CHAPTER 1

The moon is out in its fullness, giving off its light across the woods where the pack had gathered. Wolves quietly and slowly move along the path crafted for them, their coats reflecting like dark water in the light. While the humans form a free moving circle around the Alpha.

It was a night gathering meant for celebration – The rising of the full moon, it is meant to signify unity and serve as a reminder that no wolf stands alone.

Except Lydia

She moved around just outside the circle with her arms wrapped tightly across her chest, and bare feet touching the cold earth. The night breeze swaying her dark hair, bringing bits of conversation from every angle of the gathering. She didn’t need to keep a very close ear to hear what was being said. Those words have surrounded her throughout her life like a very heavy weight.

‘The one without chains’

It was the name given to her by the prophecy. That was all they ever saw.

Her eyes moving around shifted to the center of where her father was standing across the woods, tall and like an authoritative figure.

Alpha Lucien was like a statue carved from the rock, broad-shouldered, unyielding, his glowing eyes blazing with an intensity that could cause the enemies to bow and can command loyalty among the followers.

She had those eyes too, but when she looked around the pack, she didn’t see anything admirable. All she sees is fear.

“Lydia,” His voice rang, across the hearing of the wood, like a horn.

For a moment, she didn't want to answer. He wanted her closer than where she was, right into the circle where the pack was properly placed. But the elders were firm and rigid, giving her a sharp gaze as though her presence was very toxic to the rite being carried out.

She moved a bit forward, away from the circle, allowing the whispers to increase as she walked opposite sides from the unseen lines between herself and them.

The voice of Elder Pedro broke the silence “she should not be here.” With his eyes looking faint and unfriendly, monitoring every movement she made. “You are aware of the saying of the prophecy, Jarius”.

Lydia halted just in front of her father, her jaw raised in defence. “I am his daughter,” she stated calmly but with a very firm voice. “ As much as this is your home, I also belong here”.

The crowd looked surprised as they whispers cut across every corner. Wolves disturbingly began to adjust in a way that shows discomfort, and a mother pulled her child closer to herself.

“You are not bound,” Pedro expressed in disapproval, taking a step forward. His fingers tightly gripped his carved staff as he had always held onto it, as if it could shield him from her. “ Any wolf without bond is not considered a wolf at all, you are just a chaos waiting to unravel and destroy us all.”

Though she felt hurt inside her chest, she kept the feelings hidden and didn’t show it. She had heard about all of it – cursed, abominable, dangerous. They never for once called her by her name.

She opened her mouth, just to fight back with her words and remind him that she was a real person and not just one that was born out of prophecy. But another voice broke out.

“She’s still a part of the pack.”

Everyone adjusted as Kyle moved forward, the Alpha’s son and the heir to the Alpha. His presence caught everyone’s attention, with his golden looking eye lit in the moonlight and his physical look giving out the natural strength of one that is born to lead. Silence fell on the crowd. And every wolf buried their head on their chest as he walked by them.

Yet he focused solely on her.

Lydia felt it – the attraction he pulled, a dangerous kind of connection drawn from her heart to his. It felt like a mix of intensity, weight, and longing, all captured in a passing glance. She quickly turned away her gaze, not wanting it to sink too deeply. Emotional connection to her was just another form of bondage, and she already has enough of that.

“Kyle,” Elder Pedro called out firmly, “do you speak before you think”

“I do know enough,” Kyle replied, his tone with an underlying intensity but steady. “She is of the Alpha’s blood. She has a place here.”

Her heart tightened at his statement – not because she agreed with them, but because he truly believed it.

Before the argument could proceed any further, Jarius raised up his hand. Silence fell on the space instantly. He moved his gaze from his daughter to his son, standing just a short distance away from him. “Enough. We didn’t gather here tonight to cause division,”

He looked back to the pack, his voice loud and commanding. “Tonight, we have gathered here in honour of the moon, the force that ties us together, the chains from which we draw our power.”

A united howl arises from the wolves that stood at the boundary, its echoes rising through the trees and resounding in the night sky. The humans joined the ancient chant, an acknowledgement that had connected this pack for generations.

But Lydia remained quiet, she stood still, absorbing the night cold into her skin, feeling the weight of everyone’s gaze on her.

Force, Oneness, Belonging.

All of it felt like a thread of deception. The only thing she felt that was a reality to her was the not so obvious voice hidden in her thoughts – dull, uneasy and wild. A part of her that could not be held bound by any chain, that could not be trapped.

And tonight, under the full moon, she felt it awakening within her.