"Aria," he said softly. "Today is your birthday."
It wasn't a question, but I nodded nevertheless.
"The moon is full tonight," he added, his voice quiet. "You will attend the ceremony."
"Of course, Elder," I replied, puzzled. All eighteen-year-olds attended the ceremony. It was essential.
He leaned in, smelling gently. "You already feel it, don't you? "The change."
My heartbeat skipped. "What change?"
Elder Malin's eyes narrowed. "Interesting. "Very interesting." He reached inside his pocket and retrieved a little pouch. "Wear this tonight."
I accepted it hesitantly. Inside was a simple moonstone pendant with a leather cord.
"But this is for—"
"Wear it," he interjected. "Hide it under your clothes if you must, but wear it."
Moonstones were precious. They aided our connection to the Moon Goddess during ceremonies. However, they were only given to wolves from influential families (Alphas and Betas). Not Omegas like me.
"Why?" I questioned.
Elder Malin glanced at Mira before returning his attention to me. "Because someone is harboring secrets about you, child. And tonight, those secrets may be revealed."

~

I never mattered in our pack. Omegas like me serve, submit, and survive. We don't dream of love. We don't dream of power.

She was the future Luna. I was just the girl who watched from the shadows.

But everything changed on my 18th birthday.

I felt the bond. I met my mate.

One of the Alpha's sons.

But the Alpha has triplets, and I felt the mate bond with all three and it seems the three of them felt it too — three perfect warriors, three powerful Alphas, three secrets buried beneath the surface.

One of them is my destiny.

One of them is lying.

And one of them might be the death of me.

The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes... but this time, I think she might've given me too much to handle.

The knife sliced across my hand, blood dripping onto the ancient stone altar. Around me, the surviving members of seven packs watched in silence as I finished the Blood Moon ritual that no female Alpha had ever performed.


"With my blood, I call to the Moon Goddess," I said, my voice stronger than I felt. "Show us the path through darkness."


The blood on the stone started to glow with an eerie red light. We had dodged the human-wolf hybrids by fleeing into the sacred caves beneath the mountain, but we couldn't hide forever. Our only hope was the old magic of the Blood Moon ritual.


The crimson full moon hung straight overhead through the cave's opening, bathing us all in its strange light. My heart pounded as the air grew thick with magic.


"The Blood Moon comes once every fifty years," Alpha Marcus had explained. "It's the only time when the veil between our world and the spirit realm thins enough for visions to pass through."


Chapter 61 - Chapter 61: The Blood Moon