HUCK

Huck,

I do not want to be with a valley wolf. I do not want to give up my life to live with you in squalor. I will be mated to Alpha Titan under the mid-winter full moon, as is customary. Any further contact will actively put us both at risk. If you care for me at all, you'll stay away.

I wish you well.

The note had been hanging from the same tree I'd pinned her against the night before. I wasn't sure which to regret more: losing control or regaining it. If I'd taken her, she would be with me now. A few more seconds and my bite would have pierced her skin, claiming her as mine forever.

I closed my eyes and drew in a slow breath, remembering the image of her, totally undone, lipstick smeared to reveal those swollen, pink, parted lips. The way she'd dragged her nails down my back, clawing me closer like the greedy girl she was. I could see why people spoiled her. She was so hard to refuse. Even my wolf could deny her nothing. Somehow, she'd stopped him with a word.

The magnolias around the courtyard were in full bloom, making them the perfect place to hide. I sat amongst the blossoms, eyes fixed on the French doors, willing her to change her mind and exit. Something about the moon's reflection in the glass seemed to taunt me. She called me a thief, but I'd never stolen anything that wasn't rightfully mine. She was rightfully mine, but if I claimed her, hundreds would suffer.

I shook my head and read over the note again, trying to accept the unacceptable. She was making her choice. It was the only choice to make. I'd known that from the beginning...but like this? I wish you well? Did she mean in my squalor?

My wolf stirred, sensing something wasn't right, and my gaze shot up to her bedroom window just in time to see a shadow cast across the curtains. Unless Brooke had suddenly become much broader, it wasn't hers.

She wasn't coming, and there was a man in her room. She'd made her choice, and he was in her room.

My lips thinned. My jaw clenched. Every muscle in my body tightened, and my wolf raged to be free. I took several deep, slow breaths, fighting for calm and losing. There was so much blocking me from her, but there was nowhere near enough to keep me away. It would be too easy to enter through the secret tunnels, kill him, and claim what was mine.

But everything she said was true. I couldn't give her comfort. I couldn't dress her in fine clothes. I couldn't even guarantee to keep her alive. She deserved all that and more, but I had nothing. He'd taken everything.

With every ounce of strength I possessed, I jumped from the tree and walked away. I gave her what she wanted because it was all I had to give.

* * *

"You're back?" Jewel said, rushing to greet me.

I ignored her.

"Huck?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Did something happen?"

Plenty had happened. Brooke had happened. Her smile. Her laugh. Her wit. Her temper. Everything about her drove me insane, and it wasn't just the bond. It wasn't the pull. It was her. And now, she would spend her life with Titan. His mark would be on her neck. Her belly would swell with his child, and I would spend the rest of my life being eaten alive by nightmares about conception.

Jewel stepped into my path. "What happened?"

"I fell in love with her."

"Duh. But why are you back?"

"She rejected me."

"No kidding."

I growled and spun on my heels, wondering what in the hell had ever possessed me to come here. It was too soon, and Jewel wasn't helping. I didn't want to explain that I'd been robbed again. That I'd let it happen. That I wasn't okay.

"Where are you going?"

"For a drink!"

"Since when do you drink?"

"Since today."

Never one to take a hint, Jewel followed me to the low town, to the little wooden building called The Watering Hole, where they sold booze strong enough to kill a human and get a werewolf a nice buzz. The sun hadn't yet risen, and the few patrons still around were passed out along the sidewalk out front. It wasn't uncommon. Many in the low town struggled with addiction. Far more than in the valley, where the wolves were used to having nothing. Not everyone in the low town had started out that way. Some had even been wealthy once, before they broke the ridiculous rules and were cast out. I'd never understood them as much as I did at that moment.

I slipped through the window and snatched two large bottles from the top shelf, not even caring what they were. I needed something to numb me. I was shaking, about to explode, and I wasn't even sure how it would look if I did. Would I break down and sob? I'd always had a high tolerance for pain. No cut, gash, or broken bone had ever made me cry. But this...

Or would I finally snap and rip him apart, killing him, myself, and everyone I loved?

I found a spot in the alley, sat down, and tried to drown. I drank like it was a punishment, chugging the liquid fire until vomit filled my throat. It was necessary if I wanted it to work. My wolf made my blood burn too hot, obliterating the alcohol before it could make it anywhere near my brain.

Jewel sat down across from me and reached for the bottle. "The least you can do is share."

I swiped the back of my hand across my mouth, then rolled the second bottle over to her. "If I run out, you're getting more."

She shrugged, cracked it open, took a swig, then grimaced. "Goddess that's nasty." She looked around, her nose curling more as she took in our surroundings. "You really picked a great place to wallow in the shit."

She wasn't wrong. "Then go home."

"Not until you come with me," she said.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

I took another pull from the bottle. "It doesn't feel right."

"Facts don't care about feelings, Huck."

"It's a fact that she's supposed to be mine."

"You knew this would happen eventually."

I took another drink, numbing the sting of her words.

"She's a fancy bitch, and she was never going to give up her fancy shit."

"Watch it," I growled.

She rolled her eyes. "Am I wrong?"

"Stop talking."

"Even if she wasn't, Titan would murder you, probably even her."

"I know that!" I snapped. "That's why I'm sitting here. It would be nice if you'd stop fucking talking."

She sighed, leaned back against the wall, then quietly nursed her drink without saying another word. But she didn't go away. Jewel wouldn't, and if the roles were reversed, neither would I. We'd been wallowing in the shit together since the beginning, and we never did it alone.

The stench was made worse by the rising sun. It dried the waste of the night before into the pavement, dousing the world in the smell of hot garbage. We watched the people open their shops, the low wolves run their errands, and the bar owner chase off a man he assumed stole his merchandise. It was hard to care about any of it. It felt like I'd died, for real this time, and not even duty could bring my body to rise and start another day.

That is, until the sentinels arrived.

"Five hundred dollars to the best fighter here!" one of them shouted, drawing the attention of everyone within earshot. "Winner will have the honor and prestige of serving as bodyguard to the future luna!"

"Well, isn't this interesting," Jewel said.

Men who'd gone into the bar reemerged, and a different sentinel walked around with paper and pen, asking everyone if they'd like to sign up to compete. It was bizarre. The only time I'd seen sentinels in the low town was when someone was about to get arrested, usually for fighting in the street.

"Huck..." Jewel gave me the look, telling me to stop before I'd even had the chance to start.

"This is fate," I rasped.

"It doesn't matter."

"How can you say that when you know what this means?" I threw out a hand, signifying the scene before us. "Someone wants her dead, and sentinels came here to find a bodyguard. Where the people are desperate and willing to do anything to make it back on top, no questions asked." I stood.

Jewel jumped up and blocked my path. "Don't do it." Her gaze searched mine, begging me to listen. "You won't survive it."

"This is fate, Jewel." It was no coincidence that I'd come here, waited here, been here for this exact moment. This was the moon goddess, bending me to her will, forcing me in the direction she wanted.

"It's suicide," she snapped. "And for what? She rejected you. Not once but twice. She made her choice."

Behind her, the sign-up line was steadily dwindling. Any one of them could be put in charge of guarding her. Any one of them looked more than willing to do a shit job. Jewel was right. Brooke had made her choice, but that didn't mean I could just turn away from her. "Go back to the valley."

She shook her head. "I won't."

"You will." I gripped her shoulders, and a million memories echoed in the space between us. This could be the last time we ever stood face to face. The last time she ever scolded me for my recklessness. "I have to do this, and I need to know you'll protect the valley. Promise me."

Her lips curled into a snarl, then in a sudden move, she wrapped me into a crushing embrace. "You are such an idiot."

"But you love me anyway."

She sighed, pressing her cheek to my chest, refusing to let me go. "I do."

I held her for a moment, aware of how much we both needed it. But when the line was almost gone, I knew our time was up. "I have to go."

She released me. "If you die, I will kill you."

"Understood."

Then I left her, and it felt like I'd just changed the course of history. I'd had a choice, the valley or Brooke, and I'd chosen.

"Name?" the sentinel asked.

I glanced back at the alley, knowing Jewel was still watching. She was right. This was the one; the decision that ended me. But I'd been dead since the day I was born. There were worse things than death.

"Name?" he repeated louder.

"Ghost."

He lifted a brow, but he didn't question me. He jotted it down, then waved me to the sidelines. "When we call your names, please come to the center of the road!" his voice boomed above the chatter. He glanced at his paper. "Bear and Alder!"

A monster with limbs like tree trunks paired up against a man a third his size, and it only took a second before the next set of names was called. The matchups made no sense. The weak quickly fell, dwindling the horde. I took down men too old, boys too young, all the while waiting for the moment they pinned me against the beast. He laughed as he worked, plowing through one man and then the next with little restraint. No way would I let him anywhere near Brooke. Just the thought made me itch to rip his head from his shoulders and mount them atop the castle gates.

"Bear and Ghost!"

We faced off, and the sentinel gave the signal.

The mighty meathead's meaty hands fisted, and he rushed forward to add me to his pile of victories.

I stormed in, meeting his attack with one of my own. He swung. I dodged. He lunged. I dipped. He stumbled. I kicked, sending him face forward into the cement.

The sentinel's brows lifted. "Well done."

The man called Bear wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, then pushed to his feet, turning back as if I'd just stolen his last drop of honey. "I'm not done."

"You are," the sentinel said, sounding bored. "But if it makes you feel better, there are two positions available. You're both hired."

My eyes narrowed. "Then why have us fight?"

"To determine who gets which shift." The sentinel looked up from his paper. "Last night, there was an attempt on the luna's life. It's only fitting that the best fighter be placed during the most critical hours." He scribbled something more on his paper, then handed it to another sentinel and gave us his full attention. "Now, gentlemen, there is still the business of cleaning you up and explaining expectations. Should you meet the criteria, you will start this afternoon. Any questions?"

"What criteria?" I asked, trying to keep the growl from my voice.

He studied me closer. "Criteria determined by your employer, the first of which being that you don't ask questions. Is that a problem?"

I shook my head; the message was clear.

Someone wanted her dead, and they'd just hired me to let it happen.