Chapter 1
Alina’s POV
I pulled the hood tighter over my head, like fabric could hide my existence.
“Relax, Lina.” Petunia looped her arm through mine, practically vibrating with excitement as we moved through the crowd at the pack’s end-of-semester fair. “Nobody’s staring at you.”
I snorted under my breath. “That’s because nobody knows who’s under this hood.”
Petunia gave me one of her patented side-eyes. “You make it sound like you’re a wanted criminal.”
I hesitated, scanning the happy crowd, the students laughing, the smell of grilled meat and cotton candy filling the air. My chest tightened. “In this pack? Same difference,” I muttered.
Her sigh was soft. “Alina, nobody cares what your mom-”
“Don’t.” My voice came out harsher than intended. “Don’t say it out loud.”
The last thing I needed was her name floating around here.
Everyone knew me as the mad wolf’s daughter.
My mother had been the pack’s biggest shame. She was unstable, unhinged, and dead. She was slaughtered mercilessly. And the man who’d done it? The gamma.
Tiffany’s father.
Which was probably why the universe thought it’d be hilarious to drop Tiffany herself directly in our path.
“Well, well, well,” Tiffany’s high-pitched voice cut through the crowd. “If it isn’t the pack’s little psychopath-in-training.”
I stiffened, lowering my head. Petunia’s grip tightened on my arm, her glare burning like the loyal best friend she was.
Tiffany stepped closer, two of her giggling friends flanking her like trained wolves. Her manicured finger hooked my hood and tugged it back before I could react.
“There she is.” Tiffany’s grin was venomous. “Trying to hide the crazy under a hoodie? Cute.”
“Back off, Tiffany,” Petunia snapped.
“Oh, I’m not talking to you, Petty.” Tiffany rolled her eyes before locking her gaze on me. “I’m just curious, Alina. Does madness run in the family? Or do you wake up every morning praying you won’t end up like your mom?”
My stomach twisted, anger and shame twisted in my chest.
I forced myself to meet her gaze. “Careful,” I said quietly. “Your dad’s the reason she’s dead. You really want to bring her up?”
For a moment, Tiffany’s perfect lips twitched. But then she laughed bitterly. “Better her than my father. At least we all know who the unstable one was.”
Petunia stepped forward, but I grabbed her arm.
She wasn’t worth it. At least not here.
Tiffany smirked. “Anyway, I’d wish you luck tonight, but we all know you’re not getting a mate. Who’d want to be bound to this?” She gestured to me like I was garbage.
I turned away before she could see my face crack.
“Don’t listen to her,” Petunia whispered, looping her arm back through mine. “She’s just jealous.”
I almost laughed. “Jealous of what? That I’m the pack’s walking reminder of a scandal?”
Petunia’s silence was answer enough.
The fair went on for a while, but my mood didn’t change. Everywhere, people whispered about the upcoming mating ritual, the big reveal where the Alpha’s golden boy would meet his fated mate.
Lorenzo Knight.
Even his name made my pulse skip. He’s the Star striker and Alpha-to-be. Everyone adored him. And me? I was invisible to him. Which was safer for me since my mum tried to kill him.
Still, it hurt watching Tiffany giggle about how obviously she’d be his mate.
By the time night fell, the entire pack gathered near the ceremonial grounds.
Torches burned bright while the pack security held them high. The forest hummed with expectations seeing Alpha Raphael, Lorenzo’s father standing on the platform.
“Tonight, our sons and daughters stand at the threshold of destiny! Tonight, the Moon Goddess reveals her chosen bonds!” His voice boomed from the podium.
Everyone was applauding with excitement.
I stood at the edge of the crowd, with my hood up, pretending I didn’t care.
Petunia leaned in. “You okay?”
“Fine,” I lied. “Go enjoy it. I’ll just… be over there.”
Before she could protest, I slipped away, weaving between bodies until the music from the ceremony dulled behind me.
My feet carried me without thinking, away from the crowd, away from Tiffany’s taunts and away from expectations I’d never meet.
I ended up at the sports complex, where the lights were dim and the silence felt like a blessing.
The boys’ locker room was unlocked.
No one would come here, there’s a whole feast going on outside, so I’m safe. It was the perfect hiding spot.
I pushed the door open, inhaling the faint mix of detergent and musk. Relief sagged my shoulders.
Finally, solitude.
Except… not quite.
Because halfway across the room, sitting on a bench with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, was Lorenzo Knight.
My heart stopped.
He looked up, startled, his eyes locking on mine. Storm-gray pupils, sharp even under the fluorescent buzz, were staring at me.
“What are you doing here?” His voice was low, rougher than I’d ever heard it.
“I…uh…” My brain blanked. “Hiding.”
One dark brow arched. “In the boys’ locker room?”
“You’re here too,” I shot back before I could stop myself.
That earned the faintest twitch of a smile. “Touché.”
We stared at each other for a beat too long. My stomach knotted, my pulse ridiculous.
“You’re missing your big moment,” I said, forcing casualness I didn’t feel.
“Don’t care,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Not interested in meeting some random girl I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with.”
I blinked. “That’s… bold, considering the entire pack’s holding its breath for you.”
“I never asked for this.” His voice cracked just slightly, a shadow flickering across his features. “I just… want to be me for five minutes. Not the Alpha’s son. Not the star player. Just… Lorenzo.”
Something inside me softened. “Yeah,” I said quietly. “I know the feeling.”
Our eyes held for a moment and that’s when it happened.
The scent hit me first, wild and electric, wrapping around my senses like a storm. My chest tightened, my skin prickling as heat flooded my veins.
He froze too, nostrils flaring, pupils dilating.
“…No,” he breathed.
I swallowed hard, because I felt it. The bond. The magnetic pull that hummed between us like invisible threads tightening.
This wasn’t possible.
“It’s you,” Lorenzo whispered, voice low and rough, like the words scraped his throat. “You’re my…”
The locker room door creaked open.
“Lorenzo?” Tiffany’s voice rang through the hall. “Are you in here?”
I stepped back instinctively, but his hand shot out, catching mine hot, solid, trembling.
His storm-gray gaze locked on mine, wide with disbelief.
“Mate,” he said.
And just like that, my entire world tilted.
