The first time I felt the mate bond snap into place, it felt like fire under my skin.
It happened in the Great Hall, beneath the massive stone arches of the Nightfang Pack, with every ranked wolf in attendance. Music echoed from the walls. The air was thick with power, celebration, and the scent of the full moon.
Tonight was supposed to change my life.
I stood at the edge of the hall, fingers clenched into the rough fabric of my plain grey dress, watching Alpha Kael Nightfang take his place on the raised platform. He was taller than every man in the room, broad-shouldered, commanding, with eyes like sharpened steel. His presence alone pressed against my chest, making it hard to breathe.
When his gaze swept across the crowd and landed on me, my heart stopped.
The bond ignited.
A violent pull slammed into my chest, dragging my soul toward him like it had always belonged there. My knees nearly buckled.
Mate.
Alpha Kael was my mate.
Gasps rippled through the hall as others sensed it too. Whispers spread like wildfire.
"An omega?"
"That can't be right."
"The Alpha King's mate?"
Heat rushed to my face. I had known my place my entire life. I was Aria — orphaned, rankless, the pack's invisible servant. I scrubbed floors while others trained. I ate last. I spoke only when spoken to.
I had never allowed myself to dream.
Alpha Kael's expression hardened as realization dawned in his eyes. The pull between us was undeniable, but instead of acceptance, disgust flashed across his face.
He stepped forward.
Silence fell so sharply it hurt.
"I, Alpha Kael Nightfang," he said coldly, his voice echoing through the hall, "reject Aria as my mate."
The words struck like a physical blow.
Pain exploded in my chest, sharp and unforgiving, tearing through every nerve. I cried out as I collapsed to the floor, clutching my heart while the bond shattered. The agony was unbearable, like something sacred being ripped from me and thrown away.
Laughter broke out.
Soft at first. Then louder.
I heard Luna Selene's voice above the rest. "Of course an omega would dare to claim the Alpha."
My vision blurred with tears as I struggled to breathe. Alpha Kael didn't look at me again. He turned his back as if I were nothing more than dirt beneath his boots.
"I will take a chosen mate worthy of this pack," he continued. "This matter is finished."
Finished.
Just like that.
Hands grabbed my arms and dragged me from the hall while my sobs echoed behind me. No one intervened. No one cared.
I was thrown into the cold night outside, the doors slamming shut behind me.
I lay there, shaking, broken, my wolf howling in pain inside my chest.
Rejected.
By the most powerful Alpha in the realm.
As the moonlight washed over my skin, something strange happened.
The pain… stopped.
A deep, unfamiliar warmth bloomed where the bond had shattered. It pulsed slowly, steadily, like a heartbeat that didn't belong to me.
My breath caught.
"What…?" I whispered.
The ground beneath me trembled.
A rush of ancient power surged through my veins, forcing me to gasp. My wolf stirred — not weak or whimpering, but vast, immense, terrifying.
Images flooded my mind. Silver fire. A crown. Wolves bowing.
Far away, in the Great Hall, Alpha Kael froze mid-step.
His chest burned.
The broken bond flared back to life — stronger, darker, impossible to ignore.
He turned toward the doors, eyes wide for the first time that night.
"What did I just reject?" he whispered.