Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Zara Fen POV

“Kneel.”

The command cracked through the ceremony hall, sharp and absolute, forcing everyone to drop at once.

Everyone knelt.

Those already bonded went down without hesitation, while the unbonded remained standing.

Elara stood at the front, and I stood one step behind her.

Silence tightened around us, immediate and suffocating. It pressed in from every direction. Eyes burned heavy with expectation. I kept my head up, my back straight. This was how the mating rite always began. Unbonded females did not kneel. They stood waiting on the Moon Goddess. That rule did not make it easier.

Behind me, my stepmother remained standing as well. I did not turn. I already knew the look on her face. She never hid her satisfaction when attention found me.

“Zara Fen,” the priest called.

“Step forward.”

My stomach tightened, but I moved at once. Hesitation would only draw more eyes.

The ceremony hall was full, packed with wolves, elders, and visiting leaders. Gold banners hung from the walls. Lanterns floated in neat rows above us, glowing as if tonight was meant to be beautiful.

Silvercrest always looked perfect when outsiders were present.

My eyes shifted to the centre platform.

Elara stood there, dressed in silk that fit her easily, as though it belonged on her. She looked comfortable with the attention. People smiled when they looked at her. Their attention went to her without effort.

I was guided into position one step behind her.

It was where I had always stood.

My stepmother leaned forward and adjusted Elara’s sleeve with careful hands. When she finally looked at me, her expression went blank.

“Remember your place,” she said quietly. “Tonight is not about you. Do not make the priest call you again.”

Then she turned back to Elara with a smile. “Make me proud. You have trained all your life for this.”

Elara smiled back without hesitation. They looked right together. Some days I hated myself for noticing it. Other days I hated myself for wishing it did not hurt.

I lowered my eyes and pushed the thought away.

The priest raised his staff. “Begin.”

The chant started low and steady. The words were familiar. Moonlight filtered through the glass ceiling and settled over the hall.

I breathed in and out.

This was my final ceremony.

If nothing happened tonight, the Council would decide my fate before morning.

A gasp broke through the chant.

Two wolves stumbled toward each other, hands shaking, faces pale as the bond snapped into place. Relief spread through the hall.

As the bond settled, they dropped to their knees without being told.

My eyes flew to the end of the hall when another bond formed. Each time, the same thing happened. The wolves moved from standing to kneeling.

Hope filled the space easily. It always did in moments like this.

I stayed where I was. Heat gathered under my skin, and sweat dampened the fabric at my back. I told myself not to panic. Bonds could take time. That was what everyone always said.

Minutes passed.

Nothing happened.

The way people looked at me changed. Not pity anymore. Interest.

Then pressure snapped inside my chest.

It wrapped tight around my ribs and pulled hard. My breath caught. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, restless and sharp.

I lifted my head. Across the hall, Alpha Lir stood motionless.

Conversation died around him without command. Wolves instinctively stepped away, clearing space as if proximity itself were dangerous.

His dark eyes locked onto mine. There was no softness in them.

Mate.

The word struck hard enough to steal my breath. Whispers rippled through the hall. The priests stiffened as the bond slammed fully into place, loud and undeniable beneath my skin.

Hope flared before I could kill it.

Against everything I had been told, fate had chosen me.

Alpha Lir stepped forward.

Each step echoed, measured and final. The crowd parted without resistance. My pulse slammed against my throat as the bond pulled tight, demanding him.

He stopped in front of me, close enough that my wolf strained toward him.

And I waited for him to speak, for him to reach for me. For this nightmare to twist into something survivable.

His expression hardened.

“This bond should never have formed,” he said.

The words settled into the silence, heavy and irreversible.

“I, Alpha Lir of Silvercrest, repudiate this match,” he continued, his voice calm, controlled, lethal. “I will not bind my pack to a fractured wolf.”

The hall erupted, and I felt judgment turn sharp around me.

My stepmother’s voice cut through it.

“I warned you,” she hissed. “Did you truly believe an Alpha would accept something defective as his Luna?”

She turned away immediately, her hand resting on Elara’s arm.

Pain tore through my chest as the bond reacted. It burned and twisted, refusing to break. My legs shook, and I forced myself to stay upright. Falling would have been worse.

Alpha Lir raised his hand.

Forcing the priests to freeze instantly, staff mid air, chants dying in their throats.

“I will not weaken my pack,” he said. “Nor will I allow a mistake to remain under my roof.”

His gaze cut back to me, cold and final.

“Zara Fen is banished from Silvercrest effective immediately.”

The words landed like a blade.

A collective inhale swept through the hall, and shock rippled outward, sharp and electric.

“You cannot,” one of the elders began.

Alpha Lir shut him down with a glare.

“She carries a fractured bond and a curse that has no place here,” he said. “She will leave our territory before dawn. If she is found within Silvercrest borders again, she will be treated as a rogue.”

My vision blurred.

The bond screamed inside me, wild and furious. My knees gave out for a moment. I locked them again, biting down to stay standing.

The priest struck his staff against the floor.

“So it is declared,” he said. “By Alpha command and Council witness.”

The ceremony did not stop. It moved on without me.

Two guards stepped closer, not touching me. They were already treating me as a threat.

Elara walked past me without a second look, and her silk brushed my arm as she took the place I had never been meant to hold. Wolves turned toward her instantly, relief flooding their faces.

“Elara.”

“Future Luna.”

“The pack is safe.”

The priests turned to her without hesitation.

Laughter followed. Applause rose, and I remained where I was, rejected and banished, shaking as fate rearranged itself around me. I tilted my head toward the glass on the wall. My fractured wolf met my eyes, as if despair was only the beginning.