Accueil / Werewolf / Moon-Marked and Mated / Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 10

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CHAPTER 1

Ainsley The forest always felt different at dawn—quieter, softer, like the world held its breath just long enough for me to pretend I was normal. Not the Alpha’s daughter. Not the soon-to-be-eighteen-year-old girl with a whole pack waiting to see who the Moon would chain her life to. Just Ainsley. My feet hit the packed dirt trail in a steady rhythm, cool air biting at my cheeks as I pushed myself harder up the incline. Running cleared my head. It always had. My wolf hummed beneath my skin, alert and powerful, settling into the pace like she’d been born for it. We were, really. Second-born. Not destined to lead, not expected to carry the pack on my shoulders—that was my brother Kieran’s path. At Nineteen, he was calm under pressure, already acting like the Alpha he’d soon be. Yet he still hadn’t found his mate, despite his visits to all allied packs. The whole pack whispered about it. Quietly, respectfully, but they whispered. Which is exactly why my father was curr

CHAPTER 2

Ainsley The kitchen smelled like coffee, toast, and my father’s rising stress level. “Morning,” I said as I slipped in, hair still damp from the quick shower I took after the run. Dad barely glanced up from the mountain of papers spread across the table. “Good morning, sweetheart. We need to go over the guest list, security arrangements, and the food order.” I blinked. “…For my birthday?” “For your mate,” he corrected, completely serious. I dropped my head into my hands. “Dad.” “What? This is important!” Mom brushed past him and slapped the back of his head lightly with a dish towel. “Let the girl eat breakfast before smothering her.” “Smothering? I am ensuring her safety,” he argued. “By scheduling a military operation disguised as a party,” Kieran said as he walked in, stealing a piece of toast. Dad pointed at him. “Don’t start with me. When you were turning eighteen, I had three anxiety attacks and a full security team.” “Yeah,” Kieran said dryly, “but I was

CHAPTER 3

Raithe — Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack The taste of blood lingered on the back of my tongue long after training ended. Not real blood—just the echo of it. The rage. The hunger. My wolf paced beneath my skin, agitated and restless, claws dragging against the inside of my ribcage like he was trying to tear his way out. Mate. Find her. Now. His voice was getting louder every week. My beta, Daxon, tossed me a towel. “You nearly snapped Kael’s arm.” “He wasn’t blocking properly,” I growled. “He was blocking fine. You’re just… worse lately.” He hesitated. “Raithe, this isn’t normal.” I threw the towel aside. “Nothing is normal when a wolf is twenty-three and unmated.” Daxon grimaced. Everyone knew the stories. After twenty-one, an unmated alpha’s instincts sharpened into something feral. After twenty-two, aggression and sleeplessness set in. After twenty-three… Madness. That’s what they whispered. That I was slipping. Losing control. Some days, I wondered if

CHAPTER 4

Ainsley The house smelled like pine cleaner, stress, and far too many baked goods. “Don’t you dare touch that,” Mom warned as I reached toward a cooling tray of lemon tarts. I froze, hand suspended midair. “I was just checking one.” “You were about to eat three,” she said, shooing me away. “Maybe.” Kieran laughed from where he was stringing lights across the entryway. “She’s stress-eating. Honestly, same.” I shot him a glare. “I’m not stressed.” My wolf snorted. Liar. I mentally shoved her back—though it felt like trying to push fog uphill. She’d been restless all morning. Last night too. She wouldn’t settle, shifting and pacing inside me like she was searching for something. Or someone. The closer we got to the party, the stronger the agitation became. It wasn’t nerves. It wasn’t fear. It was… something else. Something that made the hair on my arms lift at random moments as if the wind carried a scent I couldn’t quite detect yet. Mom bustled past me with her list—her

CHAPTER 5

Raithe The moment his SUV rolled across the border into Silver Shadow territory, Raithe felt the familiar shift of dominance—his wolf prowling just beneath his skin, testing every scent, every sound. Calm. He pushed the command inward, but his wolf only snarled back. Two days. Two days until the girl—the Alpha’s daughter—turned eighteen. The mate-seeking celebration that every unmated wolf on the continent seemed eager to attend would begin tomorrow night, then he would know if she was here, his salvation from the growing madness. Or maybe she wasn’t and he would be cursed to loose himself to the madness that was threatening to take over more and more every day. He hadn’t come for the party. He’d come for survival. The Blood Moon Pack was fraying under the strain of his worsening temper, and elders whispered that he was slipping toward the madness that claimed Alphas who went too long without their mate. He tried to ignore the murmurs, the fear in his warriors’ eyes, the weight

CHAPTER 6

Two days until my eighteenth birthday. Two days until the mate bond either changed my life forever… or shattered every plan I’d dared to make. And my wolf was acting weird about it. Not excited. Not nervous. Just… alert. Too alert. “Can you stop pacing?” my brother Kieran groaned from the couch, arms folded behind his head. “You’re making the floorboards anxious.” I shot him a glare. “I’m not pacing.” “You’ve done the same loop around the dining table eight times,” he said, counting off on his fingers. “Actually nine. Should I start charging you?” I opened my mouth to argue, but my wolf surged restlessly again, pacing under my skin like she could hear something neither of us understood. What is it? But she only huffed, attention stretched toward the window like she was trying to scent the wind through the glass. Before I could press her further, Mum swept into the room, hands full of last-minute decorations and a look that meant she expected everyone to be helpful right n

CHAPTER 7

Raithe The clearing bustled with life around him—voices, footsteps, the faint hum of excitement. But Raithe felt none of it. His senses were narrowed, sharpened, pointed like an arrow at the lingering echo of something he still refused to name. He forced his shoulders back as Alpha Thorn stepped forward, radiating steadiness and warmth that made the air feel… lighter. A sharp contrast to the heavy, storm-charged tension that clung to Raithe like a second skin. “Alpha Thorn,” Raithe greeted, gripping the older wolf’s forearm. “Alpha Raithe,” Thorn returned, voice full of genuine welcome. “Your presence is appreciated. Many are looking forward to meeting you and your pack.” Raithe doubted that—Blood Moon’s reputation usually sent wolves scrambling in the opposite direction—but he let the politeness stand. He released Thorn’s arm, nodding slightly. Daxon, standing just behind him, offered the Silver Shadow Alpha a respectful dip of his head. The Silver Shadow warriors mirrored it,

Chapter 8

Ainsley I had no reason to linger in the hallway outside Dad’s office. None. Zero. Absolutely no reason. And yet… there I was. Holding a tray of water pitchers and glasses I’d already delivered ten minutes ago, pretending I still had a task that required me to stand in the exact spot where Alpha Raithe would have to pass. My wolf sat coiled inside me, ears pricked sharply toward the office door like she was waiting for something—someone. You’re being weird, I whispered internally. She ignored me, which only made my nerves buzz more. The muffled rumble of voices drifted through the door—Dad’s steady tone and Raithe’s deeper, rougher one—words I couldn’t make out but that echoed with tension. Blood Moon wolves carried a certain weight everywhere they went, but Raithe? His presence alone had made the packhouse feel smaller, as if the walls bowed inward when he walked past. And every time he’d glanced my way—even briefly—my wolf had jolted in my chest like she’d been caught d

Chapter 9

Raithe The guest cabin was nicer than Raithe expected—modern, spacious, smelling faintly of cedar and clean linens. Silver Shadow hospitality was no joke. Dax shut the door behind them and threw himself onto one of the couches with a grunt. “Alright,” he said, stretching his legs out, “are you going to tell me what the hell that was, or do I need to start guessing?” Raithe pretended not to hear him. He walked the length of the room, fingertips brushing the window frame as he looked out over the pack grounds. Wolves moved back and forth carrying party supplies, decorations, food crates. A buzz of life and anticipation. Ainsley’s scent still clung to the hallway behind them like a soft echo he couldn’t shake. Dax cleared his throat dramatically. “Okay. I’ll start guessing.” Raithe closed his eyes. “Don’t.” “Was it her voice? Her face? Her hair? Her—” “Dax.” Dax grinned, hands raised. “Just trying to help.” Raithe turned away from the window, irritation simmering under his sk

CHAPTER 10

Ainsley By the time the sun began dipping behind the treeline, the Silver Shadow pack house felt like a storm cell waiting to burst. Guests had settled into their rooms, warriors were rotating through evening patrols, and the entire pack buzzed with a strange mix of excitement and tension. And I… I was apparently vibrating like a live wire. My wolf paced constant circles in my mind, restless in a way that made my skin itch. Something is coming, she kept whispering, but when I pressed her for more, she only huffed and prowled harder. Not helpful. I had tried to focus on my last-minute responsibilities: finalizing the seating arrangements for tomorrow night, checking in with our Beta, tightening the schedule for ceremony preparations, even touching base with Dr. Hale about herb storage for emergencies. All of it ran smoothly—too smoothly. The kind of smooth that felt like it was only pretending not to crack. And ever since the Blood Moon delegation arrived, the buzzing ben

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