Chapter 3

Elara POV:

His words hung in the air, a dark promise that sent a shiver down my spine. It was a strange and potent feeling, having someone as powerful as Kade Blackwood championing my cause, even if it was just with words. The anger in his eyes was a reflection of my own, but where mine was a desperate, helpless flame, his was a raging inferno, capable of burning worlds to the ground.

Ivy was practically purring in my mind. *He understands,* she whispered, a sense of awe in her tone. *He feels our pain.*

I quickly pushed her down. It was just the whiskey talking, for both of us. This man was a stranger, a notoriously ruthless Alpha. He was probably just being polite, or maybe he enjoyed the drama.

"It doesn't matter," I said, turning away from him to stare out at the dark woods that bordered the pack house. "It's done. She's the Luna now. There's nothing I can do about it."

"There is always something you can do," Kade's voice was a low rumble right behind me. He had moved so silently, I hadn't even realized he was closer. The heat from his body was a tangible presence at my back, a comforting warmth against the chill of the night.

I scoffed. "Like what? Challenge the Luna on her wedding day? I'd be an outcast before the sun comes up. My own father would probably be the one to sign the decree."

The bitterness in my voice was sharp enough to cut glass. I hated how pathetic I sounded, how utterly defeated.

"Your father is a fool," Kade stated simply.

I whipped my head around to glare at him. "You don't know anything about him."

"I know that he is celebrating while his daughter is grieving. I know that he is allowing his new mate to disrespect the memory of his former one. And I know that he is blind to the treasure he has in front of him."

His golden eyes held mine, and the intensity of his gaze was staggering. He wasn't just looking at me; he was seeing me. It was a feeling I hadn't experienced in a long, long time. Since my mother died, I had been little more than a ghost in my own home, a painful reminder of a past my father was desperate to forget.

But this man, this stranger, saw me.

My throat felt tight, and I had to swallow hard against the lump that was forming there. "I'm not a treasure," I whispered, the words barely audible. "I'm just... me."

"And that," he said, his voice softening slightly, "is more than enough."

He reached out, his calloused thumb gently brushing away a tear that had escaped and was trailing down my cheek. His touch was like a brand, a spark of electricity that shot through my entire body. It was brief, fleeting, but it left a trail of fire in its wake.

Ivy howled in my mind, a triumphant, joyous sound. *Sparks! Debra, did you feel that? The sparks!*

I stumbled back, my heart hammering against my ribs. Sparks. The legendary sign from the Moon Goddess that you had found your fated mate. It couldn't be. It was impossible. My mate couldn't be Kade Blackwood, the Blood Moon Alpha, a man twice my age and a universe away from my own.

"No," I breathed, shaking my head in denial. "It was just static."

Kade's expression was unreadable, his handsome face a mask of stone. But I could see the flicker of something in his eyes – shock, disbelief, and something else I couldn't quite decipher.

"It wasn't static," he said, his voice flat.

He knew it too. He had felt it. The realization hit me like a physical blow, knocking the air from my lungs. This whole night had been a nightmare, and it had just gotten a thousand times more complicated.

I couldn't be his mate. I wouldn't be. I had seen what love and mating did to a she-wolf. My mother had loved my father with every fiber of her being, and in the end, it had destroyed her. He had moved on so easily, replacing her without a second thought. I would not let that happen to me. I would not tie myself to any man, especially not an Alpha who held the power of life and death in his hands.

"I have to go," I said, turning to flee.

His hand shot out, his fingers wrapping around my wrist. His grip was like steel, firm but not painful. "Wait."

"Let go of me," I said, my voice trembling. I tried to pull away, but it was like trying to move a mountain.

"Debra, we need to talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about!" I cried, my panic rising. "It was a mistake. The Moon Goddess made a mistake."

A low growl rumbled in his chest, a primal sound that made the hairs on my arms stand on end. "The Goddess does not make mistakes."

His golden eyes blazed with an inner fire, and I saw a flash of his wolf, a terrifying, magnificent beast that was barely contained beneath his skin. This was the real Kade Blackwood, the ruthless Alpha, and I was his fated mate.

The thought was so horrifying, so overwhelming, that my vision started to tunnel. The world spun, and the last thing I saw before the darkness claimed me was Kade's shocked face as I collapsed into his arms.