bChapter /bb45 /b

Fury? Fury is Lady Celestia’s mateb? /b

Fuck.

Suddenly, everything bfalls /binto ceb–/bNo wonder they both acted so strangely around me… stiff, awkward, irritated. The Moon Goddess really has one hell of a sense of humorb. /b

Whispers ripple through the pack like wildfire.

b“/bThey’re mates?”

“Lady Celestia… mated to a low–ranked pack warrior?”

“No, no. Fury’s not just any warrior–he’s the strongest one in the entire pack.”

“Strong or not, he’s still a nobody, not worthy of an Alpha King’s daughter.”

“I thought she’d end up with someone like Alpha Jack–bnot /bsome nobody.”

Laughter follows thatment–ugly and loud.

I nce at Lady Celestia, bjust /bin time to see her face flush a deep, furious red–not from bashfulness, but from pure embarrassment. The smug, proud smirk slips off her face like melting bwax/b. She looks like she wants to disappear… or murder someone. And unfortunately for Fury, all her burning hatrednds squarely on him, like he’s the reason her world bjust /bfell apart.

But even in the sea of judgmental whispers, my skin prickles with something else.

A presence. A stare, Unmoving, Cold,

It burns into me.

+15

I shift my gaze and find him–the man with the walking stick and those strange, unsettling eyes. He’s standing silently beside Celestia and the guards, but it’s not me he’s looking at. No–it’s my ne. His beyes /bbare /bbfixed /bon it bwith /ba bhunger /bthat sends a chill slicing down my spine.

Who the hell is he?

Before I can dwell on it, Lady Celestia’s irritating voice pulls me out of my thoughts.

“Well, let’s not waste any more time and get this over with,” she saysb, /bas if discussing the weather. “I, Lady Celestia, daughter of the Alpha King, reject—”

She pauses, smirking now, turning toward Fury like this bis /bsome twisted performance rather than the breaking of a sacred bond.

“-what’s your bname /bagain?”

Before Fury can answerb, /bbI /bstep forward, anger bburning /bthrough the fear wing at my chest.

“Why reject the one the Moon Goddess gave you?” I snap, ring at her. “So you can go after mine? You don’t deserve Fury, but the Goddess still gave him to you as your other half. You should be grateful, not acting like a spoiled brat.”

The entire clearing falls silent. Fury nces at me, clearly shocked.

But Lady Celestia?

Her re swings toward me, vicious and sharp enough to skins me alive, and I swear the air between us trembles. Her upper lip curls in disgust. “Shut your fucking mouth!” she hisses, practically spitting the words. “Jack is supposed to be mine. And today—today, I will have him. if he continues to refuse me, if you keep standing in my way…” Her voice drops into a dangerous purri. /i“Then i’ll be forced to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget.”

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‘the 2 neke is babout /bto be amend

straighten my bach and in bmy /bshin, Frefuse to show weakness, open any bmouth /bto speak, b

epitantur rejection, bLady /bCelestia,” Fury says suddenly, positioning himself between me and Celestia like a firing shield. “On bone /bcondition,” bhe /b

She banks. What condition?

“That you leave immediately without hurting bmy /bLuna.”

Celestia bscoffs/b. “I’m bnot /bnegotiating with a nobody,” she spits. “Mate or not,”

“Then don’t,” fury breplies /bwith a cold shrug. “But you know as well bas /bbI /bbdo /bif I don’t ept your rejection soon, our bond will only grow stronger. Our connection bwill /bdeepen That wouldn’t be good for you. Do you really want to be btied /bto a nobody forever?”

Fine, bshe /bbsnaps/b.

Fury nods. “I don’t have a name in particr. I was an orphan… the pack bnamed /bbme/b. They bcall /bbme /bFury. That bwill /bwork.”

Celestia swallows hard. Her voice trembles just slightly now. “, Lady bCelestia/b, bdaughter /bof the Alpha Kingb, /breject you, bFury/b, as my mate.”

The moment the words leave her mouth, Fury’s body jolts like he’s been shot. He staggers forward, clutching his chest as a low, painful sound escapes him. He drops to one bknee/b, face contorted in agony

Celestia can’t any better–bshe /bcries out and buckles, her body curling inward under the weight of the bond snapping. She turns toward him, her voice full of rage and desperation

“ept it! ept the fucking rejection, dammit!”

Fury breathes heavily, clearly fighting the pain. I see it in his eyes, the war–the hesitation.

“No, Fury,” I whisper, stepping closer, my hand brushing against his shoulder. “Don’t ept it. Don’t let her win like this.”

He looks bup /bat me, eyes glossy with unshed tears… but also bshining /bwith something else: relief.

And bthen/b, he exhales

“I,Fury,” he rasps, “ept byour /brejection”