Claimed By The Rogue Alpha

The first howl came before midnight.

Luna Vale stood beneath the silver lights of the pack house, surrounded by music, laughter, and people pretending not to stare at her.

She kept her hands folded in front of her so no one would notice how badly they were shaking.

Tonight was supposed to be the night everything changed.

Every wolf in the Silver Moon Pack shifted for the first time before turning nineteen. Some shifted at sixteen. Others at seventeen or eighteen.

Luna had waited until nineteen.

She had convinced herself that waiting didn’t mean anything.

Maybe her wolf was simply late.

Maybe tonight, under the full moon, it would finally happen.

Maybe she would finally stop being the girl everyone whispered about.

Across the room, her stepsister Selene laughed with her friends.

Selene was everything Luna wasn’t.

Confident. Beautiful. Popular.

Her long blonde hair fell perfectly over her shoulders, and the silver dress she wore seemed designed to make everyone look at her.

Tonight should have been Luna’s night.

But somehow, even now, Selene had found a way to own the room.

“Are you nervous?”

Luna turned.

Her mother stood beside her, smiling faintly.

“I’m fine.”

Her mother studied her face.

“You know there’s nothing wrong with you if it doesn’t happen tonight.”

Luna almost laughed.

There was something wrong with her.

Everyone knew it.

They simply preferred not to say it to her face.

“I’ll be fine,” Luna repeated.

Her mother gave her shoulder a brief squeeze before walking away.

Luna looked toward the large doors leading outside.

She needed air.

Just a few minutes.

Then she’d come back and face whatever happened.

She slipped through the doors without anyone stopping her.

The cold night air immediately wrapped around her.

She walked away from the noise, following the stone path until the lights of the pack house became distant behind her.

The forest waited beyond the boundary.

Luna stopped at the edge.

She wasn’t supposed to go into the forest alone tonight.

But she had never been particularly good at following rules when she was hurting.

She stepped between the trees.

The sounds of the celebration faded.

For the first time that evening, she could breathe.

She closed her eyes.

“Please.”

The word left her lips before she could stop it.

“Please don’t let me be broken.”

Something inside her chest stirred.

Luna’s eyes snapped open.

Her heartbeat quickened.

There.

She could feel something.

A warmth.

A presence.

Something deep beneath her skin.

Her breath caught.

“Are you there?”

Silence.

Then pain exploded through her body.

Luna dropped to her knees.

Her fingers dug into the earth as something seemed to claw its way through her veins.

She gasped.

Her bones didn’t change.

Her eyes didn’t shift.

No wolf emerged.

Instead, the pain vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.

Luna remained on the ground, breathing hard.

She stared at her hands.

Human.

Still human.

A bitter laugh escaped her.

“Of course.”

She pushed herself upright.

Tears blurred her vision.

She wiped them away angrily.

She wouldn’t cry.

Not tonight.

Not over this.

Then she heard footsteps.

Luna froze.

Someone was approaching.

She turned toward the sound.

“Who’s there?”

No answer.

The forest suddenly felt different.

Heavier.

The air seemed to tighten around her.

Then a man stepped out from between the trees.

Luna immediately knew he wasn’t from Silver Moon.

She had never seen him before.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, dressed entirely in black.

His dark hair was slightly disheveled, and there was something unnervingly calm about him.

He looked at her as though he’d been searching for something and had finally found it.

Luna instinctively stepped backward.

“Who are you?”

His gaze moved over her face.

Then stopped.

Something flashed across his expression.

Shock.

It disappeared so quickly that Luna almost wondered if she’d imagined it.

“Go back to your pack.”

His voice was deep and cold.

Luna frowned.

“Excuse me?”

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“Neither should you.”

His eyes narrowed.

For some reason, Luna suddenly felt brave.

Maybe because she’d already had the worst night imaginable.

Maybe because she had nothing left to lose.

“Are you a rogue?”

He didn’t answer.

That was answer enough.

Luna had heard stories about rogues.

Wolves without packs.

Wolves who lived outside the laws of the territories.

Dangerous wolves.

She should have been afraid.

Instead, she found herself staring at him.

There was something familiar about his presence.

Not his face.

Something else.

Something she couldn’t explain.

The stranger took one step toward her.

Luna stepped back.

He stopped immediately.

His jaw tightened.

“Go home.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Because you aren’t listening.”

“Maybe I don’t want to.”

For the first time, something almost like amusement touched his eyes.

It disappeared quickly.

“You have no idea who you’re speaking to.”

“No. I don’t.”

She lifted her chin.

“And you haven’t exactly introduced yourself.”

He stared at her for several seconds.

“Kael.”

Just one name.

Nothing else.

Luna swallowed.

“Kael what?”

“Kael Draven.”

The name hit her like a cold wave.

She knew it.

Everyone did.

The Rogue Alpha.

The wolf who had destroyed three packs.

The man who had survived the massacre of his own territory and disappeared into the northern wilderness.

The stories about him were endless.

Luna’s confidence disappeared.

“You’re him.”

Kael’s expression remained unreadable.

“You should leave.”

Luna turned.

She took two steps.

Then stopped.

Something had changed.

She could feel it.

A strange pressure filled the air behind her.

Kael hadn’t moved.

But his eyes had changed.

They weren’t focused on her face anymore.

They were fixed somewhere around her neck.

His breathing became heavier.

“What’s wrong?”

Kael said nothing.

His hands curled into fists.

Inside him, something was screaming.

His wolf had awakened with such force that Kael nearly lost control.

Mate.

The word thundered through his mind.

No.

Kael rejected it immediately.

His wolf snarled.

Our mate.

Impossible.

He had spent years avoiding the bond.

Years convincing himself that fate didn’t control him.

He had watched too many lives destroyed because wolves believed the mate bond gave them ownership over another person.

He would never become like them.

Yet one look at Luna had shattered everything he believed.

Kael forced himself to breathe.

He couldn’t claim her.

Not here.

Not like this.

Not when she didn’t even know what was happening.

“What’s wrong with you?” Luna asked.

“Nothing.”

“You look like you’re in pain.”

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

His gaze met hers.

For one dangerous second, neither of them moved.

Luna felt her heart stumble.

There was something in his eyes.

Something intense enough to make her forget the cold.

She had never looked at a man and felt this strange pull before.

Her wolf if she even had one seemed to recognize him.

But that was impossible.

She didn’t have a wolf.

Did she?

Kael suddenly turned away.

“Stay away from me.”

Luna blinked.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

He started walking.

She watched him disappear between the trees.

Then, against her better judgment, she called after him.

“Kael!”

He stopped.

He didn’t turn around.

“Why did you come here?”

Silence.

Then he answered without looking back.

“I wasn’t looking for you.”

Luna frowned.

“Then what were you looking for?”

His shoulders stiffened.

“You.”

Her heart skipped.

Before she could respond, he disappeared into the darkness.

Luna stood alone beneath the moon.

She didn’t understand what had just happened.

She didn’t understand why that stranger’s presence felt strangely familiar.

And she certainly didn’t understand why, for the first time in years, the emptiness inside her seemed less empty.

She touched her chest.

Something was beating beneath her ribs.

Not her heart.

Something deeper.

Something alive.

Then another howl tore through the forest.

This one was closer.

Much closer.

Luna looked toward the darkness where Kael had vanished.

Her skin prickled.

She suddenly realized something.

The howl hadn’t sounded like a warning.

It sounded like a declaration.

Back at the pack house, the music had stopped.

People were gathering outside.

Luna could hear voices carrying through the trees.

Someone was calling her name.

She turned toward the lights.

Then looked back at the forest.

For a strange moment, she thought she saw two golden eyes watching her from the darkness.

She blinked.

They were gone.

Luna hurried back toward the pack house.

She had no idea that, somewhere beyond the trees, Kael stood completely still.

His wolf was still demanding one thing.

Go after her.

Kael closed his eyes.

“No.”

She is ours.

His jaw tightened.

“No.”

But even as he said it, he knew the truth.

He had spent years believing he could outrun fate.

Tonight, fate had finally found him.

And she had Luna Vale’s face.