1.

Rayna POV

The moon hangs low and swollen above the Moonclaw clearing, bathing the pack in silver light. Shadows twist across the firelit circle, dancing over cloaks and proud shoulders, but none of them matter. Not right now.

All I can hear is my heartbeat. Loud. Relentless. Like a drum counting down to the moment everything changes.

Tonight is the Choosing.

I stand at the very edge of the gathering, wrapped in a borrowed cloak that smells faintly of rosemary and someone else’s home. I tug it tighter around my shoulders. The fabric scratches my skin, but I welcome the sting.

I’m eighteen now. Old enough to find my mate. Old enough to finally belong and start new life.

My wolf shifts restlessly beneath the surface, pacing just under my skin. "He’s close", she whispers. Her voice is quieter than usual, but there’s no mistaking the certainty.

My chest tightens.

I scan the sea of faces, the flames blurring my vision as nervous energy coils in my stomach. My fingers twitch at my sides. I’ve imagined this moment a thousand times - how it would feel when the bond sparks to life, when I see him and he sees me and fate finally, finally chooses me.

Even for an omega like me. - Especially for an omega like me. - I’m not supposed to hope. Not with my rank. Not with my past. But I do.

I always have.

Then I saw him. - Aiden.

Alpha Aiden, son of the Moonclaw Alpha, already feared and followed. His stride is steady, confident, powerful. The kind of presence that makes the air tighten around him. He’s all sharp lines and coiled strength - midnight hair, glacial eyes, and a jaw that looks carved from stone. Perfect.

He walks to the center of the circle. And then he stops. Because his eyes meet mine. And the bond slams into me like lightning. It steals my breath. My knees nearly buckle.

The world narrows to just us - Aiden and me.

Everything else dissolves: the crackling bonfire, the sea of curious faces, the murmured prayers of others still waiting to be chosen. All I can hear is the thunder of my heart and the whisper of my wolf, rising like a prayer: "It’s him. It’s him."

Every breath I’ve ever taken suddenly feels like it was leading to this. The moment his eyes find mine, something snaps into place. A jolt of lightning rushes through my chest, burning through my ribs and into my soul.

The bond.

It’s real. Raw. Alive. My whole body sings with it  - hot and golden and full of everything I never thought I could have.

He’s mine.

My mate.

The one the moon chose for me.

I see it hit him, too. Aiden freezes, his gaze locked on me. I think - no, I know - I see a flicker of something in his eyes. Shock. Recognition. A breath that hitches in his throat. His lips part, like he’s going to say my name.

Please. Goddess, please. Let him see me. Let him choose me.

For one beautiful, perfect second, it feels like the world holds its breath.

And then he says it.

“No.”

Just one word. One syllable. But it punches the air from my lungs like a blow to the chest.

"No."

My wolf stumbles in my mind, her joy screeching into confusion.

“No,” he says again, louder now. Colder. Like ice cracking beneath my feet.

“I, Alpha Aiden of the Moonclaw Pack,” he declares, voice ringing through the clearing, “reject you as my mate.”

The words tear through me. Not like a knife. Like a cleaving. The bond - so bright and new and full of promise - shatters. And I feel everything.

It’s not just pain. It’s loss. Collapse. The undoing of a dream I didn’t even know I’d dared to have. My knees buckle. I barely catch myself.

Around me, the silence is deafening. Not because no one’s speaking - but because I can’t hear them. My pulse roars in my ears. My vision blurs. My wolf lets out a broken, panicked howl that never reaches my throat.

He rejected me. Not in private. Not gently. - In front of the entire pack. I thought fate was cruel before, but now I know it.

Aiden turns away like I’m dirt under his boots. Like I mean nothing. Like I am nothing more but a joke. And the worst part?

A tiny, fragile part of me still begs him to take it back. Still believes he felt it, too. Still wants him.

Even as I shatter.

Even as I break.

I don’t even breathe. A ripple of gasps moves through the pack. I hear laughter somewhere. Murmurs. The Elder’s voice calling for order.

But I can’t move. I can’t move.

My wolf lets out a broken snarl inside me, claws raking at the walls of my chest. And I - I stumble. I turn. I run. I want to be far away from here. I need to be...

My legs work by their own will. I don't now how far or how long did I run. The night air bites at my face as I tear into the trees, branches scraping my arms. I don’t care. I need to get away. I need to breathe.

"You were never meant to be his", a voice murmurs inside me. Not my wolf. Something older. Colder. This is the moment when I finally stopped running. 

But something is wrong. The moon is too bright. The shadows move too fast. And the pain in my chest - there’s something beneath it. Something awakening.

A growl echoes in the dark behind me. Heavy paws crash through the underbrush. I spin, heart pounding. A pair of golden eyes meets mine.

Rogue.

My wolf surges up with a snarl and everything goes black.