CLAIMED THEN CAST ASIDE

🌕 Chapter One: The Night She Was Claimed

The moon hung heavy over the forest, casting a silver glow on everything below. Lanterns flickered in the trees. Music drifted through the air—soft, eerie, ancient. This was no ordinary night.

Tonight was the Calling Moon, when unmated wolves from every bloodline gathered for one purpose: to find the mate fate had chosen for them.

Selene stood at the edge of the clearing, her hands trembling.

Her dress was simple. Black, long, clinging to her curves in all the wrong ways. It wasn’t silk like the others wore. Just soft cotton. She felt like a ghost among royalty.

She wasn’t even supposed to be here. Omegas like her didn’t belong at elite ceremonies.

But the invitation had come—signed, sealed, and delivered by the High Council itself. She had no idea why. No idea who had made that decision. But once summoned, you didn’t say no.

So here she was. A nobody standing under moonlight meant for kings and queens.

“Stop fidgeting,” her friend whispered beside her. “You look fine.”

“I shouldn’t be here, Maya. I don’t belong.”

Maya rolled her eyes. “Maybe not. But you were called. That means something.”

Selene didn’t answer. Her heart was too loud.

Her eyes scanned the crowd. Alphas from every region stood like wolves in suits—too powerful, too polished. Their wolves stirred beneath their skin, eyes flashing gold, silver, and deep red. Some already had women wrapped around them. Others waited, tense.

And then... she saw him.

Kael Draven.

Her breath caught.

Tall. Cold. Dangerous.

He stood alone under a tree, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a glass of something expensive. His jaw was sharp. His eyes unreadable. Everyone knew who he was—the heir to the Draven pack. Richest Alpha in the northern territories. Ruthless. Unmated.

Selene looked away quickly. Men like him didn’t even notice girls like her.

A sharp bell rang. Everything went silent.

A woman stepped forward, wearing a white ceremonial robe. Her eyes glowed faintly with power.

“Let the moon speak,” she said.

And the music stopped.

A low hum filled the air. The crowd stilled. The firelight flickered. Every heartbeat seemed to slow, the world narrowing.

This was the moment.

If the Moon Goddess chose your mate tonight, you would feel it. A pull. A burn. A voice inside your soul whispering their name.

Selene shut her eyes.

Please don’t let me feel anything. Please don’t let me embarrass myself.

But then…

A heat bloomed in her chest.

Her breath hitched.

Her wolf stirred awake, suddenly alert.

Mate.

Selene’s eyes snapped open.

And across the clearing, Kael Draven turned to look directly at her.

Their eyes locked.

Time stopped.

Her knees nearly buckled. The pull between them was instant—hard and sharp like a hook in her chest. His eyes widened just a fraction. His body went still.

The fire crackled louder than before.

A gasp rippled through the crowd.

Selene’s heart pounded.

No. No, this had to be wrong.

But then Kael began walking toward her.

Slow. Sure. Controlled.

Every eye followed him. Every breath held.

He stopped right in front of her. His scent—leather, smoke, and danger—wrapped around her like a blanket.

“You feel it too,” he said, voice low.

Selene couldn’t speak.

He didn’t smile. Didn’t touch her. He just stared, like he was trying to convince himself of something.

Then—without warning—he reached forward and brushed her hair off her shoulder.

His fingers burned.

And then he leaned down... and marked her.

Right there, in front of everyone, Kael Draven sank his teeth into her neck.

Selene gasped. Her body lit up like lightning. The bond was sealed. It was done.

The pack went wild.

Cheers. Growls. Shock.

But Kael didn’t cheer. He didn’t claim her. He just pulled back, wiped the blood from his lips, and walked away.

Selene stood frozen.

Her knees gave out, and Maya rushed to catch her.

“What just happened?” Selene whispered, voice shaking. “What did he do?”

Maya stared after him. “He… he marked you. You’re his now.”

Then why did he look like he regretted it?

Why did it feel like she had just been claimed and abandoned in the same breath?

---

Selene didn’t sleep that night.

Not after what happened.

Not after Kael Draven—the most feared Alpha alive—walked across the sacred clearing, marked her without warning… and then vanished into the night without another word.

No invitation to his estate.

No escort.

No claim.

Just silence.

She sat in the tiny guest room provided to her—her neck still sore where his teeth had pierced her skin. The mark pulsed softly, reminding her it wasn’t a dream.

It was real.

He marked me, she thought again and again. But why would he do that if he didn’t want me?

She stared at her reflection in the mirror.

Her lips were pale. Her eyes wide and hollow.

Was it a mistake?

Did the Moon Goddess… get it wrong?

---

At sunrise, a loud knock banged on the door. Before she could answer, Maya burst in, eyes panicked.

“Come downstairs. Now.”

Selene stood up, heart racing. “What happened?”

Maya didn’t speak. She just grabbed her hand and pulled her through the hall, down the winding stairs, out to the courtyard where the entire pack had gathered.

Kael stood at the center.

He wore a black suit, perfect and cold. His expression was blank.

To his left stood the High Council. To his right, Zara Crowne—the Alpha female of the neighboring pack. Tall, graceful, venom behind her eyes.

Selene’s stomach dropped.

The same woman Kael had been rumoured to marry.

“What is this?” Selene whispered.

But before she could step back, a voice rang out:

“I have something to say.”

Kael.

Selene’s heart froze.

Kael didn’t look at her. He looked straight ahead.

“Last night, under the Calling Moon, I was bonded by fate to a female chosen by the Goddess.”

Murmurs.

“She was… not the mate I expected.”

More murmurs.

“And I’ve made a decision.”

He turned then—slowly—and looked at her. Straight in the eyes.

“In front of my pack, and the Council, I reject Selene Ravara as my mate.”

The words echoed like thunder.

Selene’s mouth parted. The world tilted.

“I reject the bond,” Kael continued. “I will not claim her. I do not accept her.”

Someone gasped.

Selene couldn’t breathe.

Her legs trembled.

“No…” Maya whispered beside her.

Kael’s voice was like ice. “The bond means nothing. It was a mistake.”

Selene stumbled back, nearly falling.

Every eye turned to her.

The pity. The shame.

She had been marked… then publicly discarded like a broken object.

A wave of heat swept through her chest, up her throat, into her head. Her wolf cried out in pain. But Selene didn’t make a sound.

She walked away.

---

The train station smelled like oil and cold metal. Selene sat in the last car, staring out the window, her hand pressed tightly over the mark on her neck.

It still throbbed.

Not from the wound—but from the bond ripping inside her.

She didn’t cry. Not yet.

She just stared.

As the train began to move, something strange fluttered in her stomach.

Not the ache of heartbreak.

Something… deeper.

Lower.

She pressed her hand there.

A sudden heat. A small wave of nausea. A spark of energy.

She froze.

No. It couldn’t be.

Her hands trembled as she whispered aloud, “Please don’t let it be what I think it is…”

But her wolf stirred weakly.

Protectively.

Her heart pounded.

Her body already knew.

She was pregnant.