Luna's POV
I woke up at exactly midnight feeling like my whole body was on fire.
My skin felt too tight, like I might burst out of it. My heart was beating so fast I thought it might explode. There was this buzzing feeling under my skin, like electricity running through my blood.
"Happy birthday to me," I whispered to the empty room.
I was officially eighteen years old. I was officially an adult monster. And something inside me felt completely different.
I stumbled to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. My image shocked me. My brown eyes looked brighter, almost sparkling. My plain brown hair seemed shinier. Even my face looked different - nicer somehow.
But the biggest change was my smell. Instead of the boring, everyday smell I'd always had, I now smelled like vanilla and wildflowers and something sweet that made me feel dizzy.
"Oh wow," I breathed, touching my face in wonder.
This was "blooming." When omega werewolves turned eighteen, their scent changed to draw their destined mate. I'd heard older women talk about it, but feeling it was amazing.
I felt strong. I felt beautiful. For the first time in my life, I felt important.
But I also felt restless, like I needed to find someone. My new wolf senses were telling me to get dressed and go outside, even though it was the middle of the night.
I put on my best dress - the blue one I'd bought with my saved kitchen pay. It wasn't fancy, but it was mine and it made me feel pretty. I twisted my hair carefully and even put on lip gloss I'd been saving.
If I was going to meet my mate tonight, I wanted to look my best.
The regular pack meeting was being held in the great hall. I tried to slip quietly to an empty place in the back, but the moment I entered the room, everything changed.
Alpha Damon stopped talking mid-sentence. His head snapped up like he'd been hit by lightning, and his silver eyes swept across the crowd with desperate intensity.
I froze in the doorway, my heart beating in my chest.
Alpha Damon's gaze kept searching, going from face to face like he was hunting for something. His nostrils flared slightly, and I realized he was following a smell trail.
My scent trail.
"Continue the meeting, Alpha," Beta James said quietly, but Alpha Damon ignored him totally.
Those keen silver eyes finally found me standing by the doors, and the world stopped spinning.
I couldn't move. I couldn't move. I couldn't think about anything except the way Alpha Damon was looking at me like I was the answer to a question he'd been asking his whole life.
The pull between us was so strong it felt physical. Like an unseen rope was tied around my heart, tugging me toward him. My new wolf instincts screamed at me to run to him, to throw myself into his arms.
But my human brain was screaming: DANGER! THIS IS ALPHA DAMON STERLING! HE DOESN'T DO MATES!
The entire room had gone quiet. One by one, pack members turned to see what had caught their Alpha's attention. Whispers started spreading through the crowd.
"Is that Luna from the kitchen?"
"Why is Alpha Damon staring at her like that?"
"She looks different. Did she always look that pretty?"
"Is she... is she his mate?"
My cheeks burned with shame. Everyone was looking at me now, and I wanted to hide. But I couldn't move because Alpha Damon was still looking at me, and the mate bond was pulling me toward him like a magnet.
Slowly, like he was fighting against something unseen, Alpha Damon took a step toward me. Then another. The crowd parted automatically, making a clear path between us.
My feet started moving without my permission, carrying me toward him even though my brain was telling me to run. With each step, his smell got stronger - pine trees and winter rain and raw power that made my knees weak.
We met in the middle of the great hall, with three hundred pack members watching our every move.
"Luna," Alpha Damon said quietly, and my name sounded completely different in his deep voice. Like it meant something important.
"Alpha," I mumbled back, not sure what else to say.
He reached out slowly, like he was afraid I might disappear, and touched my cheek with one finger. The touch sent sparks shooting through my entire body.
"Your scent," he murmured, so softly that only I could hear. "It's impossible."
"What's impossible?" I asked, but I already knew the answer.
Alpha Damon's eyes were full of confusion and want and something that looked like fear. "You're not eighteen yet."
"I am now," I said softly. "As of midnight."
Something shifted in his face. The confusion vanished, replaced by a hunger so intense it made me step backward.
"Damon," a sharp voice cut through the stress.
We both turned to see Elder Marcus pushing through the crowd, his old face filled with worry.
"Alpha," Elder Marcus said respectfully, but his eyes were sending a clear message.
Alpha Damon blinked, and suddenly seemed to realize where we were. He dropped his hand from my face and stepped back, his look going cold.
"The meeting is over," he stated to the room. "Everyone return to your homes."
As pack members filed out, I could hear them talking excitedly.
"Did you see the way he looked at her?"
"She's definitely his mate. Poor girl has no idea what she's in for."
"Alpha Damon doesn't do mates. This should be interesting."
I stood there feeling confused and embarrassed and excited all at once. Alpha Damon was my mate. The most powerful, most handsome, most unattainable man in our world was actually meant to be with me.
But as the crowd cleared, I could see Alpha Damon's face clearly, and what I saw there made my stomach drop.
He looked scared.
"Luna," Elder Marcus said gently, "you should go to your room now."
"But—" I started.
"Go," Alpha Damon said sharply, not looking at me. "This never happened."
His words hit me like a slap. I felt tears start to burn behind my eyes, but I refused to cry in front of everyone.
"Yes, Alpha," I said quietly, and turned to leave.
I was almost to the doors when Alpha Damon's voice stopped me.
"Luna," he called out, and when I turned back, he was looking at me again with those hungry silver eyes. "Tomorrow night. After the pack party. Meet me in the rose garden."
My heart started racing again. "Why?"
Alpha Damon's jaw clenched like he was fighting with himself. "Because we need to talk about what this means."
I nodded and rushed out of the hall, my mind spinning. Alpha Damon wanted to meet me tomorrow night. Maybe he wasn't as scared as he seemed.
As I passed the kitchen, I heard voices coming from the storage room - angry, worried voices that made me stop and listen.
"The prophecy is starting," Elder Marcus was saying. "The three souls are coming together."
"It can't be her," Alpha Damon answered desperately. "She's just a kitchen worker."
"The Oracle doesn't make mistakes," Elder Marcus said strongly. "And you felt the bond awaken early. That only happens when the third soul is close."
My blood turned to ice.
"You think Marcus is here?" Alpha Damon asked. "You think my cousin is the third soul?"
"Tomorrow night, when Luna's transformation is complete, all three bonds will activate," Elder Marcus said seriously. "Luna won't just be your mate. She'll be bound to both of you. And the magic will demand she choose, or all three of you will die."
I pressed my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming.
Two mates? That was impossible.
But as I stood there in the dark, I remembered something strange. For months, I'd been having dreams about a guy with gentle hands and kind eyes who wasn't Alpha Damon. In my dreams, this other man would hold me and tell me everything would be okay.
What if those thoughts weren't random? What if somewhere out there, a man named Marcus was thinking about me too?
The storage room door started to open, and I ran to my room as fast as I could.
As I lay in bed, one thought kept repeating: Tomorrow night, everything would change. But now I wasn't sure if it would be good or bad.