ETHAN'S POV

The moment she looked at me, everything changed.

The bond hit like a physical blow. It crashed through my chest, hot and blinding, wrapping around my heart and squeezing until I could not breathe. My wolf surged forward, howling one word over and over.

Mate. Mate. MATE.

No. This was not possible.

I stared at the girl standing in front of my desk. She was small, thin, with dark hair that looked like it had been dyed too many times. Her green eyes were wide with shock and fear. Silver chains burned her wrists, leaving angry red marks. Someone had hit her. The bruise was already forming on her cheek.

And she was Moonstone.

The daughter of the Alpha who destroyed my pack. Who killed my parents. Who took everything from me.

And fate thought she should be my mate.

My wolf did not care about any of that. He only cared that she was ours. He pushed against my control, demanding I go to her. Demanding I take those chains off. Demanding I kill whoever had hurt her.

I shoved him down hard.

"Get out," I said to the enforcers. My voice came out rough, barely controlled.

The tall one hesitated. "Alpha, are you sure? She could be dangerous."

I turned my glare on him. "Out. Now."

He bowed his head quickly and left, closing the door behind him. The other two followed. The girl and I were alone.

She had not moved. She just stood there, trembling, staring at me like I might kill her at any second. The bond pulsed between us. I could feel her terror. Her exhaustion. Her desperate need to run.

And underneath it all, I felt her wolf reaching for mine.

I clenched my hands on the desk so hard the wood cracked. This could not be happening. Not now. Not with her.

"What is your name?" I forced the words out.

"Kaye," she whispered. "Kaye Muani."

Muani. The name I had spent six years hating. The name that haunted my nightmares. And now fate had bound me to someone who carried it.

"You are the daughter of Alpha Muani," I said. It was not a question.

"Yes." Her voice was so quiet I almost did not hear it.

"The pack that murdered my family."

She flinched. "My father did not do it. I know that is what everyone thinks, but it is not true. He would never—"

"Do not lie to me." I walked around the desk, moving closer. She took a step back, and the chains rattled. "Your pack attacked us six years ago. They set fires. They killed my parents while they slept. And then they burned their own packhouse to cover their tracks."

"No." Kaye shook her head. "That is not what happened. Someone else set those fires. Someone framed my father. I was there. I saw—"

"You were there?" The words came out as a growl. My wolf surged again, angry now. She watched our parents die and did nothing.

"I was seventeen," Kaye said quickly. "I did not know what was happening until it was too late. I saw the fires start. I saw rogues attacking from everywhere. My father tried to fight them off, but there were too many. He told me to run. He said someone betrayed us and I needed to survive."

"How convenient," I said coldly. "Your father dies a hero and you escape without a scratch."

"I have this." She turned slightly, and I saw the edge of a scar on her left shoulder. It disappeared under her shirt. "I got it jumping through a window when the packhouse was burning. I ran for miles through the forest until I could not run anymore. And when I finally stopped, everything I knew was gone."

The bond made me want to believe her. It made me want to reach out and touch that scar, to comfort her, to tell her it would be okay.

But I knew better than to trust fate.

"You expect me to believe your father was innocent?" I asked.

"Yes." Kaye met my eyes, and for a moment I saw something other than fear. I saw determination. "Because it is the truth. My father would never hurt innocent people. Someone manipulated him. Someone used him as a weapon and then threw him away when they were done."

"Who?"

"I do not know," she admitted. "I was just a kid. But I know my father. And I know he did not do this."

I studied her face. She looked like she believed what she was saying. But that did not make it true. It just made her naive.

Or a very good liar.

The bond pulsed again, stronger this time. I could feel my wolf fighting my control. He wanted out. He wanted to claim her, to mark her, to make sure everyone knew she was ours.

But she was not ours. She was the enemy.

"It does not matter what you believe," I said. "You are Moonstone. That makes you guilty."

"So you are going to kill me." Her voice was flat now. Like she had been expecting this all along.

I should. That was the plan. Find a Moonstone survivor, interrogate them, execute them. It was justice. It was what my parents deserved.

But if I killed her, the bond would destroy me.

Killing your fated mate was like ripping out your own soul. The pain never stopped. Some wolves went insane from it. Others just faded away until they were nothing but empty shells.

I had rebuilt myself after my parents died. I had made myself strong. I could not afford to break again.

"No," I said finally. "I am not going to kill you."

Relief flooded her face. "Thank you. I—"

"But you are not leaving either." I cut her off. "You will stay here. In this packhouse. You will work as a servant. You will be watched every moment of every day. And if you try to run, I will hunt you down myself. Do you understand?"

The relief disappeared. "You are keeping me prisoner."

"You are alive," I said. "That is more than you deserve."

"For how long?"

"As long as I decide."

Kaye's hands clenched into fists. The chains rattled. "That is not fair."

"Fair?" I laughed, but there was no humor in it. "You want to talk about fair? My parents burned alive because of your pack. My entire life was destroyed. And now fate decided to bind me to you. So no, this is not fair. But you do not get to complain about it."

She looked down at the floor. I felt her emotions through the bond. Anger. Despair. And underneath it all, a bone-deep exhaustion that made my wolf whimper.

Stop it, I told him. She is not ours. She will never be ours.

But the bond did not care what I wanted. It just kept pulling me toward her.

"What about the bond?" Kaye asked quietly.

"What about it?"

She looked up at me. "Are you going to reject me?"

The question hung in the air between us. Rejection was possible. Rare and painful, but possible. I could stand in front of my pack and formally reject her. The bond would break. We would both suffer for a while, but eventually it would fade.

My wolf snarled at the thought. No. Never. She is ours.

But she was not ours. She was Moonstone.

"No," I heard myself say. "I am not rejecting you."

Hope flickered in her eyes. "Then you are accepting the bond?"

"I did not say that either." I crossed my arms. "The bond exists. I cannot change that. But I do not have to claim you. I do not have to mark you or make you my Luna. You will live here as a servant. Nothing more."

The hope died. "You are going to keep me prisoner and keep the bond active?"

"Yes."

"That is cruel." Her voice shook. "The bond will hurt. For both of us. Every day. You know that."

"I know." I did not let any emotion show on my face. "But I do not care."

That was a lie. I already cared more than I wanted to. The bond was making sure of that.

"Why?" Kaye whispered. "If you hate me so much, why not just reject me and be done with it?"

Because rejecting you would break me, I thought. And I cannot afford to be broken again.

But I did not say that out loud.

"Because you are going to tell me everything you know about that night," I said instead. "Every detail. Every person involved. And when I have the information I need, then I will decide what to do with you."

"I already told you everything."

"No, you did not." I walked closer to her. She did not back away this time. "You said someone betrayed your pack. Who? You said your father tried to fight the rogues off. Which rogues? Where did they come from? Who was leading them?"

"I do not know," Kaye said. "I was seventeen and terrified. I was not paying attention to details. I just ran."

"Then you will stay here until you remember." I went to the door and opened it. Lucas was standing in the hallway, waiting. His eyes widened slightly when he saw me. He felt the bond too.

"Alpha," Lucas said carefully. "Is everything okay?"

No, I wanted to say. Nothing is okay. My fated mate is the daughter of my enemy and I do not know what to do.

But I could not say that. Not to Lucas. Not to anyone.

"Take her to the servants' quarters," I said. "Get those chains off. Give her food and water. And make sure someone watches her."

Lucas nodded. He looked at Kaye with something that might have been sympathy. "Come with me."

Kaye did not move for a moment. She just stared at me with those green eyes, and I felt every emotion running through her. Fear. Anger. Sadness. And something else. Something that felt like longing.

The bond was affecting her too.

Good. Let her suffer like I was suffering.

"Go," I said.

She finally walked out of my office. Lucas led her down the hallway. I watched until they disappeared around a corner.

Then I closed the door and leaned against it, breathing hard.

My wolf was howling. The bond was screaming at me that I had just hurt our mate. That I was a fool for pushing her away.

Maybe I was a fool.

But I would rather be a fool than a traitor to my parents' memory.

Even if it killed me.