TO MATE A MONSTER

CHAPTER 2

ELENA'S POV

The cold night air followed me long after I left the gathering. My breathing hasn't been established. I didn’t care where I was going; my feet already knew the way. The moon was out tonight, hanging over the trees like it was watching me. My chest still hurt from the pull I felt toward Ethan Morgan, Alpha of the Eclipse Shadow Pack. My mate.

No, I wouldn’t call him that. I couldn’t, and I never will.

I needed to get away. Somewhere I could think. Somewhere safe and peaceful. Going to that gathering was a bad idea.

I am finally here: Moonveil Sentinels Pack. This place has been my home since I was ten. I came here alone, shaking, hungry, and scared. The night my family was killed, I ran until my legs gave out, and I woke up there.

And it was here I met him.

Alpha Lucas.

The moment I stepped inside the gates, I caught his scent, soothing enough and something warm that had always made me feel calm. My wolf went still, and my heart slowed. I had spent years in this pack, learning how to fight, how to survive, how to control the strange power inside me, and it was all because of him.

I found him on the training grounds, a sword in his hand, his shirt damp with sweat. His hazel eyes caught mine, and for a moment, I felt like I was ten years old again, looking up at the man who had saved me.

“Elena,” he said, and my name came out softer than I’d ever heard from him.

“Alpha,” I said back with a small smile.

He walked toward me slowly, his eyes searching my face like he was trying to figure something out. Then he stopped right in front of me.

“It’s you,” he whispered.

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I can feel it, this time stronger now,” he said. “Like you’re mine.”

My stomach dropped.

I waited for the bond to hit me, for the rush of heat I had earlier felt, the pull in my chest. But there was nothing. No spark, no ache, no butterflies; it was just silence inside me.

And it hurt more than I thought it would. Because if fate had given me Alpha Lucas… maybe things would’ve been easier. He was the one who taught me everything. He was my shield when I was small and my guide when I was lost.

But he wasn’t mine.

“I don’t feel it,” I told him quietly.

His eyes dimmed, and I saw the pain before he could hide it. “Maybe it’s just slow,” he said. “Your heart hasn’t caught up yet, but I am sure you will feel it, and I will gladly mark you.”

I shook my head. “No, Lucas. If I were yours, I would know.”

The space between us grew heavy. I wanted to take the hurt from his face, but I couldn’t. This was the truth, and the truth was cruel.

**********

ETHAN'S POV

The Eclipse Shadow Pack was very quiet tonight. I stood on the balcony outside my room, staring at the forest beyond. My wolf was pacing inside me, unsettled. Every few seconds, I saw her in my mind, the girl from the gathering. Her unique eyes, that strange look she gave me.

It had been years since I felt anything close to this.

Flashback

The sun had been bright that day, the sky clear. Too clear for what was about to happen. I was nineteen, already carrying the title of future Alpha. We were tracking rogues near the border, moving fast through the trees.

She was with me, my first mate, and my first love.

She had been fearless. Quick with a smile, and quick with a blade. I thought nothing could touch us.

Then the arrow came.

It cut through the air, and silence came until it struck. It hit her square in the chest. Her eyes went wide, the breath leaving her in one sharp sound. I caught her before she fell, my hands pressing against the wound, but the blood kept coming, no matter how much I tried.

I shouted for help, but everything was a blur. Her lips moved, like she wanted to tell me something, but no sound came out.

And then she was gone.

That day, something inside me shut down. I promised myself I would never love again. Love makes you weak. Love could be taken from you within a second.

Present

And now… her.

The girl with eyes that awaken something in me. The one who looked at me like I was the last person she wanted in her life.

A memory stirred at the back of my mind, one I had pushed away for years. The prophecy.

It was told before I was born, spoken by a seer my father trusted. The Alpha’s fated mate will die. Another will emerge, and with her lies his hope. If the curse is not broken, it will happen again and again until the Alpha bloodline is no more.

I had never fully believed it, but when my first mate died in my arms, I began to wonder if the curse was real. If I were doomed to lose anyone, fate gave me.

And now I was feeling that pull again.

“Alpha?”

I turned to see Julian, my Beta, walking toward me.

“You seem far away,” she said. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” I answered, though my voice didn’t sound convincing.

Julian hesitated, then took a step closer. “I think… this is the right time to confess something to you. I know it might be forbidden, but you’re the Alpha.”

I stayed silent, waiting.

She drew in a slow breath, her eyes locked on mine. “I love you… and I want you to mark me as your mate.”