The moon was a cruel witness.
I stood at the edge of the Pack Gala, my chest tightening as the silver light painted the forest floor in cold shadows. Tonight was my eighteenth birthday—the night my wolf, Solara, was supposed to awaken. The night I was meant to find the one person the Moon Goddess had carved out for my soul.
But then, the scent hit me.
It wasn't cedar, pine, or the earthy rain-soaked musk of the forest like I expected. It was dark, intoxicating… sandalwood mixed with expensive bourbon. It wrapped around me like a physical force, suffocating and overwhelming.
Mate.
My gaze darted through the crowd of high-ranking wolves until it landed on him. Alpha Kaelric. The man who had spent four years making my life miserable, mocking my "wolf-less orphan" existence.
He stood with a glass of amber liquid in his hand, jawline sharp as a blade, eyes icy. As I stepped forward, he turned. His grey eyes, always cold as winter ice, flickered into a predatory charcoal.
The room went silent. The bond snapped into place with the force of a hammer against my chest. I staggered forward, drawn toward him.
"Kaelric?" I whispered, my voice trembling with hope I hated myself for feeling.
He didn't move. Didn't smile. Didn't even look relieved. Instead, his lip curled into a sneer that shattered the fragile bond before it could fully form.
"You," he spat, the word dripping with disdain. He leaned closer, so only I could hear. "The Moon Goddess must be senile if she thinks I'd accept a defect like you as my Luna."
Blood drained from my face. "Kaelric, please—"
"I, Alpha Kaelric of the Black Ridge Pack," he announced, his voice ringing through the hall, "hereby reject you, Elara Vance, as my mate and future Luna."
The words hit me like knives. I gasped, clutching my chest as the bond scorched and frayed. Laughter rippled through the elite wolves who had always looked down on me.
But then, something unplanned happened.
Pain turned into searing golden heat. Inside my mind, a voice roared, deep and ancient, unlike the timid whimper of an omega wolf.
Let him go. He is a grain of sand. You are the desert.
My vision sharpened—no, it turned gold. Kaelric stumbled back, confusion flashing across his face, and for a split second, I saw fear.
"Elara?" he choked, hand to his throat. "Your eyes… what are you?"
I didn't answer. I didn't cry. I turned my back on the Alpha of the strongest pack in the North and walked into the dark woods.
The Moon Goddess had not made a mistake. I had not been given a mate to protect me. She had given me a mate to survive—and now, my true power was waking.