Chapter 1
THE MOON CEREMONY
The first time I saw the Alpha, three people died.
Not because he killed them.
Because they tried to kill me.
I didn't know that when I woke up that morning.
At the time, I was mostly worried about my dress.
I stood in front of my bedroom mirror, turning from side to side and trying to decide whether the dark-blue dress my mother had bought me made me look seventeen or like someone's little sister who had accidentally wandered into a formal event.
It was simple.
Long sleeves. A fitted waist. A skirt that reached just below my knees.
Nothing dramatic.
Which was exactly how I liked things.
I pulled at the fabric around my shoulders.
It still felt uncomfortable.
“You're going to wrinkle it,” Mum called from downstairs.
“I’m not!”
“You've been standing in front of that mirror for ten minutes.”
I looked at myself again.
“Maybe the mirror is judging me.”
There was a pause.
Then I heard her laugh.
“Come downstairs, Lyra.”
I grabbed my phone from my bed and checked the time.
6:47 p.m.
Great.
I was going to be late.
I quickly fixed my hair, grabbed my shoes and hurried downstairs, nearly tripping over the last step.
Mum was waiting by the front door.
She was already wearing her coat.
She looked at me.
Then she stopped.
Not for a second.
For too long.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“You're doing the face.”
She blinked.
“What face?”
“The face you make when you're worried but don't want to tell me.”
Her lips pressed into a small smile.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
I didn't believe her.
For the past few weeks, my mother had been acting strangely whenever the Moon Ceremony was mentioned.
Every time someone brought it up, she changed the subject.
Every time I asked what happened when she was seventeen, she suddenly found something else to do.
And whenever I asked about my father...
That was worse.
She always said the same thing.
“Some things are better left in the past.”
I hated that answer.
Especially because I barely knew anything about him.
I knew his name.
I knew he was my father.
And I knew my mother didn't like talking about him.
That was it.
No pictures.
No stories.
No old letters.
Nothing.
It was as if he'd never existed.
Sometimes I wondered if Mum thought keeping me in the dark was protecting me.
Maybe it was.
Maybe she was just afraid of what I might find if I started asking the right questions.
“Ready?” she asked.
I nodded.
Then hesitated.
“Do I really have to go?”
Her expression changed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She reached for the door.
“Because you're seventeen.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It is tonight.”
I sighed.
Typical Mum.
She opened the door.
Cold evening air rushed inside.
I followed her out.
And neither of us knew that it would be the last time we walked out of that house without being afraid.
---
The Moon Ceremony happened once a year.
Every seventeen-year-old werewolf in the kingdom attended.
It was supposed to be one of the most important nights of our lives.
At seventeen, your wolf was supposed to awaken completely.
And if you were lucky...
You found your mate.
People talked about the mate bond like it was the greatest thing that could happen to you.
A connection chosen by the moon.
Two people who were supposedly made for each other.
Forever.
Romantic, according to everyone else.
Terrifying, according to me.
Because I didn't have a wolf.
At least, that's what I'd been told.
I'd never shifted.
Never heard a voice inside my head.
Never felt another presence when I closed my eyes.
Nothing.
My mother had always said I was different.
Not sick.
Not cursed.
Just...
Different.
I'd never really questioned it.
Until tonight.
The Northern Territory's old stone hall was already surrounded by hundreds of people when we arrived.
Music played through hidden speakers.
Parents stood together, talking excitedly.
Teenagers were everywhere, fixing their hair, adjusting their clothes and pretending they weren't nervous.
Some were laughing too loudly.
Others kept checking the entrance like their future mate might suddenly walk in wearing a sign that said I'm the one.
Maya spotted me before I spotted her.
“There you are!”
She practically ran into me.
“You look amazing.”
I looked at her dress.
“You look like you spent three hours getting ready.”
“I spent four.”
I laughed.
“That explains it.”
She linked her arm through mine.
“Come on. They're about to start.”
As we walked toward the courtyard, she leaned closer.
“Okay. Important question.”
“What?”
“Who do you think will find their mate first?”
“I don't know.”
“Liar.”
“I genuinely don't care.”
“You've been saying that for six months.”
“Because I don't care.”
She stared at me.
“Lyra.”
“What?”
“You've been checking the guest list every day.”
“That was research.”
“Research?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
I shrugged.
“Survival.”
She burst out laughing.
“That makes absolutely no sense.”
“It makes perfect sense.”
“Sure.”
She squeezed my arm.
“You know, if you find your mate tonight, I'm going to be unbearable.”
“You're already unbearable.”
“Exactly.”
I smiled.
That was Maya.
She could turn almost anything into a joke.
I wished I could do that.
For a few minutes, standing beside her, I almost forgot about the strange feeling I'd had all day.
Like something was waiting for me.
Something I couldn't see.
---
We entered the courtyard.
Huge silver lanterns hung between the trees, illuminating the stone pathways.
Hundreds of candles surrounded the centre platform.
Their flames moved gently in the cold breeze.
And behind the platform stood the old ceremonial hall, its dark stone walls covered in ancient carvings.
I'd seen pictures of the hall before.
But seeing it in person felt different.
Older.
Almost alive.
I stared at the symbols carved into the walls.
For some reason, one of them looked familiar.
I frowned.
“Lyra?”
I looked at Maya.
“Hmm?”
“You're staring.”
“At what?”
She pointed toward the wall.
“Nothing?”
I shook my head.
“Forget it.”
Before I could say anything else, the crowd went silent.
Not gradually.
All at once.
I looked toward the entrance.
A man had just walked through the gates.
I didn't know who he was.
I didn't need anyone to tell me.
Everyone moved aside as he passed.
He was dressed completely in black.
Dark hair.
Sharp features.
A calm expression that somehow made him more intimidating than someone who was openly angry.
He wasn't the biggest person there.
He didn't need to be.
Something about him made the entire courtyard feel smaller.
Maya grabbed my arm.
“That's him.”
“Who?”
She stared at me like I'd just asked who the king was.
“Kael Draven.”
I looked at her.
“The Alpha?”
She nodded.
“The youngest Alpha in the Northern Territories.”
I'd heard stories.
Everyone had.
Ruthless.
Untouchable.
Powerful.
He had become Alpha after his father's death, years earlier than anyone expected.
Some people said he had fought for the title.
Others said the title had simply been handed to him because no one else was strong enough.
But standing there, watching him walk through the crowd, the thing I noticed wasn't his power.
It was how tired he looked.
Like he hadn't slept properly in years.
His shoulders were tense.
His expression was controlled.
And there was something cold behind his eyes.
Something that made me wonder what he'd seen.
Then his eyes moved across the courtyard.
Slowly.
Searching.
Until they stopped.
On me.
My stomach dropped.
I looked behind myself.
Nobody.
When I turned back, he was still staring.
“Why is he looking at you?” Maya whispered.
“I have no idea.”
Neither did I.
Kael didn't look away.
Neither did I.
For some strange reason, I felt like he was trying to remember where he'd seen me before.
But we'd never met.
At least...
I was almost certain we hadn't.
The elder stepped onto the platform.
“Everyone, please take your places.”
The crowd began moving.
I took my place beside Maya.
My palms were sweating.
“Relax,” she whispered.
“I am relaxed.”
“You're crushing my hand.”
I looked down.
I was.
“Sorry.”
The ceremony began.
---
One by one, the seventeen-year-olds were called forward.
Some stood beneath the moon and immediately reacted to the presence of their mate.
Some cried.
Some laughed.
Some simply stared at each other like the rest of the world had disappeared.
Every successful bond was followed by cheering.
I watched quietly.
Part of me wondered what it would feel like.
To suddenly know that someone was meant for you.
To look at a stranger and somehow know they weren't a stranger anymore.
Then another part of me remembered that I probably wouldn't experience it.
Because I wasn't like everyone else.
My name was called.
“Lyra Vale.”
My heart jumped.
For a moment, I didn't move.
Maya nudged me.
“Go.”
“I know.”
“You're going to make them call you twice.”
“Stop.”
She smiled.
I walked toward the centre.
Hundreds of eyes followed me.
I tried not to look at my mother.
I failed.
She was standing near the edge of the crowd.
Her hands were clasped tightly together.
She wasn't smiling.
The elder smiled gently at me.
“Place your hand here.”
I did.
Her fingers closed over mine.
“Relax.”
“I am relaxed.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Your hand is shaking.”
“Oh.”
A few people laughed.
My face burned.
The elder closed her eyes.
The moonlight fell across us.
I waited.
Nothing.
The elder frowned.
She tried again.
Still nothing.
The silence became uncomfortable.
Someone whispered.
“Is she defective?”
Another voice answered.
“I thought she didn't have a wolf.”
My throat tightened.
I stared at the ground.
I wished the stone beneath my feet would open and swallow me.
The elder tried a third time.
Nothing.
Not even a spark.
Not even a reaction.
Nothing.
The whispers grew louder.
“Maybe she's not really a werewolf.”
“Why was she even allowed into the ceremony?”
“Something's wrong with her.”
I looked toward my mother.
She wasn't looking at me.
She was looking at the elder.
And she looked terrified.
Not embarrassed.
Not disappointed.
Terrified.
The elder slowly released my hand.
“It's okay,” she said softly.
But it didn't feel okay.
I stepped away.
Maybe this was what I deserved for pretending I was normal.
I turned to leave.
Then I heard footsteps.
Behind me.
I stopped.
Slowly, I looked over my shoulder.
Kael Draven was walking toward me.
The entire courtyard seemed to notice.
People stopped whispering.
Maya went completely silent.
Kael's expression had changed.
He no longer looked calm.
He looked frightened.
He stopped directly in front of me.
Neither of us spoke.
His eyes moved over my face.
Then dropped to my hand.
“Give me your hand.”
“What?”
“Please.”
There was something in his voice that made me obey.
I held out my hand.
His fingers touched mine.
The moment they did—
Everything stopped.
The music.
The talking.
The laughter.
Even the wind seemed to disappear.
For one impossible second, the entire world went silent.
Then—
A howl erupted.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
Every wolf in the courtyard howled at once.
People screamed.
Some dropped to their knees.
Silver light shot across the sky like lightning.
I stumbled backward.
Kael caught me.
His eyes were wide.
“What are you?” he whispered.
“I don't know.”
He looked down.
Something was glowing beneath my skin.
A symbol slowly appeared on my wrist.
A silver star surrounded by strange lines.
I stared at it.
I couldn't breathe.
Kael's face went completely pale.
He released me.
Someone in the crowd screamed.
“The Starborn!”
My mother gasped.
I turned toward her.
She looked like she'd just seen a ghost.
“Mum?”
She didn't answer.
Another voice shouted,
“The last Starborn!”
The crowd erupted.
People started backing away from me.
Others moved closer.
Some looked afraid.
Others looked excited.
But nobody looked at me like I was just Lyra anymore.
Kael looked toward the crowd.
Then back at me.
For the first time that night, I saw genuine fear in his eyes.
Not fear of me.
Fear for me.
He leaned closer.
“Lyra.”
“What?”
His voice dropped to a whisper.
“Run.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
His eyes moved over my shoulder.
His face went pale.
“Because they found you.”
I turned around.
And saw them.
People dressed completely in black stood at every entrance.
They weren't looking at Kael.
They weren't looking at my mother.
They weren't looking at anyone else.
They were looking at me.
One of them slowly reached inside his coat.
My mother's voice broke through the crowd.
“Lyra, don't move.”
I looked at her.
She was crying.
I'd never seen my mother cry before.
Not once.
And suddenly, I understood something.
She hadn't been afraid of the Moon Ceremony.
She had been afraid of this.
The stranger pulled something from beneath his coat.
Kael froze, and told me run.
I asked,
“Why?”
He looked at the blood on my hands.
“Because you're not human.”
"Run," he whispered.
"Why?"
His eyes met mine.
"Because everyone who knows what you are..."
He paused.
"...is going to try to kill you."
