Born without a wolf

The moon rejected me the night I was born.

No howl. No shift. Just silence.

In our world, that kind of silence is deadly.

I was born during a blood moon, and by morning, the whispers had started. “She has no wolf.” “A cursed child.” “She should’ve died in the womb.” The pack wanted to leave me in the woods, let the rogues take care of what the Moon Goddess had apparently forgotten.

But my mother Luna Mira begged for my life. She cried. She bled. And somehow, I lived.

Seventeen years later, I sometimes wonder if they were right.

Because being alive without a wolf? That’s not life. That’s survival. And the pack never lets me forget it.

“Lyra,” Beta Harlan barks, yanking me out of my thoughts. “To the back. Eyes down. You’ll spook the guests.”

“Yes, Beta,” I mumble, moving behind the rest of the pack.

Today is a big day. Alpha Kael of the Moonfang Pack is visiting. Rumor is he’s here to form an alliance with our Alpha.

The others are buzzing with excitement, adjusting their hair, fixing their collars. But I know better.

No one notices a girl with ripped sleeves, mismatched boots, and no wolf. I’m not part of this world. Just a shadow that exists in the corner of everyone’s vision until they need something to blame.

“Don’t embarrass us,” Harlan snaps again.

I lower my head as the sound of approaching engines fills the forest.

Three sleek black SUVs slide into the clearing outside the packhouse. A chill creeps over my skin, sharp and electric. I don’t know why until the first door opens.

That’s when I feel it.

Not see. Not hear. Feel.

A magnetic pull. Like a thread yanking at my chest, tightening with every step he takes toward us.

Alpha Kael.

He’s tall, broad-shouldered, with dark hair and eyes like liquid silver. There’s a scar along the side of his neck, peeking out from his collar. He moves like a shadow, quiet, deadly, impossible to ignore.

The moment his gaze sweeps over the crowd, I know I should look away.

But I don’t.

His eyes meet mine.

And something snaps.

The pull becomes a fire racing through my blood. My knees go weak. My wolf  the one I’ve never felt howls.

No. No. That’s not possible.

I don’t have a wolf. I never did.

Kael stops walking.

Everyone around me goes still. The air thickens. Then, slowly, he steps forward past the warriors, past the Alpha, straight toward me.

My breath catches.

He’s looking at me like I’m something he doesn’t understand. Something dangerous.

Someone tugs on my sleeve. “Move,” a warrior hisses. “Don’t block his path.”

Before I can step aside, Kael’s voice cuts through the air.

“Don’t touch her.”

It’s not loud, but it hits like thunder. The warrior instantly backs off, and now every eye in the clearing is on me.

I want to disappear. Melt into the dirt. But Kael doesn’t stop.

He’s in front of me now, towering and silent, his eyes scanning every inch of my face.

“You,” he says softly, “shouldn’t exist.”

His voice is rough, strained. Like it hurts him to say it.

A chill runs down my spine.

I swallow. “Do I… know you?” I whisper.

Kael doesn’t answer. His eyes flicker gold flooding the silver  and that’s when I know.

He feels it too.

The bond.

Mate.

But how? I don’t even have a wolf. I’m not whole. This isn’t supposed to happen to someone like me.

Kael steps closer, close enough that his scent hits me pine, smoke, and something darker underneath. His jaw tightens.

“You were supposed to die,” he whispers, so low only I can hear.

My blood turns to ice.

And then, like lightning through a storm, a flash hits my mind not a memory, but something deeper.

A fire.  

A scream.  

Silver eyes watching as I burned.