THE MATE HE NEVER EXPECTED

CHAPTER 1 My wolf didn't speak for eighteen years. In my pack, every girl hears her wolf at twelve years old. They giggle, they glow, they start to shift and show their ears and tails. I waited. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen. Nothing. Only silence inside my head, empty and cold. They called me the cursed one. The wolf-less omega. The orphan girl that Alpha Charles found in a dustbin behind the pack house and pitied. The girl who would never shift, never have a mate, never be anything. I cleaned the kitchen every morning before sunrise. I washed their clothes in cold water until my fingers bled. I served food while others trained to be warriors and beautiful Lunas. I ate leftovers on the floor. But on my eighteenth birthday, everything changed forever. The whole pack gathered for the Moon Festival. It is the sacred night when the Moon Goddess pairs mates together under the full moon. Lights everywhere. Music loud. A giant bonfire burning in the middle of the pack square. Every unmated wolf dressed in white, girls in fine dresses, boys in fine shirts, hoping to find their other half and feel the mate bond spark. I didn't even want to go. I wore my old faded blue dress, the one with a small tear at the bottom that I sewed three times. My hair was not done. My shoes were old and broken. Why dress up when you have no wolf to find a mate? I was just going to serve food and hide. I stood at the corner, near the food table, holding a heavy tray of meat, trying to be invisible like always. Then I heard it. A voice inside my head. Deep, female, powerful, sleepy, like someone waking up from a very long, very deep sleep. A voice that made my spine shiver. Mate. One word. One single word that shook my soul. My tray fell from my hands. Plates scattered and broke on the floor. Meat rolled everywhere. Everyone turned to look at clumsy omega again. My heart started beating so fast I thought it would jump out of my chest and run away. My hands shaking like leaves. After eighteen years of dead silence, my wolf finally spoke to me. I turned slowly. My eyes searching the crowd, heart pounding in my ears. And then I saw him. Alpha Kaden Black. The most powerful Alpha in the North. Twenty-five years old. Six feet four inches tall. Shoulders wide like a wall. A scar on his left cheek from the night he killed a rogue Alpha with his bare hands when he was only sixteen. Tattoos on his neck and arms. Eyes that glowed golden when angry or excited. The man every girl in four packs wanted. The man who never looked at any woman twice because he said no woman was good enough for his Luna. He was staring directly at me. His nostrils flared wide. He was smelling the air hard. He was smelling ME. His golden eyes were glowing brighter and brighter. He was my mate. Tears rushed to my eyes so fast I couldn't see. The Moon Goddess finally pitied me. The orphan omega was mated to the strongest Alpha. This was the story they write in legends, the story every omega dreams about. I took a small step forward, my voice shaking so bad I could barely speak. K-Kaden... is it you? His expression changed in seconds. From shock, to confusion, to pure disgust, like he smelled something rotten. He walked toward me, the crowd parting for him like he was a god. He looked me up and down, from my cheap broken slippers to my messy hair to my torn dress to my scarred hands. His lip curled in a cruel sneer. You? He laughed, loud enough for the whole pack to hear. The music stopped completely. The drums stopped. Every eye turned to watch the drama. You are my mate? The pack's orphan omega with no wolf? The girl who scrubs our toilets with toothbrush? The Moon Goddess must be drunk to pair me with you. Laughter erupted. Cruel, loud, wicked laughter that cut me like knives. Girls pointing at my dress. Boys mocking my shoes. Elders shaking heads. My cheeks burned like fire. My weak wolf whimpered inside me, Please, no, please don't do this to us. Sophia, the Beta's daughter, the most beautiful girl in the pack, the girl everyone thought would be Kaden's Luna, laughed the loudest and clapped. Kaden stepped closer, so close his expensive perfume choked me and his heat burned me. His voice now a deadly whisper only I could hear, but his golden eyes promised to humiliate me completely and destroy me. I, Alpha Kaden Black, reject you, Elena Grey, as my mate and as my Luna. You will never be worthy. The words were a knife dipped in poison and silver. Pain ripped through my chest like someone tore my heart out with hot iron claws. Like hot wire was ripping my soul into two pieces. I screamed. It was not a human scream. It was a wolf scream of heartbreak. I fell to my knees, clutching my chest, gasping for air that wouldn't come. The mate bond breaking, it is the worst pain a wolf can feel. Worse than death. Some weak wolves die from rejection. I thought I would die that night on that dirty floor. He walked away. Just like that. No remorse, no looking back. He walked to Sophia and put his arm around her waist and kissed her forehead while I was dying on the floor alone. My best friend, Mia, ran to me, crying and holding me. Elena! Elena breathe! Please breathe! Someone help her! But I couldn't breathe. The world was spinning and turning black. What Kaden didn't know, what nobody in the pack knew, was that the Moon Goddess didn't make a mistake pairing us. She made a mistake thinking I was wolf-less. I wasn't wolf-less. I was something else. Something ancient that hasn't been seen in one hundred years. Something the elders only whisper about in forbidden stories around fire. A white wolf. A Lycan queen bloodline. And the beast inside me, the one that was silent for eighteen years to protect me from being killed as a child, just woke up, and she was furious. And hungry for revenge. My eyes, which were brown all my life, turned completely white, glowing in the dark like twin moons. -- CHAPTER 2 The forest was dark, cold, and forbidden, but I wasn't scared for the first time in my life. For eighteen years I had been scared of everything. Scared of shadows. Scared of Alpha Kaden. Scared of the other girls laughing at my old dress. But now, as I ran into the Blood Forest, the place where omegas are forbidden to enter, I wasn't scared. Because for the first time, I could see everything clearly. My eyes were glowing pure white. They cut through the darkness like two moons. I could see every leaf, every insect crawling on bark, every footprint of animals. I ran faster and faster. My old blue slippers tore apart, my dress ripped on thorny branches, but I didn't feel pain. Power was pumping through my veins. Behind me, I could hear the pack shouting, confused and shocked. "ELENA! COME BACK!" Kaden's voice was the loudest, shouting my name, but it was no longer with disgust. It was with shock and fear. I didn't stop. I would never go back to being their slave omega. I reached the edge of the Blood River, the black river that marks the end of Northern Pack territory and the beginning of the rogue lands. No wolf dared to cross it. I fell to my knees at the riverbank, breathing hard. My whole body shook. White light was cracking under my skin like lightning. "What are you?" I whispered out loud, tears falling from my glowing eyes. "Who are you really?" Then she answered. Her voice was strong, royal, ancient. My name is Nyra, she said inside my head. I am not a normal wolf, Elena. I am a Lycan. The last blood of the Lycan Queen family. I stayed silent inside you for eighteen years to keep you alive. If they knew what you were as a child, the Alphas would have killed you. My tears stopped. "Why?" Because your mother was the Lycan Queen, Amara. She was the ruler of all werewolf packs. But the Northern Alphas, including Kaden's father, murdered her the night you were born. You were supposed to die too. But your aunt hid you and gave you to Alpha Charles, telling him to pretend you were an orphan found in dustbin. Everything I suffered, cleaning toilets, being beaten, being called trash, was all a lie to hide me? Anger, hotter than any fire, rose inside my chest. Before I could ask more, I heard a low, hungry growl from behind me in the real forest. I spun around quickly, my white eyes flashing. Three rogue wolves stepped out. Huge, black, drooling, eyes glowing red. They were in half man, half beast form. "Well, look what the Moon Goddess delivered for dinner," the biggest one snarled. "A little omega playing in the forbidden forest. You smell delicious." Old Elena would have screamed. But Nyra laughed inside me. A dangerous, cold, royal laugh. My turn, Elena. Just say yes. My hands formed into fists. The white light under my skin exploded brighter. I closed my eyes and whispered, "Yes." What happened next was not a normal shift. Normal wolves break bones, scream, cry for minutes before becoming wolf. I burst into pure white light. My body lifted off the ground. Wind blew around me in circles. White fur sprouted, long and silver and shining like moonlight. My claws grew long and black. When the light disappeared, I was on four giant legs. I looked down at my paws. They were bigger than Kaden's Alpha paws. I was a wolf, but not a normal wolf. I was twice the size of any Alpha male. My fur was pure white, with silver tips. The three rogues froze. Their red eyes went wide with terror. "W-White wolf... Lycan Queen..." the leader stuttered and fell to his belly, whimpering. "Forgive us, my Queen!" I roared. The entire forest shook. Birds flew away. Trees bent. One swipe of my giant paw. Just one. The biggest rogue flew ten feet and hit a tree so hard the tree cracked. The other two ran, shouting "THE QUEEN HAS RETURNED!" I stood panting, shocked. I looked at my reflection in the black river. A giant white wolf stared back at me, beautiful and terrifying. This is who you are, Elena, Nyra said proudly. You are not weak. You never were weak. I shifted back to human form, but I was naked now, my dress torn. My hair had grown longer, long white hair that covered my body like a dress. And then I smelled something else. Blood. Fresh, powerful, royal blood. I followed the smell to a fallen log near the river. There was a man lying there. Huge, bleeding badly from his stomach, a silver dagger stabbed deep inside. Silver is poison to wolves. He was unconscious, but even bleeding, he was the most handsome man I had ever seen, more handsome than Kaden by a thousand times. Long black hair, sharp jaw, chest wide, and a black crown tattoo on his chest that glowed faintly. His eyes opened weakly. They were ice blue. He looked at my white glowing eyes and whispered one word before passing out again. "Mine." My heart stopped. Another mate? That is impossible. One wolf, one mate. That is the law. But Nyra purred inside me, happy and excited for the first time. Our second chance mate, she whispered. And this one will not reject us. He is the Alpha of all Alphas. He is the Lycan King. And he has been searching for you for eighteen years. In the distance, I heard Kaden's pack howling, searching for me, calling my name with regret and panic. Too late, Alpha Kaden. You rejected an omega. You will never get to touch a queen. I dragged the bleeding King into a hidden cave behind the waterfall. My story as an omega slave was over forever. My story as a Queen was just beginning. -- CHAPTER 3 — Title: The Lycan King The man was dying. Blood was everywhere. Black blood, not red, because silver poison was killing him slowly. The dagger in his stomach was still glowing, the silver burning his flesh with smoke. I knelt beside him, my white hair falling around us like a curtain. Up close, he was even more terrifyingly handsome. His skin was pale but perfect, like marble. His chest was wide, covered in scars that told stories of a hundred battles. The crown tattoo on his chest was not a tattoo. It was glowing faintly, moving like real gold. Pull the silver out, Nyra ordered inside my head. Now, Elena, or he will die. He is a Lycan, like us. Silver is the only thing that can kill us. I swallowed hard. My hands shaking. "Will it hurt him more?" I whispered. Yes. But he is strong. Do it. I gripped the dagger handle. It burned my own palm immediately because I was also part Lycan now. I screamed but didn't let go. I pulled. Hard. He roared, even while unconscious, a roar so loud the cave shook and bats flew out. Black blood gushed out. The dagger was out. It was long, with strange symbols. This was an assassination dagger made by witches. I threw it into the river. His wound was not closing. Silver poison stops healing. Your blood, Nyra said. Lycan Queen blood can heal Lycan King blood. It is the bond. Bite your wrist and give him your blood. "What? No, I can't..." Do it, Elena! If you don't, your second chance mate dies right here. I bit my wrist hard, breaking skin. Silver-white blood came out. My blood was glowing. I pressed my bleeding wrist to his mouth. For a second, nothing. Then his ice blue eyes snapped open. He grabbed my wrist and drank. Like a wolf starving. His wound started closing, the black blood turning red, then healing. He drank for ten seconds, then let go, breathing hard. Our eyes met. Mine white, his ice blue. He sat up, fully healed, looking at me like he was seeing a ghost he had searched for his whole life. "Elena," he whispered my name perfectly. "We found you. After eighteen years, we finally found you." "You... you know me?" "I am Dorian. Dorian Blackthorne. The Lycan King. And you... You are my Queen. My mother told me you died. She lied. You are alive. And you are my mate." Mate? Again? "No," I said, stepping back. "My mate rejected me. Today. Alpha Kaden rejected me in front of everyone." Dorian laughed, but not mocking. It was angry. "Kaden Black? That weak boy dared to reject you?" His eyes turned black with rage. "He will die for that." The air turned freezing cold from his anger. "Don't," I whispered. "I don't want more killing." He knelt down so he was at my eye level. "You are not omega, Elena. You are the last pure Lycan Queen. Your mother was my aunt. We were supposed to be promised since birth." Before I could answer, howling broke out outside. "Elena! ELENA! COME OUT! WE KNOW YOU ARE HERE!" It was Kaden shouting. Dorian's eyes glowed. He stood up slowly, his whole body shifting, black fur sprouting, bigger than my white wolf form. "Stay behind me, my Queen," he growled. "Let me show your ex-mate what a real Alpha looks like." --- CHAPTER 4— In His Arms I had never seen anything like it. Dorian stepped out of the cave, naked, his body shifting into a giant black Lycan. He was twice the size of my white wolf, his fur black as night, his eyes blue fire. Kaden and six of his best warriors stood at the river edge, in wolf form. They froze when they saw Dorian. One warrior whimpered. Kaden shifted back to human, angry. "Who the hell are you? Where is Elena?" "Your what?" Dorian's voice in Lycan form was like earthquake. "Your mate? The mate you rejected in front of your whole pack?" Kaden's face went pale. "Because she is MY mate now," Dorian roared. "And you have three seconds to leave my territory before I kill you." Kaden tried to be brave. "This is Northern Pack territory! I am Alpha Kaden Black..." Dorian moved so fast I didn't see him. One second he was ten feet away, next second he was holding Kaden's throat, lifting him off the ground. Kaden choked, his face turning purple. "Say her name again," Dorian whispered deadly. "Say Elena is yours again, and I will rip your tongue out." I ran out of the cave. "Dorian! Stop! Don't kill him!" Dorian dropped Kaden like trash. Kaden fell, coughing. I stood between them. My white eyes glowing. Kaden looked at me like I was a goddess. "Elena... your eyes... what happened to you?" he whispered. "I made a mistake. The rejection... I was stupid. Please, come back with me. We are mates." I felt nothing for him. "You rejected me, Kaden," I said coldly. "You said I would never be worthy." "I didn't mean it! My father..." "Your father murdered my mother," I said. "Your family killed the Lycan Queen. You think I would ever go back to you?" Kaden's eyes went wide. "What?" "Her mother was Queen Amara," Dorian answered, pulling me behind him. "And Elena is the heir. So you didn't just reject an omega. You rejected the Queen of all wolves." Kaden stood up, shaking. "Elena, please, give me one more chance..." "No." One word. Final. Dorian grabbed my hand. "Let's go home, my Queen." He whistled. A giant black wolf the size of horse came running. He lifted me onto it and jumped behind me. We rode away, leaving Kaden on his knees. The Lycan Kingdom was hidden beyond the mountains, castles made of black stone, waterfalls, wolves bowing as we passed. "WELCOME HOME, QUEEN ELENA!" they shouted. I cried. For the first time, I felt like I belonged. Dorian took me to a large bedroom. Warm fire, soft bed. "Rest," he said gently. "I will be outside your door." I lay on the bed, exhausted. But at midnight, the castle alarm blew. Loud howling. Dorian burst in, eyes black with rage. "They came. Kaden's father brought the Northern Alliance. Twenty Alphas. They want you dead." I sat up. Dorian knelt and kissed my forehead. "Then it's time they meet their Queen's power. Are you ready to show them who you really are, Elena? --- CHAPTER 5— The Queen's Revenge I was ready. Dorian gave me a dress. Not torn blue dress. A white dress made of silk that shimmered like moonlight. My white hair glowed. My white eyes glowed. Let's show them, Nyra purred inside me. We walked out to the balcony. Below, in the valley, twenty Alphas stood with over two hundred warriors, led by old man with Kaden's face but older. Alpha Charles, Kaden's father, the man who raised me as slave. And Kaden stood beside him, guilty. "Elena Grey!" Alpha Charles shouted. "By order of Northern Alliance, you are an abomination! Come down and submit to execution, or we burn this nest to ground!" Two hundred warriors howled. I stepped forward to the balcony edge and spoke. My voice, with Nyra's voice inside it, was loud across valley. "My name is not Elena Grey! My name is Elena Amara Blackthorne! Daughter of Queen Amara! The last Lycan Queen! And you, Charles, you murdered my mother and made me clean your floors!" Gasps from Alliance. Charles's face turned red. "Lies!" I jumped. From three stories high, I jumped and shifted mid-air into giant white wolf, landing in middle of enemy army with ground cracking. They screamed and fell back. I roared, and my roar was Queen command. Every wolf within one mile felt their wolves bow against their will. Some young warriors fell to knees, bowing. Kaden ran forward, shifting into golden wolf, but not to attack me. To stand between me and his father. "Father, stop! Don't hurt her! She is my mate!" Charles looked at his son like traitor. I shifted back to human, covered in white light. "I, Elena Amara Blackthorne, do not want war," I said loud. "But if you come for me again, I will not run. I rejected you, Kaden Black, as my mate today. I accept Dorian Blackthorne as my King and mate." I turned to Dorian and kissed him, in front of everyone. Kaden howled in pain, watching his mate kiss another Alpha. Charles screamed and charged at me with claws. Dorian was faster. One swipe, Charles flew, dead before hitting ground. Silence. Twenty Alphas looked at each other, then at dead Charles, then at me and Dorian, then they all bowed. "HAIL QUEEN ELENA! HAIL KING DORIAN!" We had won. But deep inside, Nyra whispered, This is just beginning. Your aunt who hid you is still out there. I looked at Dorian. "We need to find my aunt." He nodded. "Tomorrow. Tonight, you rest as Queen." He carried me back to castle while two hundred wolves chanted my name. My life as omega was officially over. --- CHAPTER 6— The Aunty's secret That night I could not sleep. Even though I was in soft bed, silk sheets, fire burning warm, safe in Lycan King castle, my mind was racing. My mother was murdered. My aunt hid me. Kaden's father is dead. Kaden still loves me. Dorian says I am his promised Queen. Who am I really? Dorian knocked and entered, two cups of warm tea in his giant hands. He looked so big in the doorway. "You are thinking too loud, my Queen," he said gently, sitting beside bed. "I can hear your heart from outside." I took tea. "I want to find my aunt. Nyra says she knows where my mother's killer really is. Not just Charles." Dorian nodded, face serious. "Your aunt's name is Selene. She was Queen Amara's younger sister. She was supposed to be priestess. The night your mother was killed, Selene disappeared with you. We thought you both died in river." "Where is she now?" "Rogue lands. Hiding as healer. She blocked her scent for eighteen years to protect you. But now that you shifted to white wolf, she will feel you. White wolf power sends signal across all packs." My eyes widened. "She will come?" "She already is. My scouts saw white smoke signal in Eastern Forest this morning. Priestess signal. It means she knows Queen is awake." I stood up quickly. "We need to go now!" Dorian grabbed my hand, pulled me back gently. "Tomorrow, Elena. You just shifted first time, you fought rogues, you healed a King, you killed an Alpha with your roar. Your body needs rest. Lycan Queen power takes time to settle, or you will burn out." He was right. My legs were shaking. My white eyes were dimming from exhaustion. He tucked me into bed like child. "Sleep," he whispered, kissing my forehead, his ice blue eyes soft. "I will watch over you. No dreams will hurt you tonight." I closed eyes. For first time, I felt safe. But just before sleep took me, Nyra whispered one last thing that made my blood freeze. _Elena, your aunt didn't just hide you to protect you. She hid you because you have a twin sister. And your twin sister was raised by the enemy._ My eyes snapped open. "What?" I shouted. Dorian looked at me, confused. "What is it?" I sat up, white hair standing, white eyes glowing again with shock. "I have a sister..." Outside, far in Eastern Forest, a girl with white hair exactly like mine opened her eyes at same moment, looked at same moon, and whispered, "I feel you, sister. --- CHAPTER 7 — My Twin Sister* Copy ONLY this, paste as Chapter 7, publish: I couldn't sleep after Nyra told me. Twin sister. I have a twin sister. My hands were shaking. My white eyes glowing in the dark bedroom. "Dorian!" I shouted. He burst in immediately, as if he never left the door. Shirtless, claws out, eyes blue fire, ready to kill. "What? What happened? Are you hurt?" "I have a sister," I whispered, tears falling. "Nyra said I have a twin sister. And she was raised by the enemy." Dorian froze. His face went pale, which I had never seen before. The Lycan King was scared. He knelt beside my bed slowly. "Your mother was pregnant with twins," he said in low voice. "It was secret. Only royal family knew. Queen Amara was told twins would be too powerful, that one would have to die to balance power. But she refused. She wanted both of you." My heart beating fast. "The night she was murdered, Selene was supposed to save both babies. But the attack was too fast. She could only grab one. The other... the other was taken by the witches who hired the Alphas to kill your mother." Witches? The same witches who made the silver dagger that almost killed Dorian? "Where is she now? My sister?" Dorian looked out window, towards Eastern Forest where white smoke signal still glowed. "She is alive. Her name is Lyra. But she doesn't know who she is. The witches raised her as weapon. They told her you died and that Lycans killed your mother. They trained her to hate us. To kill you." My twin sister was trained to kill me. I felt my bond. Yes, deep inside, under Nyra's voice, there was faint second heartbeat, not mine, but familiar. Like mirror. _I feel her too,_ Nyra whispered sadly. _She is like us, but her wolf is black. She is your other half. White and black. If you both fight, world will break. If you both unite, no one can stop you._ I stood up. "We need to find her before they send her to kill me." Dorian nodded. "Tomorrow at dawn we go to Eastern Forest. But Elena, if we meet her and she tries to kill you..." "I won't kill my sister," I said firmly, white eyes flashing. "I lost eighteen years of my life as omega slave. I will not lose my sister too." He smiled, proud. "That's my Queen." He lay beside me on bed, not touching, just guarding. His large body warm. For first time, I slept without nightmares, because faint twin heartbeat lulled me. But far in Eastern Forest, in a black witch tower, a girl who looked exactly like me, but with black hair and black eyes, woke up screaming. "ELENA!" she shouted my name, clutching her chest. "Why do I feel you?" A witch woman in black robe entered. "Because your sister lives, Lyra. And tomorrow, you will finally kill her and take her white power for yourself." Lyra, my twin, cried black tears, not knowing if she wanted to kill me or hug me. --- *📖 CHAPTER 8 ONLY — Title: The Witch's Daughter* Copy ONLY this, paste as Chapter 8, publish: Dawn came fast. Dorian and I rode the giant black wolf horse towards Eastern Forest. I wore leather armor now, not silk dress, with white cloak. My white hair braided, white eyes glowing, silver sword at waist that Dorian gave me. It was my mother's sword. The forest got darker and darker. Trees black, no birds. "Witches live here," Dorian said. "They hate Lycans. Stay close to me." We entered clearing. In middle, a tower made of bones and black smoke. And in front of tower, standing alone, was a girl. My heart stopped. She looked exactly like me. Same face, same height, same nose, same lips. But her hair was black as night, her eyes black as void, her dress black, and her wolf aura was black, not white. Lyra. My twin sister. She saw me and froze. Her black eyes widened. "You... you are..." "Elena," I whispered, stepping down from wolf horse. "I am Elena. Your sister." Her hands shook. She touched her chest. "I felt you. For eighteen years I felt empty hole, and yesterday it filled with white light. It was you." Tears fell from my white eyes. Tears fell from her black eyes at same time. We ran towards each other. But before we could hug, black witch appeared between us, old woman with snakes for hair. "Touch her and you die, Lyra! Remember who raised you! This white queen is enemy! She killed your mother!" "That's lie!" I shouted. "Our mother was Queen Amara, killed by Alphas hired by you witches!" Witch laughed and shot black magic at me. Dorian roared and jumped in front, taking magic blast, falling. "DORIAN!" I screamed. Lyra looked at witch, then at me, then at Dorian bleeding. For first time, her black eyes flashed white for one second. "No," she whispered to witch. "She is my sister. You lied to me my whole life." She turned and shot black wolf power at witch, hitting her. Witch screamed and fell. Lyra ran to me and hugged me. Our powers mixed, white and black, creating silver light that exploded across forest, destroying tower, purifying trees. We were whole. Dorian stood up, healed by our combined light, smiling. "Two queens," he whispered. "The prophecy said white and black twins will bring new era. And they have." I held my sister's hand I'm Elena I'm lyra We smiled