A Crown of Thorns and Timber

The sharp scent of mint and cold jasmine hit me the moment I turned twenty today, a fragrance so suffocatingly sweet it made my head spin. I had rushed straight here the instant my instincts told me he was heading this way. And now, sitting in the corner of a quiet café behind an upside-down magazine I wasn't actually reading, my suspicions had turned out to be brutally true.

​My fated mate is Alpha Julian Vance.

​I peeked over the glossy pages, my heart hammering against my ribs. Gods and Goddesses... it really was him. I wasn’t hallucinating.

​He truly was an extraordinary man. Not only intelligent and charismatic, but drop-dead gorgeous. I never expected the Moon Goddess to bestow such a blessing upon me, to be the chosen mate of the terrifyingly powerful Alpha of the Valerian Heights Pack!

​Thump.

​My breath caught in my throat when Alpha Julian suddenly turned his head toward my table, fixing me with those piercing blue eyes that always seemed eager to trap me. For a few agonizing seconds, our gazes locked. A strange, warm wave surged straight from my chest to my fingertips, accompanied by a faint, cool breeze that mysteriously swept across my face indoors, reminding me how to draw breath.

​The moment I saw his eyebrow twitch upward, I instinctively looked away.

​Oh, no... now he knew.

​Even I, a wolfless girl who lacked a beast spirit, could feel that violent electric jolt humming in the air. Let alone a powerful, newly instated Alpha of the Valerian Pack? There was no way he could fail to recognize his fated mate in a single glance.

​Instead of shrinking back, however, a sudden jolt of electricity raced down my spine. I lowered the magazine an inch, keeping my head held high as he began to walk toward my table. Closer. Closer.

​"Good morning, Alpha," greeted a café patron not far from my table.

​"Good morning," I heard his melodic voice cut through the air. I could practically picture his radiant, comforting smile. Alpha Julian was universally adored for his strength, authority, and effortless charm. Everyone loved him. Especially me. And even more so now that I knew the man every woman dreamed of was the gift the Moon Goddess had carved out just for me.

​For a heartbeat, I felt as if I were soaring into the sky, sheer joy and gratitude blending into an intoxicating high.

​Yet a second later, that feeling dissolved into dust, swept away by a cold draft.

​"Good morning, everyone," Alpha Julian said again, this time his tone piercing straight through the paper and hitting me right between the eyes.

​I swallowed hard, refusing to let my voice shrink to a microscopic squeak. "Good morning, Alpha," I managed to say clearly, holding my ground even as I lagged slightly behind the others.

​I lowered the magazine completely, keeping my gaze locked firmly forward. I didn’t dare look back at him, even though I could feel the scorching weight of those blue eyes directed at the top of my head.

​I held my breath and gripped the pages as he began to walk. Closer. Closer.

​He walked right past my table. So close that his jacket sleeve lightly brushed against my arm. I nearly jumped at the tiny, tickling shockwave of static electricity that rippled across my skin. I waited for the declaration. The breathless gasp. The public claim every maiden dreamed of.

​And then... nothing.

​No breathless gasp. No sudden pull dragging him into my arms. Just a flicker of sharp suspicion and a flash of sheer bewilderment before his expression smoothed over, looking at me with the exact same casual indifference he reserved for a stranger.

​He hadn't acknowledged me on the spot.

​He should have smelled me instantly; my scent should have been overwhelming to his heightened senses, just as I had been driving myself half-insane since dawn inhaling the mint and jasmine radiating off his skin. There was no way a man like Julian Vance could just let that slide. I had seen his pupils dilate the moment our eyes met. He had definitely realized the truth.

​It was as though he was rejecting me in total, deafening silence. With a masterclass in composure, he walked right past his own fated mate without uttering a single word. He was choosing to act as if nothing had happened, hiding the sacred bond away because he was ashamed to admit in front of his pack that his fated Luna was a wolfless, curvier girl who didn't fit the slender werewolf mold.

​Hot, searing fury flared in my chest, burning away my initial shock and completely incinerating any urge to cry.

​I didn't cower. I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me break over his cowardice.

​I abruptly stood up from my seat, tossing a crumpled bill onto the wooden table, and walked with firm, deliberate strides right out of the café toward my workplace.

​Ugh. I really should have just called in sick. But I had a mandatory inspection of the downtown park scheduled with two of my colleagues. I wiped at my face with the back of my hand, not from tears, but from the rising heat of pure indignation, praying the morning sun would quickly bake away any remaining trace of vulnerability.

​In our world, it wasn’t rare to witness two people cross paths, freeze in their tracks, and breathe out that single, sacred word bound by the Goddess's decree. They always looked so effortless—gazes locked, instantly accepting one another in a rush of primal instinct.

​So what was wrong with Julian Vance? Why had he just looked at me and walked away?

​A deep, stinging frustration coiled inside me, aimed as much at myself as at him. I hated that I had momentarily allowed myself to feel small, rather than demanding the respect I deserved. I thought back to my sister, Linda, and how her mate Josh had reacted when they met, an irresistible magnet pulling them together completely beyond their control, kissing as if they hadn't just met moments prior.

​I had imagined the exact same fairy-tale magic for myself. My heart had blossomed with the sweet delusion that he would feel it too, especially since Alpha Julian and I had known each other since childhood. He had always been kind to me. Well, kind to everyone, but at least he treated me decently. He had never once mocked me for lacking the slender, willowy figure of a typical werewolf teenager.

​Yet the man I had just seen was a complete stranger hiding behind a mask of social perfection.

​My breath hitched as I approached the intersection. I stopped dead in my tracks at the pedestrian crosswalk as the signal glowed a harsh, unyielding red. I wrapped my arms tightly around my waist, shivering despite the warmth of the day, letting the anger settle into a cold, hard resolve.

​Was he ashamed of me?

​I glanced to the side, where my reflection stared back from a towering glass storefront. I had never felt terrible about myself. I always believed I was just as worthy as anyone else, wolfless or not. My family and friends had never made me feel flawed, and I had never struggled with deep-seated insecurities.

​Yet, under the ghost of Alpha Julian’s cold gaze, cracks had tried to form. For a fleeting second, I saw all my supposed flaws glaring back at me, the things that perhaps made the great Alpha mortified at the thought of his fated mate, his future Luna, being me.

​Standing there on the sidewalk, looking at the glass, a spike of rebellion pierced through my chest. I stared straight at my reflection, taking in my fuller hips, my soft curves, and the fierce fire burning in my eyes.

​For the first time, I didn't hate what I saw. Instead, I hated him for making me question it.

​The pedestrian light flashed green. I squared my shoulders, lifted my chin high, and stepped off the curb, marching forward into the morning light.

​If Alpha Julian Vance thought he could treat me like a dirty secret, he had another thing coming. He might be my fated mate, but I would be damned if I let him walk over me without a fight.