Chapter 001

Sara had waited for this day her entire life.

The day she would finally meet her mate, the one person the Moon Goddess had chosen just for her. Someone who would love her, protect her, and make every moment of pain she'd endured finally worth it.

Her heart raced as she stood in the middle of the Soomdale Pack’s big hall. Golden light from the chandeliers lit up the shiny floors and the excited faces around her. Pack members and warriors whispered among themselves and waited. It was her twentieth birthday, and today, she would finally feel the mate bond.

She clutched her trembling hands together, hiding them within the folds of her pale-blue dress—the only decent thing she owned.

“Relax, Sara,” she whispered to herself. “It doesn’t matter what they say. You deserve happiness too.”

She wasn’t the only one coming of age today, about twenty others were waiting, too. Maybe she could blend in. Maybe no one would even notice—

The scent hit her first.

Her wolf, one she had never been able to shift into, stirred for the first time in her life. The sensation was startling, sharp. Her breath caught as she turned and locked eyes with Alpha Quentin.

No.

It couldn’t be.

Not him.

Alpha Quentin stood tall in a dark leather jacket, midnight-black hair tousled as if the wind itself was too respectful to touch him. His face looked hard and serious, and his cold eyes seemed to see right through her. When he looked at her, it felt like his gaze burned her skin. His expression was impossible to read; somewhere between shock and disgust as if he could not believe what was going on.

Then he spoke.

“You’ve got to be joking.”

There were chuckles from the crowd, cruel and biting. Sara’s ears rang.

“Quentin?” she said, stunned. “You’re—you're my mate?”

He curled his lip in disgust. “That’s impossible. The Moon Goddess must’ve made a mistake.”

Sara took a step forward, her instincts taking over, but he pulled away from her, as if she repelled him.

“No!" he spat. “There’s no way the Moon Goddess would curse me with you.”

Her face flushed with humiliation, and the world felt like it was spinning. Laughter echoed around her, cruel and unforgiving.

“Curse?” she repeated, struggling to hear her own voice.

“Look at you, Sara,” Quentin mocked, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “A weak, wolfless orphan? How could someone like you ever be Luna of Soomdale? You’re a disaster waiting to happen.”

Each word landed like a slap.

She didn’t even want to be Luna. All she had wanted… was him.

“I—” Her voice cracked. “Quentin, this bond is real. You feel it too. You have to.”

She was begging now. She didn’t care.

But Quentin only threw his head back and laughed.

“You think I’d ever accept you?” He stepped closer, his shadow looming over her. “I already have a mate. A real mate. Someone worthy of me. Looks like even immortals make mistakes.”

Then, a soft, mocking giggle echoed in the air.

Sara turned, dreading what she already knew.

“Hello, sister,” Vanessa purred.

Her golden curls framed a face that had always gotten what it wanted. The smirk on her lips made Sara’s stomach churn. Vanessa placed a hand delicately on Quentin’s chest.

No. Please, no.

“Vanessa? What are you doing?”

Vanessa tilted her head, her expression dripping with mock sympathy.

“Oh, Sara. Did you really think someone like Quentin would ever choose you when he had me?”

“I don’t understand,” Sara choked out. “You’re my sister—”

“Stepsister,” Vanessa corrected. “And besides, he was mine first.”

Then she grabbed Quentin’s hand and placed it over her stomach.

Sara froze.

“I’m pregnant!” Vanessa announced gleefully.

Cheers exploded around them. Quentin grinned, proud and victorious.

Sara stumbled backward, lungs straining. The cheers felt like daggers.

“Congratulations, Alpha!”

“Our rightful Luna!”

She dropped to her knees, pain ricocheting through her. In that moment, her world felt like it was crumbling.

Vanessa crouched down, brushing a strand of hair from Sara’s face like it was a game.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” she whispered. “It’s not like you ever had a chance.”

Sara lifted her eyes to Quentin, one last time, silently pleading.

But he just smirked.

“You were never my mate, Sara,” he said coldly. “You were just an inconvenience.”

Then, loudly:

“I, Alpha Quentin of Soomdale Pack, reject you, Sara, as my mate.”

A scream tore from her throat as something inside her shattered. The pain was like fire eating through her chest, her soul splitting in two.

She gasped, clutched at her heart, and fell forward.

Books had never described it like this. The agony. The hollowness. The helplessness.

Quentin blinked, the only sign of discomfort a twitch in his eye.

She wished she could hide her pain as well as he did.

The mate bond broke, like a string snapping in her chest, leaving behind only darkness.

And the pack cheered.

Her stepmother clapped her hands with delight. Vanessa beamed, victorious.

Quentin pulled her into a kiss, as though Sara had never existed. Then he barked,

“Someone! Take her away. She’s no longer one of us.”

The hall fell silent.

Sara’s heart hammered in her chest, her breath catching in her throat.

What did he mean?

The Beta stepped forward, eyes gleaming. “With pleasure, Alpha.”

Before she could protest, hands seized her roughly, dragging her to her feet. She fought, kicked, but she was too weak to resist.

“No, please!” she begged, her voice breaking. “Quentin! Please, don’t do this!”

But he didn’t even look back.

They dragged her through the crowd. Spit hit her face. Someone shoved her, calling her every insult under the sun.

“A disgrace!”

“Good riddance!”

“She was never one of us!”

Tears blinded her as she screamed, clawed, begged. “Let me go! Please!”

But no one listened.

She was nothing now.

As the doors opened and the cold air hit her skin, a voice cut through the chaos; soft, cold, and brimming with hate.

“I should’ve let you die when I found you.”

Sara turned. “Mum?” she whispered.

Her stepmother’s lips curled in a cruel smile. “Stepmother, bitch.”

Then she shoved Sara into the dirt. Sara stared at her, broken.

Everything she’d known—gone.

Everything she'd hoped for—destroyed.

And no one had lifted a finger to stop it.