Chapter One: The Goddess’s Cruel gift

“Smile, girl. Tonight the Goddess will make you someone else’s problem.”

My father’s voice hit like a slap. I forced my mouth into a smile even as my stomach knotted tight. Eighteen years of being the beta’s quiet, forgettable daughter, and this night was meant to fix everything. The mating ceremony. My first shift. The moment the Moon Goddess would finally see me.

I stood among the other girls from Greenville Pack, my heart pounding so hard it echoed in my ears. My skin prickled. My bones ached with the coming change. The air carried the sharp bite of pine mixed with nervous sweat and raw excitement.

Then the shift slammed into me hard.

Pain ripped through every muscle in my body,I dropped hard onto my knees, gasping as fur pushed through my skin. Fire and ice tore me apart, but deep down something fierce woke up. My wolf. Strong. Ready. And  alive.

I lifted my head and the pack went quiet.Not the polite kind of silence,it was the silence that falls when something unexpected happens and no one knows how to respond to it.

The moon light has caught my coat and every wolf in the clearing has seen that I was a silver-gray wolf in a pack where no wolf had carried that coloring in living memory.

 I pushed up on four legs, shaking out my silver-gray coat. The world snapped into focus. My sense of smell  sharpened instantly and now I can perceive every scent clearly, every sound rang loud and clear.

My wolf’s head turned before my mind could understand why. I followed it and then my eyes found him across the clearing.

Mate.

Julian Harlow. Alpha of the Goldenville Pack. He stood taller than the rest, shoulders broad, presence heavy. The most handsome man to ever exist.His dark eyes locked straight onto mine and everything and everyone else disappeared.

Sparks of golden fire exploded between us. The veil aura wrapped around my body like hot wires, glowing so bright that the entire pack could see it. My wolf surged forward with wild joy.

His scent crashed over me next. Pine, raw dominance, and a darker edge like thunder rolling in. My body answered before my mind could stop it. Heat flows low in my belly. My wolf begged me to run to him.

Julian moved. His own aura flared back, golden light licking the air around his powerful frame. The whole clearing went dead silent for the second time.

He didn’t smile. His jaw clenched hard. Those cold eyes dragged over me from head to tail like he was sizing up a problem.

“Shift back,” he commanded, voice low and rough.

The change back to my body reversed very fast. For one bare second I stood naked before someone covered me with a thin robe. I wrapped it around my body, my face burning with shame, but I kept my eyes firmly on his.

He closed the distance in long angry strides. The veil aura pulsed hotter with every step, sending sharp sparks dancing over my skin. It burned in ways that felt too good and too cruel at the same time.

“She’s mine,” Julian announced, loud enough for every ear to hear. There was no single warmth in his tone. No joy. It was just a cold ownership like I was a painting he just bought in an auction. “She belongs to Goldenville now.”

My father didn’t fight it. He actually looked relieved. “Take her,” he said.The alliance still holds.”

I looked at my mother and she just avoided looking at me, her eyes were kept on the dirt. No one from my pack stepped forward. Not a single friend. Not even a word of goodbye. I refuse to believe the moon Goddess had made a mistake and gave me a mate who looks at me like I’m nothing but a chain around his neck.

I lifted my chin and met his stare head-on. “You don’t sound happy about it, Alpha.”

His lips curled, cold and sharp. “Happy has nothing to do with it. The Goddess picked wrong. But I don’t reject what’s mine.”

The words dropped heavy in my chest. The mate bond yanked tight, sweet and sharp together. My wolf whined, lost and eager. I could feel his resentment pushing against me like a wall, yet the bond kept dragging me closer anyway.

Julian grabbed my wrist. His grip burned hot and firm causing another spark of the veil aura to jump between us, bright and undeniable.

“We’re leaving. Now.”

“Wait,” I said, keeping my voice steady even though my legs felt weak. “My things, I need to get them.”

“You won’t be needing them.”

He pulled me forward through the crowd. Whispers rose behind us. Some carried pity. Others are sharp with jealousy. I caught Mira Nolan watching from the side, her eyes narrowed and her smile seemed too pleased like she knew something I didn’t.

I stumbled on a root but Julian didn’t care to slow down. The bond ache already started, a dull throb deep in my chest the farther we moved from the ceremony ground.

In under ten minutes they had me inside the back of a black SUV. Two of his warriors sat up front, silent and stiff while Julian slid in beside me. Our thighs pressed together and the veil aura settled into a steady, humming glow.

The door slammed shut with a heavy final sound. The engine roared. Greenville lights grew smaller in the rear window as we sped toward the city.

I stared out at the passing dark, throat tight, jaw locked. I refused to cry. Not here. Not in front of him. My mind spun fast. Today was supposed to be the happiest day of my life,it was meant to be the start of something special and beautiful.My freedom.Instead it felt like a trap door slamming shut beneath my feet.

Julian sat rigid next to me, staring straight ahead. His scent filled every inch of the car, making my head swim and my wolf pace inside me with restless hunger.

The bond hummed with a need I didn’t want. I hated how my body kept leaning slightly toward him even while every bit of pride I had screamed at me to pull away.

The road stretched darker. City lights blurred past the windows. Minutes ticked by in heavy silence.I wanted to make small conversations and ask what had brought him to Greenville but It seemed like he was not in a mood for any chit chat.

Then Julian spoke, his low voice slicing through the silence like a knife.

“Don’t get comfortable, little wolf. This bond will never be gentle.”