My alpha stepfather is my mate

"You must shine, Sera," Mother had declared that morning, her eyes brightening with emotion. "Tonight is not just for you. It's for the pack. Your mate will be our strength, our future."

 It was about the future, growth, and the continuation of our bloodline – my bloodline, specifically.

I stood in front of the mirror again, staring at myself in my silk gown with a tight corset that seemed to snatch the breath out of me.

 Extravagant was an understatement. Mother had insisted on it, of course. 

I gritted my teeth as that unsettling feeling that something bad might happen overwhelmed me.

What if I never found my mate? What if it turned out the moon goddess didn't deem me worthy to merge me with anyone?

I shook my head, playing with my fingers which were sweating due to the rush of adrenaline and overfill of nerves.

_That won't happen, surely._

Taking a deep breath, I strengthened my spine, trying to appear confident as I walked into the grand hall.

 Every head turned, every conversation hushed. It was like stepping into a space where I commanded attention, the collective gaze of the entire pack focused solely on me.

 This was it. Any moment now, my senses would sharpen, and I would know who he was.

The scent hit me first. A shift in the air, a whisper of something unfamiliar. It wasn't overpowering, not yet, but it was there. It was drawing me in. My breath hitched in my throat. This was it. The bond was awakening.

My eyes scanned the crowd, moving from face to face. My heart began to pound faster. The scent was growing stronger, pulling me, guiding me. I moved forward, almost without conscious thought, drawn by an unseen force.

My eyes locked onto a figure standing near the edge of the crowd. He was talking to Elder Rowan, his back to me. There was something about the way he stood, the way he held his head. But it absolutely couldn't be. 

My breath got caught up in my throat when he finally turned, his face towards me now and our gaze locked for a few seconds.

Cassian, My Stepfather.

The scent hit me hard. 

 Perhaps I'm the one mistaken, there's no way I'm mated to my stepfather, right...? 

But it was unmistakable. I couldn't deny the strong connection I felt. I turned sharply, hoping to walk back out of the hall just like I came in so no one would notice what had just happened. My wolf purred at the back of my head, I shut my eyes tightly trying to restrain the tears that were about rushing out.

"Mate." My wolf whimpered, jumping happily and the tears I had tried so hard to hold in came flowing down as I swiveled to stare at him again.

All hope disappeared, and I couldn't deny it anymore. His eyes turned almost black, showing the turmoil inside him. They burned with intensity, taking my breath away.

 I didn't even know that the entire crowd was staring at us already untill a voice caught through my head, pulling me out of my ocean of thoughts.

"Impossible!" Elder Rowan roared, his voice booming through the chaos. "This is an abomination!"

"No..." I heard someone whisper nearby, the word laced with horror. "It can't be..."

Mother gasped, her hand flying to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. 

"Forbidden!" Elder Theron roared, his face contorted with disgust. "The Goddess would never condone such a union! They are family!"

Isn't it the goddess who made the union in the first place? I shouldn't say that out loud though.

The pack's voices rose together in anger and disapproval. "Rejection! Sever the bond! Before it corrupts our pack!"

I stood there, frozen in shock. The word echoed through the hall, bouncing off the stone walls, a harsh, violent demand.

 Rejection.

The thought struck me like a physical blow, cold and brutal. To sever the mate bond was to tear apart your own soul, to inflict a wound that would never truly heal, to live a life half-empty, forever haunted by the ghost of what could have been.

But the pack... they were right. Weren't they? This was wrong. So terribly, terribly wrong. Cassian was my stepfather, A father figure. The very idea of a bond, a mate bond, between us was... sickening. Forbidden.

Yet, deep down, amidst the horror and confusion and revulsion, a tiny, traitorous voice whispered, 'but he's your mate.'

But if I reject him, I night never have a second chance mate. I would be stuck, lonely, living a pathetic life till all the hairs on my head turn gray and fall off.

I stood there, rooted to the spot, paralyzed by shock and fear. My blood ran cold, my skin grew hot. Everything I had ever known, everything I had ever believed in, shattered around me.

The joyous celebration had turned into a nightmare, my eighteenth birthday becoming the day my world imploded.

"Enough!" Cassian's voice suddenly rolled out and I gasped, staring to look at him but he didn't spare me a glance.

The shouting subsided, the angry murmurs softened, replaced by a tense, uneasy silence. All eyes turned to him as everyone waited earnestly, expectantly as he rejects me.

Tears had already begun trickling down my eyes as I swallowed hard, preparing myself for it.

He didn't look at me. Not directly. But as he spoke, I saw it. In the tightening of his jaw, I saw the war. The war that was brewing within him. The war that was about to be unleashed upon us all.

He was going to fight. And I had a terrible feeling that the battle he was about to wage would tear the pack apart.

He would reject me, for the safety of the pack, to get rid of this little abomination before it consumes us all.