Chapter 1

Mina's POV

"Stand still, Wilhelmina, you are making me look bad before the entire pack," my mother hissed, slapping my hand away from my skirt. "You have been stuffing your face all winter, and now the fabric is straining at the seams. Do you want Alpha Prince Alaric to think we cannot even manage our own household?"

Her words were a brutal punch to my chest. I pulled my hands back, dropping my gaze to the floor of the dressing room.

"I didn't mean to, Mother," I whispered. "I just thought... tonight is the binding ceremony. I wanted everything to be perfect."

"Then stop breathing so hard," she snapped, not even looking at me as she adjusted her own elegant collar. "Odalys is already down in the palace gardens. She looks like a vision. If you embarrass us tonight in front of the royal family, I will never forgive you."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and followed her out into the cool night air. The Nyxmoor palace gardens were packed to the brim. Fire pits blazed at every corner, casting long, dancing shadows over hundreds of wolves who had gathered to witness the goddess's will. The air was thick with the scent of roasted meat, pine, and the suffocating pressure of Alpha auras.

Everyone was waiting for the moon goddess to bind the fated pairs.

"Look at her," a voice whispered from the crowd as I walked past. "She actually thinks she has a chance tonight. Did she forget who her sister is?"

"Shh, she'll hear you," another whispered back, followed by a muffled snicker. "Not like she can hide with that size anyway."

I kept my eyes glued straight ahead, my hands trembling. They didn't know what I knew. They didn't see the small smiles Alaric gave me when we passed each other in the corridors. They didn't know about the secret glances we shared during pack meetings. I had convinced myself, deeply and desperately, that Alaric felt the bond humming between us. He had never said the words out loud, but tonight, the goddess would prove it. Tonight, I would finally be enough.

The high diviner stepped forward, lifting a silver bowl filled with sacred water toward the full moon.

"Great Mother, the bloodlines are pure, the youth are ready," the diviner chanted, his voice echoing over the silent crowd. "Reveal the threads of fate. Bind those who are meant to rule, and those who are meant to serve."

Alpha Prince Alaric stepped into the center of the garden. He looked magnificent, his shoulders broad and his dark hair catching the light of the fire pits. He began to walk the line of young wolves, his gaze sweeping over everyone with cold, calculated pride.

My heart pounded like a trapped bird. My pulse took a sudden halt as his steps slowed down.

He stopped. Right in front of me.

For one breathless second, the entire world went completely quiet. My lungs froze. I looked into his eyes, waiting for the recognition, waiting for him to reach out and claim me. I believed, with everything inside me, that this was really happening.

Then, Alaric laughed.

It wasn't a soft sound. It was a loud, mocking bark that echoed through the garden. He turned his head, glancing at the warriors standing behind him, then looked back at me with absolute disgust.

"You?" Alaric said, his voice carrying perfectly across the silent crowd. "You actually thought the moon goddess would bind me to a cow?"

A collective gasp rippled through the pack, instantly followed by a wave of cruel laughter.

"Look at you, Wilhelmina," Alaric sneered, stepping closer so only I could hear the full weight of his malice. "You are completely unworthy of the royal bloodline. I, Alpha Prince Alaric of Nyxmoor, reject you as my mate. I would rather watch my kingdom burn than take someone of your pathetic size to my bed."

He didn't wait for me to answer. He turned on his heel and walked straight past me, grabbing my sister Odalys by the hand. Odalys didn't even look back at me. She just smiled up at him, her slim waist fitting perfectly against his arm as the crowd erupted into cheers for the new royal pair.

"I knew it!" someone mocked from the front row. "She should have known better than to want something so far above her size."

"The delusion is honestly embarrassing," another woman laughed, tossing her hair. "Did she really think a prince would choose her over Odalys?"

The humiliation was a physical weight, pressing down on my shoulders until I could barely breathe. But the physical pain was worse. A sudden, violent tear ripped through the very center of my chest. It felt like an invisible rope tied to my soul had been hacked in two with a dull blade. The bond to Alaric snapped, burning like liquid fire through my veins, leaving a hollow, agonizing emptiness behind.

Tears burned the backs of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall in front of them. I couldn't stay here. I couldn't let them watch me bleed.

I stumbled backward, breaking away from the line, and ran.

"Mina, stop!" my mother's sharp whisper hissed from somewhere in the crowd, but I ignored her.

I sprinted toward the edge of the palace gardens, wanting nothing more than to disappear into the dark woods. As I rushed past the stone pedestal where the diviner stood, my foot caught on a root. I stumbled, barely catching myself against the stone table.

My eyes fell on the silver water bowl.

For a single, fleeting second, the reflection in the water didn't show my face. It showed two bright, blinding gold irises glowing in the dark water. The light flashed fiercely, warm and ancient, before vanishing entirely, leaving only my tear-stained face looking back at me.

I gasped, pulling away from the bowl. My breath hitched. Was I losing my mind?

"Did you see that?" a sharp voice whispered near the hedges.

I turned my head slightly, catching sight of Beta Thomas staring intently at the silver bowl, his eyes wide with a sudden, tense shock. He wasn't laughing with the others. He looked like he had just seen a ghost.

I didn't wait to find out what he saw. I gathered my skirts and pushed through the heavy iron gates of the garden, running blindly into the pitch-black shadows of the outer courtyard. The sound of the pack's laughter slowly faded, replaced by the heavy sound of my own sobbing.

I stopped near the old stone arches, pressing my back against the cold wall as the pain of the snapped bond completely brought me to my knees. I slid down the stone, burying my face in my hands, crying for everything I had lost, for the humiliation, for the realization that I would always be the pack's joke.

A soft rustle of leaves broke through the quiet night.

A heavy shadow fell over my shaking frame, blocking out the moonlight. I froze, my breath catching in my throat as the scent of cedarwood, rain, and a strange, overwhelming warmth flooded my senses.

"Get up, Mina," a low, deep voice rumbled right behind me in the dark.

I turned quickly but no one was there. I was alone— but if I was, who called my name just now?