Chapter 5 – Fated, Forbidden

The courtyard had never been this silent. Not even during a hunt. Not even during a death.

Every breath seemed trapped in throats as the mark seared across my wrist, blazing with silver fire. I gasped, clutching my skin, but the pain wasn’t just mine—it resonated, rippling through the air like thunder.

“The Moonlight bond…” someone whispered.

Another voice gasped. “It’s glowing for her!”

The pack erupted, voices colliding in disbelief and awe. My vision blurred, the mark etching deeper into my flesh, glowing brighter with each passing heartbeat.

No—this couldn’t be happening. Not here. Not to me.

I staggered back, but my eyes betrayed me, dragging themselves upward… to him.

Alpha Riven Cade.

His gaze locked onto mine with a force that rooted me where I stood. There was no softness in those storm-gray eyes, no welcome, no warmth. But something stirred—something I couldn’t name.

The air between us shimmered, heavy, charged. I could feel it even from across the courtyard, as if invisible threads were pulling taut, binding us together.

And then the whispers sharpened into clarity.

“The mark chose him.”

“Not Damien…”

“Her mate is the Alpha.”

Damien.

My stomach dropped. I turned toward him, desperate to deny it, to plead with the moon, with the goddess, with fate itself. But his face said everything—shock bleeding into humiliation, then hardening into raw fury.

“No.” His voice cracked like a whip. “This is a mistake. A trick. Some kind of—”

“Silence.”

Riven’s voice cut through the chaos, deep and cold, silencing the pack more thoroughly than Damien ever could. He stepped forward, the weight of his command pressing over us all, leaving my lungs fighting for air.

I tried to move back, but my feet wouldn’t obey. His presence pinned me in place, each step he took a deliberate, unhurried strike against my resolve.

And when he finally stood before me, close enough that the heat of his body brushed against mine, the mark flared brighter, searing.

Gasps rippled. Some wolves dropped to their knees.

The Alpha bond.

It was undeniable. The Moonlight mark had spoken—Riven Cade was my fated mate.

But instead of triumph, dread coiled through me.

His jaw tightened, lips pressed in a grim line. For the briefest instant—just a flicker—I thought I saw his hand twitch at his side, as if he meant to reach for me. But then the storm slammed shut behind his eyes.

Riven leaned closer, his breath ghosting against my ear, his voice so cold it sliced deeper than claws.

“I’ll never claim you.”

The words punched the air from my chest.

I froze, my pulse hammering in my throat, the mark still burning like a brand.

“You…” I tried to speak, but the words cracked. “You can’t—”

“I can.” His gaze speared mine, emotionless, merciless. Yet beneath the ice, I swore I saw something trembling—something buried, strangled, denied.

He turned his back on me.

The pack roared, divided—some crying out in outrage, others in confusion, many falling into panicked whispers.

“She’s the Alpha’s mate—”

“He rejected her!”

“What does this mean for the ceremony?”

Damien shoved forward, his face flushed scarlet, his teeth bared.

“This is an insult!” His voice thundered, cracking with the strain of humiliation. “The Moonlight Ceremony is sacred, and she—she is nothing but a curse. This mark is a lie.”

My breath hitched. Curse. The word sliced deeper than Riven’s rejection.

But before I could defend myself, Riven’s gaze snapped back, locking on Damien like a predator.

“Choose your next words carefully.” His tone was death itself, quiet and lethal.

For a heartbeat, Damien faltered. But rage wouldn’t let him back down. He spat on the ground at my feet, his glare burning through me.

“This will ruin everything.”

And then he stormed away, leaving a trail of venom in his wake.

The pack shifted uneasily, torn between following their future Alpha—or bowing to the bond fate had carved into my skin.

My knees trembled, the mark still glowing like fire. Every whisper drilled into me: cursed, chosen, unworthy, mate of the Alpha.

I wanted to scream. To deny it. To tear the mark off my wrist with my own claws if I had to.

But I couldn’t. Because deep down, under the horror, the shame, the rejection… a part of me still burned for him.

And that terrified me most of all.

Riven didn’t look back again. He mounted the steps of the dais, his presence towering, unyielding.

“The Ceremony is over.” His decree rolled through the air like thunder. “Return to your homes. The Moon has spoken.”

The pack scattered, buzzing with shock, confusion, and fear.

I stood alone, the fire on my wrist fading to an angry scar, my world collapsing with each echo of his words.

Never claim you.

Never.

And yet, the bond thrummed in my veins, undeniable, merciless, a chain I could never break.

I hugged my arm to my chest, trembling, knowing Damien’s fury wasn’t finished. Knowing the pack would never see me the same. Knowing the Alpha himself wanted nothing to do with me.

But worst of all… knowing my heart had already begun to betray me.

Because even as rejection seared me raw, I couldn’t erase the memory of the heat in his eyes when our hands brushed.

The tiniest flicker of something he hadn’t wanted me to see.

Something he was already burying in ice.