Chapter 1: The Brutal Rejection
"So intoxicating... Elara, my mate."
The deafening music of my eighteenth birthday gala was completely muffled behind the heavy glass doors. Here, in the shadowy depths of the pack gardens, the air was so thick with raw pheromones it felt like it could combust at any second.
I was pinned flush against the rough stone wall by Kane, the future Alpha of the Dark Moon Pack. The scent of him—a heady mix of petrichor, pine, and sharp black pepper—was a suffocating net that hijacked my every breath.For eighteen years, I had been the pack’s punching bag, the "wolf-less, useless Omega." Yet now, the Moon Goddess had gifted me the most powerful man in the pack as my destined mate.
"Kane..." My legs felt like jelly. All I could do was grip the lapels of his tailored suit to keep from collapsing.
His usually arrogant amber eyes were completely dilated, swallowed by the primal, feral heat of his wolf. He let out a ragged breath, his scorching lips trailing down my neck with a punishing intensity as he roughly popped the cheap buttons of my dress. His calloused hands roamed my waist, leaving a trail of uncontrollable shivers in their wake.
"My wolf is going insane. He’s screaming at me to tear these clothes off you and brand every inch of your flesh as mine," he growled, a low, guttural sound that made my core clench. His sharp canines elongated, scraping dangerously against my pulse point.
It was the prelude to the Marking. One bite, one merging of our souls, and all my suffering would end. I would become his Luna.
I closed my eyes, a tear of pure euphoria slipping down my cheek as I bared my vulnerable neck to my Alpha.
But just a millimeter before his fangs could pierce my skin—
"Kane? Where are you hiding? The ceremony is about to start!"
A sickeningly sweet voice sliced through the heavy, heated air like a poisoned blade. It was my stepsister, Sienna.
In a fraction of a second, the fangs at my throat vanished. The scorching body that had practically been trying to fuse with mine violently tore away.
I snapped my eyes open, only to feel as though I had been plunged into an ice bath. The feral heat in Kane’s eyes had evaporated, replaced by a suffocating clarity and absolute disgust. He even pulled a silk handkerchief from his pocket and forcefully wiped his mouth, as if my touch had infected him.
"Wipe that disgusting, desperate look off your face, you pathetic Omega," he sneered, looking down at my disheveled state. His voice was colder than a winter storm. "Did you really think a broken, wolf-less body like yours is worthy of my blood?"
"But... we are True Mates!" I trembled, reaching out desperately to grab his sleeve. The mate bond deep within my soul was violently pulling at me, the agony making it hard to breathe.
"Get off me." Kane kicked my hand away without an ounce of mercy. He turned on his heel and strode toward Sienna, who was standing there in a stunning red gown, a triumphant smirk plastered on her face. Like a king, he wrapped a possessive arm around her waist and led her into the brightly lit ballroom.
When the spotlight hit them on the main stage, the entire pack’s attention shifted—only to find me, a disheveled, pathetic mess, stumbling out of the shadows. The sneers and whispers began immediately.
Kane’s cruel gaze cut through the crowd, pinning me to the floor. His lips parted, and lacing his voice with the absolute weight of his Alpha Command, he delivered the death sentence that made every wolf’s blood run cold:
"I, Alpha Kane of the Dark Moon Pack, reject you, Elara, as my destined mate and Luna."
Boom—!
An invisible, jagged, red-hot blade plunged straight into my chest, twisting viciously.
"Ahhhh!" A blood-curdling scream ripped from my throat as my knees slammed into the marble floor, the crack of bone echoing in my ears. Mouthfuls of blackish blood spilled from my lips, staining the front of my dress a horrifying crimson.
And through my blurry, fading vision, I saw my Alpha dip his head, pressing a gentle, loving kiss to my stepsister’s lips.
