"Tradition demanded we honor the moon. Destiny demanded I face him."
The Academy hummed with restless energy that made my wolf pace frantically beneath my skin.
Banners of silver silk and deep indigo velvet draped the ancient stone walls, their metallic threads catching the afternoon light like captured starlight. Paper lanterns strung high across the courtyards swayed in the evening breeze, their warm glow competing with the silver radiance of the rising moon. Everywhere I walked, I felt the undercurrent of excitement threading through the student body like an electric current-wolves preparing for one of our most sacred traditions.
The Festival of Moons came only twice a year, when the lunar cycle reached its peak power and the goddess who first gifted our kind with the mate bond was said to walk among us. It was an ancient celebration that predated the Academy itself, older than the pack structures that governed our modern world, reaching back to when wolves first learned to shift between human and animal form.
For most students, tonight would be a celebration of everything our society held sacred-pride in their bloodlines, joy in their pack bonds, and most importantly, public acknowledgment between fated mates. The ceremony would see dozens of couples step forward to receive the moon's blessing on their unions, their bonds sealed before the goddess and witnessed by their peers.
For me, it was a nightmare I couldn't escape no matter how desperately I wanted to hide in my dormitory until sunrise.
The whispers had been building all day, growing sharper and more cutting with each passing hour as students prepared for the festivities. My enhanced hearing picked up every cruel comment, every speculative murmur, every pitying observation that followed in my wake.
"Can you imagine having to stand alone during the blessing ceremony?"
"She'll be utterly humiliated. The poor thing."
"No Alpha would ever claim her publicly, not after Fenrir's brutal rejection."
"I heard she's not even planning to attend. Too ashamed."
I held my head high despite the dread pooling in my stomach like acid, each measured step a small act of rebellion against their expectations. My wolf stirred restlessly beneath my skin, the mate bond vibrating with increasing intensity as the moon climbed higher in the darkening sky. It was as if the lunar energy itself was amplifying the supernatural connection I'd been fighting so hard to ignore.
The sensation was becoming unbearable-like having a tuning fork struck directly against my heart, the resonance growing stronger with each beat.
Celeste found me in our shared dormitory room, her arms full of shimmering fabric that made my chest tighten with anxiety. Her gentle face was set with the kind of determination that meant arguing would be pointless.
"You can't skip the festival," she said firmly, dropping the ceremonial white gown across my narrow bed like a gauntlet thrown down in challenge.
I stared at the dress with the same expression I might reserve for a venomous snake. The fabric seemed to glow with its own inner light, simple in design but striking in its ethereal beauty. It was cut in the traditional style-flowing sleeves that would catch the moonlight, a fitted bodice that would showcase the wearer's figure, a skirt that would move like liquid silver when she walked.
It was designed to make the wearer look like a goddess worthy of the moon's blessing. On me, it would only emphasize how alone I'd be standing in that courtyard.
"Why not?" I muttered, fingering the delicate material. "It's not like anyone's waiting to claim me. I'll just be another spectacle for their entertainment."
Celeste's expression softened with understanding, but her voice remained steady and unyielding. "Because hiding in the shadows only gives them more power over you. Walk into that courtyard with your head held high, Elara. Show them that their cruelty can't break you."
Her words hit deeper than I wanted to admit. I brushed my fingers across the ceremonial fabric, feeling the weight of tradition and expectation settling into my bones like lead. The Festival of Moons wasn't just a celebration-it was a display of strength, of belonging, of one's place in the complex hierarchy that governed our world.
By staying away, I'd be admitting defeat. I'd be proving every whispered insult right.
"Fine," I whispered, the word tasting like ashes in my mouth. "But if I humiliate myself beyond redemption, I'm blaming you."
Celeste's smile was equal parts relief and determination. "I'll take that risk."
With her patient help, I slipped into the ceremonial gown. The fabric whispered against my skin like cool water, flowing and weightless in a way that made me feel like I was wearing moonlight itself. My dark hair was braided with intricate knots and threaded through with silver ribbon that caught the lamplight, while Celeste applied just enough color to my face to bring out the fire in my eyes without looking overdone.
When I finally caught my reflection in the small mirror mounted on our dormitory wall, I barely recognized the young woman staring back at me. The girl in the glass looked like she belonged among the festival's otherworldly glow, like she'd stepped out of some ancient legend about moon goddesses and their chosen children.
But the constant ache in my chest reminded me that appearances could be deceiving.
"The bond," I whispered, pressing one hand flat against my ribs where the supernatural connection thrummed like a second heartbeat. It was growing stronger by the minute, my wolf clawing against the mental barriers I'd constructed to contain her. Every breath carried the phantom echo of pine forests and winter storms-his scent, even when he was nowhere near.
Celeste touched my shoulder gently, her fingers warm through the thin fabric of my gown. "You'll get through this. You're so much stronger than you give yourself credit for."
I nodded, though her reassuring words did little to calm the storm of anxiety and desperate hope warring in my chest.
By the time we joined the flood of students making their way to the festival grounds, the full moon had risen like a silver coin against the velvet sky, painting the Academy's ancient stonework in ethereal light. The main courtyard had been transformed into something from a fairy tale-hundreds of paper lanterns swaying overhead like captured stars, tables laden with traditional foods, and a raised platform where the ceremony would take place.
Students filled every available space, their laughter and animated chatter weaving through the haunting music of drums and wooden flutes played by Academy musicians. Wolves from every major pack bloodline mingled freely, some already walking hand-in-hand with their acknowledged mates, others waiting nervously for the ceremonial blessing that would seal their bonds before the goddess and their assembled peers.
The air was thick with excitement and supernatural energy, making my skin prickle with awareness.
I walked through the crowd with my chin raised and my spine straight, though my heart hammered against my ribs hard enough that I was amazed the sound wasn't audible to every enhanced ear in the vicinity. Each step felt like another small victory against the whispers that followed in my wake like persistent shadows.
"She actually came. The nerve."
"Look at her pretending she belongs here."
"This is going to be painful to watch."
My pride kept me from crumbling under their casual cruelty, but my wolf kept me from fleeing back to the safety of my room. The mate bond sang in my chest with increasing urgency, a deep and unrelenting pulse that seemed to guide my gaze across the festival grounds with magnetic certainty.
And there, standing apart from the swirling crowd like a dark pillar of strength, was Darius Fenrir.
He wore ceremonial white that seemed to have been cut specifically for his powerful frame, the fabric emphasizing the breadth of his shoulders and the lean strength of his build. The traditional garments caught the moonlight against his dark hair and sharp jaw, transforming him into something that belonged in ancient legends rather than modern Academy politics.
Even from across the courtyard, his presence radiated the kind of dominance that commanded attention without effort. Students instinctively moved around him like water flowing around a stone, their supernatural senses responding to his Alpha nature whether they realized it or not.
But his burning eyes weren't focused on the festival decorations or the celebrating students or the rising moon that blessed our kind.
They were locked on me with laser intensity.
The mate bond tightened around my chest like a rope suddenly pulled taut, stealing what little breath I had left. My wolf threw herself against my mental barriers with renewed desperation, howling for her mate with a longing that made my bones ache. I stood frozen in the middle of the celebrating crowd, my heart lodged somewhere in my throat, as Darius began to move.
The sea of students seemed to part for him naturally, as though the moonlight itself was clearing his path. Every step he took carried the weight of inevitability, drawing him closer across the courtyard until the very air between us crackled with supernatural electricity.
Conversations died away as people noticed his approach. Whispers sharpened into cutting speculation as dozens of pairs of eyes turned to witness whatever was about to unfold. The festival's joyful atmosphere shifted into something breathless and anticipatory, like the moment before lightning strikes.
When Darius finally reached me, the silence that rippled across the courtyard was so complete I could hear the paper lanterns rustling overhead in the evening breeze. Every gaze in the vicinity had turned our direction, every supernatural sense focused on the drama playing out beneath the goddess's silver light.
He stopped directly in front of me, close enough that I could see the flecks of gold in his dark eyes, close enough that his scent wrapped around me like a physical embrace. His expression was unreadable, carved from stone and moonlight, giving nothing away about his intentions.
The mate bond thrummed between us like a living thing, demanding acknowledgment.
And then, slowly and deliberately, as if he were making the most important decision of his life, Darius Fenrir extended his hand toward me in the traditional gesture of claiming one's mate before the goddess and their assembled pack.