Chapter 1: The Coldest Moon
The Silver Moon Ballroom was a sea of silk, expensive cologne, and the hushed whispers of the elite.
Tonight was the Lunar Eclipse Ball
The night Prince Caspian—the future Alpha King of the Northern Territories—would finally choose his mate before the entire kingdom.
I stood in the shadows of the velvet curtains, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. I wasn't wearing a designer gown like the others. I was in a simple, floor-length white dress that I had spent six months saving for.
Still... tonight felt different.
“He’ll see me tonight,” I whispered to myself, clutching the small silver crescent moon necklace I was wearing.
Every time Caspian came near me, my body reacted strangely. For me, it was different. It felt like moonlight pouring through my veins. Like a distant voice calling my soul home.
I never understood it. The silver moon necklace resting against my chest suddenly felt warm against my skin.
My heartbeat quickened.
Not fear.
Something else.
The music stopped. The heavy oak doors swung open.
The entire ballroom fell silent.
Prince Caspian entered like the embodiment of power itself—tall, composed, devastatingly handsome, with storm-grey eyes that carried the weight of a future crown. The aura surrounding him was suffocating enough to make even powerful Alphas lower their gazes.
The crowd parted instantly.
My breathing stopped.
Then his eyes found me.
Not the noble daughters.
Not the heiresses.
Me.
The moment our gazes locked, something inside me trembled violently.
The necklace around my neck pulsed with heat.
And for the first time in my life, I saw Prince Caspian lose composure.
His jaw tightened.
His steps faltered.
A flicker of shock crossed his face so quickly that nobody else noticed it—but I did.
His storm-grey eyes darkened as if something inside him had awakened against his will.
The entire ballroom disappeared around us.
One step.
Two steps.
He walked toward me slowly, intensely, like he was fighting something invisible pulling him closer with every breath.
Hope bloomed painfully inside my chest.
He feels it too.
The strange pull.
The unexplainable connection.
My fingers trembled at my sides as he finally stopped before me.
Close enough for me to feel the warmth radiating from his body.
Close enough to hear his uneven breathing.
For one dangerous second, I thought destiny had finally chosen me.
Then I noticed it.
Pain. Real pain flashed through his eyes.
Not hatred.
Not disgust.
Fear.
Caspian’s hand twitched slightly as though he wanted to reach for me but suddenly, Lady Seraphina stepped beside him.
Beautiful.
Powerful.
Born from one of the wealthiest Alpha bloodlines in the South.
The perfect future Luna.
The perfect political choice.
The ballroom erupted into whispers.
I saw Caspian’s expression harden instantly, like a wall crashing down between us. His emotions disappeared behind the cold mask of a future King.
Then, without looking away from me, he grabbed Seraphina’s hand.
“Members of the Silver Moon Pack,” Caspian’s voice echoed across the ballroom. Deep. Controlled. Merciless.
“Tonight, I will announce the woman who will stand beside me as Luna.”
My heart pounded violently.
Please...
Please don’t do this.
“Lady Seraphina will become the future Luna of the Silver Moon Empire.”
The world stopped.
Applause thundered through the ballroom.
But all I could hear was the sound of something shattering inside me.
Caspian finally looked directly into my eyes again.
And this time, the conflict inside him was even worse.
Almost unbearable. As if rejecting me was destroying something inside him too. But he still did it.
“Evelyn,” he said coldly, loud enough for the surrounding nobles to hear. “Do not misunderstand your place.”
The words sliced through me.
“You are the daughter of a servant. Nothing more.”
The necklace around my throat burned painfully now.
“You were never meant to stand beside a King.”
Seraphina smiled slowly beside him, her eyes full of cruel satisfaction.
“A forgotten girl dreaming above her status,” she mocked softly. “How pathetic.”
The crowd laughed.
But Caspian didn’t.
That was the strangest part. He looked furious.
Not at me.
At himself.
At the bond.
At whatever existed between us.
Then he said the words that would destroy my entire life.
“From this moment onward,” he declared coldly, “you are forgotten.”
A strange silence filled my ears. The ballroom blurred around me. And deep beneath my skin… Something awakened.
The chandeliers above flickered suddenly.
A cold silver wind swept through the ballroom despite the sealed windows.
The warmth vanished from the air so quickly that several guests looked around in confusion.
Even the musicians stopped playing for a brief second.
My breath caught.
Something moved beneath my skin—a strange pulse that didn’t feel familiar, yet somehow felt deeply connected to me.
Prince Caspian stiffened.
For the first time that night, genuine uncertainty crossed his face.
Not anger.
Not rejection.
Something else.
Something he clearly didn’t understand.
I stepped backward slowly, tears burning my eyes.
Fine.
Hot tears blurred my vision as I stepped backward into the dark hallway, away from the laughter, away from the ballroom, away from him.
If I was nothing to this pack...
Then this pack meant nothing to me.
Behind me, the music started again as if my heartbreak was nothing more than entertainment for the elite.
Prince Caspian didn’t come after me.
He didn’t even look back.
But I didn’t know then that exactly one year later, the same man who rejected me before the entire kingdom would fall to his knees in the mud...
begging for a single glance from the woman he had thrown away.
But before that could happen…
I had to die to the world first.
