The night before her eighteenth birthday, Faye Lorne sat on the edge of her narrow bed, staring at the pale moonlight leaking through her window. The packhouse was quiet—at least, quiet on her floor. Downstairs, the real celebration had begun hours ago. Music, laughter, the thundering of paws on polished wood. It was almost funny how loudly people celebrated her sister.
Almost.
Faye pulled her blanket tighter around herself. Tomorrow would be the last day she'd ever spend here—that was the plan she'd carved into her mind years ago. The moment she turned eighteen, she would be legally free to leave the Crescent Fang Pack and build a life somewhere she wasn't a mistake everyone whispered about.
She exhaled slowly. No expectations. No disappointments.
But at midnight, a sudden heat rushed through her chest. Faye froze.
No… not now. Not after all this time.
A throbbing pulse radiated outward, spreading to her fingertips, her bones, her very breath. Her heartbeat doubled, then tripled. Her vision sharpened, colors brightening until everything felt too close.
And then she heard it.
A voice—soft, trembling, familiar yet new.
"Faye… finally."
Her wolf.
Faye's breath caught, a mix of relief and dread twisting inside her. Having a wolf meant belonging. Having a wolf meant she couldn't just be ignored anymore.
But it also meant something else.
At eighteen, a wolf could sense its mate.
Faye didn't want a mate. Not here. Not in this pack. Not in a place where she was a shadow people stepped around. She just wanted freedom.
But the universe was never kind to her.
A knock pounded on her door before she could gather herself.
"Faye!" Her mother's voice—sharper than usual. "Get downstairs. Now."
The tone wasn't anger. It wasn't annoyance.
It was urgency.
Faye swallowed hard and obeyed. Her wolf paced inside her mind, unsettled.
When she reached the grand hall, every eye turned toward her—not in disgust or annoyance this time, but in shock.
Because the future Alpha of the Crescent Fang Pack—Darian Hale—stood frozen in the center of the room, his posture rigid, his jaw clenched so tight she thought the bones might crack.
Her sister, Serene, clung to his arm in confusion.
Darian's silver eyes locked onto Faye.
And Faye felt the unmistakable pull—deep, electric, inescapable.
"Mate."
The crowd erupted into chaos.
Serene gasped.
Her parents stiffened.
And Darian—the boy who mocked her for every weakness, who called her "empty wolf," who made sure she never forgot she wasn't wanted—took a single step toward her, expression thunderous.
"Absolutely not," he growled, voice low enough only she could hear. "This has to be wrong."
Faye felt something inside her crack—not her heart, exactly, but the hope she'd been carefully stitching for years.
Her wolf whimpered in protest, but Faye forced herself to stand tall.
If Darian didn't want her as a mate…
Good.
Because she didn't want him either.
Whispers filled the hall like a rising storm. Faye kept her eyes forward as she stood in the center of the room, refusing to shrink under the weight of everyone's shock.
Her mother stepped forward first.
"Faye," she said tightly, "this isn't the time for… confusion. Move aside so Darian and Serene may continue their ceremony."
Confusion. Right.
As if she'd asked for this.
Her wolf bristled inside her, hackles up.
"We're not moving," the wolf growled.
Faye clenched her jaw. I don't want this any more than you do, she thought back.
Darian scrubbed a hand across his face, disbelief etched into every line of him. "This can't be happening," he muttered. "You? You don't even—your wolf barely showed up."
Faye stiffened. Of course he would say that. He always knew where to dig deepest.
Serene stepped in front of him, voice wavering. "Darian, this is a mistake. The bond must've—glitched. Or something. Tell them, Dad."
Alpha Rowan looked between them, his expression unreadable. "Mate bonds don't glitch," he said quietly. "If Darian's wolf recognized her, then—"
"I didn't recognize anything!" Darian snapped. "My wolf reacted. That's different. It's instinct, not choice."
His gaze darted to Faye, sharp and accusing, as if she'd forced his wolf to respond.
Faye swallowed hard. "I never asked for this," she said, her voice low but steady.
Her mother folded her arms. "Enough. Faye will be evaluated in the morning by the elders. They'll determine if the bond is valid."
Faye blinked. The elders? That wasn't normal. Wolves didn't get their mate bonds inspected like broken furniture.
Serene looked relieved. Darian looked furious.
The room buzzed with speculation.
"Late wolf? Maybe she's defective."
"Why her?"
"Serene's been preparing to be Luna for years."
"This is a disaster."
Faye forced her shoulders back, refusing to let their words dig under her skin. She had survived worse.
But her wolf crouched inside her, uneasy.
"He's ours," she whispered. "Why does he hate that?"
Faye didn't know how to answer.
Alpha Rowan raised his hands. "Enough talk. Everyone, clear out. Celebration's over."
Serene's face fell. "Dad—"
"This isn't up for debate."
The pack members slowly began to disperse, though many kept glancing back at Faye as if she were a spark that might ignite something bigger.
When the hall finally emptied, only the Alpha, her parents, Serene, Darian, and Faye remained.
Her father sighed. "Faye, you should head back to your room."
Darian spun toward him. "You're just going to let her leave? After what happened?"
"What do you expect me to do?" Alpha Rowan asked calmly. "She's clearly overwhelmed."
"I'm not overwhelmed," Faye said. "I'm fine."
Darian scoffed. "You always say that. Even when you're clearly not."
Faye looked away. That was unfair—and yet painfully familiar.
Her mother stepped between them. "Tomorrow will settle this. Faye, go."
Faye nodded and turned toward the stairs.
As she walked away, Darian muttered under his breath—quiet, but not quiet enough.
"Of all the wolves in the world… why her?"
Something inside Faye flinched.
Her wolf whimpered.
But she didn't look back.
She had waited eighteen years to leave this place behind.
She could wait one more night.