chapter 1

Benjamin Reed's POV

*****

Earlier***

“Alpha!! Help me!! They're going to kill me!!” Elara's scream tore through the thick forest. The smell of rogues tearing through her flesh hit my nostrils.

I fought like a mad man as my vision was too blurry, I was desperate to save my mate from the filthy rogues.

“Benjamin!!!!” Elara screamed one last time.

****

Present

****

The full moon hung low and bloated over the Black Mist Mountains, mocking me with its silent demand.

Another full moon. Another night where the pack howled for a Luna they hadn’t had in six long years.

I muttered in an exasperated tone under my breath.

The packs’ howls echoed through the pines, I knew what they yearned for, each one clawing at the iron cage I’d built around my chest.

I stood on the balcony of the alpha lodge with my arms braced on the cold stone railing, black coat whipping in the wind.

Below, the pack gathered in the clearing…there were hundreds of wolves, some shifted, some still human, circling the bonfire that roared like it wanted to burn away my solitude.

Their eyes glinted up at me with over-expectation. They wanted their Luna. They needed balance to be restored in Black mist pack. Without one, alliances frayed, borders weakened, and the scent of challenge grew thicker every season.

As they would say…”No Luna..No Heir..No Legacy.”

I hated them for it.

My wolf..Timber… stirred inside me, he let out a low restless rumble that vibrated through my bones.

‘Mate’ he growled, the word a blade in my mind. ‘Find her. Claim her. Fill the void.’

I clenched my jaw until my teeth ached. “Shut up,” I muttered under my breath. He never listened.

Six years ago, My Luna…Elara died in my arms, as the silver blade dug through her heart which was put there by the filthy rogues that were sent by Red mist's alpha.. Harlan Anderson.

I should have smelled them coming. She’d been my everything: soft where I was stubborn, light where I was shadow. The bond snapped like a chain under strain, and the pain… gods, the pain had nearly killed me too. I’d clawed my way back from that darkness only by sheer, bloody will.

I swore then…no more mates. No more weakness. No more chances for fate to rip my soul out again.

Yet here I was, Alpha Benjamin Reed, the most feared wolf in three territories, being lectured by my own damn beta like some pup who couldn’t tie his boots. My jaguar side pulsed in my veins, a curse that lingered in my veins since the day I was born. It made me a hideos monster that no ordinary wolf ever had. But Elara loves that monster...The creature with two spirits.

“Benjamin.” Marcus’s voice cut through the wind behind me. He stepped onto the balcony, broad shoulders filling the doorway, gray streaking his temples now. He’d been my father’s beta before mine. Loyal to a fault yet annoying as hell.

“The council won’t wait forever. They’re saying the pack is vulnerable. No Luna means no heirs. No heirs means challengers sniffing at our borders. You know it’s true.”

I didn’t turn. “Let them come. I’ll paint the snow red.”

“You can’t fight biology, Alpha. The moon goddess doesn’t care how many rogues you’ve torn apart or how many alphas you’ve made kneel. She wants balance. A Luna. A queen for Black Mist.”

My fingers tightened on the railing until stone dust trickled between them.

‘Balance.’ The word tasted like poison. My pack was the strongest with iron discipline, unbreakable borders, warriors who’d followed me into hell and come out grinning. We didn’t need balance. We needed fear. Fear kept us alive.

But Marcus was right about one thing: the whispers had started. Rival packs testing our edges. Rogues bolder than before. Even some of my own wolves looking at me sideways, wondering if their alpha had gone cold forever.

I exhaled sharply, breath fogging in the night air. “Fine.”

Marcus stilled. “Fine?”

“I’ll look.” The words scraped out like gravel. “I’ll go to the Gathering. I’ll sniff around their precious unmated females like some desperate dog. But understand this, Marcus…if the goddess tries to shove another bond down my throat, I’ll rip it out myself.”

He studied me for a long moment, then nodded once. “That’s all they’re asking. A simple search. Nothing more.”

“Nothing more. Right.” I ran a hand through my hair.

I turned then, letting my gaze sweep over the pack below. They quieted instantly, every eye locking on me. Power rolled off me in waves…I knew it was dark, heavy and completely suffocating.

I felt their submission like a physical weight, spines straightening, heads dipping. Good. Let them remember who ruled here.

“I Benjamin Reed,” I said, voice low but carrying on the wind like thunder rolling in. “Alpha of Black Mist. I have bled for you. Killed for you. Built this pack from bones and rage. And I will keep doing it…alone if I must.”

A murmur rippled through them, uneasy but reverent.

“But you want a Luna.” I let the word hang, sharp as a blade. “So be it. In three nights, at the Great Gathering, I will search. If the moon goddess has a female worthy of standing at my side…one who won’t break under the weight of what I am…she will be found. If not…” My lips curled into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Then you’ll learn to live without one. Just like I have.”

Silence filled the atmosphere.

Then the howls erupted again…not pleading this time, but triumphant and so fucking proud. They believed in me. Feared me. Loved me in that twisted way packs loved their alphas. Except I didn't care about being loved. I was a monster wrapped in so many sins. A monster who let his beloved die.

I turned back to the mountains, letting the wind tear at my hair.

Timber paced inside restlessly. He kept pushing me to go out and find the mate now.

I ignored him.

Because deep down, in the black pit where my heart used to be, I already knew the truth.

No female would ever survive me and I would never let another one try to replace my dear Elara Parker.

"Elara....I swear, no one will ever take your place... I will make sure of it, even if blood has to be shed, no one will ever replace you." I vowed.