(Damien's POV)
The moment her scent hit me, my chest tightened like a curse I could not break free from. Sweet, delicate, like wild lilies after the rain. It filled every corner of the Alpha hall and sank into my veins. My wolf, Kael, surged forward instantly, growling with fierce hunger and recognition.
Mate.
That one word thundered through me, shaking me to the core. My heart slammed against my ribs. My gaze snapped toward her. She was standing quietly among the pack members, almost too quiet, too small to be noticed at first glance. But to me, she glowed brighter than the moon itself.
Her wide eyes met mine for the briefest second. Fear. Shock. A flicker of hope.
The bond tugged hard. The pull between us was undeniable. Kael howled inside, desperate to claim her, to rush across the hall and wrap her in my arms. But the human part of me, the Alpha part, froze.
No.
This couldn't be.
Not her.
Of all the women in the world, of all the powerful she-wolves and noble daughters of strong Alphas, the Moon Goddess had chosen her? A fragile, rejected orphan with nothing to her name? The daughter of a traitor?
Kael raged, clawing at the edges of my control. She is ours. She is our mate. You cannot deny this.
But I could. And I would.
I clenched my jaw, pushing back the pull, pushing back the fire that burned in my veins at the sight of her. The pack didn't need a weak Luna. I didn't need a mate who would become my weakness. My duty was bigger than this cursed bond.
I stepped forward, my Alpha aura filling the hall. The pack fell silent. Their eyes followed me as I walked straight toward her. I saw the way her body tensed, the way her lips trembled. Hope flickered again in her eyes, as though she thought I would reach for her hand, accept her before them all, and seal our fate.
Instead, I let my voice cut through the silence like ice.
"You are not my mate."
Her lips parted, her breath caught in her throat. The words struck her like a blade, sharp and cruel, but I forced them out anyway.
"I, Alpha Damien Blackwood, reject you."
Gasps filled the hall. Whispers spread like wildfire. I could feel the shock ripple through the pack, their disbelief at hearing their Alpha reject his fated mate so openly. Some looked at me with confusion, others with pity for her.
She swayed slightly, like my words had knocked the ground from under her.
Kael roared inside me, clawing and snapping, furious at what I had done. His pain was my pain, but I pushed him back with sheer will. I could not afford weakness.
She tried to speak, but no sound came out. Her hands trembled at her sides, her knuckles white. Tears shimmered in her eyes, but she held them back, standing as tall as she could despite the rejection.
I hated the way my heart twisted at the sight. I hated that part of me wanted to take the words back, to pull her close and tell her she belonged with me.
But I hardened myself. I turned away, showing her my back before I could falter.
"Leave," I ordered.
The command was final, heavy with Alpha authority.
For a moment, silence clung to the air like a suffocating blanket. Then, I heard her broken steps retreating. Slow at first, then quicker, as though she wanted to run far from the humiliation, from me.
Kael howled again, his pain shaking my chest. You fool! You are killing us both.
I closed my eyes, fighting the storm inside. My fists clenched so tight my nails cut into my palms. But I refused to turn around. I refused to let the bond rule me.
When her scent finally faded from the hall, leaving me colder than I had ever felt, I allowed myself a single, shaky breath.
The pack shifted uneasily, but no one dared speak. They wouldn't question me, not openly. They knew better. I was their Alpha, their strength. If they thought me heartless, then so be it. I could bear their whispers.
But her face- those wounded eyes, would haunt me long after this night.
Later that night, I stood alone on the balcony of the Alpha house, staring at the silver glow of the full moon. My chest burned as if fire lived beneath my skin. Kael had gone silent, sulking, his grief too deep for words.
I had rejected her, but the bond remained. That was the cruel truth. Every part of me still craved her, still wanted to run to her. Denying her hadn't freed me; it had chained me even tighter.
I gripped the railing, my knuckles pale.
This was the right choice. It had to be. I couldn't lead my pack with a weak Luna by my side. My enemies were many, my responsibilities heavier than most could imagine. One wrong move, one vulnerability, and the pack would pay the price.
And she- she would be that vulnerability.
Yet, deep down, I knew I had just made the greatest mistake of my life.
The next morning, I received word that she had vanished. Left the pack lands entirely. No one knew where she had gone, only that she had disappeared under the cover of darkness.
Relief should have been my first reaction. But it wasn't. Instead, a strange panic gripped me. My wolf stirred again, restless, snarling.
"She's gone," my Beta, Marcus, reported quietly. "Do you want us to track her?"
I hesitated. The Alpha in me wanted to say no. To let her go, to erase her existence from my world. But Kael's furious growl echoed in my chest, tearing me apart.
"Find her," I said finally, my voice sharper than I intended. "But don't let her know you're watching. I just want to know where she is."
Marcus nodded, though his eyes narrowed slightly, like he didn't understand why I cared at all.
I didn't explain. How could I? How could I admit that even after rejecting her, my soul still burned for her?
That night, I lay awake, haunted by the memory of her tearful eyes. The bond had been set. The rejection didn't erase it, it only poisoned it. Her pain was mine. Her loneliness, mine too.
And somewhere, deep inside, I knew this wasn't the end of our story.
The Moon Goddess had bound us for a reason. And no matter how hard I tried to fight it, fate had a way of circling back.
But when I finally closed my eyes, Kael's voice rose again from the shadows of my mind, cold and unforgiving.
You rejected her, Damien. And when the time comes, you will regret it more than death itself.
What Damien doesn't know is that his rejection will set off a chain of events that no Alpha can control. His mate carries a secret that will change not only his fate but the entire pack's destiny. And when she returns, she will not be the same broken girl he turned away…