My Fated Mate, My Coldest Enemy.

Aiden POV

The tires of my Aston Martin crunched over the gravel of the Blackwood Pack's private airfield, the sound echoing the grinding irritation in my jaw. I didn't want to be here. I didn't want this alliance, and I certainly didn't want a wife forced upon me by the council's archaic obsession with "political stability."

Emery Travis. The daughter of the Silvermoon Alpha.

A sneer curled my lip as I killed the engine. I had seen the photos Charlene had slipped onto my desk—grainy but damning images of my so-called bride entangled with other males at club openings and pack gatherings. She was loose. Disloyal. Everything an Alpha's mate should not be.

I wasn't here to welcome her. I was here to look her in the eye, deliver a formal Rejection that would shatter the treaty, and drive back to my tower where logic and business ruled, not ancient wolf politics.

The sleek white jet taxied to a halt, the Silvermoon crest gleaming on its tail. I stepped out of the car, adjusting my suit jacket, preparing my cold, rehearsed speech.

Then, the wind shifted.

It hit me like a physical blow—a scent so potent, so intoxicating, it nearly brought me to my knees. It was wild lavender, rain-soaked pine, and something sweet and electric that bypassed my nose and slammed directly into my soul.

My breath hitched. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic, thunderous rhythm that drowned out the whine of the jet engines.

Mine!

My Inner Wolf, usually a disciplined beast kept under strict control, erupted from the depths of my psyche. He didn't just speak; he roared, clawing at the walls of my mind with a possessive hunger I had never felt before. The world narrowed down to a singular point. The emptiness that had plagued me for twenty-eight years—the hollow space every wolf carries until they find their other half—vanished instantly, replaced by a profound, terrifying sense of peace.

No. It couldn't be.

I stared at the lowering stairs of the jet, horror warring with ecstasy. The Moon Goddess had a twisted sense of humor. The woman I came to reject, the woman I despised... was my Fated Mate.

A slender figure emerged from the cabin. Even from this distance, the pull was magnetic, an invisible tether yanking me toward her. She was breathtaking, far more stunning than the photos suggested, with hair like spun gold catching the afternoon sun. My feet moved on their own, my Wolf demanding I go to her, claim her, mark her.

Mate. Mate. Mate.

She reached the bottom of the stairs. I was about to sprint across the tarmac, dignity be damned, when a man followed her down.

I froze.

He was tall, broad-shouldered—a warrior. And he was too close. Far too close.

I watched, my blood turning to ice, as the male placed a hand on her arm. It was a gesture of familiarity, of comfort. He leaned in, whispering something in her ear, his body