Chapter 002: The savage Mate

Lyra’s POV

My legs moved without my permission, my bare feet was hitting hard on the stone path as I stepped deeper into the shadows behind the courtyard.

I should have turned back.

I should have ran to Mira and the party and pretend this was a glitch, because a wolf like me doesn't deserve a mate. I should have buried the feeling and kept pretending I didn’t feel anything at all.

But I didn’t.

I couldn’t.

Not when my body was on fire.

The closer I got, the more my skin prickled, my lips parted, and a soft whimper built in the back of my throat. The scent wasn’t just calling me now—it was doing something to me.

My heart pounded between my legs, an ache forming in my lower belly, it was so persistent that it made me want to scream. My thighs clenched, breathing stopped, and still I kept moving.

The night was dark and called but what waited in it made my blood run hotter than it ever had.

And then I saw a tall, braid and unmoving silhouette.

He stood at the edge of the clearing, shadowed by the trees, like he had been waiting for me.

My wolf who has been silent my entire life, rose inside me clearly wanting to feel her mate.

Mate… I said it again, not sure if it’s real.

The word exploded in my chest, breaking me apart and putting me right back together in the same second.

A low growl rumbled from the figure, not threatening, but very deep and possessive. I stumbled a step closer, drawn like a thread had been tied from my soul to his.

My lips trembled. “Who are you?” I whispered as my voice was barely audible.

He stepped forward into the moonlight, and my world stopped.

Jet-black hair pulled back, silver eyes glowing like polished steel, jaw clenched, body carved from shadow and battle with tattoos all over his muscular body.

Alpha Kael.

My Alpha.

The man who was supposed to be Selene’s, she was the one who deserved him.

But right now his eyes were looking at me with a hunger that rooted me to the spot.

Our gazes locked.

And something inside me shattered.

Mate… I said again.

The word hit me like lightning. I staggered back, shaking my head.

No. No, no, no. This couldn't be happening.

I was nothing. A maid. An unshifted omega with no future and no place in this pack or anywhere at that. And he was him. Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack. Betrothed to my sister. Powerful. Perfect.

And freaking spoken for.

But the way he looked at me was like a man who had found home. No confusion or denial, only fire and certainty.

I took a shaky breath and stepped back as if the ground was on fire.

“No,” I breathed, shaking my head. “It’s not—no, it can’t be you.”

But it was.

He was my mate, of all the wolves in the world, it has to be him.

And the bond between us wasn’t quiet.

It was roaring.

I turned to run, panic surging in my veins—but before I could take two steps, his hand moved and he caught my wrist.

“Let me go!” I hissed, twisting wildly, but his grip only tightened. He pulled me back, spun me around, and slammed me gently but firmly against the bark of an ancient tree.

The air immediately left my lungs.

His body was suddenly deadly close to mine, pressing into mine, heat radiating from him like fire.

“I knew it was you all along” he growled out, I had heard his voice countless number of times but this was different, it was as if id was just meant for me, it was low, rough and primal.

His scent surrounded me and I swear I wanted to die in his arms. “The moment I caught your scent… gods, you smell like sin.”

My pulse exploded. “You can’t… I’m not supposed to—”

He cut me off with a kiss.

But it was not gentle or sweet, it was the most intense kiss I had experienced.

Especially since this was my first kiss.

I was a dreamer, the kind of girl to think her first kiss would be under the moon light, soft and beautiful, and this one wasn’t that at all Eben though technically, it was still under the moon.

It was fire and fury, all tongue and teeth and tangled all in my mouth, it was overwhelming, it was breathtaking and I wanted more.

His lips crashed roughly into mine, demanding more and against all reason, my traitorous body melted into his touch.

I hated how good it felt. Hated how my knees gave into him , how my mouth responded, how my fingers curled into his hair without thinking.

Right now I didn't think of my sister, the girl who spent her entire life thinking she would marry Alpha Kael, or the fact that wasn't enough for him.

I thought about his kiss and how he was making me feel.

His hands were everywhere, at my waist, then sliding up, tugging the neckline of my gown until the fabric tore with a rip.

I felt cold immediately but it was replaced by heat when his palm cupped my breast.

Fuck! I never knew it would feel this good, maybe because not once in a million years would I think Alpha Kael would be touching me like this.

I gasped against his mouth, my head falling back against the tree as his thumb brushed over my nipple, it was like he was teasing, taunting and claiming.

He pinched my nipples and it sent a jolt heat and electricity straight through me.

His mouth left mine, trailing down my neck, then lower, his lips closing over my breast, sucking hard. I moaned out feeling both shame and desire.

He pulled back, his silver eyes dark with hunger, and growled low, “I want to do things to you, little mate. Things that will make you scream my name.” His voice was thick with need, and I felt his hardness pressing against my thigh.

The heat between us was unbearable and so strong that even my unshifted wolf stirred for the first time.

“You are mine,” he said against my neck, dragging his lips down until his teeth grazed that soft spot above my collarbone.

I had a lot of objections in my head, the pack won't accept me as Luna, what about my sister?

But something seemed as if he could read my mind.

“Fate doesn’t care about rank… or rules.”

I felt his canines lengthen, felt the heat of his breath where he hovered, just about to mark me.

“Alpha Kael!”

The voice of his beta came out of nowhere and shattered everything.

Kael froze.

He was still breathing against my skin, and then he stepped back, hands falling away as if burned. The hunger in his eyes darkened with something that looked like fear or regret.

“Run,” he said “Run, little mate. Now.”

I didn’t ask questions,I yanked the torn edges of my gown closed and bolted, heart thundering and vision blurring.

But as I ran all I could think of was him telling me

‘You are Mine’

I ran until the trees disappeared and I could see the pack house. My chest was heaving as I pushed the door open and went back inside.

I made it to the servants' quarters without a sound.

The moment I stepped into the room I shared with Mira, she stirred from her, then sat upright with a sleepy grin. Her curly hair looked like a wild halo around her face.

“Lyra?” Her eyes widened as she took me in. “What the—your dress is shredded!” She squinted. “And is that… a mark?”

She was probably referring to the huge red spot on my neck, where Alpha Kael almost marked me.

I didn’t answer, I couldn't. My lips were still swollen. My skin still tingled. My soul was still screaming his name.

I crawled into bed, heart racing, body buzzing, and pulled the thin blanket over my head. Mira giggled probably thinking it was a stolen kiss with a low-ranking warrior

Little did she know.

“Spill the tea tomorrow,” she whispered. “You little rebel.”

But I said nothing.

I just lay there in the dark, Kael’s voice repeating in my head like a curse.

Run, little mate.

Mine!

***

I didn’t sleep. Not really. Just drifted in and out, caught between guilt, longing… and fear. My silence was stirring. She wanted him. And I didn’t know what terrified me more: that he kissed me, or that I kissed him back.

And by morning, I felt emptier than I had ever felt and then I heard a scream of excitement.

Mira jolted upright, bouncing like a child on the first snow. “Lyra, get up!” she squealed. “Didn’t you hear?”

My throat was dry. “Hear what?”

“Alpha Kael has found his mate!”

Every part of me went still as I had butterflies in my stomach, was he really going to announce that I was his mate?

After all he had said fate doesn’t care about rank or rules

“Who?” I asked.

She looked at me with a contagious smile on her face. “Your sister. Selene!”

My whole world shattered. My lungs stopped working. The mark on my neck burned with heat as Mira kept talking, completely unaware that she was driving a blade into my heart.

I couldn’t breathe or speak, and I knew, without a doubt, that Selene wasn’t his mate.

I was.

And he didn't want me.