CHAPTER 1 The Girl No One Wanted
The whispers always found me.
“They say she’s still wolfless.”
“What kind of she-wolf reaches twenty-one without shifting?”
“I heard even the Moon Goddess rejected her.”
I lowered my eyes and kept walking.
There was no point in defending myself anymore. Words couldn’t erase years of humiliation, and tears only gave people another reason to laugh.
Tonight was supposed to be different.
Tonight was the Moon Ceremony.
The night every unmated wolf prayed for.
The night fate revealed the one person destined to complete your soul.
The Great Hall shimmered beneath hundreds of crystal chandeliers, their light dancing across silver banners embroidered with the crest of every pack in the kingdom. Music drifted through the room while laughter echoed against the stone walls.
Everywhere I looked, wolves smiled with excitement.
Everyone except me.
I smoothed the wrinkles from my plain white dress. It wasn’t nearly as beautiful as the gowns worn by the Alpha daughters, but it was all I had.
“You came.”
I turned to find Nora weaving through the crowd, her blonde curls bouncing as she smiled.
“I thought you’d hide in your room.”
“I almost did,” I admitted.
She linked her arm through mine.
“You deserve to be here as much as anyone else.”
I smiled, grateful that someone still believed I deserved anything.
Ever since my parents died, I’d become little more than a servant in my own pack. I cooked. I cleaned. I obeyed.
No Alpha wanted an omega who hadn’t even shifted.
No family wanted the orphan girl everyone whispered about.
Sometimes…
I wondered if they were right.
Maybe I really wasn’t enough.
A trumpet suddenly echoed through the hall.
Conversation stopped instantly.
Every Alpha straightened.
Every elder bowed.
Even the music fell silent.
The enormous oak doors slowly opened.
A cold breeze swept into the hall.
Then he appeared.
Alpha King Kaelan Draven.
Tall.
Powerful.
Untouchable.
His black ceremonial coat was embroidered with silver thread that caught the candlelight, while the royal crest rested proudly over his heart. A dark crown sat effortlessly upon his head, marking him as ruler of every werewolf kingdom.
He didn’t smile.
Kings like Kaelan never smiled.
His icy gray eyes swept across the room, unreadable and commanding.
Every wolf lowered their gaze.
Every wolf…
Except me.
For one impossible second…
Our eyes met.
Something inside my chest fluttered before I quickly looked away.
Don’t be ridiculous, Aria.
Men like him never noticed girls like you.
The ceremony began.
One by one, names were announced.
Laughter erupted as mates found each other.
Tears of happiness flowed freely.
The Moon Goddess was blessing everyone tonight.
Everyone…
Except me.
I wrapped my arms around myself.
Maybe this was another reminder that I wasn’t meant to belong anywhere.
Just as I turned toward the exit—
A scent stopped me.
Fresh rain.
Pine forests.
Wildfire.
It surrounded me so suddenly that my knees nearly gave out.
My heartbeat thundered.
No…
It couldn’t be.
Slowly, I looked up.
Across the crowded hall…
The Alpha King had frozen.
His sharp eyes were locked on mine.
Shock flashed across his face.
Then disbelief.
His wolf had recognized me before he had.
The room held its breath.
His lips parted.
One word escaped in a whisper.
“…Mate.”
The entire hall gasped.
Every head turned toward me.
I couldn’t breathe.
The most powerful Alpha in the world…
Was my fated mate.
For one beautiful heartbeat…
I believed my lonely life was finally about to change.
I had no idea it was about to be destroyed instead.
