CLAIMED BY THE RIVAL ALPHA

PROLOGUE: BECOMING LUNA

SELENE'S POV

5 years ago...

I used to believe birthdays were magical.

Not because of presents, extravagant celebrations, or the elaborate cakes my aunt insisted on baking every year despite never once getting the frosting right, but because birthdays always felt like promises. They whispered that life was moving forward exactly as it was supposed to, that every candle blown out was another step toward the future the Moon Goddess had already written for me long before I had taken my first breath.

Today wasn't simply another birthday.

Today, I was eighteen.

Today, I would officially become Alpha Ryder Blackwood's mate before the entire Crescent Moon Pack.

Even now, sitting in front of the enormous vanity inside my bedroom while three maids fluttered around me with curling irons, jewellery, ribbons, and enough perfume to suffocate an entire wolf, I couldn't stop smiling. My cheeks actually hurt from smiling so much, but I didn't care. Every few minutes, I caught my own reflection and laughed quietly to myself because the girl staring back looked like she had swallowed the moon itself.

Because the girl staring back at me looked genuinely, undeniably happy, the kind of happy that transformed a person's entire face until they barely recognised themselves anymore, her eyes sparkling with dreams she hadn't yet realised, her smile so bright it seemed incapable of fading.

Her cheeks already beginning to ache from how often she had caught herself grinning at absolutely nothing over the past hour. It was almost embarrassing how obvious my excitement was, how every passing second seemed to make it harder to sit still, how every little adjustment the maids made to my dress or hair only reminded me that I was one step closer to the moment I had spent the last two years imagining over and over again.

I looked hopelessly in love, ridiculously excited, almost laughably eager, and judging by the amused expressions reflected in the mirror behind me, I wasn't doing a very good job of hiding any of it.

"I've never seen a bride this excited," one of the younger maids laughed softly as she carefully tucked another tiny white blossom into the loose curls cascading over my shoulder, earning a chorus of knowing smiles from the others who had apparently been trying and failing not to laugh at me for the better part of the morning.

"I'm not just a bride," I corrected almost instinctively, unable to stop another smile from stretching across my lips as I admired the woman slowly taking shape in the mirror before me. "I'm becoming Luna."

The words settled over the room with a weight so wonderful it almost stole my breath. Luna. Just thinking the title sent another swarm of butterflies dancing wildly through my stomach, filling every corner of me with a happiness so overwhelming it felt impossible to contain.

Not someday when Ryder and I were older. Not years from now after proving myself worthy of standing beside an Alpha. Not as a distant dream I could only imagine while watching other women take their places beside their mates. Today. On my eighteenth birthday.

In only a few short hours, I would stand before the Moon Goddess, before our entire pack. Before the man I had loved with every piece of my heart since I was sixteen, and I would officially become his Luna. The youngest Luna in our entire region, entrusted with a responsibility I had spent my whole life learning and a future I had never once doubted would be as beautiful as the love story that had brought me here.

The title didn't frighten me the way everyone expected it to. If anything, it felt strangely familiar, almost as though I had been preparing for it my entire life.

Maybe I had.

Being the niece of Alpha Gideon Ashcroft meant responsibility had never been optional. My uncle ruled the Silver Ridge Pack with quiet authority, and from the moment I was old enough to walk beside him during ceremonies, I had been taught that leadership wasn't about power. It was about sacrifice. About putting hungry pack members before yourself during harsh winters. About remembering the names of every child born under your protection. About comforting grieving families after border attacks. About smiling even when your own heart was breaking because a Luna's strength became her pack's strength.

Although I had been born in Blood Moon Pack, I'd spent almost my entire life growing up in Silver Ridge Pack under my uncle's leadership, learning responsibilities most girls my age never had to think about.

Being Alpha Gideon Ashcroft's niece meant my childhood had looked very different from everyone else's. While other little girls spent their afternoons chasing butterflies through the meadows or arguing over dolls and ribbons, I spent mine trailing faithfully behind my uncle through council chambers, listening to discussions about border disputes, food shortages, alliance negotiations, and pack finances long before I was old enough to fully understand their significance.

By the time most girls were learning how to braid their own hair without making a tangled mess of it, I had already sat through more council meetings than some warriors twice my age. I understood that every decision an Alpha made carried consequences that rippled through hundreds of lives, and my uncle had never once believed that my age or my gender should prevent me from learning those lessons alongside him.

He taught me how to negotiate trade agreements without allowing either pride or emotion to cloud my judgment, how to organize harvest festivals that brought a pack together even after difficult seasons, how to settle disputes between pack members fairly enough that both sides could walk away feeling heard, and perhaps most importantly, how to kneel beside a frightened child after a rogue attack and offer comfort before offering promises of revenge.

He always said that strength alone could make someone an Alpha, but compassion was what made a true Luna, and I had carried those words with me every single day of my life.

While so many young she-wolves spent their teenage years dreaming about the day the Moon Goddess would reveal their fated mates, imagining stolen kisses beneath the full moon or fairytale romances worthy of the stories passed down through generations, my greatest dream had never simply been to find the man destined for me.

I had dreamed of becoming the kind of Luna my people could trust, respect, and turn to in their darkest moments, the kind who led with both wisdom and kindness, who loved her pack as fiercely as she loved her mate.

Finding Ryder hadn't replaced that dream. If anything, it had made it infinitely sweeter, because I truly believed that standing beside the man I loved while serving the pack we would one day lead together was exactly the future the Moon Goddess had always intended for me.

A gentle knock echoed against the half-open bedroom door, though it was little more than a formality because before any of the maids could so much as call out an invitation, a voice I would have recognised anywhere interrupted from the other side, warm with amusement and carrying that effortless confidence that came with knowing he rarely heard the word no.

"I don't care if she's getting dressed," Ryder declared, completely unapologetic. "I'm coming in." His words were followed by a chorus of stifled giggles from the women surrounding me, several of them exchanging knowing glances as they quickly stepped back from my chair, already anticipating exactly what would happen next.

Nobody looked particularly surprised by his lack of patience. If anything, they looked entertained. Ryder had never been very good at waiting when it came to me, and apparently becoming Alpha hadn't done anything to improve that particular flaw.

The door swung open a heartbeat later, and for the briefest moment, it felt as though every sound inside the room simply... faded away. My breath caught somewhere in the back of my throat as my eyes found him standing confidently in the doorway, and suddenly the room that had seemed so spacious only seconds earlier felt impossibly small, as though it could no longer contain both of us and the overwhelming emotions rushing between us.

I'd always thought Ryder was handsome. I had thought so the first time I'd seen him during the Summer Solstice Festival, before the Moon Goddess had even revealed we were fated mates. I had thought so every day afterwards as we learned each other's habits, laughed together, argued over the smallest things, and built a life side by side.

But today... Today was different. Today there was something about him that stole the very air from my lungs. Perhaps it was the quiet confidence that had settled into him after ascending as Alpha six months ago following his father's passing, or perhaps it was simply seeing the man I loved dressed for the ceremony that would officially bind our lives together forever. Whatever it was, I couldn't look away.

His ceremonial suit, tailored from rich black fabric that seemed to absorb the morning light, fit his broad frame as though it had been crafted by the Moon Goddess herself, every clean line emphasising the strength in his shoulders and the powerful build that years of Alpha training had carved into him.

Intricate silver embroidery climbed the sleeves and traced the edges of his jacket, depicting the ancient crest of the Blackwood bloodline in elegant patterns that shimmered whenever he moved, while a matching silver clasp rested against the high collar at his throat, marking him unmistakably as the Alpha of Crescent Moon Pack.

His dark hair was still slightly damp, stubborn strands refusing to stay neatly in place as though he had rushed through getting ready just to see me sooner, and those piercing grey eyes, the very same eyes I had fallen hopelessly in love with two years ago, softened the instant they found mine. The stern expression he undoubtedly wore for everyone else disappeared so completely that it was almost impossible to believe this was the same man feared by warriors twice his age.

"There she is," he murmured quietly, his voice so low I wasn't even sure he intended for anyone else to hear it. The words weren't spoken to the room or to the amused women watching us with barely concealed smiles. They weren't even spoken loudly enough to be considered a proper greeting.

They escaped him almost unconsciously, like a relieved exhale after searching for something precious and finally finding it exactly where it belonged. For one suspended moment, it was as though everyone else ceased to exist. The maids, the ceremony waiting for us downstairs, the responsibilities of becoming Alpha and Luna, even the dozens of guests who had already begun filling the pack grounds beyond the manor walls all faded into nothing beneath the warmth of the way he looked at me.

It was impossible to mistake the love shining so openly in his eyes, impossible to ignore the tenderness in his expression, and impossible to stop the familiar wave of affection that swept through me in response. My heart, traitorous thing that it was, melted all over again exactly as it had countless times before, and I had the overwhelming feeling that no matter how many years passed, no matter how many times Ryder Blackwood looked at me as though I were the most extraordinary woman in the world, I would never become accustomed to it.

One of the older maids, Mrs Agnes, who had worked for the Blackwood family since long before Ryder had been born, cleared her throat rather pointedly, the sound loud enough to break whatever invisible spell had settled over the room. Folding her arms across her chest, she fixed Ryder with the same unimpressed look she had probably used on him when he was a mischievous little boy sneaking into the kitchens for extra desserts, though the corners of her mouth betrayed her amusement.

"Alpha Ryder," she began, her tone carrying just enough playful reprimand to make the younger maids struggle to suppress their laughter, "unless becoming Alpha has erased every tradition your parents worked so hard to teach you, you're very well aware that you're not supposed to see your mate before the mating ceremony."

Ryder finally tore his gaze away from me long enough to glance at the older woman, and instead of looking even remotely guilty, one corner of his mouth lifted into that infuriatingly confident smile that always appeared whenever he thought he'd already won an argument before it had properly begun.

"I am the Alpha," he replied simply, as though those four words alone settled the matter beyond discussion, his voice carrying the easy confidence of someone who had grown up knowing one day the entire pack would answer to him. "If anyone gets to ignore tradition, I would imagine it should be me."

Mrs Agnes arched a single eyebrow, entirely unimpressed by his reasoning. "Being Alpha may mean people have to obey your orders," she said, shaking her head as though she pitied his hopeless lack of common sense, "but it doesn't make you immune to bad luck. The Moon Goddess has a habit of reminding arrogant men that some traditions exist for a reason."

"I don't believe in bad luck," Ryder answered without missing a beat, slipping one hand casually into the pocket of his tailored jacket while his attention drifted back toward me as though the conversation itself was merely a minor inconvenience standing between us.

"No," Mrs Agnes agreed knowingly, the smile on her face widening ever so slightly. "But I imagine you do believe in your Luna glaring at you if you accidentally wrinkle her dress, smudge her makeup, or undo the last hour of hard work these poor girls have spent making her look beautiful."

The room erupted into laughter almost instantly. Several of the younger maids gave enthusiastic nods of agreement, one of them dramatically shielding my dress as though Ryder posed a genuine threat to its pristine condition, while another muttered something about overexcited mates being worse than impatient children. Even I couldn't stop myself from laughing, covering my mouth as Ryder let out a resigned chuckle of his own, rubbing the back of his neck with an expression that suggested he knew he had walked directly into a battle he had no hope of winning.

"I'll be careful," he promised, though there wasn't the slightest hint of surrender in his voice.

Before anyone could think of another reason to stop him, he started walking toward me anyway.

Not hurriedly.

Not recklessly.

But with the slow, deliberate confidence of a man who had already made up his mind long before stepping through the door. Every measured stride seemed filled with quiet certainty, his grey eyes never once leaving mine, as though an invisible thread had been tied between us from the moment he'd entered the room, pulling him toward me with a force stronger than tradition, stronger than superstition, stronger than the teasing protests of every maid present.

It was the kind of walk that made the rest of the world fade into the background, and for one impossible moment, I found myself believing that even if the Moon Goddess herself had appeared to order him back outside, Ryder Blackwood still would have crossed that room just to stand beside me. At eighteen years old, hopelessly in love with the man fate had chosen for me, I couldn't imagine a future where he wouldn't always keep walking toward me with that same unwavering determination.

When Ryder finally reached me, he came to an unhurried stop directly in front of my chair, close enough that I could catch the familiar scent of cedarwood, pine, and the crisp mountain air that had become synonymous with home ever since I'd met him two years ago.

For the longest moment, he didn't speak. He didn't seem capable of it. Instead, those beautiful grey eyes wandered over me with quiet reverence, taking in every painstaking detail the maids had spent the better part of the morning perfecting. His gaze lingered on the tiny white flowers woven through my hair, the delicate embroidery decorating the bodice of my ivory ceremonial gown, the silver bracelet resting around my wrist (a gift from my uncle before I'd left Silver Ridge) and finally settled on my face, where it remained with such overwhelming tenderness that I felt warmth spread from the tips of my ears all the way to my toes.

There was something almost disbelieving in the way he looked at me, as though he couldn't quite convince himself that I was real, that after two long years of waiting, this day had finally arrived. It made my heart flutter so wildly I was almost certain everyone else in the room could hear it.

"You're..." he whispered at last, only for the words to trail away before they ever became a complete sentence. His lips parted slightly as though he intended to try again, but whatever he wanted to say seemed to disappear beneath the sheer emotion shining in his eyes, and I couldn't help the soft laugh that escaped me.

"What?" I asked, tilting my head ever so slightly as I searched his face, unable to suppress the smile tugging at my lips.

He let out a quiet breath before shaking his head with the smallest, most helpless smile I'd ever seen. "I've spent the last two years imagining what you'd look like today," he admitted, reaching out almost absentmindedly to tuck a loose curl behind my ear, his fingertips grazing my cheek so gently it sent an army of butterflies dancing through my stomach. "I thought I'd pictured it a thousand different ways." His eyes met mine again, impossibly soft. "I wasn't even close."

I felt heat rush to my cheeks so quickly that I silently thanked the Moon Goddess for whatever blush the cosmetics couldn't hide. "You're staring," I mumbled, suddenly finding it very difficult to meet his gaze for too long.

"I know."

"You should stop."

"I can't."

His answer came so simply, so honestly, that it stole another laugh from me. Around us, the maids exchanged knowing smiles before politely turning their attention elsewhere, suddenly becoming fascinated by imaginary wrinkles in the curtains and nonexistent dust on the furniture. They were trying to give us privacy without actually leaving the room, and judging by the faint giggles I could still hear every now and then, they weren't doing a particularly convincing job of pretending they couldn't hear every word.

Ryder leaned closer until only a few inches separated us, his forehead almost brushing mine, his voice dropping low enough that I knew he intended the next words for me alone. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for today?"

I smiled knowingly. "Two years."

He shook his head.

"Seven hundred and thirty-one days."

I blinked, unable to hide my surprise. "You counted?"

His expression softened even further, if that was somehow possible. "I counted everything," he confessed quietly. "Every sunrise after we found each other. Every full moon. Every letter you wrote me before you moved here. Every festival, every council meeting where I wished you were sitting beside me instead of across the territory." He reached for my hand, intertwining our fingers with effortless familiarity. "I've counted every single day because every single day brought me one step closer to calling you my Luna."

I don't think I had ever smiled so much in my entire life.

The Moon Goddess truly had blessed me.

I still remembered the Summer Solstice Festival as vividly as if it had happened yesterday instead of two years ago. Hundreds of wolves from neighbouring packs had gathered to celebrate another year of peace between our territories, the air filled with music, laughter, dancing, and the rich scent of roasted meats drifting through the festival grounds.

I had wandered away from my uncle's entourage in search of fresh honey cakes when I quite literally collided with a stranger rounding the corner from the opposite direction. My hand had caught his arm to steady myself, his fingers had instinctively wrapped around my waist to stop me from falling, and then everything else around us had simply... disappeared.

One accidental touch had become one shared breath, one impossible scent, and one earth-shattering realisation that neither of us had been prepared for. Mate. I could still picture the exact sequence of emotions that had crossed Ryder's face within the span of only a few heartbeats: complete confusion giving way to stunned disbelief, disbelief melting into wonder, wonder swallowed by overwhelming relief before pure, unrestrained joy exploded across his features.

He had actually laughed, a deep, disbelieving laugh that drew every eye in the courtyard toward us before pulling me into his arms without the slightest hesitation, uncaring that hundreds of wolves were watching. The cheers that erupted around us that afternoon had echoed across the valley, and I had never once doubted that the Moon Goddess herself had chosen perfectly.

Ryder had been twenty then, already preparing to inherit the Alpha title from his father, while I had only recently turned sixteen. Even so, neither of us had wanted to spend years separated by territory. With my uncle's blessing and the enthusiastic support of both packs, I had moved to Crescent Moon only a few weeks later, not because anyone had pressured me into leaving the only home I had ever known, but because every instinct in my soul had told me that home was wherever Ryder was. Adjusting had been easier than I could ever have imagined.

The elders respected the years I'd spent learning leadership beneath Alpha Gideon's guidance, often inviting me to sit in on council discussions long before I officially became Luna. The women welcomed me as though I'd been born into the Blackwood bloodline myself, and the children... the children had stolen my heart almost immediately. They followed me everywhere, tugging at my hands whenever they wanted another story, another game of chase, another excuse to roll around in the grass until our clothes were hopelessly filthy.

I never minded dirty dresses or scraped knees if it meant hearing their laughter, and before long, Crescent Moon no longer felt like the place I'd moved to. It felt like the place I'd always belonged. Today wasn't about becoming part of the pack. They had accepted me long ago. Today was about standing beside the man I loved and making that belonging permanent.

As though suddenly remembering something, Ryder reached into the inside pocket of his jacket before withdrawing a small navy velvet box, the kind reserved for precious family heirlooms. He placed it carefully into my hands, his smile turning unexpectedly sheepish.

"A birthday present?" I asked, glancing curiously between the box and his face.

"And an apology."

I frowned. "An apology? For what?"

"For not being able to wait until after the ceremony."

My curiosity only deepened as I slowly lifted the lid.

Nestled against the dark velvet rested one of the most beautiful necklaces I had ever seen. A delicate crescent moon crafted from polished silver cradled a tiny wolf worked in astonishing detail, the two symbols intertwined so perfectly they appeared to have been forged together rather than separately. It wasn't flashy or extravagant. It didn't need to be. There was something timeless about it, something that immediately told me this wasn't simply jewellery.

"Ryder..." My voice barely rose above a whisper.

"My mother wore it."

My head snapped up so quickly our eyes met almost instantly.

"What?"

He nodded slowly, his expression growing softer than I had ever seen it. "She always said that one day she'd place it around the neck of the woman she believed worthy of becoming Blackwood's Luna." His gaze drifted briefly to the necklace before returning to me, a shadow of sadness flickering through his eyes. "I wish she were here to do it herself."

The words hit me with surprising force, and before I even realised tears had gathered in my eyes, my vision blurred. Without another thought, I rose from my chair and wrapped my arms tightly around his neck. Ryder caught me as naturally as breathing, his arms circling my waist with quiet strength, holding me so securely that for a moment it felt as though nothing in the world could ever reach us. I buried my face against his shoulder, breathing in the comforting scent that had become my greatest source of peace.

"I love you," I whispered, my voice thick with emotion. "More than I could ever explain."

His embrace tightened almost imperceptibly, his lips brushing gently against my hair.

"I love you too, Selene," he murmured. "And I swear before the Moon Goddess herself that I will spend the rest of my life making sure you never regret choosing this pack... choosing me. No matter what challenges come our way, no matter how difficult life becomes, I will always choose you first."

Had I known then how drastically that certainty would one day change, I might have cherished the moment even more fiercely than I already did.

At eighteen years old, standing safely in the arms of the man fate had chosen for me while the future stretched before us brighter than the morning sun spilling through the bedroom windows, I believed every single word without the smallest trace of doubt. I believed in Ryder. I believed in our bond. I believed in forever. And perhaps that was the greatest tragedy of all, because if someone had told me that the very man promising to choose me above everyone else would one day make me feel invisible inside my own home, I would have smiled, laughed softly, and dismissed the idea as impossible. After all, how could the happiest day of my life ever become the beginning of my greatest heartbreak?