Azura's POV
My wolf wouldn't stop saying it.
Mate. Mate. Mate.
The word echoed in my head like a prayer I never asked to hear. I scrambled backward, my hands digging into dirt and leaves, my chest heaving. The massive black wolf stood over me, amber eyes burning into mine with an intensity that made my skin prickle.
Every instinct screamed at me to run. But something else, something deeper, pulled me toward him.
I hated it.
Before I could make sense of anything, I heard them. Footsteps. Fast. Heavy.
Two wolves burst through the trees, one black, the other brown, moving with the kind of speed that only came from years of training. They stopped at the edge of the clearing, and then their bodies began to shift.
Bones cracked. Fur receded. Within seconds, two men stood where wolves had been.
My breath caught.
They were both tall, powerfully built, dressed in dark clothing that marked them as high-ranking warriors. One had black hair and sharp brown eyes. The other was broader with a shaved head and unreadable expression.
And they were looking at the black wolf like they knew exactly who he was.
I tried to stand, my legs shaking beneath me. I wanted to look brave, to act like I wasn't terrified. But my body betrayed me, trembling despite my best efforts.
The black-haired man stepped forward first. His gaze flicked to me briefly before returning to the wolf. Then he gave a slight bow of his head. Not a kneel. Just a small, controlled gesture of respect.
"Alpha Rhydor."
The words hit me like a physical blow.
Wait, did he just say Alpha?
My vision blurred at the edges. My knees threatened to give out.
The black wolf was an Alpha?
The Alpha?
The second man, the one with the shaved head, moved closer to the wolf. His posture was tense, alert, like he was waiting for orders.
And then the black wolf began to shift.
The sound was terrible. Bones cracking, reshaping, the air itself seeming to bend around him. I flinched, my hands curling into fists at my sides.
When the shift finished, a man stood where the wolf had been.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, and carried a kind of power that seemed to press against the air itself. His long brown hair fell past his shoulders, wild and untamed, and those amber eyes, just like the wolf's, still burned with the same fierce intensity.
And he was looking directly at me.
Oh Goddess. It's him.
The memory hit me with brutal clarity, the shirtless man with long hair, the one who'd hidden me from the guards. The same man I'd lied to without blinking, making up some ridiculous story about refusing to be someone's girlfriend.
I'd lied to an Alpha.
To my mate.
Heat rushed to my face, but I held my ground. Every part of me screamed to run, to vanish into the forest and never look back, but I didn't move.
I felt small. Dirty. Painfully aware of my torn clothes, my tangled hair, the dirt smeared across my skin. I wanted to shrink into the ground.
But I didn't.
I lifted my chin and met his gaze.
His expression shifted. Surprise flickered across his face, then something harder. Colder.
He recognized me too.
The black-haired man stepped forward again, his tone careful. "Alpha…"
Rhydor raised a hand, cutting him off without looking away from me.
Silence fell over the clearing like a blade.
My wolf whimpered in the back of my mind, still repeating that cursed word. Mate. Mate. Mate.
But the man standing in front of me didn't look like he felt the same pull. He looked like he was staring at a problem he hadn't asked for.
Finally, he spoke.
"Your name."
His voice was deep, commanding, the kind of voice that expected obedience. But there was something else beneath it. Something strained.
I swallowed hard. My throat felt tight, my tongue heavy.
"Azura," I managed. "Azura Moryn."
He didn't respond. Just stared at me like he was weighing something. Deciding something.
The black-haired man shifted uncomfortably. "Rhydor…"
There was a warning in his tone. A plea.
Rhydor ignored him.
Instead, he straightened, his shoulders pulling back. Power radiated from him in waves, pressing down on the clearing like a physical weight. Even the trees seemed to bend toward him.
When he spoke again, his voice was calm. Reasonable. Final.
"I have ruled too long to let fate mock me. A Luna must be strong, visible, and respected. She must rule beside me, not hide behind me. Fate chose wrong."
Each word landed like a knife between my ribs.
He wasn't shouting or cruel. He was just… stating facts.
And somehow, that made it worse.
My chest tightened. My vision blurred. I wanted to argue, to scream, to tell him he didn't know anything about me. But the words stuck in my throat.
Because he was right.
I wasn't strong, visible enough. I wasn't respected.
I was nothing.
The black-haired man stepped forward again, his voice urgent now. "Alpha, wait. Let's return to the pack first. We can discuss this…"
"No."
The word was absolute.
Rhydor's gaze never left mine.
And then he said the words that shattered everything.
"I, Rhydor Drakemire Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack, reject you, Azura Moryn… as my fated mate."
The pain was immediate.
It hit me like a fist to the chest, stealing the air from my lungs. My knees buckled and I collapsed, my hands slamming into the dirt. Fire spread through my veins, burning from the inside out.
Is this how mate bonds break?
Or is it because I'm weak?
I gasped for air, my vision swimming. Distantly, I heard the black-haired man shout something, but the words were lost in the roar of pain flooding my ears.
And then I heard it.
A strangled sound. Not from me.
From him.
I looked up through blurred vision and saw Rhydor stagger. His hand flew to his chest, his jaw clenched tight. He dropped to one knee, his breathing ragged.
The black-haired man moved toward him instantly. "This isn't normal."
The broader man drew a weapon, his eyes scanning the clearing like he was searching for an enemy.
But there was no enemy.
Just us.
Just pain.
The ground beneath me began to glow.
Faint at first. Golden light seeping through cracks in the earth, tracing patterns I didn't recognize. Ancient symbols, older than memory, spiraling outward from where I knelt.
The light coiled around me like a living rope, lifting me slightly off the ground. I tried to pull away, but my body wouldn't respond.
Fear spiked through the pain.
What is this?
The light reached for Rhydor next. He tried to fight it, his muscles straining, his breath coming in harsh bursts. But the light didn't care. It wrapped around him, binding him the same way it bound me.
The black-haired man shouted his name, but Rhydor didn't answer.
The broader man lunged forward, but the light flared brighter, forcing him back.
My vision darkened at the edges. The pain shifted from sharp to overwhelming, drowning everything else.
My wolf whimpered one last time before falling silent.
The last thing I saw was Rhydor collapsing fully to the ground, his amber eyes locked on mine.
Then darkness swallowed me whole.
"Agh..." The first thing I felt upon waking was a deep, throbbing ache in every part of my body.
Everything was silent. No rustling trees, no wind, nothing. Just... quiet.
My body felt wrong. Heavy. Too big.
I blinked, trying to focus. The ceiling above me was carved wood, dark and polished. Rich. Expensive.
Weapons lined the walls. Swords. Daggers. A bow made from blackwood.
This wasn't the forest.
This wasn't the cell.
Where am I?
Panic clawed at my chest. I tried to sit up, and that's when I felt it.
The sheets were soft. Too soft. Silk, maybe. The bed beneath me was massive, easily twice the size of anything I'd ever slept on.
Where... where is this place? Is this paradise?
Wait a second… Am I dead?
The thought came unbidden, cold and certain.
Did I seriously die because my mate rejected me? Please tell me I didn't actually die because of rejection.
I lifted my hand to press against my chest, to feel if my heart was still beating.
And froze.
That… that wasn't my hand.
It was too big. Too rough. Way too masculine.
I stared at it, my breath catching.
Slowly, I looked down.
A man's body.
Broad chest, muscular arms, strong legs hidden beneath dark pants.
Not mine.
A scream ripped from my throat.
Except it wasn't my voice.
It was deep. Low. Male.
I slapped my hand over my mouth, but the voice that had come out wasn't mine either.
My chest heaved. My hands shook.
What is happening to me?