(Zyandra's POV)The night smelled like iron and smoke.Every full moon did.I stood in the clearing, watching the silver light slip between the trees, heavy and ancient. The pack surrounded me, silent and waiting. They wanted this done.I didn’t.The marking ceremony — the moment an Alpha met their destined Luna — was supposed to be sacred. Romantic, even. But I’d never believed in that kind of fate. Love chosen by the Moon Goddess wasn’t love; it was control dressed in prophecy.Still, I stood there, head high, heart steady. If I refused, the Elders would say I’d doomed my lineage, broken the Goddess’s cycle. An Alpha must never be alone.So I stayed.“Begin,” Elder Myra said, her voice trembling with age and power.The pack bowed their heads. The air thickened, thrumming like a heartbeat. I felt the Moon’s pull — faint, reluctant, like it was waiting for me to open a door I didn’t want to open.I gritted my teeth. “Let’s get this over with.”Myra began to chant. The fire blazed high
Last Updated : 2025-10-23 Read more