Chapter 1 - Branded Before the Moon

“They polished me like an object before they sold me.”

The woman tightening the silver chain around my throat did not even look ashamed.

“Hold still,” she snapped. “If the future Luna enters the hall looking cheap, we will all suffer for it.”

Future Luna.

The title tasted like poison.

I stared at my reflection in the tall mirror. White silk wrapped around my body. My dark hair had been pinned high with silver pins shaped like wolves. Paint covered the bruises on my wrists.

But nothing could hide the mark burned into my shoulder.

The Thorn crest.

Property of the Alpha bloodline.

I touched it once, lightly.

The maid slapped my hand away.

“Do not smudge the powder.”

I almost laughed.

They cared more about powder than skin.

Outside the chamber, music played through the mansion halls. Glasses clinked. Nobles laughed. Tonight was the Claiming Banquet, where Kael Thorn would announce me as his chosen omega before the entire pack.

My stomach twisted.

Chosen.

As if I had ever been asked.

The door opened without warning.

My mother stepped in, eyes red, hands shaking.

The servants immediately lowered their heads and left us alone.

She waited until the door shut before rushing to me.

“Mira,” she whispered, grabbing my face. “Listen to me. Whatever happens tonight, do not argue. Do not anger them.”

I pulled away.

“Whatever happens?”

Her lips trembled.

“Mother, what do you know?”

She looked toward the door like walls could hear.

“I heard Alpha Darius speaking with Kael. Something has changed.”

A cold spread through me.

“What changed?”

She swallowed hard.

“Kael wants Selene Cross.”

For a second, I heard nothing.

No music.

No breath.

No heartbeat.

Then everything crashed back at once.

“That’s impossible.”

My voice sounded small.

“I was promised to him.”

My mother began crying.

“Promises mean nothing to men like them.”

I stepped back.

No.

Kael hated me, yes. Ignored me, yes. Humiliated me in private whenever he was bored.

But even cruelty had rules.

I had been raised for this fate.

I was broken by it.

“You knew?” I asked.

She covered her mouth.

“I only learned today.”

“You knew enough to dress me for slaughter.”

“Mira—”

“No.”

I tore the silver pins from my hair and threw them across the room.

“You watched them brand me. You watched them train me. You watched every insult and said "survive, survive, survive.”

Tears poured down her face.

“I was trying to keep you alive.”

“At what cost?”

The door slammed open.

Two guards entered.

“Time.”

My mother stumbled back like she had been struck.

One guard seized my arm.

His fingers dug into yesterday’s bruise.

I looked at my mother one last time.

She could not meet my eyes.

That hurt more than the grip.

The banquet hall glittered like a palace.

Crystal chandeliers.

Marble floors.

Gold banners carrying the Thorn crest.

The richest wolves in the region stood in clusters, drinking and smiling.

Every eye turned to me as I entered.

Not admiration.

Inspection.

Like traders judging livestock.

I kept my spine straight.

At the far end of the hall stood the Thorn family dais.

Alpha Darius sat in the center, silver-haired and sharp-eyed.

To his right—

Kael.

Tall. Beautiful. Cruel.

His black suit fit like sin. His golden eyes landed on me, then slid away in boredom.

And beside him stood Selene Cross in red silk, one hand resting possessively on his arm.

The room began to whisper.

I stopped walking.

Alpha Darius smiled.

“Come forward, Mira.”

My feet moved because years of obedience dragged them.

When I reached the dais, Kael finally looked at me fully.

Slowly.

From head to toe.

His lip curled.

“They overdid the paint.”

Laughter broke out nearby.

Heat crawled up my neck.

Selene leaned toward him.

“She still looks frightened,” she said loudly enough for all to hear.

Kael smirked.

“That is her best feature.”

More laughter.

My nails cut into my palms.

I told myself not to react.

Pain was entertainment to them.

Alpha Darius raised a glass.

“Tonight,” he announced, “we celebrate bloodline, loyalty, and the future of Silver Ridge.”

Cheers erupted.

I stood frozen.

Kael took the second glass from a servant and lazily spun it in his hand.

Then he stepped forward.

“I should make something clear before rumors begin.”

The hall quieted.

He draped an arm around Selene’s waist.

Her smile was victorious.

“I have reconsidered old arrangements.”

The glass nearly slipped from my fingers.

Kael looked directly at me.

“I have no desire to bind myself to damaged goods.”

The hall exploded.

Gasps.

Then laughter.

Then louder laughter.

I could not breathe.

Selene stepped closer and brushed imaginary dust from my shoulder.

“Don’t look so shocked,” she murmured. “Men with options rarely choose leftovers.”

My knees weakened.

Kael bent near my ear.

His scent wrapped around me like mockery.

“You should thank me,” he said softly. “Now I only need you for breeding. No need to pretend affection.”

Something inside me cracked.

I turned to Alpha Darius.

“This was not the agreement.”

The room fell silent.

I had spoken without permission.

His eyes became ice.

“The agreement was never yours to discuss.”

Kael chuckled.

“There she is. A little spirit after all.”

I looked into the crowd.

Faces I had known all my life.

No one moved.

No one defended me.

Then I saw my mother near a pillar, weeping silently.

Still silent.

Always silent.

Alpha Darius stood.

“Tomorrow night, the private mating ceremony proceeds as planned. Kael’s public mate may be Selene, but your duty remains unchanged.”

A murmur of approval spread through the nobles.

My body went cold.

They were not rejecting me.

They were reducing me further.

Public shame.

Private use.

Kael lifted his glass toward me.

“Smile, Mira. You’re still useful.”

The laughter that followed sounded like wolves tearing flesh.

I looked at Selene.

At Kael.

At the crest banners.

At every face that enjoyed my humiliation.

Then I smiled.

A real smile.

Small.

Sharp.

Kael frowned.

I took the crystal glass from the tray beside me and threw the wine directly into Selene’s face.

She screamed.

The hall erupted.

Before anyone moved, I smashed the glass at Kael’s feet.

Red wine splashed across his polished shoes like blood.

“You can keep your scraps,” I said.

The room froze in horror.

Kael’s expression darkened.

“You ungrateful little—”

I slapped him.

The sound cracked through the hall.

No one breathed.

I was even shocked.

Selene shrieked for guards.

Kael touched his cheek slowly, eyes blazing with disbelief.

Then something more dangerous.

Interest.

“Lock her up,” Alpha Darius roared. “At once!”

Guards lunged for me.

I ran.

I kicked one in the knee, ducked another hand, tore my dress on a column, and sprinted through the side doors into the night.

Shouts exploded behind me.

“Hunt her!”

“Do not let her leave the grounds!”

I ran barefoot across gravel, grass, and frozen earth.

Branches whipped my skin as I hit the forest line.

Behind me, horns sounded.

Pack hunters.

My chest burned.

My lungs tore.

But I kept running.

For the first time in my life, fear tasted better than obedience.

I did not know where to go.

I only knew I would rather die in the dark than live one more day on their leash.

Hours passed.

Or minutes.

I no longer knew.

My feet bled.

My vision blurred.

Then through the trees, lights appeared.

A building.

Music.

Motorcycles lined outside like metal beasts.

A sign glowed above the door.

THE WOLF’S DEN

I took one more step.

Then the ground rose up and swallowed me.

Boots stopped beside my face.

A low male voice, rough as thunder, said—

“Who branded you?”

I forced my eyes open.

A scarred man towered above me, golden eyes burning in the dark.

I whispered the only truth I had left.

“Please... don’t send me back.”

His gaze dropped to my shoulder.

Then his jaw clenched.

And from inside the bar, someone shouted—

“Silas, Silver Ridge hunters are coming.”