..The Alpha's Mate..
The first sound to leave her lips in years…
Was his name.
"…Lorenzo."
The word came out broken. Fragile. Real.
Lorenzo's body went rigid.
For a heartbeat, he simply stared at her as if the world had stopped turning. As if time itself had paused, afraid to disturb the miracle before him. Then his golden eyes softened , shattered, and he dropped to his knees beside the bed.
"E-Elena…" His voice cracked around her name. It was the first time he had ever spoken it like that. Not as an Alpha. Not as a commander. But as a man clinging to hope.
His hand hovered over her face, trembling, afraid to touch her too strongly , afraid she would disappear the moment his fingers met her skin.
"You're… you're really back," he whispered.
Tears slid into her dark hair as he pressed his forehead to hers. The warrior, the beast, the Alpha who had torn enemies apart with his bare hands… was undone by a single word from a girl who had once been silent.
She lifted her weak hand and brushed his cheek. Her fingers were hot, trembling. Her body still shook from the aftershock of her transformation, from the Goddess' power burning through her blood.
"I… I can talk," she whispered again, testing the miracle. Her voice trembled like glass in wind. "She… she gave it back to me…"
Lorenzo exhaled a broken sound that was half a laugh, half a sob.
"Then the Moon Goddess herself has blessed this pack," he murmured. "Because your voice is the most beautiful sound I have ever heard."
But beneath the tenderness, the bond burned.
She could feel it. He could feel it.
The hunger. The pull. The ancient claiming call of mate to mate.
Her scent had changed, sweet, wild, powerful. It wrapped around him like invisible chains, and his wolf paced inside him, clawing viciously.
Mine. Mark her. Claim her.
His jaw tightened. His fingers dug into the sheets as he forced his body to stay exactly where it was.
"Not yet," he whispered harshly to himself, his forehead pressed to hers. "She's too weak… too newly born into this power…"
His thumb slid across the pulse of her throat and he shuddered at how badly he wanted to feel his fangs there.
She gasped softly beneath his touch , not in fear… but in need.
And that almost destroyed him.
....
Not everyone felt joy at Elena's awakening.
From the doorway of the infirmary, a figure remained motionless, half-hidden in the shadows. Cassandra watched the two of them in silence, her nails biting into her palms as the sight burned into her eyes.
The way he looked at Elena…
The way he touched her…
The way the bond wrapped around them like fate itself…
That should have been her.
She had trained for this. Prepared her entire life to stand beside the Alpha. To rule. To be chosen.
And now this… broken, trembling girl , this mute outcast, this outsider with haunted eyes had stolen what was meant for her.
Disgust curled in Cassandra's stomach.
"Pathetic," she muttered, her eyes dark with poison. "A weak little thing playing goddess."
But even as she sneered, the scent of Elena's blooming heat twisted through the air, sweet and intoxicating. It made her teeth grind with jealousy.
And it gave her an idea.
If the Alpha would not see reason…
Then the problem must simply disappear.
No mate. No bond.
No competition.
.....
That night, while the pack celebrated in the Great Hall, whispering in awe about the White Wolf and the will of the Moon Goddess, Elena could not rest.
Her body still trembled. Her mind replayed silver light, twisted creatures, the Goddess' voice echoing like a memory carved into her bones.
She rose quietly, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and slipped out into the cool night air.
The moon hung high , full, heavy, watching her.
Her wolf stirred beneath her skin, stronger now. Awake. No longer caged.
"I don't understand who I am," she whispered to the sky, her voice barely louder than the leaves.
A branch cracked behind her.
"Elena…" a soft voice called.
She turned.
Cassandra stood between the trees, her face warm with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"You shouldn't be out here alone," she said sweetly, stepping closer. "It's still dangerous. After tonight, especially."
Elena hesitated. Something in her chest tightened. Her wolf bristled, uneasy.
"I just needed air…" she murmured.
Cassandra clicked her tongue gently. "Of course. Big changes can be… overwhelming." She took another step closer. Then another.
"You poor thing," she continued. "First the trauma. Then the shift. Now the Alpha's obsession with you… It must be a lot."
The words felt wrong.
Twisted.
Sharp.
"Elena" Cassandra said again, softer now. "Come. I'll help you back inside."
She reached out..
Pain exploded at the base of Elena's skull.
White light flashed behind her eyes. Her body crumpled like paper as the world twisted and went black.
...
Across the territory, Lorenzo's head snapped up.
His heart lurched violently as the bond twisted, stretched , dimmed.
Elena?!
Silence.
Panic slammed into his chest like a hammer.
He was on his feet in an instant, the room shaking with the force of his rage. Tables splintered as he swept them aside.
"Find her," he growled, his voice turning inhuman. "NOW."
The warriors froze as the Alpha's power thundered through the hall.
"The sooner you find my mate," he snarled, teeth flashing, "the longer you live."
Bones snapped. Fur tore through skin as he shifted brutally, his massive black wolf form erupting into the night. The earth seemed to tremble as he hit the ground running, tracking the faint silver scent of Elena through the forest.
Meanwhile, far deeper between the trees, Cassandra dragged Elena's limp body through dead leaves and brittle roots, her breath ragged with twisted excitement.
"She was never meant for you, Lorenzo," she whispered to the unconscious girl. "And by sunrise… she won't exist at all."
Behind them…
A low, monstrous growl echoed through the darkness.
And the Alpha of all wolves was coming.
....