The air in the Blackthorn Pack Hall was heavy with anticipation. Torches lined the stone walls, their flames crackling like restless whispers, casting long shadows that danced over the assembled wolves. Tonight was the coming-of-age ceremony, a night when the Moon chose to bless or curse, when bonds were forged—or shattered.
Selene Blackthorn stood at the edge of the hall, her heart hammering so loudly she swore the pack must hear it. Her eighteenth birthday. The night her wolf was expected to awaken fully. The night she would discover her fated mate.
She tugged at the sleeves of her deep crimson gown, a garment her father insisted she wear to reflect Blackthorn pride. The silk clung to her slender frame, but it did nothing to shield her from the weight of the stares that followed her. Eyes burned with disdain, lips curled into mocking smirks. She knew what they thought—what they whispered whenever she passed.
The Alpha's daughter, but weak. The Alpha's daughter, but unworthy. The Alpha's daughter, but alone.
Her father had always made certain she felt the sting of those words. Alpha Magnus Blackthorn was a man of iron, carved from ambition and power, and Selene was nothing but a disappointment to him.
Still, beneath the bitter humiliation, Selene nursed a fragile flame of hope. Tonight, fate might grant her someone who would see her worth. Someone who would look past the cold indifference of her father and the sneers of the pack. Someone who would make her feel less… forgotten.
Her gaze found him across the hall.
Lucian Hale.
The young Alpha heir of the neighboring Hale Pack stood with easy confidence, broad shoulders draped in midnight black, eyes the piercing silver of a winter's moon. His presence seemed to command every corner of the room, and when he smiled—gods, when he smiled—it was like the whole hall shifted closer to him. Wolves adored him. Warriors respected him. Even her father spoke of him with reluctant admiration.
Selene's wolf stirred weakly within her chest. Her breath caught. The pull between them snapped taut like a golden thread, unbreakable, undeniable. Her soul reached toward his, trembling with recognition.
He's mine, she thought, her heart leaping. He's my mate.
The Moon had chosen.
She took one hesitant step forward, lips parting to whisper his name. But before she could speak, Lucian's gaze locked with hers. Silver eyes, sharp as a blade, cut through her hope with merciless clarity.
His smile vanished.
"No," he said, his voice ringing out, hard and cold. The word silenced the hall. "The Moon Goddess may have chosen you, Selene Blackthorn, but I reject you."
The world seemed to tilt. Selene's stomach dropped, her pulse crashing in her ears. For a heartbeat, she thought she had misheard him, that perhaps this was some cruel jest.
But Lucian's expression was carved from stone. He lifted his chin, his tone sharpened like a dagger.
"You will never be my Luna. I refuse the bond."
Gasps rippled through the hall. Murmurs rose like a storm, wolves leaning in, eyes glittering with hungry cruelty.
Selene's throat closed. The bond between them snapped painfully, like glass shattering inside her chest. Her wolf let out a keening wail in her mind, claws scraping desperately against the cage of her ribs. Tears pricked her eyes, but she bit them back, refusing to let them fall.
Behind Lucian, a woman stepped forward, her beauty radiant and cruel. Seraphina Vale. Raven-haired, green-eyed, with a smile that dripped venom. She slid her arm through Lucian's with the ease of someone who had already claimed him.
"Did you hear that, Selene?" Seraphina's voice dripped with mockery. "Even fate couldn't make him want you."
Laughter rippled among the pack. Wolves grinned, some openly sneering, others whispering words she could still hear.
Unwanted. Rejected. Weak.
Selene's eyes darted toward her father. Alpha Magnus sat in his carved oak chair at the head of the hall, watching with a face as cold as granite. His jaw clenched, his eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. No defense. No protest.
Not even a flicker of pity.
The weight of betrayal pressed down on her chest, heavier than Lucian's rejection, heavier than the pack's laughter. Her father had abandoned her long before this night—but now it was clear: she stood utterly alone.
Lucian's voice cut through the hall once more, striking the final blow.
"Seraphina will be my Luna. She has the strength, the cunning, the loyalty my pack deserves. The Goddess may have bound me to Selene, but I choose differently. My heart, my future, belongs to Seraphina."
Seraphina tilted her head, basking in the adoration of the crowd. Her lips curved in a victorious smirk.
Selene swayed on her feet, her hands curling into fists at her sides. Every part of her wanted to scream, to fight, to demand why. But her father's voice echoed in her memory—weak, useless, unwanted.
The hall blurred.
Pain tore through her chest as if her heart had been clawed open. Her wolf whimpered inside her, wounded and small. Still, Selene forced herself to stand tall.
If they wanted her broken, they would not see her bow.
Her voice trembled, but she spoke, lifting her chin. "If you reject me, then so be it. But know this, Lucian Hale—one day, you will regret it."
The hall erupted again, laughter rolling like thunder. To them, her words were nothing but a weakling's desperate bluff.
But Selene clung to the faintest ember inside her—the whisper of something greater, the flicker of destiny she did not yet understand.
The Moon hung high above the hall, watching in silence, and though Selene could not hear it then, a goddess whispered her name.
Her story had only just begun.