The fire never died. It simply waited for her.
The forest pulsed beneath the night sky, alive with whispers that didn't belong to the wind. The moon hung low, its silver sheen dimmed by an eerie crimson halo. A warning, some said. A curse, others believed. But for her, it was birthright.
Ember's breath fogged the air in front of her as she stepped barefoot onto the sacred grounds behind the Alpha's den. Her heartbeat echoed louder than the howling wind not from fear, but from something deeper. Restlessness. Power. A pressure building inside her chest since the moment she'd opened her eyes sixteen years ago under that same cursed moon.
Her fingers brushed the pendant at her neck obsidian and scorched gold. Her mother called it a talisman. Her father never spoke of it. Neither of them would explain why it thrummed with heat whenever she stepped near this clearing.
Tonight, it burned.
"Ember." The voice snapped through the trees like a whip. Aria stepped into the clearing, her flame-colored hair braided back, her eyes fierce with authority. No longer the girl marked by fate she was now the Luna of the Shadowflame Pack, and her presence made even wolves lower their gaze.
"You weren't supposed to leave the warded perimeter," Aria said, arms folded across her chest. "Especially not tonight."
Ember turned to face her mother, jaw tight. "It's calling me again. I can feel it."
Aria's expression darkened. "The flame in your blood is not a toy to be played with. You are"
"I know what I am," Ember snapped. "You've told me my whole life. I'm the heir. I'm the legacy. I'm the one they fear."
Behind Aria, Kael appeared like a storm given form. Towering, stern, his dark hair tousled by the wind. His amber eyes locked onto Ember's with the weight of a thousand battles. His presence silenced everything even the wind.
"We don't talk back to our Luna," he said quietly.
Ember looked away. "I'm sorry."
"No," Aria said. "Don't be sorry. Just... listen." She walked closer, gently taking Ember's hand. "You have more fire in you than either of us did at your age. That's what scares them."
Ember's voice wavered. "What scares me is that you're not telling me why."
Before either of them could answer, a crack split the earth. A low growl rumbled through the ground, so primal it made the trees tremble. All three turned toward the ancient stone altar in the center of the clearing.
From it rose smoke deep black, scented with burnt sage and blood.
Aria's breath caught. "It's starting…"
Kael's face hardened. "No. Not yet. The moon isn't full."
Ember's palm blazed. The pendant glowed red-hot.
And from the altar, a single word echoed not spoken by lips, but carved into their minds.
"Awakened."
Hours later, Ember sat alone in her room, staring at her reflection. The glow from her pendant had faded, but the scorch mark it left on her chest remained. A perfect crescent moon. Twisted. Inverted. Cursed.
She touched it lightly, flinching at the pain.
Her wolf stirred beneath her skin, agitated. Hungry.
She'd always felt... different. But this? This was something else. Something broken.
Or worse something chosen.
A soft knock sounded. Ember stood. "Come in."
A boy stepped in. Maybe a year older, broad-shouldered, wrapped in a hunter's cloak. His eyes glowed silver half-shifted. His scent hit her like a slap of stormwater and ash.
She didn't know his name.
But her wolf lunged forward like it had been caged too long.
Mate.
He stared at her the same way. Shocked. Angry. Aroused.
"You," he said. "You're the one."
Ember's voice was barely a whisper. "Who are you?"
He didn't answer. Just walked forward, closing the space between them like it was always meant to disappear.
Then he said the words that shattered her world:
"Our bond... it wasn't supposed to happen."
---
What happens when a mate bond forms without the moon's blessing… and under a curse instead?