Chapter 1:The Ceremony Of Mates

        The night of the ceremony felt like something out of a dream, yet it was a nightmare waiting for me.

       The moon hung high in the sky, glowing silver against the dark velvet of night. Its light spilled over the clearing, turning the grass into rivers of frost. Every wolf in the Silverfang Pack had gathered, their howls echoing through the valley in wild excitement. Tonight was sacred. Tonight was the Mating Ceremony—the night the Moon Goddess would reveal each wolf’s fated mate.

A night of joy. A night of promises. A night everyone looked forward to… except me.

Because I wasn’t a wolf. I was just Elara—the weak human girl raised in a pack that never wanted me. 

My parents had died when I was six. Rogues had torn them apart before my eyes. I barely remembered their faces, only flashes: my mother’s soft hands stroking my hair, my father’s arms lifting me high into the air. After their deaths, the Alpha had taken me in, but not out of kindness. He’d done it out of duty—because leaving a child on the streets would make him look weak. 

And so I grew up surrounded by wolves who never let me forget that I was nothing like them. 

“You don’t belong here, Elara,” the pack children would laugh. “You’ll never be one of us.”

I swallowed those words. I buried those tears. But tonight, as the drums echoed through the clearing and wolves began to shift back into their human forms, I realized I was about to be humiliated in front of everyone once again. 

The clearing was breathtaking, decorated with glowing lanterns, ribbons, and wildflowers picked from the forest. Wolves filled the space in their human skins—men in tailored suits, women in flowing dresses that shimmered in the moonlight. The scents around me were sharp and overwhelming—pine, musk, wildflowers, rain. Laughter rang through the air as wolves held hands, waiting to discover who fate had chosen for them.

I stood at the very back, in a borrowed white gown that pinched around my chest. My hands clutched the fabric, trying to keep myself from shaking. I wanted to disappear into the ground. 

“Maybe no one will notice me,” I whispered to myself. But I knew it was a lie. They always noticed me. They noticed me to laugh. They noticed me to remind me I was weak. 

The Beta, Ezra, raised his hand to silence the crowd. His voice rolled through the night. “Tonight, under the blessing of the Moon Goddess, your fated mates will be revealed. Trust the bond. Honor the call.”

Wolves began stepping forward. The air filled with gasps and cheers as mates recognized one another, sparks flying at every touch. Women cried, men lifted their partners into the air, laughter shook the ground. Joy surrounded me. But it was not mine.

My chest tightened. This was their world, not mine. Their Goddess, not mine. I was invisible. Or so I thought. 

Then it happened.

My body froze. My skin burned. A strange pressure squeezed my chest, stealing my breath. My knees almost buckled as a silvery light wrapped around my wrist. I gasped, clutching it, but the glow only grew brighter until every head in the clearing turned toward me.

“No…” I whispered in horror. “No, this can’t be happening…”

The whispers rose instantly, sharp and cruel.

“What the hell? The human has a mark?”

“Impossible. She doesn’t even have a wolf.”

“This must be a mistake.”

I wanted to run. I wanted to vanish. But the mark pulsed hotter, brighter, like the Moon Goddess herself was announcing it to the world. And then—my eyes collided with his.

Alpha Damien.

The air left my lungs.

The Alpha of the Silverfang Pack. Tall. Broad-shouldered. His black hair framed sharp cheekbones and a strong jaw. But it was his eyes—golden, glowing like molten fire—that pierced through me. His presence was overwhelming, commanding. The kind of man who turned heads just by breathing. The kind of man who made every she-wolf dream of being chosen. 

But he was staring at me. 

And the mark on my wrist throbbed like a drum, binding me to him.

“No,” Damien growled suddenly, his deep voice cutting through the clearing like a blade. The crowd gasped as he stepped forward, his fists clenched, his jaw tight with rage. “This is wrong. The Moon Goddess made a mistake.”

The words cut me like glass. A mistake. That’s what I was to him. That’s what I had always been. 

“Alpha,” Ezra began carefully, “the mark does not lie. She… she is your mate.”

Damien’s golden eyes burned with fury as he advanced toward me. His steps were slow, deliberate, and with every one, my chest grew tighter. He stopped right in front of me, towering over me. His scent—earth, smoke, and danger—wrapped around me, stealing my air.

“I will never accept this,” he snarled. His voice was low, meant only for me. “You will never be my Luna.”

Tears pricked my eyes, but I forced them back. I would not cry. Not here. Not in front of the entire pack. My lips trembled as I whispered, “Why me?”

Damien leaned closer, his words like venom. “Because the Goddess is cruel.”

The crowd erupted with murmurs and laughter. Clara, the pack’s most beautiful she-wolf, smirked openly. She had always been the one everyone expected Damien to choose. Her voice rang loud, dripping with venom. “The Moon Goddess must be blind, pairing our Alpha with a weak little human. This is an insult.”

Laughter exploded. Wolves pointed. Some sneered. Others whispered about curses and punishment. My body shrank smaller and smaller. I wanted the ground to open and swallow me whole. 

But before I could step away, Damien’s hand shot out. His fingers gripped my wrist. Sparks exploded under his touch, shooting fire through my veins. I gasped, my knees weakening. My eyes widened at the intensity of it—the bond was real. The power of it almost knocked me unconscious. 

For a heartbeat, I saw shock in Damien’s eyes too. For a heartbeat, he felt it.  

But then his grip tightened, his eyes hardened, and he pulled me closer until his lips were inches from my ear. “I don’t care what the bond says. You mean nothing to me. If you ever think you’ll stand beside me as Luna, I’ll reject you in front of everyone. Do you hear me, human?”

My lips parted, but no words came. My throat burned. My heart screamed. All I could do was stare at him—the man fate had chosen for me, the man who hated me with every breath. 

The mark on my wrist burned hotter, angry, as if rejecting his rejection. Damien hissed, pulling his hand away like it had stung him. The skin of his palm glowed faintly where it touched mine. 

Gasps filled the clearing. “The bond rejects your rejection,” the elder whispered, voice trembling. “The Goddess will not allow it.”

Damien’s face twisted with rage. “Then I’ll find another way.”

He turned sharply and walked away, leaving me in the center of the clearing, alone, humiliated, trembling. The laughter returned, crueler this time, echoing louder in my ears than the drums ever had. 

My chest ached. My lungs begged for air. But inside me, a quiet spark flickered. Rage. If the Goddess truly chose this bond, then there had to be a reason. If she bound me to the Alpha who despised me, then there was something I was meant to discover. 

And I swore to myself, in that moment, that I would find out why. Even if it killed me.  

The night grew colder. The wind howled through the trees, carrying with it a voice that froze me to my bones.  

“Elara…”  

My heart leapt into my throat. I spun around, searching the shadows. My breath came fast, shallow. No one was there. The wolves were still laughing, still celebrating, still mocking. But that whisper… that whisper had not been theirs.  

“Elara…”  

The voice again, softer, like it came from the forest itself. The hairs on my neck stood on end. My heart slammed against my ribs.  

It wasn’t just in my head. Something… or someone… had called my name.  

And I knew, deep in my gut, that nothing about my life would ever be the same again.