CHAPTER 1: Devotion

[Gwyneth] 

They say the Moon Goddess will grant you the things you desire most, as long as the moon and time are aligned. I’ve believed in her for as long as I can remember. That’s why I’ve always been certain that Soren and I are mates, from the very moment I first understood what love was. 

*** 

“What?” I asked in disbelief, the word slipping out as I stared at Alpha Conrad, my father, still unable to absorb what he had just said. 

He had summoned me to his private den before I departed for Lycan Academy, where I was supposed to continue my studies. I had assumed it would be a brief, formal send-off. It was anything but. 

“I said you are going to marry the first son of the Blackwood Pack in three months,” he repeated firmly. 

“No… how can you do this to me?” My voice trembled as the reality began to sink in. 

“Because you are my daughter!” he snapped. 

“But why me? You’re doing this because I’m your illegitimate child!” I blurted, unable to stop myself. It was the painful truth that had always lingered between us. 

He clenched his fists, barely holding himself back. 

I am his second daughter, but not by his Luna, the mother of my older sister and the one after me. I am something else entirely: the product of a secret, a reminder of a mistake, a shadow in a house that had never quite made room for me. And now, it seemed, he wanted me gone. 

A tight pressure gripped my chest, and tears welled up, spilling before I could stop them. 

His jaw hardened, and when he spoke again, his voice echoed through the room. “The Blackwood Pack is one of the strongest. We need this alliance because I don’t have a fvcking son to protect our pack!” 

He drew a long breath and pressed his eyes shut, steadying himself. “You’re aware your sister Lynn married into the Ravencrest Pack to secure our strength and resources. So don’t you dare assume I’m doing this just because you’re different!” 

His words stung, and I couldn’t stop crying. 

He exhaled sharply and dropped into his chair, exhaustion finally seeping through his rigid posture.  

“What do you want me to do? Marry off Zaya instead? Your fifteen-year-old sister?” 

Guilt twisted in my chest. I knew how I must have sounded: stubborn, ungrateful, selfish. But I wasn’t refusing without reason. 

“But Soren is my mate, Dad,” I whispered. 

He paused, eyes narrowing slightly as he turned the words over in his mind. 

“Soren Michaels of the Ravencrest?” he asked. 

“Yes, he’s my mate. We agreed to make our relationship known once I entered university.” 

A silence settled over the room. My father leaned back, his expression unreadable, though I could almost see the calculations behind his eyes. 

I understood exactly what he was weighing. Soren’s cousin had married my elder sister, Lynn, that was how Soren and I met. Over time, he became more than just family-adjacent; he became my confidant, my protector, the one person who made me feel I belonged.  

Two years ago, we made a promise to each other. 

Now, if my mate truly belonged to the Ravencrest Pack while my father was trying to bind me to the Blackwood Pack, it would set two alliances on a collision course and leave our pack caught in the middle. 

After a moment, my father spoke again. “Since I’ve never heard of your claim, I’m giving you one week to prove that Soren is your mate.” 

He didn’t believe me. But my faith was unshaken, and so was my love for Soren. 

“Prove it, Gwen.” His final order ended the discussion before he dismissed me from the pack grounds, sending me to Lycan Academy, five hundred miles away from the Hollow Pack… 

To a place where I would be forced to face the truth. 

That afternoon, I arrived at the academy, excitement building in my chest. It was located far up north, outside our territory. 

Rumi was the first person I saw when she opened the car door for me. She was the daughter of Beta Rowan and had arrived here a year earlier than I did. 

We hugged, and for a moment, the weight of my father’s ultimatum lifted. 

“Where is Soren?” I asked, already reaching for my phone to pull up the campus map. 

“He’s in Obsidian Hall,” she replied. 

I was already moving, eyes on the screen, my heart a step ahead of my feet. I was so eager, so certain that seeing him would make everything fall into place, that I didn’t notice the change in her expression.  

“Come on, he must be excited to see me too! I have something important to tell him!” 

I followed the map, weaving toward the building just a short distance ahead. Behind me, I heard Rumi’s voice… 

“But Gwen…”  

But before I could even reach the entrance, I already saw the person I was looking for, and it felt like reality slapped me in the face. Shame immediately followed, washing over me for the words I had spoken to my father. 

He was standing at the entrance to Obsidian Hall, but nothing about the scene matched the reunion I had been replaying in my mind the entire five-hundred-mile drive here. 

A woman stood beside him, his arm firmly around her waist, as though he had no intention of letting her go. 

Everything we had talked about after I confessed my feelings to him two years ago came rushing back. 

He had promised me. 

And I had believed every word…