The moon hung full and heavy in the sky, casting silver light over the Blackfang Pack's clearing. Wolves gathered in a silent circle, anticipation thick in the air. Tonight was the Moon Ceremony—the sacred moment when those turning eighteen would feel the pull of the mate bond for the first time.
Aria Blackwood stood at the edge of the circle, heart pounding in her chest. Her palms were clammy, her stomach in knots. Tonight, she told herself. Tonight, I'll finally know who he is.
Her eyes drifted to Alpha Kael Thornhart—tall, broad-shouldered, commanding in presence. The future of the pack. The one every she-wolf dreamed of. Aria had tried not to, but something deep inside her... something primal… always pulled her gaze back to him.
The moonlight shimmered, and the bond surged through her like lightning.
Her breath caught.
Kael turned to her.
His icy blue eyes met hers, and she felt it — the bond snapped into place like a chain around her soul. Her knees nearly buckled.
It's him…
Kael is my mate.
The crowd murmured. Some gasped. Others stared.
But Kael's face was unreadable.
And then… he stepped forward.
Silence fell like snow.
"I, Alpha Kael Thornhart," he said, voice cool and steady, "reject you, Aria Blackwood, as my mate."
The words hit harder than any blow.
Aria couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. Her ears rang. The entire world blurred, the rejection echoing louder than the cheers of the ceremony around her.
A cruel smile tugged at the lips of a nearby she-wolf — Kael's rumored lover. Aria saw it, but it didn't register.
Kael looked away like she was nothing.
And then, with her heart shattered and the mate bond tearing at her soul, Aria ran — into the woods, into the darkness, away from the only life she'd ever known.
She didn't know where she was going.
She only knew one
thing: she would never be the same again.