Chapter 4

The moonlight streamed through the windows of my cabin, casting pale streaks across the floor like ghostly fingers reaching for me. I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at my trembling hands, trying to make sense of what I had just felt in the training grounds.

Liam.

His touch had seared through my skin like fire. Not in pain—but something far more dangerous. Something I didn’t want. Something that made my wolf stir, whispering that we belonged to him.

I clenched my jaw. No. I don't belong to anyone.

The wind howled outside, echoing the storm building in my chest. I had trained for years to become the Alpha my people needed. I had fought to be respected, to stand tall in a world that expected submission from a woman. And now? A single bond threatened to unravel all of that.

A knock came at the door.

I didn’t move.

The knock came again, more insistent this time.

With a resigned sigh, I stood and opened it—only to find Liam standing there, looking like trouble wrapped in moonlight. His dark hair was tousled, his gray eyes clouded with emotion, and a bruise bloomed across his jaw from where I’d struck him during training.

He didn’t speak. He didn’t need to.

The bond pulsed between us like a heartbeat.

“What do you want?” I asked, folding my arms.

“To talk.” His voice was low, rough. “Without an audience.”

“You think I care what others hear?”

He smirked. “No. But I do.”

I stepped aside—just barely—and he entered. He looked around, taking in the spartan room. A bed, a desk, my weapons mounted on the wall. No frills. No softness.

Just like me.

“You’ve made your point,” I said coldly. “We’re mated. It wasn’t my choice, and I won’t pretend it was. Now what?”

Liam turned to face me. “You think I wanted this? You think I asked the Moon Goddess to give me the one woman in the world who hates the very idea of being claimed?”

I flinched, the words striking deeper than I expected. I didn’t hate him. Not really. I hated how he made me feel.

“I never said—”

“You didn’t have to,” he cut in. “You wear your resentment like armor.”

There was silence. Tense. Tangled.

Then he sighed and moved closer, lowering his voice. “I don’t want to control you, Selene. I don’t want to take your title, your strength, or your independence. But this bond... it's real. And it’s not going away.”

I looked at him, really looked at him. And I hated that part of me—the part I kept locked in a cage—was aching to believe him.

But I couldn’t afford to be weak.

“You expect me to what?” I snapped. “Fall into your arms and play Luna to your Alpha? Give up my pack?”

“No.” His voice was firm. “I expect you to stop running from what we both feel. I expect you to meet me as an equal.”

Those last words hit different. They weren’t laced with dominance. They weren’t a demand. They were a plea.

The silence stretched again, but this time... softer.

“I’m tired,” I muttered. “I need to rest.”

He nodded, heading for the door.

Just before he left, he turned back. “You can fight this all you want, Selene. But the bond isn’t the enemy. And neither am I.”

He left, closing the door behind him with a quiet click.

I sank to the bed, the air suddenly too thick.

What scared me wasn’t Liam’s words.

It was how much I wanted to believe them.

The next morning, I woke early. My sleep had been shallow and restless, dreams filled with golden eyes and whispering wolves.

I needed clarity. And for that, I needed to run.

I shifted the moment I stepped into the woods. My wolf tore through the forest with a grace I could never match in human form. Here, the world was simpler. There were no titles, no burdens, no choices. Just instincts and wind and earth beneath my paws.

But even in this form, the bond hummed. Liam’s scent still clung to my fur like a ghost.

Why him?

My wolf didn’t answer. She was too busy aching.

After a while, I stopped near the river, drinking in the cold, clear water. My reflection shimmered in the surface—golden eyes burning, fur sleek and wild.

You are Alpha, my wolf whispered. Chosen by the Moon. But even Alphas need balance.

Was Liam supposed to be that balance?

Or the storm that would tear everything apart?

Later that day, I stood before the council of elders. They were ancient, wise, and deeply rooted in tradition. The kind of men who had once scoffed at the idea of a female Alpha.

And now, they stared at me with wary eyes.

“You bonded with the Bloodfang Alpha,” Elder Marlow said, his voice like cracking ice.

“It wasn’t by choice,” I replied evenly. “You know how the Moon Goddess works.”

“The bond is sacred,” he said. “And politically... complicated.”

“I don’t need a lecture. I need support.”

“Support?” another elder barked. “Your position is already being questioned, and now you bring a rival Alpha into the picture?”

I stepped forward, my voice firm. “I’m still your Alpha. Until you find someone stronger, faster, or wiser than me, that won’t change.”

Marlow raised a hand, silencing the others. “We’ll watch. Carefully. Tread wisely, Selene.”

I nodded, then turned and walked out, my spine straight.

But the weight of their eyes followed me.

That night, as I stood on the balcony of my cabin, the stars above me blazing like silver fire, I felt the shift inside me.

Not toward Liam.

Not yet.

But toward power. A new kind of strength that came not from standing alone—but from daring to open myself to something more.

The wind shifted, and I knew before I turned that he was there.

Liam stood beneath the trees, his head tilted up, watching me.