The night air trembled with drums and wolf howls, but Evelyn Pierce only felt the weight of her loneliness. She stood at the edge of the Blood Moon festival, her fingers raw from cleaning the floors she was never invited to dance upon. Nineteen years old, unshifted, unwanted, forgotten.
She was nobody.
Until the earth itself seemed to bow.
The ground shook beneath her feet, and silence swept over the crowd like a wave. From the treeline, shadows emerged rows of warriors cloaked in black, their golden eyes glowing like predators in the dark. Dominance rolled off them in crushing waves, and Evelyn's knees nearly gave out beneath the force of it.
Then he appeared.
The Alpha King.
He was taller than any man she had ever seen, his midnight cloak flowing like spilled ink, his chest broad and hard beneath leather armor. The firelight caught the sharp angles of his face, carved in power and danger. But it was his golden eyes, commanding, that stole the air from her lungs.
The crowd gasped and fell to their knees. Evelyn couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. Her wolf, silent for years, howled awake in her chest, clawing against her skin, screaming a single word.
Mate.
Her heart stuttered. "No…" she whispered, trembling.
His gaze locked on hers. And at that moment, everything she had ever feared, everything she had ever longed for, collided in a violent spark of fate.
The Alpha King tilted his head, a slow, predatory smirk curving his lips. As though he could hear the frantic beat of her heart. As though he already owned it.
The bond snapped into place like chains.
And Evelyn Pierce realized the truth.
She was no longer a nobody.
She belonged to the most powerful man in the world.
And he would never let her go.
Whispers rippled through the crowd.
"Impossible."
"She's nothing, just an orphan."
"The King's mate? The Goddess must be mistaken."
Evelyn's stomach twisted. Every eye in the pack was on her now. Pity. Scorn. Envy. Rage.
Alpha Dorian stepped forward, his voice shaking as he tried to mask his fear. 'M… My King. This girl… she cannot. "
The Alpha King raised a single hand, and silence fell like a blade. His warriors stilled. His aura crushed the air until even Dorian's lips clamped shut.
Then, his voice, low, deep, filled with authority, slid into Evelyn's very bones.
"Come here."
The words weren't a request. They were a command. Her wolf leaped to obey instantly, her feet stumbling forward before her mind could protest. Her heart pounded in her throat. She wanted to resist, to scream, to run, but the bond burned hotter with every step.
When she finally stood before him, close enough to see the scar running along his jaw and the heat in his eyes, Evelyn's breath broke in a shaky gasp.
The Alpha King lowered his head until his lips brushed her ear, his voice a dangerous whisper meant only for her.
"You feel it, don't you? The fire. The bond."
Her pulse raced. She hated the truth in his words. She hated that every nerve in her body screamed yes.
"Y-You're wrong," she whispered back, though her voice trembled. "I don't belong to you."
His lips curved into a dark smile. "Oh, little one… you already do."
He pulled back, his eyes burning gold, his hand rising to touch her chin. The world seemed to vanish the bonfire, the crowd, the whispers, everything disappeared until only his touch mattered.
The King's voice dropped, soft but lethal, a vow that sent shivers racing through her:
"I am Darius Blackthorn. Alpha King. And from this night forward, you are mine."
The crowd erupted in shock. Evelyn's knees weakened, her breath shattering as the bond roared inside her like wildfire.
And just as she thought she might collapse under the weight of his claim, the King straightened and turned to the crowd, his aura flaring so fiercely that wolves cowered before him.
"Anyone who dares touch her," he declared, "dares challenge me."
Gasps filled the night.
Evelyn's heart thundered in her chest, her body betraying her with heat and fear. She had never wanted chains. But now she wore the heaviest of all chains forged by the Moon Goddess herself.
The Alpha King had claimed her.
And there would be no escape.