped them off, the silver chain snapping with a sharp ping. She tossed them onto the floor at his feet.
"You think I'm the weak one, Killian?" she said, her voice dropping into a deadly, quiet register. "You just made the biggest mistake of your life. You rejected a Queen because you were afraid of a woman."
She walked past him, her shoulder brushing his. The contact sent a final, agonizing jolt through her, but she didn't stumble.
"Keep your pack, Alpha," she whispered as she reached the door. "Keep your traditions and your dying borders. But remember this night. Because one day, you're going to realize that the only thing that could have saved you was the human you just threw away."
She didn't look back. She walked out into the hallway, past the smirking guards and the whispering servants. She walked out into the torrential rain, the white silk of her wedding dress turning gray with mud.
She hailed a black sedan waiting at the edge of the property. As the car sped away, Alessandra looked out at the dark silhouette of the Blackwood forest.
She placed her hand over her womb, her eyes turning into flint.
"It's just us now, little one," she whispered. "And I promise you... the world will bow to us."