POV: Aria
I wasn't supposed to be at the ceremony. Omegas never find mates.
My hands shook as I balanced the silver tray of wine glasses, weaving through the crowd of wolves dressed in their finest clothes. The full moon hung fat and bright above the Crescent Moon Pack's ceremonial grounds, and the air buzzed with excitement. Tonight, unmated wolves would find their fated mates—the Moon Goddess's gift, the bond that made you whole.
Just not for wolves like me.
"More wine here, Omega!" A Beta female snapped her fingers at me without looking. I hurried over, keeping my eyes down. That's what Omegas did. We stayed invisible.
Around me, wolves laughed and danced. Someone's mate bond had just snapped into place—I could tell by the collective gasp and the way two wolves stumbled toward each other like magnets. The golden thread between them shimmered in the moonlight, visible to everyone. Beautiful. Magical.
I looked away. That would never be me.
"Aria, stop daydreaming!" Marcus, the head server, hissed. "Alpha Kade is about to make his announcement. Get ready."
My stomach dropped. Alpha Kade Blackthorn stood on the raised platform at the center of the grounds, and beside him was her. Seraphina Vale. She wore a silver dress that hugged her perfect curves, her long black hair cascading down her back. She looked like a Luna already.
Everyone said they'd announce their engagement tonight.
"Wolves of Crescent Moon Pack," Kade's deep voice boomed across the ceremonial grounds. Conversations died instantly. When your Alpha spoke, you listened. "Tonight, under the Moon Goddess's light, we celebrate the sacred mate bonds that strengthen our pack."
Applause erupted. Seraphina smiled, her hand resting possessively on Kade's arm.
I turned toward the serving table to refill my tray. This wasn't for me to watch.
That's when someone bumped into me from behind.
I lurched forward, the tray tilting dangerously. Wine glasses slid toward the edge. I grabbed for them, but my foot caught on someone's discarded jacket.
I fell.
Right into Alpha Kade.
The tray clattered to the ground. Wine splashed across the stone floor. My hands hit his chest as I tried to catch myself, and I looked up—straight into his eyes.
Time stopped.
Something exploded between us. A golden thread burst from my chest to his, shimmering and pulsing with power. Heat flooded my body. My wolf—my weak, pathetic wolf that barely ever surfaced—suddenly howled inside me with a sound I'd never heard before.
Mine.
The word echoed in my head, primal and absolute.
No.
No, no, no.
"Mate," my wolf whispered.
My breath caught. The ceremonial ground went silent. Every single wolf was staring at us, at the golden mate bond glowing between the Omega servant and their Alpha.
Kade's green eyes were wide with shock. The bond pulled at me, urging me closer to him, telling me he was mine and I was his and nothing else mattered.
Then his expression changed.
Shock twisted into disgust.
"No," Kade breathed. He jerked backward, breaking our eye contact. But the bond remained, that golden thread connecting us for everyone to see. "This can't—"
"She's his mate?" someone whispered.
"An Omega?"
"The Moon Goddess made a mistake."
Seraphina's face had gone white. "Kade?" Her voice cracked.
The bond burned in my chest, beautiful and terrible. My wolf was singing, finally whole, finally found. But my brain screamed that this was wrong. I was nothing. He was the Alpha. This couldn't be real.
"I—I'm sorry," I stammered, backing away. "I didn't mean to—"
"Don't." Kade's voice was hard. Cold. Nothing like how a mate should sound. He looked at me like I was dirt on his shoe. "Don't speak."
The bond twisted painfully at his rejection of me, even though he hadn't said the words yet. I could feel what he was thinking through the connection—shame, anger, disgust that the Moon Goddess had bound him to someone so worthless.
Tears burned my eyes. "Please, I never wanted—"
"Of course you didn't want this," Kade cut me off. His lip curled. "Look at you. Weak. Pathetic. Did you think I would actually accept an Omega as my mate?"
The crowd murmured agreement. My chest felt like it was caving in.
Seraphina stepped forward, her shock replaced by fury. "Get rid of her, Kade. Reject her. Now."
Kade's jaw clenched. The bond hummed between us, and I felt his wolf fighting against it, refusing to accept what the Moon Goddess had chosen.
He was going to reject me. In front of everyone.
"Kade, please—" The words tumbled out before I could stop them. "I know I'm not what you wanted, but the Goddess chose—"
"The Goddess made a mistake."
His words hit me like a physical blow.
Kade straightened to his full height, and his Alpha power pressed down on me, forcing me to my knees. The entire pack watched as I collapsed onto the wine-stained ground, the golden mate bond still glowing between us.
"I, Alpha Kade Blackthorn," he began, his voice carrying across the dead-silent ceremonial grounds.
No. Please no.
My wolf whimpered, feeling what was coming.
Kade's green eyes locked on mine, cold and merciless. The mate bond pulsed desperately, trying to stop what he was about to do.
"Reject you—"
The world tilted.
"Aria Nightshade—"
I couldn't breathe.
"As my fated mate."
The bond shattered.
Pain exploded through my chest like my heart was being ripped out. I screamed—an agonized, inhuman sound. My wolf howled inside me, dying, breaking into pieces. The golden thread between us snapped and dissolved into nothing.
I collapsed fully onto the ground, gasping, crying, feeling like my soul was being torn apart.
Kade turned away from me. Turned to Seraphina. "You'll be my Luna. As it should have been."
The pack erupted in cheers.
And I lay broken on the ceremonial ground, the pain of rejection burning through every nerve, wondering why the Moon Goddess had given me a mate just to let him destroy me.
Through my tears, I saw Kade take Seraphina's hand.
He never looked back.