Chapter 1 The Night the Moon Chose Her

The rain didn't fall that night-

it attacked the earth.

Maya Lawson tightened her grip on the steering wheel as thunder ripped across the sky like something angry, something ancient. Her wipers slapped the windshield uselessly, struggling to cut through the storm. She should've stayed at the hospital after her shift. She should've waited.

But her chest felt heavy tonight, and she wanted the silence of home.

She wanted something-anything-that made her feel like her life wasn't swallowing her whole.

Her phone buzzed.

A message from her mother she wouldn't open.

She sighed and focused on the road.

That was when she saw it.

A large, dark shape lay across the highway, soaked, unmoving. For a split second, she thought it was a fallen tree-until lightning illuminated its outline.

A wolf.

A massive one.

Her breath caught.

Wolves didn't grow that big.

Her foot slammed the brake. The car skidded dangerously and stopped just a few meters away from the creature.

Maya's heart hammered. Fear should've kept her in the car. Logic should've turned her around. But something tugged at her-something almost magnetic.

As if some invisible thread between her and the beast tightened.

She stepped out into the storm.

⸻

The wolf wasn't just large. It was... breathtaking. Fur black as midnight. A body built like carved stone. And eyes-

God.

Those eyes.

Silver. Pain-filled. Intelligent... human.

She knelt slowly, rain soaking her clothes, her palms trembling.

"It's okay," she whispered, not sure why she was speaking softly to a predator that could end her in seconds. "I'm not here to hurt you."

The wolf tried to lift its head but collapsed again with a low, broken growl. Blood mixed with the rain beneath it.

Her chest tightened. Something inside her... ached.

"You're hurt," she breathed. "What happened to you?"

The wolf's breathing hitched. Thunder cracked violently behind them. And then-

It looked at her.

Not like an animal.

Not like a beast.

Like a man trying to memorize her face.

Maya reached out before she even realized it. Her fingertips brushed his fur.

The world... changed.

Heat shot up her arm. The air pulsed. The ground trembled beneath her knees. A whisper-soft, ancient, familiar-echoed in her mind.

Mate.

Maya gasped and jerked her hand away. Her head spun. The wolf growled-not threateningly, but in protest, as if her touch was the only thing anchoring him to life.

Lightning flashed again. She saw his eyes clearly this time.

Lonely eyes.

Haunted eyes.

Eyes that felt like they'd been waiting for her.

"I'm taking you with me," she whispered, surprising herself with her own courage. "If you die out here... I'll never forgive myself."

As if he understood, the wolf went still... trusting her.

She dragged him into her backseat with every ounce of strength she had. He was heavy-unnaturally heavy-and warm like fire against her cold skin.

She drove home with shaking hands, the wolf bleeding across her seat, her heart pounding with a fear she couldn't name.

Not because of the beast beside her.

But because she could feel-deep in her bones-that her life had just shifted. Tilted.

Locked onto a path she couldn't undo.

⸻

When she finally reached her house, she hurried inside, pulled towels, blankets, supplies-anything she could use to help him.

But when she returned to the car...

The wolf was gone.

The passenger door hung open, dripping with rainwater.

A dark figure stood a few feet away, half-hidden by shadows. Broad shoulders. Tall. Shirt torn and soaked. Blood running down his torso.

Human.

Maya froze.

He lifted his head, and silver eyes burned through the darkness.

The same eyes.

Her breath vanished.

"You..." she whispered.

His voice was rough, broken, and terrifyingly beautiful.

"You touched me," he said. "No one has touched me in years."

She stepped back, fear and something deeper tangling inside her.

"Who are you?" she asked.

He took a slow step toward her, rain slipping over his skin like it worshipped him.

Something dark, wild, and ancient stirred in his expression.

"I don't know what you did to me," he said, voice shaking with something close to desperation. "But the moment you laid your hands on me... my wolf woke up."

Another step.

Another heartbeat.

"I'm Aiden," he said, eyes glowing faintly. "Alpha of the Blackthorn Pack."

Thunder boomed above them.

"And you," he whispered, "are the Luna I was never supposed to have."

Maya's knees nearly buckled.

The wind howled.

The night shifted.

And destiny stared at her through the eyes of a man who looked like sin and salvation at once.