Aria's POV
The full moon shone brightly on the sacred grove, casting long shadows over the gathered crowd. Every wolf, from the lowest omega to the highest-ranking elder, stood silent, their heads bowed in reverence. The Choosing Ceremony had begun.
I stood between the two princes, Kael, the firstborn, tall and composed with eyes that shone with kindness and intelligence and then his younger brother, Ronan, with the spark of ambition in his sharp eyes and a smirk that rarely left his face.
My heart should have been calm. This was tradition, every daughter of a First Elder was bound by the moon's decree to marry one of the Alpha King's sons. It was the law. And today, the moon would choose. But my heart wasn't calm, rather it was tensed. Because while all three of us had grown up together, learned to shift under the same blood moon, and trained on the same mountain paths, it was Kael who had my heart. It had always been Kael.
He was strong, patient, and loyal. He was the one who scaled the cliffs at sixteen to bring me a rare bloom that only grew beneath the frozen ridge. He was the one who found me the night I failed my first transformation and held me, whispered that I was more than worthy.
And now… I might lose him.
The moment the Moon Deity stepped forward, my breath caught. Dressed in ceremonial black robes beautified with lunar silver, the Prophetess raised her hands. Her blind eyes were covered, but she saw deeper than any of us.
"The stars have aligned. The will of the Moon is clear," she intoned.
My legs trembled.
"The Heir, by celestial law, shall be... Prince Ronan."
Gasps erupted through the crowd.
Kael didnt move. His jaw tightened, his eyes locked forward. But when I turned to look at him, my soul nearly shattered. The pain in his eyes were so visible that I could feel it my bone.
I tore my gaze away.
Ronan turned toward me, pride shining like a torch in his eyes. He stepped closer, grasped my hand. "The Moon has spoken," he said, loud enough for all to hear. His voice held triumph, but I didn't respond. I didn't have the strength to.
"The bond must be sealed," the Prophetess continued. "Only then shall the union be complete and the Heir rise to his destiny."
Silence fell.
The chamber awaited us behind the altar—a sacred place blessed by the Moon herself. To complete the rite, Ronan would claim me, mate me and mark me.
My legs felt like stone as I stepped forward, Ronan guiding me with his firm hand. Every step I took was a goodbye. Goodbye to Kael. Goodbye to the boy who once promised he'd never let me go.
Some said the bond could be resisted — but at great cost so no one ever dared to resist it. The Moon's choice was considered divine law in Blackwood Pack, and I had no choice but to obey.
Kael knew that too, that's why he didn't speak, why he stood there, frozen, as everything we were shattered around us.
Inside the chamber, the heavy wooden door shut behind us, muffling the murmurs outside. The scent of herbs and moon flowers filled the air, but nothing could drown out the ache blooming in my chest.
I was his now.
Not by choice.
But by the will of the Moon.
My footsteps felt numb against the stone floor. For a moment, we both remained silent. I could feel Ronan's gaze burning into me—full of victory, full of possession, but all I could think of was Kael.
He was out there, somewhere beyond the ceremony grounds, nursing a broken heart and a betrayed soul. The image twisted something deep inside me. His eyes haunted me—dark, stormy, and full of a pain that words couldn't hold. That look when the prophetess named his younger brother. That look when I couldn't even hold his stare.
Ronan stepped closer, closing the space between us, and my breath caught—not from desire, but dread. His hand reached for my cheek, brushing my skin with a gentleness that felt strange. "You're mine now," he said, voice deep and hoarse. "Say it."
I couldn't. My throat locked around the words. My silence didn't stop him.
His mouth claimed mine—demanding and urgent. I let him kiss me. I let my lips move against his. But I felt nothing. No spark. No warmth. My body obeyed, but my mind floated somewhere far away.
When he stripped me, it was slow, reverent, like he thought this meant something beautiful. My dress slid from my shoulders and pooled at my feet. I stood bare, not with pride, but with a quiet hollowness. My wolf stirred inside, uncertain. Confused. She recognized the bond for what it was—sacred, irreversible—but her howls echoed with sorrow.
Ronan's hands roamed my body, lips trailing heat along my skin. He kissed places that once made me shiver, but I only felt cold beneath the fire. I closed my eyes, not to feel deeper, but to escape.
Kael's smile appeared on my mind. The dimple on one cheek. The way he laughed at my silly jokes. The way he used to look at me like I was the only thing that mattered. That Kael was gone. That version of me—his Aria was gone too.
Ronan guided me to the furs, parting my legs gently. "Look at me," he said. "Let me see you when I take you."
I obeyed—not because I wanted to, but because I didn't have the strength to refuse.
He entered me in one deep thrust, and I gasped. The pressure was strange. The rhythm—steady, relentless—pulled sounds from my lips, but they meant nothing. My body responded, but it felt like watching someone else from the outside. Like I'd stepped out of myself, leaving only skin and instinct behind.
I bit my lip hard, trying to feel something real. But even pain betrayed me.
Ronan whispered against my cheek, called me perfect, called me his but I didn't answer.
He moved faster, claiming me as the bond pulsed stronger and I let him. But my mind kept replaying the memories of Kael's touch, Kael's laugh, Kael's voice saying my name like a prayer.
But none of it was real anymore.
Ronan pulled me onto my hands and knees and took me again from behind, harder this time. I didn't fight him. I just let myself go numb, sinking into that hollow place inside of me where love used to live. The room was filled with the sound of our bodies, but inside me, the silence was deafening.
And then came the bite.
His fangs sank into my skin, sealing my fate. I gasped—not from the pain, but from the overwhelming sense of loss. The bond sealed, locking us together with a force stronger than choice. My wolf whimpered. My soul hushed.
It was done.
I was marked. Claimed. Bound to a future I hadn't chosen.
Tears slid down my cheeks. Not for Ronan. Not for the bond. But for Kael. For what we lost. For what I gave up without even lifting a hand to stop it.
For the part of me that would never return.