Falling for the alpha

The first slap landed before Elena Rose could finish her sentence. Her head snapped to the side, and the laughter that followed echoed through the Silver Creek Pack's training grounds. "How many times must I tell you not to speak when your betters are talking?" Vanessa Miller sneered, lowering her hand. "Or has being wolfless made you stupid as well?" Elena pressed her palm against her cheek. It stung. But the pain was nothing compared to the humiliation burning inside her chest. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Those two words had become the easiest things for her to say. Sorry for existing. Sorry for being different. Sorry for having no wolf when every other werewolf her age had already discovered theirs. She was eighteen, the age when young werewolves were expected to understand their place in the pack. Yet Elena had nothing to show for it. No claws, no heightened strength, no wolf whispering inside her mind. Nothing. To Silver Creek, she was a mistake the Moon Goddess had forgotten to correct. "Look at her," another girl snickered. "She's actually crying." "I'm not crying," Elena replied quickly. Vanessa stepped closer, her perfectly styled blonde hair falling over one shoulder. "Then why are your eyes red?" Elena lowered her gaze. Because she was tired. Tired of being laughed at. Tired of eating alone. Tired of hearing whispers whenever she walked past a group of wolves. Most of all, she was tired of pretending their cruelty didn't hurt. But she had learned something during her years in Silver Creek. Showing people your pain only gave them another reason to hurt you. "Enough." The sharp voice came from behind them. The girls immediately straightened. Beta Marcus stood at the entrance to the training grounds, his expression hard. "Alpha Robert expects everyone at the Moon Festival tonight. If I hear that any of you have caused trouble before then, you will answer to him." His gaze settled on Elena. "And you. Don't embarrass this pack in front of our guests." Elena swallowed. "Yes, Beta." He turned and walked away without another word. Vanessa smiled triumphantly. "You heard him. Try not to make us look bad tonight." Then she and her friends swept away, leaving Elena standing alone beneath the afternoon sun. Elena waited until they disappeared before releasing the breath she'd been holding. Tonight was the annual Moon Festival, the most important celebration in Silver Creek. Wolves from neighboring territories would arrive to celebrate the Goddess, strengthen alliances, and search for their destined mates. For most girls, it was a night filled with excitement and possibilities. For Elena, it was another opportunity to be reminded that she belonged nowhere. She picked up her fallen basket and hurried home. Perhaps, she thought, if she stayed out of everyone's way, she could survive the evening. She had no idea that the Moon Goddess had already chosen to change her fate. By sunset, Silver Creek had transformed. Silver lanterns hung from the trees, casting a magical glow over the pack grounds. Tables overflowed with food, music drifted through the air, and wolves dressed in their finest clothes gathered beneath the enormous oak tree at the center of the territory. Elena stood in front of her small bedroom mirror, staring at the only dress she owned that was suitable for the occasion. It was a simple midnight-blue dress that had belonged to her mother. Her fingers brushed the delicate silver pendant around her neck. It was the only thing her mother had left her before she died. Elena remembered very little about her mother. Just a soft voice, warm arms, and a pair of unusual silver eyes that seemed to shine whenever the moon was full. Sometimes, Elena dreamed of those eyes. Sometimes, she woke with the strange feeling that someone had been calling her name. She never told anyone. There were already enough reasons for people to consider her strange. A knock sounded at her door. "Elena? Are you ready?" Maya called. Elena smiled faintly. "Almost." Maya entered without waiting, wearing a beautiful burgundy dress. "There you are!" Her eyes widened when she saw Elena. "Oh, Elena. You look beautiful." Elena glanced down at herself. "Don't lie to me." "I'm not lying!" Maya crossed the room and adjusted the straps of Elena's dress. "Listen to me. You deserve to enjoy tonight just as much as everyone else. Don't let Vanessa ruin it for you." Elena wanted to believe her. But believing in happy endings had become difficult. "What if someone asks about my wolf?" she whispered. Maya's expression softened. "Then tell them it's none of their business." A small laugh escaped Elena. "You make everything sound so easy." "That's because I'm brilliant." For a moment, Elena forgot her troubles. Then the bells announcing the beginning of the festival rang across the territory. Maya grabbed her hand. "Come on! We're going to be late." And together, they stepped into the night. The festival was already crowded when they arrived. Elena kept close to Maya, hoping the darkness would make her less noticeable. It didn't. "Well, well. Look what the wind dragged in." Vanessa's voice cut through the music. She stood beside a group of young wolves, holding a glass of red punch. Her eyes traveled over Elena's dress before she laughed. "Did you borrow that from a dead person?" A few people chuckled. Elena's fingers curled around the fabric of her dress. "It's my mother's." For a second, Vanessa's smile widened. "How touching. I suppose a dead woman's dress is the best a wolfless girl can afford." "Vanessa!" Maya snapped. "What? I'm only telling the truth." Elena caught Maya's wrist before she could step forward. "Let's go," she whispered. But Vanessa wasn't finished. "Actually, Elena, I have a question. Since tonight is about finding our mates, what exactly are you planning to do? Stand beneath the moon and hope it suddenly remembers you exist?" The laughter grew louder. Elena felt every pair of eyes turn toward her. Her throat tightened. She could have screamed. She could have told them how many nights she'd spent praying for a wolf, how often she'd begged the Moon Goddess to make her normal. Instead, she lifted her chin. "At least I don't need to humiliate other people to feel important." The laughter stopped. Vanessa's face hardened. "What did you say?" "You heard me." For the first time that evening, Elena saw uncertainty flicker across Vanessa's face. Then it vanished. Vanessa deliberately tipped her glass. Red punch spilled across the front of Elena's dress. "Oh, look at that," she said with false innocence. "How clumsy of me." Maya gasped. Elena stared at the stain spreading across the blue fabric. Something inside her finally broke. She turned and ran. "Elena!" Maya called after her. But Elena couldn't stop. She pushed past the dancers, crossed the edge of the festival grounds, and disappeared between the trees. She needed air. She needed silence. She needed one place in the world where nobody knew her name. The forest was quiet. Moonlight filtered through the branches, painting silver patterns across the ground. Elena slowed when she reached a small clearing beside a stream. She sank onto a fallen log and covered her face with both hands. "Why me?" she whispered. The question escaped before she could stop it. "Why did you make me different if you were only going to let everyone hate me?" The moon offered no answer. Elena wiped her cheeks angrily. She hated crying. She hated how weak it made her feel. Most of all, she hated that a part of her still hoped tomorrow would be different. A strange sensation suddenly moved through the clearing. Elena lowered her hands. The air had changed. It was no longer simply cool. It felt charged, almost electric, and the silver pendant around her neck had grown strangely warm. She touched it. "What—?" A twig snapped behind her. Elena spun around. A man stood between the trees. He was tall, dressed in black, with broad shoulders and a stillness that made the entire forest seem to hold its breath around him. His dark hair fell slightly across his forehead, and his sharp features were illuminated by the moonlight. But it was his eyes that made Elena forget how to breathe. They were a striking shade of amber. And they were fixed on her. "Who are you?" she asked, struggling to keep her voice steady. The stranger didn't answer immediately. His gaze moved over her face, then stopped at the silver pendant resting against her chest. Something unreadable crossed his expression. "You're a long way from the festival," he finally said. Elena stood. "I could say the same about you." One eyebrow lifted. Most people didn't speak to strangers like that. Elena knew it, but she was too exhausted to care. "Do you know whose territory you're standing in?" he asked. "Silver Creek." "And you're not afraid to be alone out here?" She almost laughed. "Should I be?" His eyes narrowed slightly. "Most people have enough sense to be cautious in the forest after dark." "Most people also have wolves to protect them." The words came out sharper than she intended. For the first time, the man's expression changed. "Wolves?" Elena looked away. "Forget it." She stepped around him, intending to return to the festival. She had no desire to explain her life to another stranger. But before she could take two steps, his voice stopped her. "What's your name?" She hesitated. "Elena." "Elena what?" "Rose." The moment she spoke her surname, something shifted. The stranger went completely still. A strange, unfamiliar scent reached him, and his breathing changed. His hands curled at his sides as an instinct older than reason surged through him. No. It couldn't be. He had spent twenty-eight years believing that his mate would be a powerful she-wolf capable of standing beside him as Luna of the Shadow Moon Pack. Yet the woman before him smelled like moonlight after rain. And beneath that delicate scent was something he had never encountered before. Something ancient. Something dangerous. Something that called to the deepest part of his soul. Elena noticed his sudden silence. "Are you all right?" He didn't respond. Instead, he took one careful step toward her. Her heart began to pound. "Stay there." He stopped. The command surprised him almost as much as the strange pull in his chest. Nobody ordered him to stop. Nobody. Yet he obeyed her without understanding why. His gaze locked onto hers. "What are you?" he whispered. Elena frowned. "What kind of question is that?" He looked as though he was fighting a battle inside his own mind. Then the wind shifted. Her scent reached him again. And the truth struck him with the force of a physical blow. His mate. The Moon Goddess had given him a mate. But she was a girl who claimed to have no wolf. Impossible. He had never heard of such a thing. Elena took another step backward. "Look, I don't know what your problem is, but I'm going home." She turned. "Elena." Something in his voice made her stop. She glanced over her shoulder. The stranger stood beneath the moon, his expression no longer cold or indifferent. He looked shaken, almost furious, as if the universe had just handed him a truth he couldn't accept. "Tell me," he said quietly, "have you ever felt something inside you that you couldn't explain?" Elena's hand instinctively moved to her pendant. Her mother's silver eyes flashed through her memory. The dreams. The whispers. The strange warmth that sometimes spread through her body beneath a full moon. She swallowed. "Why are you asking me that?" He took a slow breath. "Because I think your entire life has been built on a lie." Before Elena could answer, a distant howl echoed through the forest. The stranger's head snapped toward the sound. His expression darkened. Another howl followed, closer this time. Then he looked back at Elena. "Go to the festival," he ordered. "Find someone you trust, and don't leave their side." "Why?" His jaw tightened. "Because something is hunting in these woods tonight." Elena stared at him. "And how do you know that?" His amber eyes began to glow. For one impossible moment, she saw something wild and powerful behind them. Something that should not have existed in the eyes of an ordinary man. He stepped aside, revealing a path back toward the festival. "My name is Adrian Blackwood," he said. Elena's breath caught. Everyone knew that name. Alpha Adrian Blackwood. The ruthless leader of the Shadow Moon Pack. The youngest Alpha in the northern territories. A man whose enemies feared him and whose allies rarely questioned his decisions. And she had just told him to stay away from her. Elena opened her mouth, but no words came. Adrian watched her reaction with an unreadable expression. Then, in a voice so low she almost missed it, he said, "Go, Elena Rose." She didn't wait for him to repeat himself. She ran. But as she disappeared among the trees, Adrian remained where he stood, staring at the path she had taken. His wolf was restless inside him, pacing and demanding what Adrian had spent his entire life avoiding. Mate. Adrian clenched his fists. "No," he muttered into the darkness. He was an Alpha. He had a pack to protect, enemies to defeat, and an alliance that could determine the future of his people. He had no room for a mate who might be a liability. Especially one without a wolf. Yet his wolf answered with a certainty that sent a chill down his spine. Ours. Adrian lifted his face toward the full moon. For the first time in years, he felt afraid. Not of war. Not of his enemies. But of the one woman he had never expected to find. And somewhere beyond the trees, Elena Rose clutched her mother's pendant as it began to glow with a faint silver light. Neither of them knew that their meeting had awakened a secret buried for generations. A secret that would bring the werewolf world to its knees