"I, Gabriel Wood, reject you, Sofía Díaz, as my fated mate," he declared with a firm voice, without hesitation, as if each word wasn't a dagger piercing my chest. "And I bear witness before the Moon Goddess that I do this with full awareness... and without any regret."
The world stopped. His words echoed in my mind over and over again, while a wave of physical and emotional pain hit me like a relentless storm. I felt torn apart inside, as if something sacred had shattered deep within my soul. How could this be? Today, on my eighteenth birthday—the most anticipated day for any she-wolf… the day I finally connected with my essence, with my inner wolf… and she showed me who our soul mate was.
And it was him. Gabriel.
My soul recognized him. My wolf loved him in an instant.
But he… rejected me.
Tears began to stream uncontrollably down my face, warm and heavy, tracing paths of rage, sorrow, and a loneliness I never knew existed. I didn't say anything. I couldn't. My throat tightened with a knot I couldn't undo. I just turned around, feeling that if I stayed one second longer, I would shatter into a thousand pieces in front of everyone.
My body reacted before my mind. I shifted, leaving behind clothes, murmurs, and faces. My wolf roared within me—wounded, but strong. I ran. I plunged into the depths of the forest, aimless, as if speed and wind could drown out the echo of his words… as if, even for a moment, this unbearable pain could disappear.
Maybe… just maybe… I could learn to breathe without him.
........................................
I was born into one of the most powerful wolf packs in the world: the Luna Rosa Pack. Daughter of the Alpha and his mate, the Luna. My destiny seemed to be marked by greatness. I should have been blessed with a life of privilege, strength, and respect. But luck doesn't always smile on those who seem to have it all.
My mother died when I was barely a year old. She was killed by rogues—renegade wolves without a pack, savage and cruel, who cross the sacred boundaries of other territories without law or honor. Since then, her absence has been a constant shadow in my life, a void that no power or bloodline has ever been able to fill.
My father, as the leader of the pack, couldn't afford the luxury of endless mourning. He had to remain strong, firm, unshakable. Not long after, he bonded with another she-wolf: Lucrecia. She was beautiful, cunning, and knew exactly how to move among the threads of power. From that union came my half-siblings, Rosa and Sebastián.
To the eyes of others, we were a family. But I knew the truth. In silence, I carried the wound of a loss no one else seemed to remember, while they became the new center of attention. And although I carry the blood of an Alpha and the spirit of a Luna, my place within the pack was never clear again.
Lucrecia, though not my real mother, has raised me as best she could. While she clearly favors my sister Rosa—her true daughter—she doesn't treat me badly either.