Chapter 17
562 Words
The air still trembled from Rowan’s declaration, the echo of “Mate” lingering in every ear. Wolves murmured and shifted, some smiling in awe, others whispering behind sharp hands.
But the moon was not finished.
Its glow deepened, silver and cold, and the drums slowed, their rhythm heavy with expectation.
Silence fell again.
And then.....
“MATE!”
This time, the voice was not triumphant. It cracked like lightning, raw and disbelieving.
Gasps tore through the circle. Heads whipped around, searching for the source.
It was Darius, heir of the Ironhide pack.
His chest heaved as his eyes locked onto a figure across the clearing. For a heartbeat, no one moved. And then the whispers began, sharp and venomous.
“No.”
“Impossible.”
“She cannot.....”
All eyes turned to the one Darius pointed toward.
Miriam’s smile froze.
Because it was not a daughter of strength. Not a beauty of noble blood.
It was Selene, a Frostfang omega. Quiet, overlooked, with no lineage of power, no standing among the packs.
A girl who had been scrubbing dishes only hours before.
The tension snapped like a bowstring.
“This is a mistake,” a Stonefang elder hissed.
“The goddess does not make mistakes,” a Silvermane replied, though her voice shook.
“An heir bound to an omega? It will ruin Ironhide’s line.”
“Or humble it.”
Darius’s face was pale, his jaw clenched, but his wolf would not be denied. The mate-bond shimmered faintly in the moonlight between him and Selene, threads of silver undeniable, pulling them closer with each breath.
Selene’s eyes widened, her lips trembling. “I… I don’t…”
“You are mine,” Darius growled, the words guttural, half snarl, half surrender.
The pack exploded into noise. Some laughed in cruel delight, others argued fiercely, their voices clashing with the drumbeats.
“This will shame Ironhide.”
“This is dangerous. If an heir can be bound so low....”
“......then no pack is safe from the goddess’s will.”
The Ironhide Alpha stormed forward, his face a storm of fury. “This bond is a mistake. A trick. The goddess would not bind my heir to a servant!”
Elder Kael’s voice cut through the uproar. “Are you so arrogant as to claim the goddess errs?”
The Alpha bared his teeth, his pride battling the weight of Kael’s words. Silence fell, thick and suffocating.
At last, he spat the words. “If this is her decree, then so be it. But mark me, Ironhide will not suffer weakness.”
Selene flinched, the words slicing her joy before it could bloom. Darius growled, stepping closer to her, his hand hovering near hers but not yet daring to touch.
Miriam watched, her smile brittle, her eyes narrowed to slits. Rowan’s bond had lifted her to triumph, but this… this chaos threatened to unravel everything.
“Interesting,” she murmured to Calder, her voice low and poisonous. “The goddess plays a dangerous game tonight.”
Calder grunted, his gaze never leaving Darius and Selene.
“Or perhaps,” Miriam added softly, “she hands us opportunities in disguise.”
The moon hung high, silver and cold, its judgment final.
Two bonds had been declared. One that promised power. Another that promised upheaval.
And the night was far from over.
- Writer
