Chapter 1 – The Night I Lost Everything
The full moon hung low, bleeding silver light over Silver Claw Pack territory.
Tonight I turned eighteen. Tonight I would finally meet my wolf. Tonight I would find my mate.
I stood at the edge of the ceremonial circle in my only decent dress (a faded blue thing I’d sewn myself) while the entire pack gathered around the bonfire. Their whispers crawled over my skin like ants.
“Weak little Riya…”
“No wolf yet… probably defective.”
“Omega trash.”
I kept my head down, clutching the hem of my dress. Three years of beatings, scraps for food, and sleeping in the attic had taught me silence was safer than tears.
Then the wind shifted.
A scent slammed into me (pine, storm, and raw power). My knees buckled.
Mate.
Across the fire stood Aarav Singhania, the future Alpha.
Six-foot-four of pure muscle, black hair falling into golden eyes, jaw sharp enough to cut glass. Every she-wolf in the pack drooled over him.
His gaze locked on me.
My heart exploded with hope.
He crossed the circle in three strides. The pack fell silent.
I lifted my chin, ready for the claim, ready to finally belong.
Aarav stopped in front of me.
His lips curled into a sneer.
“I, Aarav Singhania, future Alpha of Silver Claw Pack, reject you, Riya Sharma, as my mate and Luna.”
The words hit harder than any fist ever had.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
I staggered. “W-what…?”
He grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet his cold eyes.
“You’re weak. An omega with no wolf. You will never stand beside me.”
Tears burned, but I refused to let them fall.
His Beta, Vikram, laughed. “Look, the trash is shaking.”
Aarav released me like I was diseased.
“Effective immediately, you are banished. Leave before sunrise, or the warriors will drag you out.”
The pack cheered.
I ran.
Barefoot through thorns, blood trailing behind me, until the howls faded and the forest swallowed me whole.
Under that same cruel moon, something inside me snapped.
I fell to my knees, claws ripping through my fingertips for the first time.
Silver flames licked across my skin (not red, not gold, but pure, blinding silver).
A voice (ancient, royal, furious) echoed in my skull.
“Crimson Moon bloodline awakens. Rise, heiress. They will kneel.”
I tilted my head back and screamed.
The rejected omega was dead.
The royal wolf was born.
And Aarav Singhania?
He just made the biggest mistake of his life.
To be continued💌
