After all the agonizing pain Lyra went through, she finally witnessed the Arrival of Kaleen, the alpha of the moonfang pack.
She heard the blast of hunting horns rip through the evening mist in the courtyard, cutting short every laugh, every whisper.
The pack grounds froze under the weight of the sound of the horns. All wolves' heads were turned toward the treeline where armored wolves parted the path like shadows, clearing a path no one dared block.
The alpha Kaleen stepped through first. He walked with the heavy calm of a storm moments before it breaks.
He had broad shoulders, a cloak brushing the earth, with his silver hair catching the dying sun like cold fire.
A few scars marked his face and arms, one slashed from temple to jaw, another crossing the veins at his wrist, which shows marks of a wolf who never stayed behind the walls when there was blood to spill.
He was a great fighter whom every wolf in the moonfang pack adored.
His boots hit the dirt with slow, certain thuds. His eyes, ice grey in the twilight, scanned the bowed heads and shivering betas.
He had no smile on his cold face. No nod. He didn't need to speak; his silence pressed harder than any roar.
When his gaze locked on a young warrior who lifted his eyes too soon, Kaleen's lip curled, just barely, and the boy dropped to his knees, teeth clacking as he tried to swallow fear.
Although he was adored by his pack he was a very feared personality; his presence commanded a lot of respect.
A faint wind carried the scent of pine and old blood from Kaleen's cloak, which he uses in battle.
Behind him, his elite guard fanned out, all muscle and sharpened claws, but none dared step too close.
Even the elders dipped their heads all in his glory, robes brushing the dirt, words dying on their tongues, no one dared to talk to the alpha.
Kaleen's paused at the foot of the great stone steps, the fire pit's glow dancing in his scars, and he was well informed about the moon's path on his destiny.
The pack felt him, not just his rank, but the wolf inside him that watched through cold eyes, measuring worth, deciding who could stand and who must kneel.
Kaleen's boots brushed over the stone path, every step echoed by the hush of wolves lowering their heads.
The world blurred his cold shadows, whispers, and the crackle of the fire pit until his eyes caught a flicker of white cloth moving against the dark crowd in the courtyard.
A girl, thin shoulders bent under a tray of wine goblets that trembled just enough to catch his eye.
She shouldn't have caught it because omega's were not supposed to gaze upon the Alpha in this kind auspicious moment.
He didn't see the tray she was carrying, or the wine she was serving, or the way she kept her eyes fixed on the ground like a proper okeu.
He saw the curve of her wrist as she steadied a wobbling goblet.
He saw the loose strand of hair brushing her cheek as she tucked it behind her ear with shaking fingers
His wolf lunged inside him, sudden and raw, something he had never felt before, a low growl that made his pulse throb in his ears. Mine.
The word clawed at his chest, heavy and sweet and dangerous all at once, as his gaze never left this omega.
He swallowed it down, forced his hands to curl into fists at his sides. He didn't dare let his eyes linger, but they did, dragging over the hollow of her throat, the way her breath caught when she felt him watching.
Kaleen tore his gaze away after a long moment, teeth grinding until his jaw ached so badly. He could feel her still, her scent, wild and soft, a whisper against his scars, his inner wolf could not resonate what was happening.
Lyra turned slightly, trying to slip between the ranks of beta's, but her eyes lifted for a heartbeat, just long enough for her soul to collide with his.
When their eyes met, Lyra felt a kind of strange feeling sit in her guts she couldn't explain.
He tasted the pull, the bond, the promise he did not ask for. Not her. Not here. Not now. His wolf bared its fangs inside him, hungry and sure.
But Kaleen forced himself to look away; he was the alpha, and so he had to maintain his honourable status among wolves.
His shoulders stiff, breath shallow, eyes turning back to the ceremony. He would not claim this. He could not. And yet, deep down, something had already claimed him.
Lyra kept her head down after the eye contact with the alpha, the weight of the wine tray biting into her palms.
She moved distinctly along the edge of the sacred courtyard, careful not to catch any eyes that would remind her she didn't belong here.
The laughter of the beta's daughters and elite girls dripped like poison behind her back. She heard it, the hush of envy twisted sharp with hate.
A shoulder slammed into hers while she was trying to serve wine, the tray she held wobbled, silver goblets clinking like tiny bells, before she caught them.
The sting shot through her arm, but Lyra only bowed deeper, hoping her silence would be enough to calm their spite.
"Watch it, servant rat," a Beta girl spat on her, her breath sweet with stolen wine, her face down in disappointment.
The circle of mocking faces closed tighter. Another shove, harder this time than the one before, the tray dipped, and liquid sloshed against cold metal. A goblet nearly slipped, saved by her quick fingers.
They wanted her to drop it. To spill Kaleen's wine. To give them more reason to laugh. She steadied her breath, knuckles white around the handles.
She wouldn't break; her inner wolf stood firm, not flinching. Not tonight.
She held the tray steady, lifted her chin just enough to see her reflection in the wine with her eyes wide, brimming with a quiet fury she buried deep in her chest.
Shortly after, the moon hung heavy over the clearing, bleeding pale light onto the packed earth in the courtyard.
It was time for the sacred circle ritual to begin, elders traced the circle in salt and ash, their chants weaving through the night like drifting smoke.
The pack gathered close, breath misting, eyes wide with their curiosity growing bigger second. In the center, the moonstone ring glowed with a sickly sheen, waiting, hungry, for who is to be the fated mate to Kaleen.
Kaleen stood still as stone beside the circle, arms crossed over his chest, cold eyes sweeping over the young women lined up like prized sheep.
His wolf shifted a bit under his skin, a sign of restlessness, claws dragging along the inside of his ribs. He could feel the stares, the hope. The desperation.
The first beta daughter stepped forward, Maelin, who was the most popular elite girl in the moonfang pack.
Every wolf expected Maelin to be the Alpha's fated mate due to her social status and the aura she carried.
Her hair shimmered like spun gold under the moon, and her dress clung to her curves. She bowed low, voice soft as silk as she whispered the sacred vow. She stepped inside the circle.
The moonstones stayed dull, lifeless, nothing happened, the whole pack was astonished and full of shock and were surprised.
She stepped back, face pale, eyes down, with her heart full of disappointment.
The second beta followed she was the most influential after Maelin, with darker eyes full of secret hunger.
She circled Kaleen once, close enough for her scent to reach him, but his wolf barely twitched; he felt nothing. She reached for his hand. He didn't offer it. The stones stayed cold like Kaleen himself.
One by one, they all entered the alpha circle to bond with Kaleen, but nothing happened the moonstone didn't respond to their aura.
Perfumed smiles, trembling fingers, whispered prayers to the gods who watched from hidden stars. But the salt did not spark. The ash did not shift. The moonstone ring stayed dark.
The wolves of the pack were left in dismay, many in confusion and some in fear of the unknown and what was going to happen next.
A hiss of whispers slithered through the pack. What if the gods deny him? What if we are cursed?, They were all shocked.
Kaleen's face gave nothing. Inside, his wolf slammed against the walls of his mind, snarling, snapping at shadows. He tasted the air, searching, but could find nothing.
Every heartbeat reminded him of the girl with the wine tray. The one he should not want, the girl with the omega status, Lyra.
But he locked his jaw, forced the growl down. Beside him, the elders murmured, glancing at one another. The circle waited, empty, as if mocking him. The full moon stared down, unblinking, and nothing happened.
Lyra kept her head down while serving drinks after she was done scrubbing. She moved with careful steps, tracing the shadows at the edge of the circle.
The cold night air bit at her bare arms. She clutched the empty tray to her chest like a shield, praying the elders wouldn't notice her lingering so close to the sacred ring because that would be trouble for her
She shouldn't be here. Servants weren't meant to breathe the same air as the Alpha's chosen.
Behind her, girls whispered. Bitter laughter curled in the dark.
Lyra heard her name slip through the mouths of certain beta girls like a curse, a threat. She tightened her hold on the tray, stepping sideways, ready to slip back into the sea of faceless bodies.
But envy has claws. A beta girl, with her hair shining with oils, eyes sharp as a hawk's, stepped into Lyra's path. A smile sweet as poison touched her lips.
"Out of the way, runt," she hissed, too soft for the elders to hear, but it sounded very loud and clear to Lyra.
Before Lyra could move, a sharp elbow slammed into her ribs. Her breath fled her chest in a gasp. Her feet tangled in her skirts. She stumbled forward, tray clattering to the ground, with everybody turning to look at her.
Gasps cracked the hush like dry twigs.
Her boot scraped the sacred salt and Ash. The cold line broke under her toes. She froze.
For a heartbeat, the world held its breath. Then the air snapped, a hiss like steam rising from a boiling cauldron.
Light surged along the circle's edge, racing around her feet in a heartbeat. The moonstone flared, white-gold, burning so bright it stung her eyes.
The pack couldn't believe what was happening. The circle swallowed her whole, binding her inside something ancient and merciless.
Lyra's heart pounded against her ribs. She turned, wild-eyed, but the crowd had already stepped back, forming a wall of stunned faces.
She could feel Kaleen's eyes now heavy on her crunched skin, a pull deeper than the moon's tug on the sea at night.
She opened her mouth, but no words came. Above her, the full moon blazed like an open eye, unblinking, unkind.
Gasps tore through the clearing of the pack like wind through dry leaves.
Lyra stood frozen and shocked herself, her chest rising and falling too fast, her eyes wide as the light flared brighter around her bare feet.
The moonstone pulsed, alive under her. She could not believe what was happening, humming with an ancient power that made her bones feel like they might shatter.
Kaleen's breath left him in a snarl; he was also confused, surprised and angry at the same time.
His wolf clawed at the walls of his mind, demanding, roaring. Before thought could stop him, his boots crossed the glowing line. He stepped into the circle that no one dared break, but the fated, it was an outburst of emotions in the courtyard.
Silence swallowed every whisper. His shadow fell over Lyra, long and dark in the moonlight. She looked up and met the storm in his eyes. For a heartbeat, nothing else existed but pure solitude.
The air snapped all over the place, red flames licked up from the circle's edge, wrapping their ankles like vines. Sparks of silver coiled with them, spiraling up their arms.
Lyra's breath caught on a sob she didn't understand. Her skin burned, but she didn't pull away. She said to herself that she is just an omega, but her inner wolf knows otherwise.
Kaleen's hand hovered near hers while they were in the circle, so close he could feel her warmth like a heartbeat under his palm.
The flames met between them. A burst of white light shone, blinding, all-consuming, flared from their joined hands.
Then, searing pain. Lyra gasped as a mark burned itself into her wrist, red, sharp, shaped like an ancient rune.
She watched, wide-eyed, as the same mark flared on Kaleen's skin, binding them in front of the whole pack.
No elder's word could break it. No rank could erase it. In that burst of light, every law shattered. She was his, and he was hers, bound by something older than the stones beneath their feet.
Silence swallowed the clearing whole. Lyra stood trembling inside the circle of moonstone fire, the mark on her wrist still glowing like a brand of sin.
Kaleen's chest heaved, his hands flexing at his sides, claws pushing at his skin as if they'd tear through to claim what was his.
Eyes darted from him to her, a servant girl, dust on their boots, now sealed by the gods as the Alpha's mate.
A low growl rumbled in Kaleen's throat, too close to the surface. His gaze never left her, hunger and fury fighting for space behind gold-flecked eyes.
Whispers turned sharp, curses, fear, and envy all tangled in the night air.
One look from Kaleen's burning stare made them choke their words back down.
The circle glowed cold around them. Nothing would ever be the same.