Chapter 16
647 Words
The cry split the night like a wolf’s howl, raw and electric.
“MATE!”
The crowd surged, wolves spinning toward the source. Gasps broke across the clearing, whispers racing like wildfire. The bonfire flared, sparks leaping high as if the flames themselves rejoiced in the revelation.
All eyes landed on Rowan.
His golden eyes burned, locked on a girl across the circle, a Silvermane daughter, tall and graceful, her wolf shining through her gaze.
The pack erupted.
“No...”
“By the goddess.....”
“The Stormfang heir and the Silvermane princess?”
The Alphas exchanged sharp glances, weighing the sudden shift in power. Miriam’s smile blossomed, bright as the fire itself, and yet there was steel beneath her joy. She placed a hand over her heart, her voice carrying for all to hear.
“The goddess has blessed us!” she declared. “Stormfang and Silvermane, bound as one.”
Her words were met with applause and growls alike. Some cheered, seeing the union as strength. Others muttered darkly, already fearing the balance it would tip.
The Silvermane Alpha rose, his voice steady but heavy. “If this is the goddess’s will, then let none stand against it.”
Still, unease crackled.
From the Stonefangs, an Alpha’s son sneered. “Convenient, is it not, that the goddess would favor Miriam’s boy?”
Another warrior growled back, “You dare question the bond?”
The tension rose like thunderclouds.
The Silvermane girl stepped forward, her eyes wide but unwavering. Her lips parted. “Yes,” she whispered, her voice trembling with awe. “He is mine.”
Rowan’s grin was triumphant, hungry, as if he had claimed victory itself. He strode to her, clasping her hand in his, and the air between them pulsed with the undeniable glow of the mate-bond. Wolves gasped as the silver thread shimmered briefly in the moonlight, unseen by human eyes but felt in every wolf’s soul.
The drums beat louder, echoing the goddess’s decree.
Not everyone celebrated.
Among the Ironhide pack, their Alpha muttered under his breath. “If Stormfang and Silvermane join, they will seek to control the borders. We will not bow.”
The Frostfang elder shook his head. “Speak low. To question the bond is to question the goddess herself.”
“And yet,” the Ironhide Alpha growled, “goddess or no, power is power. Let Miriam smile tonight. She may find tomorrow less kind.”
Miriam pasted a radiant smile on her face, led her son and his new mate toward the fire. Wolves stepped aside, some bowing, some glaring, but none could deny the pull of fate. She raised their joined hands high.
“Witness the will of the moon,” she proclaimed. “Witness the strength of our future.”
Applause thundered, though not all clapped.
At the edge of the circle, the Stonefang heir’s voice sliced the air.
“Let us see,” he said, his tone mocking, “whether the bond makes Rowan a better leader… or a weaker man.”
Rowan’s head snapped toward him, his grin hardening into something sharper. “Careful, Stonefang. Envy is a poor look on you.”
A ripple of growls spread through the young wolves, each word another spark in the dry tinder of rivalries. Elders stepped forward, attempting to calm them, but the taste of conflict lingered heavy in the air.
The moon shone brighter, bathing them all in silver, as though the goddess herself watched with unreadable eyes.
The ceremony was not over. More bonds might yet be called. More unions might change the course of every pack gathered.
The crowd held its breath, waiting for the next cry.
But beneath the anticipation lay something darker, an unspoken truth none dared voice aloud.
Not every mate was a blessing.
And not every bond brought peace.
The night was still young.
- Writer
