Kieran's POV

I threw the glass against the wall and watched it shatter into a thousand pieces.

The sound was satisfying but it did nothing to calm the storm raging inside me.I sat on the edge of my bed staring out the large windows of my chamber and I could still smell her scent lingering in my chambers even though she had been gone for hours. Peach and lavender, and it was driving me insane.

Every time I closed my eyes I could see her face again. The way her eyes had widened when I commanded her to look up. The way her whole body had trembled when she stood in front of me. The sound of her heartbeat racing so fast I thought it might burst from her chest.

She had been terrified of me. But underneath that fear I had seen something else. Deep sadness that seemed to go all the way to her soul. It made something twist painfully in my chest and I hated that feeling.

I wanted to grab her. I wanted to pull her against me and claim her right there. The pull had been so strong that for a moment I almost gave in to it. And almost forgot why I could never allow myself to have a mate again.

Mate.My wolf stirred restlessly in my mind. She is our mate. Why did you reject her?

I clenched my jaw and tried to push him back down. "Leave me alone."

You felt it too. The pull. She belongs to us. My wolf paced in my mind growing more agitated. We should claim her and make her ours.

"We can never make that mistake again," I said through gritted teeth. "It's a risk we can't afford."

What risk? She is perfect for us. I can smell her innocence. She would give us strong pups.

"I said leave me alone!" I shouted into the empty room.

You're being a fool, Kieran. She's ours. The Moon Goddess gave her to us.

"I said shut up."

My wolf wanted to find her and claim what was ours. He continued to pace and snarl in my mind but I pushed him deeper down where he could not reach me. I had practice controlling him over the years.

I gripped the bedsheet in my hands until my knuckles turned white. The fabric began to tear under my claws.

A knock at my door interrupted my internal battle. Only one person would dare disturb me at this hour.

"Enter," I called out.

Damien walked into my chamber without waiting for permission. We had grown up together in this pack house. He was the closest thing I had to a friend and the only person who could enter my room without knocking. His loyalty had never wavered even when I had become the monster I was today.

He looked at me sitting on my bed facing the window. His eyes went to my hands still gripping the torn bedsheet.

"Having those nightmares again?" he asked quietly.

"No."

Damien raised an eyebrow. "Look at your hands Kieran. You only grip the sheets like that when you're thinking about that night."

I looked down at my hands. My claws had extended without me realizing it.

"You only do that when you're thinking about that night," he continued.

"You don't know anything," I said, but I released the sheet anyway.

"I know you better than anyone," Damien said, stepping closer. "I've been by your side for twenty-eight years. I know when something is eating at you."

I let out a long breath and finally released the destroyed fabric. "Fine. I was thinking about it."

"What triggered the nightmares this time?" he asked, sitting in the chair across from my bed.

"Nothing," I said quickly. "They just came back."

Damien studied my face for a long moment. "Is this connected to the breeder girl?"

I stiffened. "Where is that coming from?"

"I'm just assuming," he said with a shrug. "Because you still haven't explained to me why you want to kill her without even touching her first. That's not like you."

I stood up and walked to the window, putting distance between us. "She wasn't attractive to me."

"That's definitely not true," Damien said immediately. "Everyone who saw her knows she's more beautiful than any of the others who came before her."

He was right, and I hated that he was right. She was stunning in every way. Her face was perfect, with high cheekbones and full lips that I had wanted to kiss the moment I saw them. Her body was curved in all the right places, and that dress had shown off every inch of her perfectly. And her scent - God, her scent had made my wolf go crazy.

Even now, just thinking about her made my body react. I wanted her with an intensity that scared me.

"She's wolfless," I said finally, trying to sound casual. "We can't keep someone so weak."

"But we already knew she was wolfless before she came here," Damien pointed out. "Her father made that clear."

I spun around to face him, my temper flaring. "Enough. Don't question my authority."

Damien held up his hands in surrender, but his eyes were still curious. "I'm not questioning you. I'm just trying to understand."

"There's nothing to understand," I snapped. "Go and prepare for her execution tomorrow."

"Kieran-"

"I said go. Now."

Damien looked like he wanted to argue, but he knew better than to push me when I was in this mood. He bowed his head respectfully.

"Yes, Alpha," he said quietly, and left the room.

The moment the door closed, I slumped back onto my bed and buried my face in my hands. My wolf was prowling inside me, angry and restless. The mate bond was pulling at me, trying to draw me toward her, and it was taking everything I had to resist it.

I stood up and walked to my punching bag, throwing punches until my knuckles bled and my shoulders burned. But no amount of physical pain could quiet the voice in my head that kept whispering her name.

Mate,my wolf said again. Don't do this.

"I have to," I said through gritted teeth as I hit the bag again.

She's innocent.

"She's dangerous," I corrected. "The bond is dangerous."

You're making a mistake.

"I'm preventing one."

I kept punching until I couldn't lift my arms anymore, until sweat was pouring down my face and my entire body ached. Only then did I finally stop and lean against the wall, gasping for breath.

Tomorrow, she would be executed and I would never have to risk repeating what happened seven years ago.

It was the right choice. The only choice.

Even if it killed me to make it.

I walked back to my bed and sat down heavily, staring out at the moon. Somewhere below me, in the cold darkness of the dungeons, my mate was probably crying herself to sleep. A part of me wanted to go to her.

But I couldn't.

The mate bond could pull at me all it wanted. My wolf could beg and plead and rage inside my head.

But the choice is already made.

She has to die!