The moon hung full and merciless in the sky.
Silver light poured over the Blackmoon Pack grounds, bathing the stone circle in an eerie glow that made my skin prickle. Tonight was supposed to be sacred. A night of destiny. A night where bonds were revealed and futures decided.
For me, it felt like an execution.
I stood at the edge of the circle with my head bowed, hands clenched tightly at my sides. Around me, the pack gathered in layers warriors in the front, ranked members behind them, and omegas pushed to the far edges like shadows that didn't matter.
Like me.
"Stand straight, Ariyah."
My aunt's sharp whisper cut into my thoughts. She didn't look at me, just adjusted the silver clasp on her cloak as if I were an embarrassment she didn't want to acknowledge.
I straightened immediately.
Years of conditioning made obedience automatic.
Weak omegas didn't get second chances.
The Moon Choosing ceremony was held once every decade, when the Moon Goddess revealed true mates among the strongest bloodlines. It was also the night the Alpha King would officially claim or reject his destined partner.
Every female in the eligible age range had dreamed of this night.
Every female except me.
I already knew how this would end.
A ripple of movement passed through the crowd. The air shifted thickened. A pressure rolled across the clearing like an invisible wave, forcing breaths from lungs and bending knees in unconscious submission.
The Alpha King had arrived.
Kael Draven stepped into the moonlight.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Dressed in black ceremonial leather etched with ancient runes of dominance. His presence alone silenced the pack, his aura heavy and crushing.
Power radiated from him in raw, suffocating force.
I felt it slam into me like a physical blow.
My knees buckled.
I bit the inside of my cheek, forcing myself to remain standing even as pain lanced through my chest. Around me, several wolves dropped to one knee, unable to withstand his dominance.
I should have joined them.
A weak omega had no right to resist an Alpha King.
And yet… something deep inside me recoiled instead of submitting.
A low, unfamiliar heat stirred beneath my ribs.
Be quiet, I warned myself desperately. Please. Just tonight.
Kael's cold, steel-grey eyes scanned the gathered females, dismissive and sharp. He looked bored. Uninterested. Like this was a chore he'd rather not attend.
Then his gaze found me.
For half a second just a fraction of a heartbeat something flickered across his expression.
Confusion.
Then disgust.
My chest tightened painfully.
Of course.
Why would the Moon Goddess bind someone like him to someone like me?
I was Ariyah Vale. Orphaned. Rankless. Known only as the weakest omega in Blackmoon history. The girl whose wolf barely surfaced. The girl whispered about behind hands.
The girl no Alpha would ever choose.
The Elder stepped forward, his voice echoing through the clearing. "By the will of the Moon Goddess, we begin the Choosing."
One by one, the females were called forward.
One by one, Kael dismissed them with little more than a glance. Some cried. Some bowed. Some left with shattered dreams clutched tightly in their chests.
My name hadn't been called.
Hope tried to rise foolish, dangerous hope.
Maybe I wouldn't be chosen at all. Maybe I'd fade back into the shadows where I belonged.
Then the Elder's gaze landed on me.
"Ariyah Vale."
The crowd murmured.
I felt every eye turn in my direction as I stepped forward on trembling legs. My heartbeat thundered in my ears, loud and panicked.
Each step toward Kael felt heavier than the last.
The stone circle seemed too bright. Too exposed.
I stopped a few feet away from him and lowered my head in submission.
"I greet the Alpha King," I said softly, my voice barely carrying.
Silence.
The air thickened until breathing hurt.
Kael stared down at me like I was something unpleasant he'd found beneath his boot.
"Lift your head."
The command hit hard.
My body reacted before my mind could stop it. I raised my gaze, meeting his eyes.
Pain exploded behind my eyes.
The bond.
It snapped into place with brutal force, like chains locking around my soul.
My breath hitched as something ancient and powerful slammed into my chest.
Mate.
He was my mate.
The realization should have brought warmth. Comfort. Belonging.
Instead, terror flooded me.
Kael felt it too.
I saw it in the way his jaw tightened, the way his eyes darkened not with desire, but with fury.
The pressure of his aura spiked violently.
Gasps erupted around us as wolves staggered under the sudden surge of dominance.
"No," he said flatly.
The word cracked through the clearing like thunder.
My heart stuttered.
The Elder frowned. "Alpha King"
"I said no." Kael's voice was cold, final. "This is a mistake."
The words sliced into me, sharp and precise.
The Elder hesitated. "The bond"
"I reject her."
The world shattered.
Gasps turned into shocked whispers. My vision blurred, my knees giving way as agony ripped through my chest. It felt like my soul was being torn in half, like something vital was being ripped out and crushed beneath merciless hands.
Rejection.
Public. Absolute.
"I, Alpha King Kael Draven," he continued, his voice carrying clearly, cruelly, "reject Ariyah Vale as my mate."
Pain unlike anything I'd ever known tore through me.
I screamed.
It ripped out of my throat before I could stop it, raw and broken. I collapsed to the ground, clutching my chest as white-hot agony burned through my veins.
Somewhere deep inside, something screamed back.
Not in pain.
In rage.
LET ME
I gasped, forcing the voice down as darkness crept into the edges of my vision.
Kael turned away from me like I was already dead.
"Remove her," he ordered. "I won't have this embarrassment lingering."
Embarrassment.
Hands grabbed my arms, dragging me backward across the cold stone. I barely felt it. My body shook violently, my wolf howling in agony and fury beneath layers of enforced silence.
The crowd watched.
Some with pity.
Most with satisfaction.
This was what happened to omegas who dared dream.
As I was pulled from the circle, something strange happened.
The pain… shifted.
Instead of consuming me, it condensed burning, coiling, gathering deep within my core.
Heat flooded my veins.
My vision sharpened.
The moonlight brightened until the world looked unnaturally clear.
For a brief, terrifying moment, my eyes met Kael's again.
He froze.
Confusion flickered across his face followed by something that looked dangerously like unease.
A low hum vibrated through the air.
Not from him.
From me.
Deep inside my chest, something ancient cracked.
You let him do this, a voice whispered calm, powerful, furious.
No more hiding.
Gold flared at the edges of my vision.
I sucked in a sharp breath as power surged violently against the seal that had bound it for years.
I forced it down with everything I had.
Not yet.
Not here.
Not tonight.
The moment passed.
The light faded.
Kael turned away, shaking his head as if dismissing a trick of the moon.
I was dragged into the darkness beyond the clearing, broken, rejected, bleeding inside.
But as the pain settled, one truth burned brighter than the moon above:
I was never weak.
And the Alpha King had just made the biggest mistake of his life.