CHAPTER 1 : THE NIGHT OF THE BOND
1520 Words
The celebration hall of the Silvercrest Pack glittered with gold lights, laughter, and the overpowering scent of wolves who didn’t want me there.
My eighteenth birthday.
My coming-of-age.
The night a wolf was supposed to feel her destined mate…
The night everything was supposed to change for the better.
But nothing good ever came for me.
I kept my arms close to my chest as I stepped inside, my heartbeat thundering louder than the music. Wolves danced and talked happily around long tables decorated with silver ribbons. Pack members wore their finest clothes. High-ranking families mingled in circles, gossiping behind jeweled cups.
And then… there was me.
A girl in a plain, hand-sewn dress.
No wolf.
No power.
No place.
Every time I walked past, whispers followed like a curse.
“She really came?”
“She’s so shameless.”
“She still thinks she’ll shift tonight? How pathetic.”
My throat tightened, but I kept my chin up.
This was the last humiliation I’d endure. I promised myself that.
I took one step… then another… trying to disappear into the crowd—until someone purposely bumped my shoulder.
I stumbled.
A burst of laughter cut through the music.
“Watch where you’re going, wolfless freak,” snarled Maisie, the Beta’s daughter. Her friends cackled behind her.
I forced a small smile. “Sorry.”
She leaned closer, her voice dripping with cruelty. “Do you really think the Moon Goddess will give you a mate?”
A fresh wave of heat burned my cheeks. I swallowed the pain.
“I don’t expect anything,” I whispered.
“Good,” she sneered. “Because no one expects anything from you.”
Their laughter echoed as they walked away.
I inhaled shakily and looked up—straight into the icy eyes of Alpha Aiden Storm.
My breath caught.
He stood at the far side of the hall, towering over everyone, dressed in a black shirt that hugged broad shoulders and powerful arms. His presence alone commanded the entire room. Conversations died. Wolves bowed their heads automatically.
Aiden ignored them.
His cold, glacier-blue gaze was fixed on me.
A strange warmth spread through my chest, like something ancient had just awakened deep inside me. My knees weakened. My fingers trembled. My wolf—the one who had been silent all my life—let out a soft gasp inside my mind.
Mate.
The whisper was faint, but it was there.
Aiden stiffened.
His jaw clenched.
His eyes widened the smallest bit.
His hand, which had been casually resting at his side, curled into a fist.
He felt it.
The bond.
The fated connection the Moon Goddess herself knitted between two souls.
For a moment… a single fragile moment… hope bloomed inside me.
Maybe—just maybe—the Goddess hadn’t given up on me after all.
I took a step toward him.
But his expression shifted.
Confusion turned to disbelief.
Disbelief turned to anger.
Anger turned to pure, cold disgust.
The room went silent.
Aiden Storm—the Alpha feared across territories—began walking toward me. Wolves stepped aside to make way. Their murmurs rippled through the hall.
“Is she… his mate?”
“No way.”
“He must be furious.”
“He deserves better.”
My palms went sweaty as Aiden stopped inches from me.
He was close enough for me to feel the heat radiating from his body. His scent—cedar, storm rain, and something dangerously addicting—wrapped around me like a cage I didn’t know whether to flee or cling to.
I gathered my courage.
“Aiden…” my voice trembled. “You feel it too, don’t you?”
His eyes were dead cold.
The bond hummed between us—alive, undeniable, unbreakable.
But his next words shattered everything.
He leaned down, voice low and sharp. “This is a mistake.”
I flinched. “A mistake?”
“You,” he spat. “You cannot be my mate.”
My heart dropped.
“Aiden—”
He raised a hand. “Don’t speak my name.”
The crowd watched with hungry, cruel curiosity.
I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. “I didn’t choose this—”
“Exactly,” he snapped. “Which is why I will not let the Moon Goddess ruin my future because of you.”
The room tilted.
I took a shaky step back. “Aiden, please—just listen—”
But he grabbed my wrist.
His touch sent sparks shooting up my arm—intense, electric, overwhelming. The bond screamed to be acknowledged.
Aiden’s lips curled.
“As Alpha of Silvercrest,” he said loudly, addressing the entire hall, “I, Aiden Storm—reject you.”
The words hit me like claws tearing through flesh.
Something inside me cracked—loudly, painfully.
My chest tightened. My breath hitched. My vision blurred.
The bond snapped.
I collapsed to my knees.
A strangled cry escaped me as agony ripped through my veins. Tears streamed down my cheeks uncontrollably. My wolf whimpered helplessly, unable to shield me.
My heart felt as if it had been crushed between two mountains.
Aiden towered over me, his expression unreadable.
Someone laughed.
Someone else whispered, “Pathetic.”
Maisie smirked triumphantly from across the room.
My humiliation was complete.
I forced a breath. Then another. My body shook violently as I struggled to stand.
“Aiden…” My voice cracked. “Why? What did I ever do to you?”
His eyes hardened. “You were born.”
Pain shot through me again—but something else stirred too.
Anger.
Not loud or explosive.
Quiet.
Slow.
Burning like the embers of a forgotten fire.
Before it could grow, Aiden turned his back as if I no longer existed.
“You are not fit to be my Luna,” he said coldly. “You never were.”
The words echoed in my skull like poison.
I stood there, trembling, staring at the back of the man fate tethered me to—a man who looked at me as if I were worthless.
Silence swallowed the hall.
I wiped my cheeks, lifted my chin, and whispered—maybe only to myself:
“Then I won’t stay where I’m unwanted.”
I turned and walked to the doors.
No one stopped me.
No one called my name.
No one tried to help.
Not even him.
The heavy wooden doors slammed shut behind me with a thundering boom.
The last sound I heard before stepping into the cold, moonlit night was the echo of my own heart breaking.
---
The forest was colder than usual—too cold. Night wind howled through the pines like mourning spirits. The moon glowed unnaturally bright, bathing everything in silver.
I didn’t know where to go.
I just ran.
Branches whipped against my skin. Roots snagged my ankles. My lungs burned. But I kept going because I knew I couldn’t stay.
Not after that.
Not after being rejected in front of everyone.
Not after losing the last sliver of hope I had been holding onto for years.
“I’ll never go back,” I whispered to the darkness. “I’ll never let anyone make me feel that small again.”
A twig snapped.
I froze.
Shadows moved between the trees—too many shadows.
Low growls vibrated in the air.
Rogues.
I stumbled back, heart racing. “No… not now…”
Dirty fur and snarling faces emerged from the darkness. Ten of them. Maybe more. Eyes glowing yellow with hunger.
They had tracked my scent.
One lunged.
I screamed.
His claws slashed my arm, tearing flesh. Pain exploded down to my bones. I fell backward onto the cold dirt, gasping.
Another rogue pounced from the side.
I rolled away—but not fast enough. Teeth sank into my shoulder. Hot blood streamed down my arm.
My vision blurred. My body weakened.
I was going to die.
Alone.
Rejected.
Unwanted.
“Is this how it ends?” I whispered, choking on blood.
More rogues circled me.
I shut my eyes.
Then—
A roar shook the forest.
Not a normal wolf’s roar.
This one was deeper.
Powerful.
Ancient.
Silver-blue light flashed across the trees.
Every rogue froze.
Then they whimpered.
A massive wolf stepped into the clearing—larger than any Alpha I’d ever seen. Fur black as midnight, eyes glowing silver like two full moons.
My breath caught.
The wolf lowered its head… and everything inside me stilled.
My wolf whimpered—not in fear—
In recognition.
The giant wolf growled once, a warning so lethal the rogues scattered into the shadows, tails tucked between their legs.
The wolf approached me slowly.
My body trembled. Blood soaked the forest floor beneath me. Darkness crept at the edges of my vision.
Just before I collapsed completely, the wolf leaned down and touched its forehead to mine.
A soft, ancient voice filled my mind:
> “At last, Lunaris Wolf. You awaken.”
Then everything went white.
And I knew—
my life would never be the same again.
- Writer
