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Selena POV

The elders always said our wolves were the ones who chose our mates.

But I had never even felt my wolf… not once.

So I never believed I would find a mate.

Definitely not a fated one.

When Pack Alpha Kael summoned every member of the Bloodfang pack to the special full moon celebration for his son, Darius, no one dared to refuse. It wasn’t an invitation it was an order. Tonight marked the beginning of Darius’s rise to power. During the rare and sacred Blood Moon, he was meant to form a mating bond with Alpha Elara from a neighboring pack.

Normally, outsiders were forbidden from stepping onto our lands. Bloodfang wolves were proud, territorial, and suspicious of strangers. But tonight was different. Shifters from both packs had already started arriving, gathering in large numbers to witness the historic moment.

Even wolves like us the lowest in rank had to be there.

Me… and my best friend, Ronan.

“What do you think Alpha Elara is like?” Ronan asked, her eyes shining with excitement as we rode our bicycles down the quiet street toward the pack house.

Most wolves preferred to travel in their shifted forms, running freely through the streets with small sling bags hanging from their necks so they could dress once they turned human again. But since I had never been able to shift, Ronan chose this slow, human way of moving just to stay beside me.

We lived far from the center of town, on the forgotten edges where low-ranking wolves were pushed to survive. Owning cars was a privilege we were never granted, so we had no choice but to pedal for several long minutes before the pack house finally came into view.

“We’ll see soon,” I replied after a moment.

Truthfully, it didn’t matter. Nothing about tonight would change our lives.

In the eyes of the pack, we had already been placed exactly where we belonged at the very bottom.

Ronan had always been different. Her wolf was weak… quiet… painfully submissive. From the day she first shifted, the others began treating her like she was invisible. She never looked anyone in the eye. She spoke softly. She walked with her head lowered, as if she expected to be punished for simply existing.

The moment she became an adult and left her parents’ home, Alpha Kael officially gave her the title of pack omega the lowest rank a wolf could hold.

It meant one simple thing.

Everyone else’s needs would always come before hers.

People never knew what to do with me.

I had never shifted, never shown a wolf, and that alone made me… strange.

When I finally became an adult and left my adoptive mother’s house, Alpha Kael didn’t even bother to give me a rank. Instead, he chose something worse he acted like I didn’t exist at all.

Honestly, his indifference was kinder than the open hatred Ronan faced every single day. Without the Alpha’s protection, the rest of the pack treated me however they pleased. Sometimes they ignored me. Sometimes they punished me for things I didn’t even do.

Hunger had become normal for both of us. Food was often taken away over the smallest mistake or even an imagined one. But today was different. Because of the pack run happening tonight, everyone was allowed to eat properly.

For once, our stomachs were full.

Tall mountains from the northern Rockies surrounded the town as we rode through the cold autumn air. Bloodfang the town named after our pack felt tense and restless, like it was holding its breath for what was about to happen.

Three wolves suddenly began running beside us, easily matching the speed of our bicycles. I didn’t need to look twice to know who they were. They were some of the same boys who had made my childhood miserable.

They stayed in their wolf forms on purpose.

It was their way of reminding me of something I might never have a wolf of my own. That alone was enough to hurt.

“I still can’t believe another pack would follow a female Alpha who doesn’t even have a mate,” Ronan said softly, unaware of the silent threat around us. “She must be really powerful.”

“Elara is an Alpha,” I replied, unable to hide the bitterness in my voice. “Which probably means she’s just as cruel as the rest of them.”

One of the wolves beside me shifted smoothly back into his human form.

It was Theron.

The sides of his blond hair were shaved, leaving the top long and messy. Before I could react, he grabbed my arm and yanked me off my bike. My heart jumped, but my body moved faster. I landed on my feet instead of crashing face-first onto the ground.

“Watch your mouth when you talk about our future leader,” Theron growled.

He didn’t even seem to care that he was completely naked.

If this turned into a fight, I already knew who I would go for first.

Ronan stopped her bike a short distance away, worry written all over her face.

“Elara is an Alpha,” I said coldly, pulling my arm free from his grip. “Unlike you… she can actually defend herself.”

Low growls filled the air as the other two wolves moved closer, slowly circling us like predators closing in on weak prey. None of them were Alphas… not even Betas.

If we fought as humans, one against one, I could take any of them down.

That was exactly why they never faced me alone anymore.

“Sele…” Ronan called softly, using the nickname only she was allowed to use. Fear trembled in her voice.

Ronan knew how to survive.

She knew when to stay quiet… when to lower her head… when to step back. Being the pack omega had taught her that.

But I had never learned how to bow.

The second wolf shifted, and I wasn’t surprised when red-haired Aria stood there instead. Ever since she became Theron’s mate, she followed him everywhere like a shadow. With his sharp features and confident smile, most girls saw him as a prize.

Too bad his personality ruined the whole package.

They had made my school years a living nightmare. Still, things weren’t the same anymore. I wasn’t the helpless girl they once bullied.

“Listen to her,” Aria sneered, making no effort to cover her naked body. “The pathetic half-breed thinks she can talk back.”

Even though Ronan officially held the lowest rank in the pack, many wolves believed my mixed blood made me even worse. I had no title. No place.

To them, I was nothing not fully human, not fully wolf… barely worthy of being called a shifter at all.

A loud slap of bare feet hitting the pavement sounded behind me. I turned sharply and found Fisher stepping closer. He was shorter and broader than Theron, his cold blue eyes always filled with open hatred whenever he looked at me.

Theron and Aria’s eyes still glowed gold, a clear sign their wolves were close to the surface.

That made them far more dangerous.