The Girl Without a Wolf
The first time Elara Vey wished she were dead, she was seventeen.
The second time, she was twenty-two, standing barefoot in the snow while the entire Silvermoon Pack laughed at her.
“Bow your head, wolfless girl.”
The command came from a warrior standing beside the training grounds. His name was Darius, and humiliating Elara had become his favorite pastime.
She kept her chin lifted.
“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Darius laughed. “You exist. That’s enough.”
The other warriors burst into laughter.
Elara curled her fingers into her palms, digging her nails into her skin. The cold bit through her thin dress, but she refused to shiver. She had learned long ago that showing weakness only gave people another reason to hurt her.
She was twenty-two years old.
Twenty-two, and still without a wolf.
Among werewolves, a wolf was more than a second form. It was strength, identity, instinct, and proof that the Moon Goddess had blessed your existence.
Without one, Elara was considered incomplete.
Some called her defective.
Others called her cursed.
Her own pack called her an embarrassment.
“Look at me when I’m speaking to you.”
Darius grabbed her chin and forced her face upward.
Elara jerked away.
“Don’t touch me.”
His smile vanished.
For a moment, she thought he might strike her. Instead, he leaned closer, his breath carrying the bitter scent of alcohol.
“Careful, girl. One day, your mouth will get you killed.”
“Then perhaps someone should have taught you how to speak to people before your fists learned to do it for you.”
Silence fell.
Then someone snorted.
Darius’s face darkened.
“You think you’re funny?”
“No.” Elara swallowed. “I think I’m tired.”
She was tired.
Tired of the insults. Tired of the pity. Tired of waking every morning and wondering what new humiliation awaited her.
Most of all, she was tired of hoping that one day, someone would look at her and see something worth loving.
“Enough!”
The sharp voice belonged to Luna Isolde, the Alpha’s mother.
The crowd immediately fell silent.
Isolde approached in a magnificent silver gown, her pale hair arranged in an elaborate braid. Her presence commanded respect, and her gray eyes carried the same coldness Elara had grown accustomed to seeing whenever their gazes met.
“What is happening here?”
“Darius was teaching the wolfless girl some manners,” someone answered.
Isolde looked Elara up and down.
“And did she learn anything?”
Elara lowered her eyes.
“No, Luna.”
“Good. At least you understand that you’re incapable of learning.”
A few warriors laughed nervously.
Elara’s throat tightened, but she said nothing.
Isolde stepped closer.
“Tonight is the Moon Ceremony. Every unmated wolf of age will gather before the Goddess. You will attend, but do not embarrass this pack by imagining that the ceremony has anything to offer you.”
Elara’s heart twisted.
She had heard those words her entire life.
Yet some foolish part of her still dreamed.
She had dreamed of finding her mate since she was a little girl. She imagined a man who would take her hand, look into her eyes, and tell her that she was enough.
Someone who wouldn’t care that she had no wolf.
Someone who would choose her.
“Do you understand?” Isolde demanded.
“Yes, Luna.”
“Then get out of my sight.”
Elara turned and walked away before anyone could see the tears gathering in her eyes.
She didn’t cry until she reached the abandoned greenhouse behind the packhouse.
It was the only place where she could be alone.
The glass roof was cracked, and dead vines twisted around the wooden beams. But beneath the oldest rosebush, Elara had discovered something years ago: a tiny patch of white flowers that bloomed even in winter.
She knelt beside them.
“At least you don’t care that I’m different,” she whispered.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
She wiped it away angrily.
No more crying.
Tonight was the Moon Ceremony. Even if nothing changed, she wanted to stand beneath the moon without feeling ashamed of herself.
She reached for the little silver pendant around her neck. It was the only thing her mother had left her before dying when Elara was six.
Her mother had given her the pendant with trembling fingers and whispered words Elara had never forgotten.
When the moon finally calls your name, child, do not be afraid of what you become.
At the time, Elara had believed it was simply a mother’s attempt to comfort her.
Now, she wasn’t so sure.
The pendant felt strangely warm against her skin.
She frowned and pulled it from beneath her dress.
A thin silver light flickered across its surface.
Then vanished.
Elara stared at it.
“What was that?”
Nothing answered.
She slipped the pendant back beneath her dress and stood.
She had no time for strange lights or old memories. She needed to wash, find a decent dress, and prepare for a ceremony that would probably remind her once again that she was different.
As she left the greenhouse, a deep growl echoed from somewhere beyond the forest.
Elara froze.
Every wolf in Silvermoon knew that sound.
It belonged to the Alpha.
Kael Draven had returned.
Even from a distance, she could feel the sudden tension spreading through the pack grounds. Warriors straightened. Servants hurried toward the main gates. Conversations died as if an invisible hand had silenced them.
The Alpha was home.
Elara had seen him only a handful of times, usually from afar. He was a man people feared even when he wasn’t speaking.
Tall, broad-shouldered, and devastatingly handsome, Kael possessed icy-blue eyes that seemed to strip away every lie. His black hair fell carelessly across his forehead, and a faint scar marked the edge of his jaw.
At twenty-eight, he had already defeated rival Alphas, expanded his territory, and earned a reputation as one of the most ruthless leaders in the northern territories.
People said he had no weakness.
No fear.
No mercy for anyone who challenged him.
Elara had never spoken to him.
She doubted he even knew her name.
And that was probably for the best.
She turned toward the packhouse, determined to avoid the crowd gathering at the gates.
But before she could take another step, a strange sensation swept through her body.
Warmth spread beneath her skin.
Her heart skipped.
For one impossible second, she heard a whisper inside her mind.
Soon.
Elara stumbled and caught herself against a tree.
The warmth disappeared.
She stood motionless, breathing hard.
Perhaps she was exhausted. Perhaps she was imagining things.
Yes. That had to be it.
She forced herself to continue walking.
Tonight would be just another painful night. Tomorrow would be just another day.
She had no idea that the man who had just returned to Silvermoon would soon become the center of her world.
She had no idea that the Moon Goddess had already written their names together.
And she certainly had no idea that before the night was over, Alpha Kael Draven would look her in the eyes and destroy the one dream she had spent her entire life protecting.
Because sometimes, fate doesn’t give you the person who will love you.
Sometimes, it gives you the person who will teach you how to survive without love.
And Elara Vey was about to learn the difference.
