Chapter 1: How it started out

⚠️ CONTENT WARNING

This novel contains mature themes, including sexual content, nudity, sensual scenes, strong language, violence, intense romance, betrayal, and emotionally charged situations.

Reader discretion is advised.

ELARA POV

***

I stood before my bedroom mirror, fixing the silver necklace around my throat while my mind wandered back to the meeting we'd had earlier that afternoon.

“Whats going to happen to us?”I thought to myself.

Alpha Lucian thorne had called for a pack meeting and told us he would be stepping down as Alpha and giving the Alpha title to Kieran -the heir to the Thorne Pack. And that the Alpha succession will be taken place in 3 weeks.

I should have been excited. I was, mostly but the thought of how things will be when Kieran becomes Alpha Left me filled with thoughts which made me feel uneasy and scared at the same time.

-Kieran and I have known each other since we were young wolf cubs and after the death of his mother we grew closer and developed a dependency on each other, we started officially dating 4years back after we had been friends for a really long time.

Kieran was always destined to be the next Alpha, I just never thought it was going to be so soon. But now it's happening and I have 3 weeks to prepare myself.

Kieran and I had always knew the day was going to come but he never failed to re-assure me that no matter what happens he would always love me no and choose me over and over again. Remembering those words gave me a little comfort but I couldn't brush pass the fact that a big change was about to happen.

To the pack being Alpha wasn't simply a title.

It wasn't a fancy crown or a position that came with admiration.

It was responsibility.

The pack would become his.

Every border.

Every warrior.

Every pack member

Every problem.

And somewhere inside all those responsibilities was something neither of us could ignore forever. His fated mate, his Luna. Every Alpha needed one. At least, that was how our world worked.

The Moon Goddess chose mates.

Not people.

Not families.

Not even Alphas.

Her choice was absolute and it could not be resisted no matter how one tried.

We had been together for four years, and neither of us had ever felt the pull of a mate bond toward the other.

We weren't fated.

We knew that.

There had been no overwhelming recognition.

No sudden connection.

No sensation of the world falling away the moment our eyes met.

Neither of us cared cause there had only been us.

Two people who grew up together ,fell in love, and chose each other.

Kieran loved me.

That was what mattered.

I repeated it to myself like a prayer.

Kieran loved me.

I loved Kieran.

That's all we needed “or so I thought ”

I hadn't seen Kieran all day. After the announcement was made and I was to go meet him at Thorne estate soon.

I grabbed my bag and left my room.

The evening air was cool when I stepped outside.

The Thorne Pack was settling into the night.

It was summer and the scent of the flowers in the air have a form of peace.

Lights glowed from the houses scattered throughout the territory, and the scent of flowers filled the air.

Wolves were everywhere.

Some heading home after work.

Some beginning patrol.

Some already shifting and disappearing into the forest.

I knew this territory better than I knew any other place. My dad“ Beta kael” was Alpha Lucian right hand man. He'd always show me every nook and cranny of the pack territory any chance he had.

I had grown up here.

And I jad known the Thorne brothers for years.

Kieran had been the one I grew close to first.

Cassian came later. He was Kierans younger brother.

He was always known to be reckless, overconfident, rebellious and cause havoc any where he went. A year after Kieran and I started dating, Cassian left the pack to explore more of his promiscuity and has not been back since. Now that Kieran is taking over he has to come back and take over as the new Beta.

I always thought of how Kieran and Cassian had such different personalities that could actually be contradicting and make one wonder if they were

actually brothers.

But despite their differences, the brothers were close.

Kieran was the future Alpha.

Cassian was the younger brother who had never been really interested in pack politics and always tried to avoid it when possible .

I entered the estate and reached the Thorne mansion just as the sun disappeared behind the trees.

One of the guards smiled when he saw me.

"Evening, Elara."

"Evening."

The front doors opened before I could knock.

Kieran stood there.

And just like that, every thought about mates and Alpha responsibilities disappeared.

My heart did that ridiculous little flutter it had been doing around him for four years.

He smiled.

"You're late."

I stepped inside.

"By three minutes."

"Four."

"You're counting?"

"I was waiting." I laughed.

"You've been waiting for four minutes."

"Longest four minutes of my life."

"You're dramatic." He stepped closer, pulling me by my waist his warm hands and gentleness made me loose my coordination for a second. “I missed moments like this when we could just be in each others arm without any worries”.

"you're beautiful." He said.

I stared deeply into his ocean blue eyes “those blue eyes were always so breathtaking and always made me loose control” . My cheeks flushed, My heart beat sped up. wondering what his next move was going to be.

Kieran leaned down and kissed me.

Nothing dramatic.

Just a soft kiss from the man I loved.

And somehow, that was able to leave me weak in the knees clearing all my doubts.

When he pulled away, I looked at him. And something felt off.

"You look tired."

"I am."

"Another meeting?"

He sighed.

"Another meeting."

You've prepared for this for as long as I have known you and to be fair that's a really long time. I know you can do it and I know it will get better.

"Yeah."

“But...

"3 weeks and everything changes."

I reached for his hand.

"You're ready."

"Am I?"

"Yes."

His fingers tightened around mine. Then he looked at me.

There was something vulnerable in his expression that I rarely saw.

"There's one thing I'm not ready for."

I already knew.

Still, I asked.

"What?"

He hesitated.

“The thought of you not being by my side.”

Kieran's voice was quieter now,

“My father and the council are putting pressure on me to find my mate. The Moon Goddess hasn't shown me who she is yet, but maybe that's because she's been beside me all along.”

My heart skipped.

Kieran reached for my hand, his fingers intertwining with mine.

“Maybe it's you, Elara.” His eyes held mine with such certainty that for a moment, I forgot how to breathe. “Maybe all we need is for the right time to come, and it will finally be confirmed.”

Those words made my eyes flicker with hope.

A foolish, fragile kind of hope.

But I couldn't stop it from spreading through me.

The possibility that I could actually be his mate—that the Moon Goddess might have chosen the man I had already loved.

I fell into his warm embrace, wrapping my arms around him as I buried my face against his chest.

Then his lips brushed my ear.

“I love you, Elara.”

My eyes closed.

“I love you too.”

One Week Later

A week had passed, and Kieran and I had barely had time to see each other.

I hadn't seen him in two days.

Between the preparations for his succession and the new responsibilities that had already begun falling onto his shoulders, every spare moment of his seemed to belong to the pack.

He was going to be the next Alpha.

And apparently, becoming one started long before the actual ceremony.

The Thorne estate came into view as I approached the enormous iron gates.

The estate had always been imposing, with its dark stone walls, towering windows, and perfectly manicured grounds. It was the kind of place that reminded you of the power the Thorne family held within the pack.

I stepped inside the mansion, expecting to find Kieran somewhere nearby.

Instead, I found someone else.

I made my way to the Thorne estate to find him. As I stepped into the mansion, I saw someone approaching, hands in his pockets.

The closer he came, the more I could make him out: tall, alluring, hazel eyes, dark brown hair, a jawline sharp enough to cut glass. His lips looked soft, almost tender, with so many irresistible features.

He wore a black suit tailored so precisely it seemed poured onto him—

broad shoulders.

a rigid chest.

His collar opened just enough to expose the line of his throat.

The distinct movement of his Adam's apple as he swallowed.

My own throat went dry.

I swallowed hard.

He looked up. Our eyes met, locked with a sharpness that held me in place. I couldn't look away, and somehow I knew he couldn't either.

I studied him so cautiously as if glancing away for even a second would break whatever this was.

My gaze traced the length of him, slow and unhurried. It felt wrong, indecent even, but something stirred in me anyway, something I didn't have a name for.

Then it struck me: his face was familiar, though I couldn't place how.

What felt like a single second was, in truth, five minutes of staring, of studying this stranger.

"Cassian."

Kieran's voice cut through the hall.

“Cassian”?.

Kieran's younger brother. He looked nothing like I remembered.

I couldn't believe he wast boy i knew who used to tease Kieran relentlessly.

Or the teenager who seemed to find amusement in almost everything.

The man standing in front of me was different.

He had changed.

And apparently, so had something inside me.

Because I couldn't explain the way I'd reacted to seeing him.

why, for those few strange minutes, had I completely forgotten that I was standing in my boyfriend's family home?

I didn't have an answer.