“We found out that we were mates five years ago,” Asher said at last, his voice tight, stripped of its former authority. “The night she turned eighteen. The bond snapped into place like it was always meant to be there.”
His jaw flexed, eyes darkening with something that looked dangerously close to regret.
“But her wolf never emerged,” he continued. “Nothing. No shift. No link. No strength for a Luna bond.”
Talon felt Fenrir stir violently inside him.
“I am the Alpha of this pack,” Asher said, lifting his chin as if repeating the title might justify what followed. “I needed a strong and capable Luna. One who could stand beside me, protect the pack, bear the bond without breaking. I had no choice.”
The words landed like a blade.
“I rejected her.”
Silence followed—thick, suffocating, d
