🐺 THE ALPHA'S MOONBORN MATE

The mark

KAEL'S POV

I had made mistakes before.

As Alpha, mistakes were inevitable.

A wrong decision could cost money. Territory. Trust.

Sometimes, lives.

But I had never made a mistake this absurd.

I stared at the woman standing in front of me.

Elara Vale.

She wasn't the woman I had ordered my men to bring back.

Not even close.

The photograph on my phone showed a woman with long black hair, a scar beneath her left eye, and a distinctive silver necklace.

The woman standing in front of me had none of those things.

Different hair.

Different eyes.

Different face.

Different everything.

Damon came to stand beside me.

He looked at the photograph.

Then at Elara.

Then back at the photograph.

His eyebrows slowly rose.

"Well."

I glanced at him.

"Don't."

"I wasn't going to say anything."

"You were."

"I was going to say that your kidnapping skills could use some improvement."

I gave him a look.

He immediately shut up.

Elara, however, didn't.

"Can someone please explain what's happening?"

I looked at her.

She wasn't afraid anymore.

Not completely.

There was fear in her eyes, but anger was winning.

Interesting.

Most humans would have been crying by now.

She looked ready to argue with every person in the room.

"Who were you supposed to take?" she demanded.

I ignored the question.

"Where do you live?"

She frowned.

"Why?"

"Answer me."

"No."

Damon looked at me.

I could practically hear his thoughts.

She was either incredibly brave or completely reckless.

Possibly both.

"Elara," I said.

"What?"

"If you want to leave this place alive, you need to start answering my questions."

Her expression changed.

"Are you threatening me?"

"No."

"Because it sounded like a threat."

"It was a warning."

"That's not better."

I almost sighed.

This woman was exhausting.

"Where do you live?"

She hesitated.

Then gave me an address.

Damon quietly wrote it down.

I watched Elara carefully.

There was no sign that she knew anything about us.

That was good.

Very good.

Because there were things about this place she couldn't know.

Things no human was supposed to know.

I turned toward Damon.

"Check the address."

He nodded.

"And find out everything you can about her."

Elara's eyes widened.

"Excuse me?"

I looked back at her.

"You heard me."

"You can't investigate me because your men kidnapped me by mistake!"

"They already did."

"That's not reassuring."

"No."

She folded her arms.

"So what now?"

That was the question.

What now?

If she were truly just a random human who had been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, I could erase her memory and return her home.

It was a simple solution.

One I had used before.

But something about her felt wrong.

Not dangerous.

Different.

I couldn't explain it.

My wolf had been unusually restless since the moment she entered the room.

He had been silent all night.

Now he wouldn't stop pacing.

I ignored him.

"Put her in the east wing."

Elara immediately shook her head.

"Absolutely not."

I looked at her.

"You have nowhere else to go."

"I have a home."

"Your home is no longer safe."

She stared at me.

"What does that mean?"

"It means stay here."

"For how long?"

"Until I decide you're no longer a threat."

Her mouth fell open.

"I'm a threat?"

"You witnessed my men."

"Your men kidnapped me!"

"And now you know where we are."

She stared at me.

Then muttered something under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Say it."

"I said you're incredibly annoying."

Damon coughed.

I slowly turned toward him.

He looked away.

Traitor.

I returned my attention to Elara.

"Take her upstairs."

Two guards stepped forward.

Elara glared at them.

Then at me.

"I hope you realize I'm going to be extremely difficult."

"I already do."

She walked away.

The moment she disappeared around the corner, Damon looked at me.

"Kael."

"What?"

"You feel it too."

I didn't answer.

He knew better than to press.

My wolf was still pacing.

Restless.

Agitated.

Almost...

Excited.

That was impossible.

I hadn't felt anything unusual when I first saw her.

She had been nothing more than an obstacle.

A human who happened to be walking through the wrong street at the wrong time.

So why did my wolf react to her?

I pushed the thought away.

"Find the woman we were supposed to take."

Damon nodded.

"And Elara?"

"Find out who she is."

"Already doing that."

I looked toward the stairs.

"And Damon?"

"Yeah?"

"Keep her away from the others."

His expression became serious.

"Why?"

"I don't know yet."

That was the problem.

I didn't know.

And I hated not knowing.

---

Hours later, the house was quiet.

Everyone had gone to sleep.

I stood alone in my bedroom, staring through the window at the dark forest beyond the estate.

The moon hung low in the sky.

My shirt was still on.

I had spent the last few hours going over everything that had happened.

The failed kidnapping.

Elara.

My wolf's strange reaction.

None of it made sense.

I reached for the buttons of my shirt.

One.

Two.

Three.

I pulled it open.

Then froze.

My eyes dropped to my chest.

The mark was glowing.

I didn't breathe.

For a moment, I simply stared.

A faint silver light pulsed beneath my skin.

Once.

Twice.

Then again.

I stepped closer to the mirror.

The mark had always been there.

Every Alpha in my bloodline carried one.

It was the symbol of our lineage.

A dark crescent surrounded by intricate markings, positioned over my heart.

I'd seen it my entire life.

I'd seen it on my father.

On my grandfather.

On every Alpha before them.

But it had never glowed.

Not once.

I touched it.

Heat spread beneath my fingertips.

My wolf went completely still.

Then came the word.

One word.

Clearer than anything I'd ever heard from him.

Mate.

I stepped away from the mirror.

"No."

The word left my mouth before I could stop it.

The mark pulsed again.

Brighter.

My wolf pushed against my control.

Mate.

I clenched my jaw.

"No."

This wasn't possible.

The Alpha Mark didn't awaken randomly.

It awakened when an Alpha encountered the person destined to stand beside him.

His mate.

The person chosen by the bond.

For twenty-six years, I'd watched other wolves find theirs.

I'd never cared.

I had responsibilities.

A kingdom.

A pack.

Enemies waiting for weakness.

A mate was a complication I didn't need.

And yet here I was.

Standing in my bedroom with a glowing mark on my chest.

After kidnapping the wrong woman.

My mind immediately went to Elara.

I rejected the thought.

It couldn't be her.

I'd barely spoken to her.

There had been no bond.

No recognition.

Nothing.

Just a strange reaction from my wolf.

Maybe the mark had awakened for another reason.

There had to be another explanation.

I grabbed my shirt.

Before I could put it back on, someone knocked.

"Come in."

Damon entered.

He stopped when he saw me.

Then his eyes dropped to my chest.

His expression changed.

"Kael."

"I know."

"The mark..."

"I know."

He stepped closer.

"It's glowing."

"I can see that."

"Then you know what that means."

I looked at him.

"I know what it's supposed to mean."

Damon's face became serious.

"Who did you see today?"

I didn't answer.

He already knew.

"Kael."

"Don't."

"Was it her?"

"I don't know."

He stared at me.

"The only woman you had contact with today was—"

"That's not enough."

He fell silent.

I turned back toward the mirror.

The silver glow was still there.

Persistent.

Impossible.

Elara Vale.

The wrong woman.

The woman who wasn't supposed to be anywhere near me.

And somehow, after twenty-six years, she had awakened the mark.

I closed my eyes.

There was only one thing I was certain of.

I wasn't going to assume anything.

If Elara was responsible for this, I would find out.

And if she wasn't...

I'd find out that too.

"Tomorrow," I said, "we start investigating every woman I came into contact with today."

Damon nodded.

"And Elara?"

I looked at him.

"Especially Elara."

Because until I knew the truth, I couldn't decide whether the woman I'd accidentally kidnapped was merely the wrong girl—

or the one person I'd been waiting for my entire life.