CHAPTER 1

The great hall pulsated with revelry, the air thick with the converging aromas of wolves and the tension of expectation. It was Lena Hart's eighteenth birthday, a serious matter; she'd spent weeks dreaming about this day. Her heart fluttered with excitement and anxiety as she pushed through the throng, her sensors nearly hyper-excited.

Then it hit her-a smell so heady that it brought her knees weak. An earthy pine combined with a fresh winter breath. Her mate. The room seemed to dissolve as she turned, looking at the origin with her gaze.

Alpha Kade Blackwood.

He stood at the entrance, square broad shoulders demanding attention and fierce gray eyes searching the throng. When his gaze fell on her, the connection was almost electric. Lena's breath caught. This was it. The moment she had dreamed of her whole life.

Her heart was racing as she took a step forward “It’s you” she said with her voice trembling with appreciation and joy.

Kade's face hardened. "Me?" he asked, his voice as chilled as mid-winter. The room appeared to grow stiller as the echo of his words floated through the space.

Lena blinked, her joy clouded by confusion. “You’re my mate. The Moon Goddess—”

He interrupted her with a harsh laugh that had no trace of humor. "The Moon Goddess made a mistake."

The words were a physical blow, tightening Lena's chest. "What? No, that's not possible. We're fated."

Kade stepped closer, and he towered over her. His presence should have been comforting but was oppressive instead. “I need a Luna who could strengthen my pack, someone with power, influence, and status. Not the daughter of a Beta.”

Her heart shattered, however, the noise of the whispers around them shook it even more. Pack members stirred in shock and disbelief. Lena’s face burned with humiliation but she wouldn’t back down.

"You don’t mean that," she said, breaking in a voice. "We’re meant to be together. The connection"

“The bond means nothing to me,” Kade replied sharply, his tone crack like a whip. “I, Kade Blackwood, do not accept you as my mate.”

The words hung in the air heavy and final. Lena’s vision blurred with tears as the full weight of his rejection crushed her.

“Why?” she whispered and her voice barely audible. “Why would you do this?” was her question.

Kade's expression didn't change. "Because I’m thinking about my pack. This isn’t personal, Lena. You’re just… not enough.”

A sharp gasp escaped her lips, as she staggered back. Throughout her life she was told the mate bond was a very pure relationship, that it was a blessing from the Moon Goddess. And now, her mate—the one that supposed to love and cherish her—had thrown her away as if she was nothing.

The room erupted with whispers but Lena didn’t stick around to hear them. She was humiliated and defeated, so she turned and ran, pushing through the crowd until she burst out into the cold night. The chill bit at her skin, but it couldn’t touch the icy void in her chest.

She didn't stop running until she reached the border of Silver Ridge Pack's territory. Turning back for one last glance, she whispered a vow into the wind. “I’ll never come back.”

And with that, Lena Hart disappeared into the night, leaving behind the only home she’d ever known. Chapter 2: The New Path

The forest was silent, only Lena’s footsteps broke the silence over the frosty floor. She could feel the biting cold on her cheeks yet she kept going on mulling over Kade’s words in her mind as if they were a broken record.

“Not enough.”

Anger bubbled underneath the grief. How could he? The Moon Goddess had chosen her, yet Kade had thrown her away as if she meant nothing. She locked her hands into fists, nails digging into palms. She wouldn’t cry. Not again.

"You'll freeze to death walking like that."

The voice startled her and she spun around. A few paces away and an older woman with silver hair and fierce eyes leaned on a staff. She looked frail but the essence of power was there.

“Who are you?” Lena demanded, her voice hoarse.

The woman's lips twitched into a smile "A friend or an enemy, depending on the choices you make" She took another step closer and her eyes roving over Lena's body from head to toe "You are hurt child. Not in body alone. Your soul is in pain"

Lena bristled. “I don’t need your pity.”

“Good,” said the woman with a demand. “Because I’m not offering that. What I am offering is an opportunity for you to finally figure yourself out”.

Lena frowned and took a step back cautiously “I don’t have time for riddles”

The woman's expression softened "Child listen to me, The Moon Goddess's plans for you do not end with that rejection. If anything, they only just began. You have such power in your inside, one that could change everything"

Lena's heart missed a beat "Power?" she echoed "What do you mean?"

"Come with me" the woman said and her voice brooking any argument "If you wish to wallow in your misery then keep walking. If you wish to rise above it, follow me"

Lena paused and her instincts clashing within her. Trust was a delicate thing and she had only recently learned how quickly it could be shattered. Yet there was something in the woman's eyes, a flicker of recognition and of undeniable certainty that drew her in.

Finally she nodded “Lead the way”

The woman smiled and her expression held a trace of satisfaction "Good choice, my name is Luna Celeste. Together, we're going to discover your destiny"

Lena followed, the weight in her chest lifting just slightly. For the first time since her rejection a spark of hope flickered in the darkness.

The fire crackled in the small stone heart flickering shadows across the walls of Luna Celeste's Cabin. Lena sat in a chair well worn by time, her body rigid and her emotions a tempest of anger, confusion and something she rarely felt hope.

“Drink this” Luna Celeste said pushing a steaming mug closer to her “It will calm your mind”

Lena gazed at the mug suspiciously "How do I know you're not lying to me?"

The older woman smiled faintly "You don't but if i meant you harm, i wouldn't have dragged you out of the cold, would i?"