(THE ALPHA I WAS NEVER MEANT TO LOVE)

CHAPTER ONE

The Silverpine pack had always made me feel like I was standing outside a door that would never open for me.

At twenty years old, I should have already known the sound of my wolf, felt her presence beneath my skin, and experienced the shift that every wolf dreamed about. Instead, I had nothing.

No wolf.

No shift.

No explanation.

Tonight, the entire pack had gathered beneath the silver moon for the mate-recognition ceremony. More than three hundred wolves stood around the ceremonial grounds, their voices blending into one restless murmur as each unmated wolf stepped forward to touch the ancient moonstone.

I had watched others place their hands against it and receive a response almost immediately. Some stones glowed softly. Others became warm beneath their palms.

I had secretly hoped mine would be different.

Maybe tonight would finally be the night my life changed.

My name was called.

I walked toward the altar, forcing my trembling legs to carry me forward. Every step seemed louder than the last. I could feel eyes following me, waiting.

When my fingers touched the moonstone, I held my breath.

Nothing.

The stone remained cold.

I waited a little longer, refusing to move.

Still nothing.

The disappointment around me was almost worse than the silence.

Someone laughed quietly.

My cheeks burned as I lowered my hand.

I had failed again.

As I returned to my place, I kept my head down. I was used to the whispers by now. They followed me everywhere.

The girl without a wolf.

The strange Veyne girl.

The one who never should have been here.

The last one always confused me.

I barely remembered my father, and my mother had died when I was young. She had left me only a few memories and one silver pendant that never left my neck.

My fingers brushed against it.

A silver crescent surrounded a strange black mark.

My mother had once told me it was an old family symbol.

Nothing more.

I had never understood why she became so serious whenever I asked about it.

Tonight, however, the pendant felt unusually warm against my skin.

I frowned.

Before I could examine it, the atmosphere changed.

The conversations around me slowly died.

One by one, people turned toward the entrance.

A group of warriors had arrived.

They wore black uniforms, and even from a distance, their presence was enough to make the strongest wolves straighten.

Then he appeared.

Alpha Kael Draven.

I had heard his name countless times.

The Alpha of the Northern Territories.

Cold. Ruthless. Untouchable.

Stories about him had travelled far beyond his territory. Some said he had never forgiven an enemy. Others said even his own warriors feared disappointing him.

I expected arrogance.

Instead, the first thing I noticed was his eyes.

Dark and intense, they moved across the crowd until they found mine.

The moment our eyes met, pain exploded through my chest.

I stopped breathing.

Something inside me pulled toward him with a force I couldn't understand.

Then, for the first time in my life, I heard a voice inside my head.

Mate.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

No.

It couldn't be.

I had never heard my wolf before.

Yet that single word felt as though it had been buried inside me for years, waiting for him.

Kael's expression changed too.

The terrifying Alpha looked almost stunned.

His gaze dropped to my pendant.

The color drained from his face.

He moved closer, and I instinctively stepped back.

His attention remained fixed on the symbol around my neck.

"Your name."

His voice was low.

"Elara."

His eyes narrowed.

"Your full name."

My stomach tightened.

"Elara Veyne."

The reaction was immediate.

Something dark flashed across his face.

The warriors behind him exchanged uneasy looks.

Kael stared at me as though he had just seen a ghost.

For a moment, I wondered if I had misunderstood.

Then he spoke again.

"Veyne?"

I nodded.

He looked away, his jaw clenched so tightly that a muscle moved along his cheek.

I didn't know what my surname had done to him.

I only knew that whatever it was, it wasn't good.

A sudden commotion near the eastern wall interrupted us.

A warrior hurried toward the Alpha, his expression tense. He whispered something into Kael's ear before stepping back.

Kael's entire demeanor hardened.

An intruder had been found inside Silverpine territory.

Dead.

He had apparently taken his own life before he could be questioned.

But that wasn't what made Kael's attention return to me.

It was the weapon found beside the body.

A black blade.

The warrior carried it carefully as he approached.

Even from where I stood, I could see the strange marking carved into its surface.

A silver crescent.

Wrapped around a black symbol.

My hand immediately went to my pendant.

The same mark.

My heart sank.

Kael noticed.

For several seconds, his eyes moved between the blade and the pendant hanging against my chest.

Something in his expression told me he knew exactly what it meant.

And suddenly, I wasn't thinking about the failed ceremony anymore.

I wasn't thinking about being wolfless.

I wasn't even thinking about the mate bond that had just awakened something inside me.

I was thinking about the fear in the eyes of the most powerful Alpha I had ever seen.

Kael stepped toward me.

"You're coming with me."

I didn't understand why.

But before I could ask, he looked toward the warriors and ordered the gates sealed.

No one was to enter.

No one was to leave.

Then his eyes returned to mine.

There was something almost painful in his expression now.

"You said your name is Elara Veyne?"

"Yes."

His silence lasted several seconds.

Then he said the words that changed everything.

"Every Veyne was supposed to have died nineteen years ago."

My blood turned cold.

I couldn't speak.

Kael's gaze hardened.

"Your family was hunted for years."

He looked once more at the pendant around my neck.

"And somehow, you survived."

I touched the pendant with shaking fingers.

For the first time, I wondered if my mother's secrets had never been meant to protect me.

Maybe they had been hiding me.

And if Kael Draven was right, someone had just entered Silverpine territory carrying the symbol my mother had left me.

Someone had come looking for a Veyne.

Someone who believed the bloodline was already dead.

And now they knew I was alive.

CHAPTER TWO

The eastern tower was colder than the rest of the Alpha's territory.

I noticed it immediately.

The stone walls held the night's chill, and the narrow windows offered a distant view of the forest surrounding the territory. Two warriors stood outside the door, making it clear that I wasn't a guest.

I was a prisoner.

I couldn't understand how everything had changed so quickly.

Only hours ago, I had been standing before the Silverpine pack, embarrassed because the moonstone had rejected me.

Now I was inside Alpha Kael Draven's territory, carrying a secret I didn't even know I possessed.

And worse, he was my mate.

The word still felt strange in my mind.

Mate.

I had imagined finding mine differently. I had imagined warmth, happiness, maybe even the certainty that someone in this world finally belonged to me.

Instead, Kael barely looked at me.

When the door opened, he entered alone.

His presence immediately filled the small room.

I watched him carefully, hoping he would finally acknowledge what had happened between us.

He didn't.

He walked to the table and placed several papers on it.

"Tell me everything you know about your family."

I stared at him.

That was all?

No mention of the bond.

No explanation.

Nothing.

I told him what little I knew. My mother had raised me alone. She had never spoken about my father. She had never explained why we moved so often when I was younger. And whenever I asked about the pendant around my neck, she changed the subject.

Kael listened without interrupting.

But the longer he listened, the darker his expression became.

When I finished, he picked up one of the papers.

"There are gaps in your history."

"I don't know what you expect me to tell you."

"The truth."

"I am telling you the truth."

His eyes met mine.

For one brief moment, something softened in them.

Then it disappeared.

"You will remain here while I investigate your background."

My chest tightened.

"You're keeping me here?"

"For your protection."

It didn't feel like protection.

It felt like another rejection.

I looked away, swallowing the hurt rising in my throat.

"You don't have to worry. I won't run."

He said nothing.

Then he turned toward the door.

"Rest."

I almost called after him.

I wanted to ask why he was pretending the bond didn't exist.

I wanted to ask whether he felt what I felt.

But pride stopped me.

The door closed behind him.

Hours passed.

I remained awake, staring at the ceiling.

A servant eventually brought me food and a glass of water.

I hadn't realized how thirsty I was.

I reached for the glass.

Something smelled wrong.

Faint.

Almost impossible to notice.

I pulled it closer, then stopped.

The door opened.

A shadow moved across the room.

Before I could react, a figure rushed toward me with a blade.

I stumbled backward.

The glass shattered against the floor.

The attacker raised the weapon.

Then someone moved faster.

Kael.

He seized the attacker's wrist and slammed him against the wall.

The blade fell.

Everything happened so quickly that I could barely breathe.

The attacker struggled, but Kael held him firmly.

"Who sent you?"

The stranger said nothing.

Kael tightened his grip.

Still nothing.

Then the attacker looked directly at me.

His lips moved.

"Ask the Alpha..."

His eyes shifted toward Kael.

"...what happened nineteen years ago."

Then his body went limp.

Kael released him.

For several seconds, neither of us moved.

My heart pounded as I looked at the dead man on the floor.

Kael's eyes met mine.

And this time, I saw something I'd never seen before.

Fear.

Not for himself.

For me.

He looked toward the shattered glass.

Then back at me.

"Stay behind me."

I didn't understand why.

But as I stared at the dead assassin, one thing became painfully clear.

Someone had followed me into the Alpha's territory.

And whoever they were, they didn't want me alive.

CHAPTER THREE

The dead man was still staring at me.

Even though his eyes had already lost their light, I couldn't look away.

His final words kept repeating inside my head.

The Veyne heir must never awaken.

I didn't understand what they meant.

I didn't even know there was a Veyne heir.

As far as I had known, I was simply Elara-a girl raised by a mother who refused to talk about the past, a girl who had never awakened her wolf, a girl who had spent most of her life wondering why she was different.

Now I was beginning to suspect that being different had never been an accident.

Kael stood over the body in silence.

The warriors around him waited for his orders, but the Alpha seemed lost in his own thoughts.

His eyes remained fixed on the dead assassin.

Something about those final words had affected him.

I could see it.

His shoulders were rigid, his jaw clenched, and there was a darkness in his expression that hadn't been there before.

"Who is the Veyne heir?" I finally asked.

His gaze shifted toward me.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

That silence frightened me more than an answer would have.

"You heard what he said," Kael replied.

"Yes."

"Then you heard enough."

My chest tightened.

I hated the way he spoke to me-as though every answer was another secret he needed to hide.

"I am the one people are trying to kill. I think I deserve to know why."

Something flickered in his eyes.

He knew I was right.

Still, he looked away.

One of the warriors approached him and quietly reported that the entire tower had been searched. No other intruders had been found.

Kael gave a short order for the guards to double the watch.

Then his attention returned to me.

"You're not leaving this room."

I almost laughed.

"I wasn't planning to."

His expression hardened.

"This isn't a request."

I looked at him carefully.

"You said this was for my protection."

"It is."

"Then why does it feel like I'm being punished?"

He didn't answer.

Perhaps because he knew exactly what I meant.

Since arriving here, he had treated me like a dangerous secret instead of his mate. He had questioned me, investigated my family, locked me inside a tower, and refused to acknowledge the bond between us.

And now someone had nearly murdered me.

I wanted to be angry with him.

But beneath the anger was something worse.

Fear.

I was beginning to realize that whatever my mother had hidden from me had followed me all the way here.

The warriors carried the body away.

The door closed.

Kael remained.

For a moment, we stood alone.

His eyes moved toward the pendant at my neck.

"Where did you get that?"

"My mother."

"Did she ever tell you what it meant?"

"No."

He studied me.

"Did she ever tell you about the Veynes?"

I shook my head.

"Then there is something you need to remember."

"What?"

"If you suddenly remember anything from your childhood, anything unusual, you tell me."

His voice was serious enough to make my stomach twist.

"Why?"

"Because whoever sent that man knows something about you."

I stared at him.

"And you don't?"

His silence answered me.

Kael turned toward the door.

Before he could leave, I spoke.

"You felt it too, didn't you?"

He stopped.

I didn't need to explain what I meant.

The bond.

The invisible pull that had struck us both the moment our eyes met.

His back remained toward me.

For a long moment, he didn't move.

Then he said quietly, "Get some sleep, Elara."

He walked out.

The door closed behind him.

I was alone again.

But this time, sleep was impossible.

I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at my hands.

The words kept returning.

The Veyne heir must never awaken.

What was supposed to awaken?

Why had I never heard a wolf?

Why had my mother hidden everything?

And why did Kael look at me as though he was afraid of what I might become?

I reached for the pendant.

The moment my fingers touched it, a strange warmth spread through my palm.

I froze.

The room suddenly felt colder.

Then came a sound.

Barely audible.

A whisper.

I lifted my head.

Nothing.

The guards were outside.

The windows were closed.

Yet I could have sworn someone had spoken my name.

"Elara."

I stood slowly.

My heart began to pound.

The voice came again.

This time, it wasn't outside me.

It was inside.

I pressed a hand against my chest.

Something moved beneath my ribs.

Not pain.

Not exactly.

It felt like a presence.

A tiny spark buried somewhere deep inside me.

I closed my eyes.

For one brief second, I saw a woman standing in a forest.

Her face was blurred, but something about her felt familiar.

She was holding a small child.

Me.

I knew it without knowing how.

The vision vanished.

I opened my eyes, gasping.

My hand flew to my pendant.

The metal was burning hot.

Then a sharp pain shot through my head.

I stumbled backward.

Images flashed through my mind.

Fire.

Screaming.

A house surrounded by warriors.

My mother running.

Someone shouting my name.

Then darkness.

I screamed.

The door burst open.

Kael rushed inside.

His eyes immediately found me.

I was on the floor, gripping my head.

"What happened?"

I couldn't answer.

The vision was already disappearing.

Kael knelt beside me.

His hand reached for my shoulder.

The moment he touched me, the pain stopped.

Completely.

His eyes widened.

Mine did too.

For several seconds, neither of us moved.

Then something happened that made my entire body go cold.

A faint silver light appeared beneath my skin.

Right over my heart.

Kael stared at it.

His face changed.

He slowly pulled my collar aside.

There, beneath my skin, was a mark I had never seen before.

A crescent.

Around a black shape.

The same symbol on my pendant.

Kael's breathing became uneven.

"Where did that come from?" I whispered.

He didn't answer.

He looked terrified.

Not of me.

Of what the mark meant.

His fingers hovered over it without touching.

Then his eyes met mine.

"Elara..."

"What?"

His voice dropped.

"I've seen this before."

My heart stopped.

"Where?"

He looked toward the door as though suddenly worried someone might be listening.

"In an ancient Veyne record."

The room seemed to shrink around us.

I stared at him.

"What did it say?"

Kael didn't answer immediately.

His eyes returned to the mark.

Then, very quietly, he said,

"It said the Veyne heir would return."

A cold shiver moved through me.

"And what happens when she returns?"

Kael looked directly into my eyes.

"That," he said, "is what I'm afraid to find out."

Outside the tower, something moved through the darkness.

Neither of us noticed.

A shadow disappeared between the trees.

And somewhere beyond the walls of the Alpha's territory, someone was watching the tower.

Waiting.

Because the assassin had failed.

But the person who sent him had no intention of giving up.

And now they knew something they hadn't known before.

The Veyne heir had begun to awaken.