CHAPTER 1: Feast of Blood and Tears

The night sky above the Bloodmoon Pack's elite territory was like a black canvas covered in the ink of sadness. Lightning struck mercilessly, cutting through the darkness like the angel of death's sword, followed by rumbles of thunder that rattled the windows of the Blackwood family's skyscraper. 

Inside the gold-plated six-star hotel's Grand Ballroom, the atmosphere was quite the opposite. The gleam of hanging crystal chandeliers worth millions of dollars reflected the pride of hundreds of invited guests. They are not ordinary people. They are the elite, business moguls, dirty politicians, and cold-blooded wolves who hide behind Armani suits and Parisian silk gowns. Tonight is Chloe Vanguard's 18th birthday celebration. The night where a wolf was supposed to find his soul mate his Mate.

However, for Chloe, tonight was the beginning of hell.

The girl stood in the middle of the room, the simple white dress she wore looking dull among the sea of ​​sparkling jewelry. Her jet black hair hung straight, framing a pale face that exuded pure, incomparable beauty. Unfortunately, this beauty was not acknowledged by the deadly gazes that shot at her from all corners. In the eyes of the Bloodmoon Pack, Chloe was just an orphaned Omega who was living. Dirty stain. The lowly dust that sticks to the soles of their great feet.

"Just a lowly Omega... Look at her, standing like she belongs here," whispered a woman wearing a diamond necklace, her voice like the deliberately loud hiss of a poisonous snake.

"I heard she can't even transform. Completely disabled. How could the previous late Alpha take this child in?" said another followed by heart-wrenching condescending laughter.

Chloe lowered her head. His fingers squeezed together until his knuckles turned white. His heart thundered louder than the storm outside. Be strong, Chloe. Tonight is just a formality. After this, I can go and live in peace, he thought, trying to mend a heart that had been torn a thousand times.

Suddenly, a sharp aroma filled the air. A heady, masculine scent a mix of snowy pine and the masculine after-rain of petrichor. The aroma made the blood in every vein boil and his soul wept with longing.

"Alpha Julian..." 

The whispers of admiration exploded like ocean waves. 

From the top of the marble stairs, descended a figure of a man who seemed to have been sculpted by the hand of a war god. Julian Blackwood. At only twenty-three years old, he has become the CEO of The Blackwood Empire as well as a deadly Alpha whose cruelty is unmatched in both the business and supernatural worlds. His face was like a Greek god carved from ice, cold and emotionless, with gray eyes as sharp as the blade of a beheading axe.

His footsteps echoed slowly, exuding absolute dominance that made every knee in the room subconsciously want to bow down.

When Julian's gray eyes met Chloe's almond brown eyes, Chloe's world seemed to stop spinning. His breath hitched. The invisible blow of fate pierced his heart mercilessly. The sacred word slipped slowly, vibrating in his mind.

Mate... My soulmate.

The wolf inside Chloe, which had been thought to be dead, struggled to its feet, howling happily up to the seventh heaven. Julian is her Mate!

Julian stopped his steps exactly three meters in front of Chloe. The sharp eyes of a meat-ripping eagle stared straight at Chloe. There is no warmth there. Just a look of disdain, disgust, and... indescribable disgust. 

"Julian..." Chloe's lips trembled violently. "You... you are my mate."

Silence strangled the magnificent ballroom for three seconds before a wave of laughter finally erupted. Laughter that tore Chloe's self-esteem to shreds.

Julian's gaze grew colder. The corners of his lips lifted into a sickening, devilish grin. "Mate?" His voice was heavy, as cold as the ice at the bottom of the seventh hell. "You're dreaming in broad daylight, lowly Omega."

Chloe's heart felt like it had been stabbed by a rusty sword and then slowly twisted. "But our scent we were matched by the Moon Goddess..."

"My ties are not with a crippled dog without status like you," Julian hissed sharply, each word a poisonous whip that tore inside.

At that moment, from the top of the same marble staircase, a slender silhouette appeared in a defiant blood-red dress. The sweet scent of poisonous roses wafted thickly. Chloe didn't need to look to know who he was. Seraphina Thorne. His half-sister, the heartthrob of the Bloodmoon Pack.

With graceful steps imitating the style of a holy empress, Seraphina descended the stairs. Her face radiated false tenderness, but a glint of deadly triumph danced in her eyes at the sight of the devastated Chloe. 

Seraphina walked over and without hesitation put her arm through Julian's strong arm. And what made Chloe's earth crumble from its footing, Julian looked at Seraphina with a look that every woman had dreamed of. Majestic. Full ownership. 

"Julian is mine, Chloe. Tonight... he will announce our engagement," said Seraphina softly, but as sharp as a razor that cut her veins. Crocodile tears suddenly welled up in Seraphina's eyes. "I'm sorry, Chloe. We loved each other before you knew he was your mate. You... won't destroy our pure love, right?" 

"You white snake doesn't know how to benefit!" the audience whispered cursing Chloe. 

"She definitely wants to snatch Alpha for some bullshit fate reason!" 

Julian stared at Chloe with absolute hatred. With a loud voice that shook the entire ballroom, he gave a decision that would usher that night into a sea of ​​endless suffering.

"I, Alpha Julian Blackwood, hereby reject you, Chloe Vanguard, as my Mate. You are just a load of mud that tarnishes Bloodmoon's great name. And this very night, you are expelled from this Pack. Take your lowly and wretched steps out of my territory!"

Rejection. 

Rejected by mate in front of hundreds of eyes. Expelled from the only place he had. The pain caused by her mate's bonds being forcefully ripped off made Chloe's chest feel like it was exploding into pieces. Chloe coughed violently, and a sprinkling of fresh blood spilled from her pale lips, staining the white marble floor a hideous red stain.

She looked at the figures of Julian and Seraphina who were smiling triumphantly amidst a sea of ​​curses. 

No. Chloe wouldn't beg. Between the blood dripping from her lips, the brown eyes that were once full of hope slowly turned frozen and dark, darker than the storm outside.

"Fine," Chloe hissed weakly but containing a deep poison of hatred. She wiped the blood from his lips with the back of his hand. "I accept your refusal, Alpha Blackwood. Remember this moment. The moment when you threw away diamonds for a piece of trash."

A hard slap landed on Chloe's cheek, causing her thin body to fall to the floor. Julian slapped him. 

"Get out. Or I'll tell my guards to drag your body to the trash can," growled Julian furiously.