Chapter 2 – Marked by the Moon
POV: Seren Thorne
He stepped from the shadows like a nightmare dressed in moonlight.
Kael Draven — heir to the Nightfang Pack, born of blood and steel. His wolf form was massive, easily the largest I'd ever seen, coated in pitch-black fur that shimmered like obsidian under the blood moon. His golden eyes — glowing, wild, furious — locked onto mine and froze the air in my lungs.
The bond between us snapped tight, so sudden and forceful I stumbled backward a step, my claws digging into the frozen earth. Pain and heat pulsed through my spine, crawling up my ribcage like vines of fire, wrapping around my heart.
The mark.
The mate bond had formed.
I didn't want it.
He couldn't be mine.
Kael Draven was my enemy.
His father, Alpha Mavrik, had orchestrated the slaughter of my pack. His wolves had hunted mine through the eastern woods like prey, and I had watched my father die in the snow beneath their teeth. The Nightfangs had ruled through terror for decades, their territory soaked in the blood of those who dared defy them.
And now the Goddess had tied me to him?
My wolf howled inside me — not in fear, but in recognition. Her instincts surged forward, eager to close the distance, to press against him, to claim what was ours.
But I held her back.
Kael hadn't moved, not a single step. But I could feel his fury from across the clearing — coiled like a blade in his chest. Confusion. Rage. And underneath it… fear?
Then, slowly, he shifted.
Bones cracked. Fur rippled. The monster melted into a man, and there he stood — tall, powerful, and terrifying in the cold moonlight. Broad chest streaked with blood from an earlier fight, black hair damp with sweat, and eyes that burned with the same gold fire I had seen through the trees.
His voice was low, rough with disbelief. "No."
I flinched.
That single word shattered something inside me.
"No," he said again, louder this time, stepping toward me. "This isn't real."
I forced myself to shift too, the change slower, harder. Pain ripped through my spine, but I held onto it — used it to stay grounded, to stay angry.
When I stood before him, naked and trembling in the cold, I didn't look away. I met his eyes with all the defiance I had left.
"You think I wanted this?" I spat.
Kael's lips curled in something between a snarl and a sneer. "You're a Thorneblood. A cursed name. This… whatever this is — it's a mistake."
He turned, as if walking away would undo the bond.
"It doesn't work like that," I said, voice shaking. "You can't just walk away."
"I can reject it," he said darkly. "And I will."
The words landed like a dagger.
My wolf whimpered, the sound echoing through my bones.
I stood still, arms wrapped around myself, naked under the moon and shame, but I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I only stared at the boy fate had chosen for me — the boy who looked at me like I was poison.
"This isn't over," I said quietly.
He paused, glancing back over his shoulder, gold eyes dimming. "It never should've started."
Then he vanished into the trees, shadows swallowing him whole.
And just like that, the bond — still glowing raw and new — began to tear.
I dropped to my knees as it unraveled inside me, a thousand tiny blades slicing through the threads between us. My skin felt too tight. My heart beat too fast. I dug my fingers into the soil, panting.
The rejection had begun.
When I finally made it back to the camp clearing, I was barefoot and shaking, barely holding my human form together. I didn't remember the walk. I didn't remember shifting again. All I knew was that I was bleeding — not physically, but deeper.
Emotionally. Spiritually.
It felt like my soul was tearing down the middle.
A few heads turned as I passed — a murmur of whispers, wide eyes, expressions ranging from pity to amusement. Word spread fast in pack lands.
By dawn, everyone would know.
Seren Thorne had found her mate.
And he had rejected her.
I kept walking until I reached the farthest tent on the outer edge of the encampment. It wasn't much — just cloth and timber — but it was mine. I collapsed inside and pulled the furs over my shivering body.
I didn't cry.
Not for him. Not for the Moon Goddess. Not for the cruel fate that had ripped open something I never asked for, only to gut it in the same breath.
But my wolf did.
She howled inside me — a long, soul-wracking cry of heartbreak that echoed into the corners of my mind. I curled into myself and listened until sleep, heavy and cold, dragged me under.
Somewhere, in the dreams that followed, I heard a voice.
Soft. Familiar. Not my own.
"He may have rejected the bond… but the Goddess hasn't."