CHAPTER ONE — THE NIGHT ARIA LOST EVERYTHING
The night air tasted like silver and fear.
Lanterns glowed all around the Moonfall Courtyard, their flames swaying with the wind as pack members gathered in thick circles. Tonight was supposed to be my moment—our moment—the night the Alpha finally accepted the mate the Moon Goddess chose for him.
Me. Aria Rowan.
The oversized girl with soft arms, thick thighs, round cheeks, and curves the pack whispered about behind my back.
I smoothed my trembling hands over the fabric of my ceremonial gown. It was white and heavy, fitted around my waist more tightly than I liked. The sleeves hugged my arms too closely, reminding me of every insecurity I had tried to bury. My heart thundered painfully as the drums vibrated through the ground.
He’ll accept me tonight.
He has to. Fate doesn’t make mistakes… right?
A gentle hand touched my shoulder. My mother. Her eyes softened with pride. “Aria, breathe,” she whispered. “The Moon Goddess chose you for a reason.”
I forced a small nod, though my stomach felt like it was sinking deeper with every beat of the drums.
Then the crowd shifted.
And he stepped forward.
Alpha Rowan Hale.
My mate.
Tall, broad-shouldered, blessed with a jawline that looked carved from ice. His dark hair fell across his forehead, and his piercing blue eyes scanned the crowd—not with excitement, but irritation.
My chest tightened.
He wasn’t happy.
He wasn’t even pretending.
Behind him, wolves parted like sea water to make space for him. He walked straight to the stone dais at the center of the courtyard, the exact place where he was meant to officially announce me as his destined mate.
But he didn’t once look at me.
Not once.
The drums slowed.
The wind chilled.
Whispers swirled around me like smoke.
Is he really going to choose her?
She’s too big.
The pack needs someone stronger… prettier…
Aria will embarrass us.
The comments twisted deeper into my chest.
I swallowed hard and stepped forward anyway, because that was what the ceremony demanded. That was what the Moon Goddess had written in the stars the moment I turned eighteen and smelled the bond tying me to him.
But as I took my rightful place beside him, Alpha Rowan shifted away from me.
Like my presence offended him.
A soft wave of humiliation washed over me, but I kept my head high. I refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing me break.
“Aria Rowan,” Beta Caleb announced loudly, reading from the ceremonial scroll. “Tonight, under the witness of the full moon, Alpha Rowan Hale is to accept his fated mate—”
“Enough,” the Alpha’s voice cut sharply.
Silence fell like a blade.
The Beta froze, eyes widening as he looked at the Alpha in confusion. The crowd stiffened. Even the flames seemed to pause.
Rowan finally turned to face me.
And in that single moment, I knew something was terribly wrong.
His eyes weren’t warm.
They weren’t nervous.
They weren’t conflicted.
They were cold.
Dead cold.
“As Alpha of Moonfall Pack,” Rowan said, projecting his voice across the courtyard, “I have something to announce.”
A ripple of unease traveled through the pack.
My palms grew sweaty. My throat tightened.
He stepped closer to me—but not with affection.
With purpose.
With cruelty heavy in his stare.
“I reject Aria Rowan as my mate.”
A gasp—no, hundreds of gasps—exploded around us.
My heart stopped.
Everything inside me went still.
I blinked once. Twice.
Convinced I heard wrong.
“You… what?” My voice cracked.
Rowan crossed his arms, jaw tightening. “You heard me.”
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “No, Rowan… the bond—”
“The bond is weak,” he snapped. “Barely there. You must’ve imagined whatever you felt.”
The words punched the air out of my lungs.
I took a shaky step back. “Weak? The Moon Goddess tied us—”
“Maybe she made a mistake,” he said coldly.
Pain exploded through my chest, but he wasn’t done.
Rowan turned, addressing the entire pack.
“Look at her,” he said cruelly, motioning toward me. “Look at her and tell me she looks like a Luna.”
A wave of humiliation scorched my skin as hundreds of eyes turned toward me.
Whispers.
Snickers.
Judgment.
Heat crept up my neck, but my feet stayed rooted in place. My body refused to move, even as tears filled my lashes.
Rowan continued, “A Luna should be agile. Strong. Someone who commands respect. Not—”
He gestured at my curves.
My soft arms.
My round stomach beneath the gown.
“—this.”
My breath hitched.
My mother gasped. My father clenched his fists. The Beta looked away.
“Rowan, please…” I whispered, voice trembling. “Don’t do this.”
He stepped closer, lowering his voice in a way only I could hear.
“I refuse to bind myself to someone who will make the pack look weak,” he hissed. “You’re not good enough. You never were.”
Those words shattered me harder than any rejection could.
The bond inside me snapped violently, releasing a shockwave of pain so intense I fell to my knees, clutching my chest as tears streamed uncontrollably down my face.
Wolves stepped back like I was diseased.
Some whispered.
Some laughed.
Some pitied.
Rowan turned his back.
Just like that.
Not even bothering to watch the girl he destroyed.
“Guard,” he commanded, “remove her from the courtyard.”
A guard stepped toward me.
My heart cracked.
My world tilted.
And inside me—deep, buried behind years of silence—something ancient stirred. A power I didn’t understand. A whisper that wasn’t my wolf.
But before it could awaken fully, my vision darkened.
The last thing I heard was Rowan’s cold voice:
“She will never stand beside me. She will never be Luna.”
Then darkness swallowed everything.
