Chapter 1: The Night My Mate Rejected Me

Elena's POV

The night my mate rejected me, I was wearing a white dress that belonged to my Dead mother.

It was the only beautiful thing I owned.

I had spent three nights sewing its torn edges, carefully hiding every hole because I wanted to look presentable at the Moonlight Ceremony.

Tonight, I would turn twenty-one.

Tonight, I would finally discover who the Moon Goddess had chosen for me.

At least, that was what I had believed.

"Move, wolfless girl!"

A shoulder slammed into mine, nearly sending me sprawling across the stone floor.

I caught myself against the wall.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

The girl who had pushed me laughed. Her name was Sophia, and she was the daughter of one of the pack's senior warriors.

"You're always sorry, Elena. It's pathetic."

Her friends laughed with her.

I lowered my eyes and continued walking.

There was no point fighting back. Everyone in the Silver Moon Pack knew what I was.

A wolfless girl.

A mistake.

A human living among wolves.

While the other girls had discovered their wolves at sixteen, I had waited until eighteen. Then nineteen. Then twenty.

Nothing.

The pack healer had examined me so many times that I had eventually stopped hoping for a different answer.

There was no wolf inside me.

And without a wolf, I had no place among my own people.

Still, tonight was different.

The Moonlight Ceremony was the one night each year when unmated wolves gathered beneath the full moon, hoping to recognize their destined partners.

Even wolfless girls were allowed to attend.

Not that anyone expected the Moon Goddess to choose me.

I certainly didn't.

But a tiny, foolish part of my heart still hoped.

I entered the great hall.

Silver lanterns illuminated the ceiling, while white roses decorated the long tables. Music filled the air, and the scent of hundreds of wolves mingled with the sweet smell of wine.

At the far end of the hall stood Alpha Adrian Blackwood.

My breath caught.

I had seen him before, of course. Everyone had.

At twenty-eight, Adrian was the youngest Alpha ever to unite the Northern Territories. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and intimidatingly handsome, with black hair, sharp cheekbones, and eyes the color of winter ice.

Even from across the hall, his presence commanded attention.

Women whispered about him.

Men straightened when he passed.

And everyone knew he had never taken a chosen mate.

I quickly looked away.

A man like Adrian Blackwood would never look twice at someone like me.

"Elena!"

I turned.

Maya, the only person in the pack who treated me like a human being, hurried toward me.

"You actually came!" she exclaimed.

"I was invited."

Maya rolled her eyes. "An invitation isn't the same as being welcome. But forget them. Tonight is your birthday, and we're going to enjoy ourselves."

I managed a small smile.

"Do you think the Moon Goddess can make a mistake?"

Her expression softened.

"Why would you ask that?"

"Because everyone says she gives wolves their perfect mates. But what if she gives someone a person they don't want?"

Maya squeezed my hand.

"Then that person will have to decide whether love means anything to them."

Before I could answer, a bell rang through the hall.

The conversations stopped.

The ceremony was beginning.

One by one, unmated wolves stepped forward. Some laughed nervously. Others closed their eyes and whispered prayers.

I stood near the back, trying to make myself invisible.

Then it happened.

A scent drifted through the air.

Cedarwood.

Rain.

Something warm and intoxicating that made my heart stumble.

My fingers trembled.

No.

It couldn't be.

The scent grew stronger as someone approached.

My breath caught in my throat.

A hand closed gently around my wrist.

I looked up.

Adrian Blackwood stood before me.

His icy eyes widened.

For one impossible moment, the most powerful Alpha in the Northern Territories looked as stunned as I felt.

Then his expression changed.

His jaw tightened.

His fingers loosened around my wrist.

And a voice I had never heard before whispered inside my mind.

"Mate."

I stopped breathing.

I had no wolf.

No wolf should have been able to recognize a mate.

Yet the word echoed through my soul, filling me with a warmth I had never experienced.

Adrian stared at me as if the world had just betrayed him.

"Tell me I imagined that," he muttered.

I swallowed.

"I don't understand."

His eyes darkened.

"Neither do I."

A murmur spread through the hall.

Someone gasped.

Then an elderly council member stepped forward, his face pale with disbelief.

"Alpha," he said carefully. "The bond has recognized its mate."

Adrian didn't look at him.

He was staring directly at me.

And for the first time in my life, I saw something in another person's eyes that I had never expected to see when they looked at me.

Fear.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Elena Rose."

He repeated my name quietly, as if testing how it felt on his tongue.

Then his expression hardened.

"Of all the women in this pack," he whispered, "why you?"

The words struck deeper than he could have known.

I stepped back.

"I'm sorry."

His eyes flashed.

"Stop apologizing!"

The entire hall fell silent.

I flinched.

For a moment, something almost like regret crossed his face.

Then it disappeared.

He released my wrist and turned toward the council.

"I refuse to accept this bond."

My heart stopped.

The council member stared at him.

"Alpha, you cannot make such a decision without understanding the consequences."

"I understand perfectly."

Adrian turned back to me.

The man I had secretly admired from a distance was now looking at me as if I were the worst thing that had ever happened to him.

"Elena Rose," he announced, his voice carrying through the silent hall, "I reject you as my mate."

A sharp pain tore through my chest.

I gasped and grabbed the front of my dress.

Somewhere deep inside me, something shattered.

People began whispering.

Someone laughed.

I couldn't see their faces anymore. Everything had blurred behind the tears gathering in my eyes.

Adrian stood motionless.

Perhaps he expected me to beg.

Perhaps he expected me to fall at his feet and plead for another chance.

Instead, I forced myself to look at him.

"You don't even know me," I whispered.

His expression remained cold.

"I know enough."

I nodded slowly.

Then I wiped my tears.

"Then I hope, Alpha Adrian Blackwood, that one day you understand exactly what you've thrown away."

I turned and walked out of the hall.

I didn't run.

I wouldn't give them that satisfaction.

But the moment the doors closed behind me, my knees buckled.

I collapsed against the cold stone wall, pressing both hands against my chest.

The pain was unbearable.

I had spent my entire life believing I was unwanted.

Tonight, the Moon Goddess had given me a mate.

And he had rejected me before I could even understand what it meant.

I cried until my throat hurt.

Then, slowly, the pain began to fade.

Something warm stirred deep inside me.

I froze.

I had felt that sensation only once before, months ago, when the pack healer had told me I might never experience a wolf awakening.

A soft whisper filled my mind.

"Elena..."

I looked around.

The corridor was empty.

"Elena, listen to me."

My breath caught.

"Who's there?"

A tiny pulse of warmth spread through my abdomen.

Then came the words that would change my life forever.

"You are not wolfless."

I pressed a trembling hand against my stomach.

"And the child you carry will change everything."

To be continued...