The moon hung low, heavy and pale, casting silver shadows over the clearing. The howls of the pack echoed in the distance, a chorus that should have felt like home. But tonight, it felt like a funeral.
For me.
I stood barefoot on the cold grass, the wind biting at my skin as the man I had spent years dreaming about—the one fate had chosen for me—looked at me with nothing but disgust in his golden eyes.
Kael, the Alpha King. My destined mate. The most powerful wolf in the northern territories.
And the one about to shatter me.
"I, Kael Blackthorn," his deep voice carried across the crowd, calm and merciless, "reject you, Aria Rivers, as my mate and future Luna. You are weak. Useless. Unworthy of standing beside me."
The words hit harder than claws. The murmurs of the gathered wolves burned into my ears—snickers, whispers, pity. My heart thudded painfully, my wolf whining inside me, clawing to be acknowledged. But Kael didn't even look at me as he turned his back, his black cloak snapping in the wind.
"Leave the pack lands before dawn," he ordered coldly, not even using my name. "If you remain past sunrise, you'll be treated as a rogue. And rogues don't live long."
My breath hitched. I stumbled forward, desperate. "Kael—"
His head turned, just slightly, and those molten eyes met mine for a brief, searing second. There was no warmth in them. Only a flicker of something unreadable—guilt? Regret? No. It vanished before I could grasp it.
He walked away. And with him, so did the life I thought was mine.
The pack began to disperse, their footsteps echoing like a death march. My best friend, Elara, gave me a helpless glance from the edge of the crowd, but she didn't dare approach. No one would. To side with a rejected mate was to risk exile themselves.
When the last shadow disappeared into the trees, I dropped to my knees, the tears I'd been holding back finally breaking free. My wolf whimpered inside me, a sound so broken it felt like a part of me was dying.
And maybe it was.
But somewhere, beneath the grief and humiliation, a spark lit inside me. Small. Fragile. But growing.
The Moon Goddess had fated me to Kael Blackthorn. If he didn't want me… then why was I still breathing? Why did my wolf's heartbeat still thrum with a strange, burning energy I'd never felt before?
I wiped my tears, staring at the glowing moon above.
Something stirred in the shadows of the forest behind me. A whisper. A pull. A sensation that made the hair on my arms rise.
The night wasn't done with me yet.