I'd been waiting for my mate since I turned eighteen. Four years. That's four years of watching the other girls in the pack find theirs while I just stood beside them, smiling, pretending I wasn't constantly wondering when it would finally be my turn. Tonight was supposed to be that night.

I was standing near the entrance of the ceremonial hall with Mira, trying hard not to ruin the dress she'd basically forced me to borrow.

"You're doing it again," she said.

"Doing what?"

"Pulling at the dress."

I looked down at my hands. Yeah, she was right. "I told you it doesn't fit me properly."

"It fits you fine. You're just nervous."

"I am not nervous." Mira just gave me a look. I sighed. "Okay, fine. Maybe a little."

She laughed, fixing one of the loose curls around my face. "You're gonna be fine. And whoever he is, he'll be lucky."

I smiled at that, wanting to believe her. Being an Omega in the Silver Moon Pack came with plenty of reminders about your place. We weren't mistreated, exactly, but nobody really expected much from us, either. The important jobs belonged to the Alphas, Betas, and warriors. Omegas were mostly just expected to stay out of the way and be useful where we could. I'd gotten used to it. What I hadn't gotten used to was feeling like there was something wrong with me. Most girls my age had already found their mates. I hadn't. My mother always used to tell me the Moon Goddess didn't make mistakes. I held onto that whenever someone asked why I was still unmated. She's been gone twelve years now, but I still remembered her voice. *Your mate will find you when the time is right, Arielle.* I believed her.

When the Alpha stepped onto the platform up front, the chatter died down gradually. Mira squeezed my hand.

"Good luck."

"Don't leave me."

"I'll be right here."

The ceremony started. Names were called one after another. Some people cheered. Couples hugged. One guy almost wiped out on a chair trying to get to his mate. I laughed along with everyone else. Then the Alpha looked down at the list in his hand.

"Arielle Vale."

My smile vanished. Mira's grip tightened around mine. "Oh."

I stared at the Alpha.

"Step forward, Arielle."

I let go of Mira and walked to the center of the hall. There were way too many eyes watching me. I tried to ignore them. Then it hit me. The scent. Pine and something else, something warm. I didn't even have to ask who it was; my wolf, Luna, was already awake. *Mate.* I turned toward it. Alpha Kaelen Ryder was standing on the other side of the hall. My brain just stopped for a second. Kaelen. Our Alpha. The guy practically every woman in Silver Moon secretly crushed on, even if nobody admitted it. And apparently, he was my mate.

I looked at him, waiting for him to come to me. He didn't move.

The Alpha called his name. "Kaelen Ryder, step forward."

Kaelen walked toward us. The closer he got, the stronger the pull became. Luna was basically begging me to close the distance. He stopped right in front of me, not smiling, saying nothing. The Alpha looked back and forth between us.

"Kaelen Ryder, do you accept Arielle Vale as your mate?"

I waited. Just one word. That's all I needed. *Yes.*

Kaelen looked right at me. "I reject you as my mate."

I just stared at him. For a moment, I honestly thought I'd heard him wrong. "What?"

His voice was quieter this time. "I reject you, Arielle."

Whispers started behind me. Someone said my name. I looked around the hall, desperate to find just one familiar face that would tell me this wasn't real. Mira looked horrified. I looked back at Kaelen.

"Why?" He didn't answer. "Kaelen, why?"

His face was stone. "You're not suitable to be my Luna."

A small laugh escaped me before I could stop it. "That's your reason?"

He looked away. That hurt more than the actual rejection. "You could have told me privately."

"I couldn't."

"Why?" He looked back at me. His expression was weird. Not disgust or anger. It looked like fear. I didn't understand it. Before I could ask again, a sharp pain sliced through my side. I grabbed my ribs, gasping. The pain was gone almost as fast as it came. I straightened up. Nobody else seemed to notice, except Kaelen. His eyes were glued to the hand I'd put on my side.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"What happened, Arielle?"

"I said nothing." I stepped back. He reached out, but I moved away from him. "Don't."

His hand dropped. For the first time since I'd come in, he looked genuinely worried. Then an elder called his name. He turned to them. They were speaking quietly, but I saw Kaelen's face change as he listened. He looked at me, then the elders, then back to me. Something was seriously off. I wanted to ask what was going on, but I couldn't stand there anymore. Everyone had seen enough. I turned toward the exit.

"Arielle." I ignored him. "Arielle, wait."

I kept walking. I was almost at the doors when someone spoke behind me. Not Kaelen. It was one of the elders.

"Don't let her leave the hall."

I stopped. It wasn't loud, but the hall was quiet enough for me to hear it. I turned around. The elder was looking straight at Kaelen. Kaelen's face changed again.

"Why?" I asked. No answer. I looked from person to person. "Why can't I leave?"

The elder stood up. Kaelen moved toward him. "Enough."

I looked at Kaelen. "Enough of what?" He didn't answer. I pointed at myself. "You reject me in front of everyone, refuse to say why, and now you're telling people not to let me leave. Can someone please explain what is happening?"

Kaelen got closer. "Go home."

"Why?"

"Just go."

"No."

His eyes narrowed. "Arielle."

"No." I'd spent years being told what to do because I was an Omega. I wasn't going to let him do it tonight. "If you don't want me as your mate, fine. You made that very clear. But you don't get to start ordering me around just because you suddenly decided there's something you don't want me to know."

Nobody spoke. Then the hall doors opened. A warrior rushed inside, looking directly at Kaelen. "Alpha, we have a problem."

Kaelen turned. "What happened?"

The warrior hesitated. "We found a dead man outside the Omega quarters."

The room erupted into whispers. Kaelen's attention snapped back to me. "Where exactly?"

"Behind Arielle's house."

My stomach dropped. The warrior reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver pendant. I knew that pendant. I'd seen it once before, in an old photo my mother had kept hidden in her bedroom. The warrior held it out. "His hand was closed around this."

Kaelen took the pendant, stared at it, then looked at me. I had never seen him look at anyone the way he was looking at me right now.

"Where did you get that?" I asked.

He didn't answer. I stepped closer. "Kaelen."

His fingers closed around the pendant. "You need to leave the pack tonight."

I stared at him. "You just rejected me."

"I know."

"And now you're telling me to run?"

"Yes."

"From who?"

Kaelen looked at the elders, then back at me. His next words made the entire room silent. "From the people who have been looking for you since the day you were born."