Chapter 1— The Mating Ceremony
The entire pack had gathered beneath the silver light of the full moon.
Hundreds of wolves stood around the ancient stone circle, their faces turned toward the Moon Shrine at the center of the clearing. Torches burned along the edges, but the moonlight was brighter than all of them.
Tonight was supposed to be the happiest night of my life.
My mating ceremony.
I stood at the entrance of the shrine, trying to control the trembling in my hands.
“Liana.”
I looked over my shoulder.
My best friend, Mira, gave me a nervous smile.
“You don't have to be scared.”
“I’m not scared,” I whispered.
She raised an eyebrow.
I sighed.
“Okay. Maybe I am.”
Mira squeezed my hand.
“Everyone is nervous during their first Moon Ceremony.”
I nodded, but something inside me felt different.
Wrong.
For as long as I could remember, I had dreamed about this night. Every wolf in our pack waited for the day the Moon Goddess would reveal their mate.
A mate was supposed to be the person who completed you.
The person your wolf recognized.
The person you could never forget.
But there was one problem.
I didn't have a wolf.
At least, that was what everyone believed.
I had reached my twentieth birthday without shifting even once.
The elders called me an anomaly.
Some called me weak.
Others simply called me useless.
My father never said those words aloud, but I had seen the disappointment in his eyes every time another girl in the pack shifted while I remained unchanged.
Still, tonight could be different.
The Moon Goddess could choose my mate even if I hadn't shifted.
At least, that was what I kept telling myself.
A deep howl suddenly echoed through the forest.
The entire clearing became silent.
The Alpha had arrived.
I turned.
A group of warriors entered the clearing first, followed by the elders.
Then he appeared.
Alpha Kael Draven.
The most powerful Alpha in the region.
He was tall, dressed completely in black, with an expression that made the surrounding wolves lower their eyes.
I had heard stories about him since I was a child.
They said he had never lost a challenge.
They said other Alphas feared him.
They said even his wolf was different.
I had never expected him to be here tonight.
Mira leaned toward me.
“Why is the Nightfall Alpha attending our ceremony?”
“I don't know.”
Kael walked toward the shrine.
For one strange second, his eyes met mine.
My heart stopped.
Something inside my chest pulled painfully.
Not fear.
Something else.
Kael's expression changed.
His eyes narrowed.
He stopped walking.
The wolves around him began whispering.
“What happened?”
“Why did the Alpha stop?”
Kael looked away from me.
Then his jaw tightened.
An elder stepped forward.
“Alpha Kael, the ceremony is about to begin.”
Kael didn't answer.
His eyes returned to mine.
This time, I couldn't look away.
A strange warmth spread through my body.
My heartbeat became louder.
Then I heard something.
A whisper.
Not from anyone standing around me.
From inside me.
Mate.
My eyes widened.
My wolf?
Impossible.
I had never heard her before.
Another whisper followed.
Him.
I stared at Kael.
Could it really be him?
The Moon Shrine suddenly erupted with silver light.
Everyone gasped.
The elders dropped to their knees.
“The Moon Goddess has chosen!” someone shouted.
My legs nearly gave out.
Kael stepped forward.
The silver light surrounded both of us.
The pack erupted into excited whispers.
“It's the Alpha!”
“She's his mate!”
“Liana Rose is the Alpha's mate!”
I couldn't breathe.
Kael was staring at me.
His face was unreadable.
The elder raised his hands.
“By the will of the Moon Goddess, the bond has been—”
Kael suddenly growled.
The sound was so deep that the entire clearing fell silent.
His eyes turned dark.
“No.”
The elder froze.
I stared at him.
“What?”
Kael took another step toward me.
The invisible pull between us became stronger.
My entire body felt like it was being drawn toward him.
But Kael looked furious.
“No,” he repeated.
The whispers began again.
“What does he mean?”
“Why is he refusing?”
“Can an Alpha refuse a Moon bond?”
Kael's hands clenched.
His wolf was fighting something inside him.
I could see it.
Then he looked directly into my eyes.
And I heard a voice that wasn't his.
A voice that came from somewhere deep inside the bond.
Kael's wolf.
His eyes widened.
His lips parted slightly.
Then the voice spoke through him.
“She isn't yours.”
The silver light disappeared.
Silence swallowed the clearing.
I stood completely still.
My heart was pounding.
“What does that mean?” I whispered.
Kael didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at me as though he had just discovered something terrifying.
Then he turned toward the elders.
“End this ceremony.”
The elder shook his head.
“But Alpha—”
“I said end it.”
The command shook the entire clearing.
Nobody moved.
Then my body suddenly burned.
I cried out and grabbed my chest.
A sharp pain spread across my skin.
Mira rushed toward me.
“Liana!”
I looked down.
A strange silver mark was appearing on my skin.
The mark wasn't a normal mate mark.
It looked like a crescent moon surrounded by unfamiliar symbols.
The elders saw it.
Their faces turned pale.
One of them whispered something.
I couldn't hear him.
“What is it?” I asked.
Nobody answered.
Kael stared at the mark.
For the first time since he arrived, I saw fear in his eyes.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Fear.
Then an old woman among the elders stepped backward.
Her voice trembled.
“That's impossible.”
Kael turned toward her.
“What did you say?”
She looked at me.
“The last time that mark appeared…”
She stopped.
Everyone waited.
“...an entire bloodline disappeared.”
My stomach dropped.
Kael's expression hardened.
“Everyone leaves. Now.”
The pack began moving, but I couldn't.
I was staring at the strange mark on my skin.
For twenty years, I had believed I was the only wolf in the world who had no wolf.
But tonight, something inside me had awakened.
And for the first time, I heard her clearly.
“Liana…”
I froze.
“Run.”
Then the lights surrounding the Moon Shrine went out.
And somewhere deep inside the forest, a wolf howled.
It wasn't an ordinary howl.
It sounded like a warning.
And somehow, I knew it was meant for me.
