Chapter 1 The Ceremony of Fates

The full moon burned silver over the Bloodmoon Pack, but nothing felt beautiful tonight. Not for Arielle Moon.

She stood at the edge of the bonfire circle, fingers trembling, heart trapped in her throat, while the rest of the pack danced and drank under the stars - oblivious to the storm brewing inside her.

This was supposed to be the happiest day of her life.

Her eighteenth birthday.

Her Mating Ceremony.

The night the Moon Goddess would bless her with her fated mate.

But the only thing Arielle felt was the ache of eyes watching her like she didn't belong. Like she was a mistake.

Because she was just an omega.

Born into a powerful pack as the runt. Weak. Fragile. Useless.

"Hey, birthday ghost," a voice hissed behind her, coated in poison.

Arielle turned to see her older sister, Celina, sauntering closer. Golden hair, blood-red lips, and a cruel smile - the perfect Beta daughter everyone adored. The one who had everything Arielle never did.

Especially him.

"Don't stand so close to the fire," Celina purred. "You're already barely there. Wouldn't want you to vanish into smoke."

Arielle clenched her jaw. "Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be charming the Alphas like always?"

"Oh, I don't need to charm anyone," Celina said, twirling a lock of her hair. "Besides, your little fantasy ends tonight. Let's just hope the Moon Goddess has a twisted sense of humor and pairs you with a cripple or a rogue."

Arielle didn't answer. Her stomach was churning. Her wolf was restless - pacing, sensing something... wrong.

Then it happened.

The drums stopped. The Elders stood. The Alpha's voice echoed.

"Tonight, we gather to witness fate unfold. Let the mates step forward."

A pulse of heat rolled through her chest - like lightning cracking her ribs apart.

Her eyes darted across the crowd until they found him.

Alpha Kade Blackthorn.

Tall, broad, dark-haired, with midnight eyes that had haunted her dreams for years. The ruthless leader of the Bloodmoon Pack.

And her mate.

She knew it. Her wolf knew it. The bond between them roared like thunder in her veins.

His gaze locked on hers.

For a second, the world stilled.

He stepped forward.

Every breath she'd ever taken led to this moment.

Then... it shattered.

"I, Alpha Kade Blackthorn..." he said, voice hard as steel, "reject you, Arielle Moon, as my mate."

Gasps exploded across the circle. The bonfire seemed to dim.

Arielle froze. Her knees wobbled. Her lungs stopped working.

Her mate. Her fated mate.

Rejected her.

Celina stepped beside him, eyes gleaming like victory.

"I accept your rejection," Arielle whispered, voice cracking.

Then she ran.

Blindly. Breathlessly. Into the dark forest that whispered of death and shadows.

She didn't know how long she ran. Trees tore at her skin. Thorns ripped her dress. Her heart bled, her soul screaming with betrayal.

Why?

Why her?

Why reject her in front of the entire pack?

The forest grew colder the deeper she ran.

She stumbled, her legs giving out, collapsing by a silent stream. Her tears fell quietly into the water, like secrets never meant to be heard.

Her wolf whimpered inside her, weak... broken.

"Let me die," she whispered to the night. "Just let it end..."

Then - the snap of a branch.

She whipped around.

Not a wolf.

Not a pack member.

They stepped from the shadows in gleaming black armor, wearing cloaks etched with silver wolves and crimson moons.

Royal Guards.

Impossible.

"By order of the Crown," one of them said, "you're coming with us, Arielle Moon."

Arielle didn't know how long she ran. The world was a blur of leaves and shadows, her bare feet slick with mud, blood trailing where thorns had kissed her skin. Her chest burned with every gasp, but she didn't stop. Couldn't stop.

"You're nothing to me."

His words echoed again and again. Even the wind seemed to whisper them.

Her lungs gave out long before her legs did. She collapsed against a tree trunk, clawing at the bark as if it could anchor her in a world that had spun too far. The rejection bond was a brutal thing-magic ripping apart something primal inside her. Like a thread in her soul had snapped, and she was left bleeding without a wound.

Pain pulsed behind her eyes. Her wolf, silent for years, whimpered within her. Not because of Kade.

But something else. Something deeper.

Arielle staggered forward, half-blind, her ears ringing with white noise. As she stumbled through dense brush, a strange sensation crawled up her spine-something cold and ancient, watching her from the dark.

And then... silence.

All forest sound vanished.

Even the insects fell still.

The moment stretched, then-

Snap.

A branch behind her.

She turned slowly, but there was no one there.

Another snap. Closer this time.

Panic gripped her chest.

She ran again.

But this time, it wasn't grief chasing her.

It was something else.

Something with purpose.

She broke into a clearing - and froze.

They were already waiting.

Three figures in black armor, marked with a silver crest she didn't recognize. Their eyes glowed faintly under the moonlight - not golden like her pack's wolves. No, these eyes shimmered blue... unnatural and royal.

Royal.

Her breath hitched. Her wolf stirred again, not in fear-but in recognition.

"You are Arielle Moon," one of them said, voice cold and final.

She didn't answer. Couldn't.

"You must come with us."

"I-I haven't done anything," she stammered, heart pounding. "Please... I'm not-"

"Silence."

A taller warrior stepped forward. His scent was powerful. Not wolf. Something older.

"You entered the border of the Nightshade Lands," he said. "This is forbidden to outsiders."

"I didn't mean to," she whispered. "I was running-"

"We know," he cut in. "Your bloodline permitted your passage."

"What-?"

He moved fast. Too fast. Before she could scream, the world went dark.

Arielle woke to warmth. Furs wrapped around her. A fire crackled nearby. The scent of pine and earth filled her lungs.

Where...?

She tried to sit, and a sharp pain shot through her side. Her ribs ached, bruised from the fall or... the journey?

A chamber stretched around her - carved from stone, lined with glowing crystals embedded in the walls. This wasn't a prison.

It was a throne room.

Or a temple.

A place meant to humble.

Footsteps echoed.

She turned her head, and her breath caught.

He stepped into the light slowly, cloak trailing behind him like spilled shadow. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Black hair falling to his jaw. Eyes like frostbitten steel.

The Wolf King.

Lucien Nightfall.

A legend made flesh.

He studied her with no expression, though something flickered in his gaze.

She sat up straighter, heart pounding. "Why am I here?"

"You crossed into royal lands," he said.

"I didn't mean to-"

"I know," he said calmly, then walked closer. "You were meant to."

She blinked. "What?"

He stopped in front of her, staring down like he was seeing something no one else ever had.

"You don't know the truth of who you are, do you?"

Arielle shook her head slowly.

"You are not the omega they told you you were."

Her pulse quickened.

"You were hidden. Bound. Suppressed. To protect you."

Arielle's hands trembled. "Protect me from what?"

Lucien's eyes darkened. "From those who would use your power. Or destroy you before you could rise."

She felt dizzy. Her body remembered Kade's rejection, but her soul... it trembled now for something else.

Something bigger.

"What power?"

Lucien bent slightly, tilting her chin with one gloved hand. "You are of my blood."

Silence.

The words dropped like stones in water, and her world shattered all over again.

"You're lying."

"No," he said. "You are my daughter. The Moonborn. Hidden in the Bloodmoon Pack by those loyal to your mother's dying wish."

Arielle gasped.

"My mother..."

"She was a queen," he said. "And you are the last of her line."

Everything swirled-memories she never understood, dreams that never made sense, and the quiet voice inside her that had always told her you are more than this.

Arielle pulled away, shaking. "No. I'm no one. Just a burden. A rejected mate. A mistake."

Lucien's voice turned sharper. "You are not a mistake. You are the heir to the throne of the North. And whether you believe it or not, the war is coming-and they will hunt you down the moment they learn who you are."

Tears welled in her eyes. "Why me?"

Lucien turned away, his voice quiet. "Because blood remembers, even when we forget."

Far away, in the Bloodmoon Pack, Kade Blackthorn stood alone on the balcony of his chambers, jaw clenched tight, the moonlight tracing the tension in his shoulders.

He'd felt it.

The rejection bond had snapped like a whip in his chest hours ago.

But something else disturbed him.

A void.

Like something sacred had been taken - or worse, awakened.

He closed his eyes, and a memory played back-of Arielle looking at him with those wide, wounded eyes right before she turned and ran.

He thought he'd feel peace.

Instead, he felt hollow.

Regret coiled like a viper.

And somewhere in the deepest part of him, his wolf snarled.

Mine.

But it was already too late.