Mate me if you dare

Jade's POV

They say your first shift is supposed to be magical. That the moment your bones crack and your skin tears into fur, it's like finally coming home to the body you were always meant to have but mine was a disaster.

I passed out, naked, in the middle of the Blood Moon Ceremony and woke up in front of the entire pack covered in leaves, mud, and about a gallon of drool from Beta Marcus's slobbering mutt form, who thought I was a chew toy. It was not magical. It was humiliating and it only got worse from there because the second I stood up, blinking at the stars with half my face still caked in wolf spit, my eyes locked onto him, Alpha Ewans Thorne and the world stopped.

My wolf screamed, clawed at my insides, howled in triumph. "Mate," she whispered, all feral and breathless but Ewans... he didn't even blink.

Instead, the all-powerful, infuriatingly gorgeous Alpha of the Silverfang Pack looked me up and down once and said flatly, "You smell like burnt cinnamon. Get out of my way."

Burnt. Cinnamon.

It wasn't even a full insult. More like an allergic reaction. The crowd had parted like I was a bad omen, and I stood there trembling, heart in my throat, as Ewans turned his broad back on me and stalked away like I didn't exist.

So yeah. That was the night I found my mate and the night he rejected me.

Three months later, I still couldn't get his scent out of my head. It haunted my dreams, smoky pine and danger, with the kind of heat that made my stomach flip and my dignity scream of course, he never said the words. Rejection had to be formal. A ceremony. Something sacred.

Ewans didn't give me that courtesy. He just ignored me like I was gum on his boot, which somehow made it worse because deep down, I kept hoping he'd change his mind.

Stupid, right?

Still, every time I walked past the training field and saw him shirtless, sweat glistening across those carved shoulders, my wolf whimpered. Every time I heard his voice echo through the packhouse, commanding with that gravel-and-steel timbre, my knees went a little weak.

I was in one-sided mate hell and the worst part? I couldn't tell anyone because I was Jade Winters. The tough orphan girl who clawed her way into the pack ranks, who laughed louder than anyone else and never backed down from a fight. I had a reputation to uphold, damn it.

No one could know that the girl who once punched a rogue for stealing her sandwich was now crushing pathetically on a man who wouldn't even look her in the eye.

"I hate him," I muttered as I chopped vegetables for the Alpha's dinner. "I really, really hate him."

"Sure you do," mumbled Kara, the kitchen Omega, smirking behind a pile of potatoes. "That's why you carved 'Jade Thorne' into the cutting board yesterday, right?"

I froze mid-slice.

"I was bored," I said quickly. "It was knife practice."

"Mm-hmm. Knife practice. On his last name." I gave her my best death glare, but she just chuckled and tossed a potato at me.

Gods, I needed a distraction. Something, anything, to get my traitorous heart off the stupid Alpha who didn't want me. As if summoned by the universe, the double doors to the kitchen slammed open and in strode the devil himself.

Ewans.

I went completely still, blade in hand, heartbeat rocketing into my ears. He looked like sin incarnate. Black t-shirt stretched across his chest, dark jeans low on his hips, and that signature scowl fixed between his eyebrows like it'd been carved there at birth.

His scent hit me like a punch, earthy, sharp, intoxicating.

He didn't even glance at me.

"Kara," he barked. "I need a sandwich."

Kara bowed quickly and practically tripped over herself to comply. "Right away, Alpha."

I turned back to my vegetables, jaw clenched. My hands moved on autopilot, slicing peppers I didn't even need.

Ewans leaned against the counter, arms crossed. "Make it fast. I've got a meeting with the council."

"I could poison it," I muttered under my breath.

"What was that?"

I froze. Had I said that out loud?

"Noooothing," I said quickly, smiling too hard. "Just admiring how sharp these knives are. You know. For... sandwich slicing."

He looked at me then. Just for a second.

Our eyes met, and for one agonizing moment, I thought I saw something flicker in his, something hot and dark and dangerous but ut it vanished too quickly to be real.

"Don't burn the bread," he said coolly and just like that, he turned and walked out. I didn't breathe until he was gone.

That night, I couldn't sleep. My tiny room in the Omega quarters felt like a coffin. Every creak in the walls sounded like his voice. Every whisper of wind smelled like him.

I sat up in bed, clutching my pillow, fighting the ache in my chest. He wasn't going to choose me. I wasn't enough for him.

I was an orphan with no lineage. A nobody with a smart mouth and a short temper. Ewans needed a Luna who was strong, graceful, connected. Someone who could charm the council and birth his heirs.

Not me.

Still... my heart didn't listen to reason.

At 2 a.m., I gave up and went outside. The moon was full, casting silver across the training field. I padded barefoot through the grass, letting the chill bite into my skin.

I shifted without thinking. Fur burst from my body, bones snapping as my wolf surged forward.

She needed to run.

I tore through the woods, faster than I'd ever moved before, wind in my ears, heart pounding and that's when I smelled him.

Not just his scent but blood.

My paws skidded to a halt, dirt spraying as I came to a stop near the northern ridge.

Ewans stood there, shirt ripped, blood running down his arm.

He was fighting two rogues.

Alone.

For a second, I couldn't breathe.

Then instinct kicked in. I shifted mid-air as I launched myself at one of the rogues, catching him by the neck. We rolled, claws slashing, snarls tearing through the night.

I didn't think. I just fought by the time I ripped out the rogue's throat, Ewans had finished the other. We stood there, panting, blood dripping from our fur.

His eyes locked onto mine and this time, they really saw me.

I shifted back slowly, trembling, naked in the moonlight, but too tired to care. He stared at me like I was something wild. Something dangerous. Something his.

"You followed me?" he asked, voice rough.

I shook my head. "I smelled blood. You were in danger."bHis jaw clenched.

"You shouldn't have come."

"Why? Because I'm not good enough to fight beside you?"

"No," he said, stepping closer. "Because you're too good, Jade."

I blinked. What? And then his hand brushed my cheek just once, just lightly.

"Go home," he said, voice tight. "Before I do something we'll both regret." And just like that, he turned and disappeared into the woods, leaving me naked, bloodied, and more confused than I'd ever been in my life.

I lay awake until dawn, staring at the ceiling, his touch burning on my skin. Something had changed tonight.

I didn't know what.

But I knew this: Ewans Thorne might think he could keep me at arm's length forever, but the bond between us wasn't going away.

And the next time he touched me like that, I wasn't going to let him walk away.

Even if it broke me.

To be continued...