Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by Fate

~ Elena’s POV ~ People always say Raven Hollow is a quiet town. Peaceful. Safe. Ordinary. They’re lying. Because nothing about this place has ever felt normal to me. The air is always too cold… The nights too silent… And the forest— The forest feels alive. I pulled my jacket tighter around my body as I hurried down the empty road, my boots crunching softly against the gravel. The streetlights flickered above me, casting long, eerie shadows that made my chest tighten. “Just get home, Elena,” I whispered to myself. I hated late shifts. Especially nights like this. Nights where it felt like something was watching me. The wind suddenly died. Completely. My steps slowed. My breath caught in my throat. And then… I felt it. A presence. Heavy. Commanding. Dangerous. I wasn’t alone. Slowly—against every instinct screaming at me to run—I turned around. And that’s when I saw him. Standing at the edge of the forest like he belonged to the darkness itself. Tall. Broad. Dressed in black. His eyes— Glowed. My heart slammed violently against my chest. Fear wrapped around me like chains… But something else did too. Something I didn’t understand. Something that made it impossible to look away. “Mate…” The word left his lips like a dark promise. My stomach dropped. Mate? I didn’t even know what that meant. But the way he said it— Like I belonged to him— Terrified me. Because a small, dangerous part of me… Didn’t want to run.