ELARA'S POV
They don't let me clean up.
No bath to wash away three days of road dirt. No fresh clothes to replace my torn, filthy dress. Not even a moment to catch my breath.
Move, Marcus orders, grabbing my arm.
Wait—the Alpha said the wedding was canceled
The Alpha changed his mind. He drags me through corridors so fast I stumble. Treaty requirements. The ceremony happens tonight or Greyhaven loses protection.
My stomach twists. So I'm back to being a political pawn. Property to be traded.
We burst through massive double doors into a hall so huge I can't see the far end. Hundreds of wolves fill the space, all of them turning to stare as Marcus shoves me toward the center aisle.
Heat floods my cheeks. I'm filthy, exhausted, and completely unprepared for this. But I force my spine straight and my chin up.
I've survived worse than being stared at.
The aisle stretches forever. Wolves line both sides, their glowing eyes tracking my every step. Some look curious. Most look disgusted, like I'm dirt tracked in on someone's boot.
And at the end, standing on a raised platform, is Kael Blackridge.
My feet almost stop moving.
He's even more terrifying up close. Easily six and a half feet of pure muscle and controlled violence. Black hair falls to his shoulders. His face looks carved from stone—all harsh angles and cold beauty.
But it's his eyes that steal my breath.
Ice-blue and glowing. Completely inhuman. Predator's eyes that see everything, miss nothing, and promise death to anything that threatens him.
Those eyes lock onto me as I approach, and I feel the impact like a physical touch.
I reach the platform on shaking legs. An old woman in flowing robes—the priestess—gestures for me to stand beside Kael.
I obey because what choice do I have?
Up close, the Alpha radiates power like heat from a fire. Every instinct screams at me to run, to hide, to make myself small and invisible.
But I can't run. So I lift my chin and meet his eyes.
His nostrils flare.
Just that—a small movement. But I see his entire body tense like he's been struck.
Begin, he orders the priestess. His voice is deep, rough, like gravel and midnight.
The priestess starts speaking in a language I don't understand. Ancient words that feel heavy in the air, pressing down on my chest.
She reaches for my hand.
I let her take it, even though my pulse is racing.
Then she reaches for Kael's hand and brings our palms together.
The moment our skin touches, everything changes.
Heat explodes where we're connected. Not burning—but intense, overwhelming, like lightning running through my veins. My breath catches.
And something in my chest, something that's been locked tight my whole life—cracks open.
It feels like a door I didn't know existed suddenly swinging wide. Like invisible chains breaking. Like waking up after sleeping for twenty-two years.
Kael's hand spasms in mine.
I hear the sound of claws extending, sharp points pressing against my wrist.
His eyes widen, staring at our joined hands like they've personally betrayed him.
What is this? The words come out strangled.
The binding ritual, Alpha, the priestess says calmly. She wraps a silver cord around our wrists. As agreed.
No, her scent He cuts himself off, jaw clenched so tight I hear teeth grinding.
The priestess ignores his distress and continues the ceremony. She chants. She ties three knots in the cord. She marks both our foreheads with something that smells like earth and moonlight.
The whole time, I can't look away from Kael.
He's staring at me like I'm a puzzle that might kill him. Like I'm something impossible that shouldn't exist.
And that pulling sensation in my chest—the one that opened when we touched—grows stronger with every word the priestess speaks. Like invisible threads are weaving between us, tying us together in ways that have nothing to do with silver cords or ceremonies.
Under moon and blood, under law and bond, the priestess intones, I declare you joined. Alpha and mate. Husband and wife.
The words hit me like a slap.
Mate?
Kael's hand tightens around mine, painfully tight. His breathing turns ragged. I feel his claws press harder against my skin, not quite breaking it.
Then he tears his hand away like I've burned him.
He turns to face the hall full of watching wolves, and when he speaks, his voice echoes off the stone walls like thunder.
OUT! Everyone out! NOW!
The wolves scatter like leaves in a storm. Even Marcus and the guards flee. Within seconds, the enormous hall is empty except for me, Kael, and the priestess.
You too, Kael growls at the old woman without looking at her.
She bows and leaves, closing the massive doors behind her with a boom that makes me flinch.
Silence falls.
Kael stands with his back to me, shoulders rigid, hands curled into fists. I can see his claws, fully extended now, gleaming in the torchlight.
My heart pounds. We're alone. I'm married to a monster who just cleared a room of hundreds with three words. A monster who's barely holding onto his control.
I should be terrified.
I am terrified.
But underneath the fear, that pulling sensation in my chest tugs toward him. Like my body knows something my mind doesn't.
You need to tell me the truth. His voice is quiet now. Deadly quiet. What are you?
I'm human. My voice shakes despite my best effort. I'm nobody. I'm nothing.
He whirls to face me so fast I stumble backward.
His eyes are fully golden now, his wolf rising to the surface. When he speaks, it's almost a snarl.
Liars die in my territory.
I'm not lying! Fear sharpens my words. I don't know what you want me to say!
The TRUTH! He takes a step toward me. Then another. Your scent—it's impossible! You shouldn't, you can't
Can't what? I press myself against a pillar, trapped.
His laugh is broken, bitter, full of pain. Smell like you're mine.
The words hang in the air between us.
I don't understand. What does that mean?
It means He stops a few feet away, running both hands through his hair. His claws catch in the dark strands. It means my wolf recognizes you as my fated mate. Which is impossible. I'm cursed never to find my mate. My bloodline, we can't
He cuts himself off, shaking his head.
And you're HUMAN, he continues, voice rising again. Humans can't be mates. Ever. The Moon Goddess doesn't pair wolves with the weakest species.
Then maybe you're wrong, I say. Maybe what you're smelling is
I've lived for one hundred and fifty-six years. He closes the distance between us in one long stride. I know what a mate bond feels like. Or what it should feel like. What my wolf is screaming that you are.
He raises his hand like he's going to touch my face. His clawed fingers tremble in the space between us.
Then he drops his hand and steps back.
But it's impossible, he says again, quieter now. Unless...
His eyes narrow, studying me with an intensity that makes me want to squirm.
What happened in the wagon? he demands. When the rogues attacked. My scouts reported seeing light. Silver light.
My mouth goes dry. I don't know what they saw.
Don't lie to me.
I'm NOT lying! The words explode from me, frustration and fear mixing into anger. I don't know what that light was! I've never done anything like that before! I don't even remember it clearly, everything was chaos and fear and
I stop because my hands are tingling.
Both of us look down at the same time.
Silver light glows beneath my skin. Faint at first, like moonlight trapped under my flesh. Then brighter. Spreading from my fingertips up my palms.
No, I breathe. No, this isn't, this can't be
But even as I say it, the light pulses brighter.
Kael goes absolutely still. His eyes lock on my glowing hands.
Lunar light, he whispers. His voice holds shock and wonder and something that sounds like fear. You're manifesting lunar light.
What does that mean? The glow is spreading up my arms now, silver tendrils crawling under my skin. I try to shake it off, but it only grows stronger. Make it stop!
I can't. He's staring at me like he's seeing me for the first time. Only you can control it. Try to calm down
CALM DOWN? My voice cracks. I'm glowing! There's light coming out of my skin! How am I supposed to
The light flares brighter, responding to my panic.
Kael takes a step back. Elara, listen to me. You need to breathe. Whatever this power is, your emotions are feeding it
I don't have power! I'm HUMAN!
No, he says quietly. You're not.
The words hit me like ice water.
What?
His eyes meet mine, and in them I see certainty. Humans don't manifest lunar light. Humans don't trigger mate bonds. And humans definitely don't smell like they carry ancient magic in their blood.
Then what am I? The question comes out as a whisper.
I don't know yet. He moves closer slowly, like approaching a spooked animal. But whatever you are, it's connected to the old magic. The kind that hasn't been seen in—
He stops, eyes widening like he's just realized something terrible.
How old were you when your family died? he asks suddenly.
Eight. Why does that
And it was seventy years ago that the He cuts himself off again, but I see the horror dawning on his face.
Seventy years ago that what? I demand.
Before he can answer, the silver light blazing from my hands pulses so bright I have to close my eyes.
When I open them again, Kael is staring at me with an expression I can't read.
Tell me, he says very carefully, everything you remember about the night your family died.
My throat tightens. Why?
Because I think I know what you are. His voice is barely audible. And if I'm right, then we're both in more danger than I thought possible.
Just tell me!
Not until I'm sure. He extends his hand toward me—carefully, like I might shatter. Let me see your hands. Please.
I hesitate, then lift my glowing hands.
He doesn't touch them. Just studies the silver light with focused intensity.
Then he breathes one word that changes everything.
Impossible.
What's impossible?
He looks up at me, and his ice-blue eyes burn with something between hope and terror.
You're not human, Elara. His voice shakes slightly. You're something the world thought was extinct. Something that was hunted to extinction seventy years ago.
WHAT AM I? I'm shouting now, panic rising.
Kael opens his mouth to answer.
The silver light explodes outward in a blinding flash.
I scream as power floods through me, ancient, overwhelming, completely out of my control.
The last thing I see before the light consumes everything is Kael being thrown backward across the hall.
Then the world goes white.
When the brightness finally fades, I'm on my hands and knees, gasping for air.
The silver light is gone. My hands look normal again.
But I can still feel it, humming beneath my skin, waiting.
I look up.
Kael is pulling himself to his feet twenty feet away. His eyes are wide with shock.
What— I start.
Don't move, he says quietly.
Why? What's
Just... don't move.
I freeze.
Then I feel it. A presence behind me. Massive. Ancient. Made of pure power.
Slowly, I turn my head.
A wolf made entirely of silver light towers over me. Translucent and glowing. Its eyes burn like captured moons. It's not solid, I can see through it—but it feels more real than anything I've ever encountered.
It's protective. Watchful.
And it came from me.
What is that? I whisper.
Kael stares at the spirit-wolf, and when he speaks, his voice is filled with awe.
That, he says, is a Guardian projection. The mark of the Lunar Guardians, the most powerful humans to ever exist.
The silver wolf-projection fades slowly, dissolving into mist.
I'm shaking so hard I can't stand. The Guardians are extinct. Everyone knows that.
Everyone thought they were extinct. Kael moves toward me carefully. But they were wrong.
He kneels in front of me, and for the first time since I met him, his expression is completely open.
You're a Lunar Guardian, Elara. The last one alive.
He reaches toward my face with a trembling hand.
And you're my mate. Which means everything just changed.
His fingers brush my cheek.
What are you? I whisper, echoing his earlier question.
His smile is sharp and fierce and terrifying.
I'm the cursed Alpha who just found the one person in the world who can save him. Or destroy him.
His eyes glow brighter.
The question is, what are we going to do about it?