THE WOLF WHO CHOSE HER

The night I met my mate, I was running for my life. Snow whipped against my face as I stumbled through the Blackridge forest, clutching a silver dagger in one hand and trying not to scream with every breath. Behind me, branches snapped. Something was following me. I had heard the low growl ten minutes ago, just after leaving the healer’s hut, but I had refused to believe it was a rogue. Rogues stayed beyond our borders. They did not come near the Alpha’s territory on the night of the Winter Moon Festival. Yet the footprints behind me were too large to belong to an ordinary wolf. I pushed myself harder, my boots slipping over frozen leaves, until the forest suddenly opened into a clearing. Music drifted through the trees. Golden lanterns hung between ancient pines, and hundreds of pack members danced around enormous fires. The festival. I had made it. Relief barely reached my heart before a dark shape lunged from the trees. I spun and raised the dagger. The creature stopped at the edge of the clearing, its eyes glowing red. It was a wolf, but something about it was wrong. Its fur was patchy, its body unnaturally thin, and black veins crawled across its muzzle. A rogue. It snarled at me. I froze. Then a deep voice cut through the night. “Elara!” I turned. Alpha Kael Draven stood among the crowd. Every conversation died instantly. He wore a black shirt beneath a long winter coat, and the firelight sharpened the hard lines of his face. At twenty-nine, Kael was the youngest Alpha ever to rule Blackridge, but nobody called him young when they spoke about him. They called him ruthless. Untouchable. Dangerous. His golden eyes locked on the rogue. In the next heartbeat, he shifted. Bones cracked. Fur erupted across his skin, and a massive black wolf stood where the Alpha had been. He moved so quickly that I barely saw him cross the clearing. The rogue tried to run, but Kael knocked it into the snow with one powerful swipe. A roar shook the trees. The rogue fled beyond the border, wounded but alive. Kael shifted back and walked toward me. I should have looked away. Everyone did. I couldn’t. His eyes met mine, and something inside my chest exploded. Heat rushed through my veins. My knees weakened. My wolf, the quiet creature who had always been more timid than the others, suddenly woke with a cry so loud it echoed inside my skull. “Mate.” I stopped breathing. Kael stopped walking. The entire world seemed to hold its breath with us. He stared at me as though I had become a ghost. I could hear his heartbeat. Fast. Furious. Afraid. “No,” he whispered. My heart sank. “What?” He took one step closer, and the scent of cedar, smoke, and winter filled my lungs. The pull between us became almost unbearable. Every wolf knew the feeling. The Moon chose only one person for you. Your mate was supposed to be your home, your protection, your forever. I had dreamed of mine since I was a little girl. I had imagined a gentle wolf who would take my hand beneath the moon and promise never to let me go. I had never imagined Alpha Kael Draven. “You’re my mate,” I whispered. Kael’s jaw tightened. “I know.” A smile escaped me before I could stop it. “Then why do you look terrified?” He didn’t answer. Instead, he looked toward the Elder’s table. Elder Morcant had gone pale. His old hands trembled against his cane. He was staring at me, not Kael. Then his eyes dropped to my wrist. A faint silver mark had appeared beneath my skin, shaped like a crescent moon surrounded by three tiny stars. I had never seen it before. “Impossible,” Morcant whispered. Kael heard him. “What is impossible?” The Elder stood slowly. “Nothing, Alpha.” Kael’s eyes narrowed. Before Morcant could respond, a beautiful woman stepped from the crowd. Seraphine Vale. She was dressed in a silver gown and wore the confident smile of someone who already believed she belonged beside the Alpha. She had been Kael’s intended Luna for almost a year. Everyone knew their families had arranged the match. Everyone except me, apparently. She looked at my wrist, and for the first time, her smile disappeared. “Kael,” she said softly, “we need to talk.” Kael ignored her. His attention remained on me. “Come with me.” I swallowed. “Where?” “Somewhere private.” “Why?” His expression hardened. “Because I need to tell you something.” I followed him behind the main lodge, away from the music and curious eyes. The moment we were alone, Kael turned toward me. “Listen carefully, Elara. Whatever you felt tonight, forget it.” My chest tightened. “You mean the mate bond?” “Yes.” “How am I supposed to forget that?” “You have to.” I stared at him, confused and hurt. “Why?” He looked away. “Because I cannot make you my Luna.” “I didn’t ask to be your Luna.” “You will.” His voice was cold. “Everyone does eventually.” I shook my head. “That’s not true.” He looked back at me, and something in his eyes softened for half a second. “You don’t understand what being my mate means.” “Then explain it.” Silence stretched between us. Finally, he whispered, “It means becoming a target.” “For whom?” “Everyone who wants me dead.” He stepped closer. “If they discover who you really are, they won’t stop at killing you.” My stomach twisted. “Who am I?” Kael’s expression changed. For the first time, I saw fear in his eyes. “I don’t know,” he said. “And that’s what scares me.” Before I could ask another question, he reached for my wrist. His fingers brushed the silver mark. The moment he touched it, a shock of power surged between us. Kael stumbled backward. His wolf roared inside him, loud enough that I could feel it in my bones. My vision blurred. Suddenly, I saw fire. A woman with silver eyes running through a burning village. A black wolf chasing her. A baby crying in her arms. My baby. Then the woman turned toward me. “Elara,” she whispered. “When the Moon calls you, do not trust the Alpha.” I gasped and returned to the present. Kael was staring at me. “What did you see?” I could barely speak. “My mother.” His face went white. “Your mother?” “She said not to trust you.” Kael closed his eyes as if the words had struck him. Then he whispered something that made my blood turn cold. “Your mother should have been dead for twenty-two years.” A howl erupted from the mountains. Then another answered. Then dozens more. Kael looked toward the dark forest. “They’re here.” “Who?” He grabbed my hand. “The wolves who have been searching for you.” I pulled away. “Why are they searching for me?” Kael looked at the silver mark glowing on my wrist. “Because you’re not just my mate, Elara.” He swallowed hard. “You’re the last Moonblood.” If the legends were true, Moonbloods once ruled every wolf beneath the sky. Something ancient awakened inside my blood. The festival bells rang once, and the hunt began for all of us.