Chapter One – The Rejection

The night air shimmered with silver light. The moon hung heavy above the clearing, round and glowing as if it had been carved for this single night. My hands trembled against the folds of my simple white dress as I stood in the crowd, surrounded by wolves who all seemed taller, stronger, brighter than me.

Tonight was the Moon Ceremony, the night the Goddess revealed fated bonds. Every unmated wolf over eighteen had gathered, waiting for the moment our souls would be tied. Some stood confidently, knowing they were strong and desirable. Others whispered and giggled, already imagining the faces of their destined mates.

I tried to keep my breathing steady, but my chest ached. This was supposed to be the night that changed everything. For once, I wanted to be seen. Not as the blacksmith’s quiet daughter. Not as the girl who was too weak, too plain, too ordinary. I wanted to matter.

The pack’s voices hushed as Alpha Dorian Hale stepped forward.

He was everything I was not. Tall, broad shouldered, his dark hair catching the moonlight, his presence commanding the attention of every wolf in the clearing. When he walked, people moved aside. When he spoke, silence fell. He was twenty-four, already feared and respected across three territories. And he was the man every girl dreamed of being chosen by.

I never dreamed it would be me.

But when his eyes found mine across the clearing, the world shifted. Heat licked through my veins. My wolf stirred violently in my chest, pushing against me with a desperate cry. Mate. The word rang in my head like a bell, clear and undeniable.

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Dozens of eyes turned toward me. My lips parted, the breath leaving my lungs in a rush.

It was him. The Alpha. My fated mate.

I wanted to cry, to laugh, to fall to my knees. My heart pounded so hard I thought my chest might break. The bond blazed between us, pulling me forward like invisible threads. For one heartbeat, hope bloomed wild inside me. Maybe I was not so invisible after all. Maybe fate had chosen me for something greater.

Then Dorian’s expression hardened.

His jaw clenched, his shoulders stiffened. The heat that swelled in my chest froze, turning sharp and cold.

He stepped closer, and the crowd’s whispers grew louder, buzzing in my ears. I waited, trembling, for the words that would seal our bond. The promise every wolf longed to hear.

But his voice was like steel when it cut through the night.

“I, Alpha Dorian Hale, reject you, Selene Ward, as my mate.”

The words struck like claws across my heart.

The clearing erupted. Gasps, laughter, cruel whispers. My knees wobbled beneath me, and the earth seemed to tilt. My wolf howled inside me, thrashing, clawing at my chest, refusing to accept the rejection. Pain ripped through me, so sharp it stole the air from my lungs.

I shook my head, desperate to believe I’d heard wrong. “No… you can’t… we’re fated”

His eyes flashed with anger. “The Moon Goddess may have made her choice, but I will not be bound to weakness. I need a Luna who can stand by my side, not hide in the shadows. You are not her.”

Tears blurred my vision. The bond inside me pulsed, raw and fragile, as though his words had shattered it into jagged pieces.

The crowd’s whispers stung like nettles.

“She’s too plain for him.”

“The Alpha deserves better.”

“I knew she was weak.”

I wanted to disappear. To sink into the earth and never face their eyes again.

Dorian’s Beta stepped forward, as if to usher me away, but I couldn’t move. My feet felt rooted, my body heavy with grief. The only sound was the ragged beat of my heart and the wild, desperate cries of my wolf.

“I don’t accept your rejection,” I whispered, the words trembling from my lips before I could stop them.

The crowd hissed with shock. No one defied an Alpha.

Dorian’s eyes blazed with fury. He stepped closer, towering over me. “You don’t have a choice.” His voice was low, deadly, final.

My chest caved. The bond burned, twisting, tearing, until I thought I would collapse from the pain. My wolf whimpered, curling back in agony. The humiliation was unbearable. I could feel every eye on me, every cruel smirk, every look of pity.

I turned and fled.

The forest swallowed me whole. Branches whipped against my arms, the night air cold on my wet cheeks. My dress snagged on thorns, tearing as I stumbled deeper into the dark. Still the pain chased me, sharp and merciless, like fire in my veins.

I pressed my hands against my chest, trying to hold myself together, but the mate bond was ripping apart inside me. My breaths came ragged, broken.

Then something changed.

Beneath the agony, another force stirred. It wasn’t my wolf’s despair — it was something deeper, older, stronger. My skin prickled. My veins burned with silver light. The forest around me seemed to pulse with power, the trees humming as though they knew my secret before I did.

I stumbled to my knees beneath the blood-red moon. The light bathed me in crimson, and a roar built inside my chest. My wolf surged forward, not weak, not broken — fierce.

And for the first time in my life, I felt her fully awaken.

To be continued…