Chapter 1: The Day I Was Rejected

The moon was full that night—round, silver, merciless.

It hung high above the Nightfang Pack grounds, bathing the ceremonial clearing in pale light that made everything feel too exposed, too honest. The sacred stones shimmered, etched with ancient runes older than any living wolf, and the air buzzed with anticipation. Wolves crowded the clearing—warriors, elders, omegas, nobles—every rank present, every gaze fixed on the center.

On him.

Alpha Kael Nightfang stood tall before the Moon Altar, broad shoulders squared, dark hair tied back at the nape of his neck. Power rolled off him in suffocating waves. He was every nightmare and every fantasy whispered among unmated she-wolves—ruthless, commanding, devastatingly handsome.

And he was my mate.

I stood at the very edge of the clearing, half-hidden behind taller wolves, my fingers clenched tightly around the rough fabric of my dress. My heart beat so hard it hurt. Each thud echoed in my ears, louder than the drums, louder than the murmurs spreading through the crowd.

This was not how I imagined discovering my mate.

I had always thought it would be quiet. Intimate. A sudden warmth in my chest. A look held too long. A gentle pull toward someone who felt like home.

Not this.

Not in front of the entire pack.

Not with fear clawing at my throat.

“Step forward,” Elder Morren commanded, his weathered voice carrying through the clearing.

I flinched.

My wolf stirred weakly inside me—small, anxious, uncertain. Go, she whispered. It’s him.

I swallowed hard and stepped forward.

The moment my foot crossed the invisible boundary of the ceremonial circle, it hit me.

The bond.

It slammed into my chest like a physical blow. Heat exploded through my veins, sharp and blinding, stealing the air from my lungs. I gasped, staggering slightly as an invisible thread wrapped itself tightly around my heart—pulling, anchoring, claiming.

My knees nearly buckled.

Across the circle, Kael went still.

For half a second—just one—I saw it.

Recognition.

His golden eyes snapped to mine, glowing brighter under the moonlight. Power surged violently from him, the Alpha aura flaring so strongly that several wolves bowed instinctively. The mate bond snapped into place between us, taut and undeniable.

The crowd erupted.

Whispers. Gasps. Shocked murmurs.

“The omega?”

“She’s his mate?”

“That weak girl?”

Shame burned my cheeks.

I was Lunaria Vale—an omega with no lineage worth naming, no strength worth praising. Orphaned as a child. Raised on the fringes of the pack. Useful only for chores and silence.

And yet the Moon had chosen me.

Kael’s jaw tightened. His lips pressed into a thin line.

The pull between us was unbearable. My body leaned toward him without my permission, my wolf crying out with instinctive longing. Every cell screamed that I belonged to him. That I was meant to stand at his side.

But Kael didn’t move.

He didn’t come to me.

Instead, his expression hardened—like iron cooling after fire.

“No,” he said.

The word was quiet, but it struck harder than a scream.

The clearing fell silent.

Elder Morren stiffened. “Alpha Kael,” he said carefully, “the Moon—”

“I know what the Moon has done,” Kael interrupted coldly. His gaze never left mine, but there was no warmth in it now. Only calculation. Disdain.

My heart began to crack.

“This bond is a mistake,” he continued, his voice carrying effortlessly. “I will not accept an omega as my Luna.”

A sharp pain ripped through my chest.

I shook my head, my vision blurring. “M-My Alpha,” I whispered, the title slipping out instinctively. “Please… I didn’t choose this. I—”

“You should have stayed hidden,” he cut in.

Each word was a blade.

He stepped forward then—not toward me, but toward the altar. Power rolled off him in crushing waves as he raised his voice for all to hear.

“I, Alpha Kael Nightfang,” he declared, “reject you, Lunaria Vale, as my mate and Luna.”

The world shattered.

Pain exploded inside me—white-hot, violent, consuming. It felt as though something was being torn out of my chest, ripped apart with cruel hands. I screamed as I dropped to my knees, clutching at my heart while blood filled my mouth.

My wolf howled in agony.

The bond snapped.

I barely heard the gasps. Barely saw the elders rush forward. Barely registered the searing humiliation burning through my veins hotter than the pain.

All I could see was him.

Kael stood rigid, his fists clenched at his sides, his face pale beneath the moonlight. For a fleeting moment, something flickered in his eyes—pain? Doubt?

Then it was gone.

“Take her away,” he ordered.

Just like that.

I was dragged from the sacred circle, my body weak, my soul fractured. Wolves stepped back from me as I passed, some staring in pity, others in open contempt.

A rejected mate.

An omega who dared to dream.

The moon above me dimmed, its light fading as darkness crept into my vision. The last thing I felt before everything went black was a strange, unfamiliar sensation deep within my chest.

Not emptiness.

Not death.

But something… sleeping.

Waiting.

And far above, hidden behind clouds no one noticed, the Moon watched silently—its judgment far from finished.