Episode 2
1369 Words
Evelyn.
She waited till I was done.
I had been avoiding her for days now. Because I knew what she wanted from me.
“Liana,” Evelyn said for the third time, her tone sharp with impatience. “You’re not getting out of this.”
If I’d learned anything since my rejection, it was how to disappear in plain sight.
I stayed busy. I stayed useful. I stayed where people needed me but didn’t look at me for too long.
The infirmary was perfect for that…constant movement, constant purpose. Pain didn’t ask questions. Blood didn’t judge.
Ceremonial gatherings, on the other hand, were built for scrutiny.
Which was why I avoided them.
I didn’t look up from the ledger I was updating. “I have inventory to finish. Two apprentices to supervise. And Elder Marrow asked me to...”
She reached over and snapped the book shut.
I finally lifted my head.
Evelyn stood far too close, arms folded, doe-brown eyes glittering with something I didn’t like.
She was dressed for the gathering already; deep blue fabric hugging her frame, silver clasps at her waist catching the light.
She looked every inch the woman who belonged at the Alpha King’s side.
I looked like someone who belonged in the background.
“You always have an excuse,” she said. “And it’s getting old.”
“I’m working,” I replied evenly.
She scoffed. “You’re hiding.”
That hit closer than I wanted it to.
“The Moon Ceremony isn’t optional,” she continued. “The entire pack is required to attend. Even doctors.”
“I’ll come later,” I said. “After...”
“No.” She grabbed my wrist.
Her grip was light, almost playful, but there was steel beneath it. I felt my wolf stir faintly, unsettled.
Evelyn smiled as if she hadn’t noticed.
“You’re coming with me,” she said. “Now.”
The clearing was already alive when we arrived.
Torches ringed the ceremonial grounds, flames dancing in time with the low hum of pack energy.
Wolves filled the space...warriors, elders, Omegas, children darting between legs.
The air was thick with scent and anticipation, old magic humming beneath my skin whether I wanted it to or not.
I stayed close to the edge.
Evelyn, of course, drifted toward the center.
She greeted people effortlessly, laughter light and bright, her hand brushing arms and shoulders as she passed.
Everywhere she went, heads turned. I told myself it didn’t matter.
I told myself I didn’t care.
“Stop standing like that,” Evelyn murmured without looking at me. “You look guilty.”
“I’m not…” I said.
“You look like you expect something bad to happen.”
I snorted softly. “Experience will do that to you.”
She glanced at me then, her smile tightening. “You can’t punish the world forever just because Kieran...”
“Don’t,” I said quietly.
She held my gaze for a moment too long, then shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
Drums sounded at the edge of the clearing, the crowd shifted instinctively, parting down the middle.
My stomach dropped.
I didn’t need to look to know who was coming.
The Alpha King’s presence was unmistakable…like pressure before a storm. The air seemed to bow around him, wolves lowering their gazes as he passed.
Thomas Delaney stepped into the firelight.
He was taller than most, broad-shouldered, his dark hair pulled back at the nape of his neck. Power clung to him effortlessly.
His expression was controlled, unreadable, but his wolf pressed against the edges of my awareness all the same.
I felt it before I wanted to.
Before I was ready.
Something deep in my chest tightened, sharp and unfamiliar. My wolf stirred again, stronger this time, restless and confused.
I folded my arms, grounding myself.
Not again, I thought. Not this.
Evelyn straightened beside me, smoothing her dress. “There he is.”
Her voice held something reverent. Hungry.
I didn’t respond.
The Alpha King moved through the crowd, stopping occasionally to acknowledge elders and warriors. His gaze swept the clearing..
And then...
It caught.
On me.
It wasn’t dramatic. He didn’t freeze or stare openly. But something shifted in his posture. His steps slowed. His attention sharpened.
My pulse kicked painfully.
I looked away.
I had learned the cost of being seen.
The ceremony continued. Elders spoke. Ritual words were recited. The Moon Goddess was honored.
I listened with half an ear, my thoughts a tangled mess of unease and old scars.
I felt watched.
Evelyn leaned closer, her breath warm against my ear. “Relax,” she whispered. “You look like you’re about to bolt.”
“I might,” I muttered.
She laughed softly. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
The crowd shifted again as people adjusted their positions. Someone bumped my shoulder from behind, jostling me forward a step.
I frowned, regaining my balance.
Evelyn’s hand pressed against my back.
It was light. Almost playful.
“Careful,” she said, giving me a little shove.
I wasn’t ready.
My foot caught on the uneven stone beneath the grass, my balance tipping forward too fast to recover.
My breath left me in a sharp gasp as the world tilted.
I braced for the ground.
But it never came.
Instead, I collided with a broad chest instead, my palms splayed instinctively against him. Strong arms held my waist lightly.
Heat.
That was the first thing I felt.
Heat...and something else. Something electric that shot through me like lightning.
The scent hit me a heartbeat later.
Power
My breath stuttered.
Slowly, as if afraid of what I’d find, I lifted my head.
Thomas Delaney looked down at me.
For a moment, the world went utterly silent.
His eyes were dark, unreadable…until they weren’t. Something flared there, like recognition without memory. His grip tightened reflexively, fingers digging into my arms as if letting go wasn’t an option.
My wolf surged.
The bond snapped into place.
It wasn’t gentle.
It slammed into me with brutal force, a surge of awareness so intense my knees nearly gave out again.
The connection burned through my chest, raw and undeniable, threading itself through every part of me.
Mate.
The word echoed in my mind, terrifying and absolute.
I gasped, clutching his tunic as the world spun. My heart pounded violently, every instinct screaming the same truth.
His.
Thomas inhaled sharply.
I felt it through the bond...the shock, the disbelief, the pull he hadn’t been searching for but couldn’t deny. His wolf surged to meet mine, powerful and commanding, wrapping around my awareness with possessive certainty.
Around us, the clearing erupted.
Gasps. Whispers. Shock rippling through the pack like wildfire.
Evelyn’s sharp intake of breath cut through the noise.
Thomas steadied me, his hands firm at my waist now, anchoring me as if he were the only solid thing left in existence.
His voice was low when he spoke, pitched only for me. “Are you hurt?”
I shook my head faintly, unable to form words.
Because how could I explain that fate had just reached back into my life and wrapped its hands around my throat?
I pulled away from him abruptly, panic surging. The bond stretched painfully but didn’t break. It held.
Thomas frowned slightly, clearly feeling it too.
“I...” I started, then stopped. My throat closed.
The clearing buzzed with tension now, every eye fixed on us.
On me.
I felt exposed. Claimed without consent. Seen in the way I’d sworn never to be again.
Evelyn stepped forward, her smile tight and brittle. “Liana,” she said lightly, though her eyes were anything but. “Are you alright?”
I didn’t answer her.
I couldn’t look away from Thomas.
He searched my face, something conflicted and wary crossing his features.
Slowly, deliberately, he lowered his hands.
The bond didn’t loosen.
If anything, it pulsed stronger.
“I think,” he said carefully, addressing the clearing but watching only me, “we should continue the ceremony.”
I swallowed hard.
Because I knew, with sickening certainty, that nothing would ever be the same again.
And fate, once awakened, was never kind.
- Writer
