Isla's POV
The silver-eyed wolf stares at me again.
I jerk awake, my heart pounding so hard it hurts. Sweat sticks my nightgown to my skin. The same dream. Always the same dream. A massive wolf with eyes like frozen moonlight, watching me from the shadows of a dark forest. He never moves. Never attacks. Just... watches.
And somehow, that's more terrifying.
"Isla! Get down here NOW!" Mrs. Renfield's screech cuts through the thin walls of my tiny attic room.
I throw off my blanket and scramble to my feet. Today is my twenty-first birthday, but that doesn't matter to anyone here. I'm still the orphan who works in the packhouse kitchen. Still the girl without a wolf.
Still worthless.
I race down the narrow stairs, nearly tripping over my own feet. The kitchen is already chaos. Wolves rush everywhere, carrying platters of food and decorations. Tonight is the full moon ceremony, and the Blackwood family is visiting. Everything has to be perfect.
"Finally!" Mrs. Renfield shoves a knife and a pile of vegetables at me. "Start chopping. And don't you dare cut yourself and bleed on the food."
I nod and get to work. My hands move automatically—slice, dice, chop. I've done this a thousand times.
"Did you hear?" Maya whispers beside me. She's my only real friend here. "The Blackwood Alpha brought his daughter."
My stomach twists. "Sienna?"
"Yeah." Maya's eyes fill with worry. "She's beautiful, Isla. And she keeps looking at Callum."
My hand slips. The knife nicks my finger. Blood wells up, bright red against my pale skin.
"Careful!" Maya grabs my hand, wrapping it in a clean cloth. "Are you okay?"
I'm not okay. Nothing about today feels okay.
But I force a smile. "I'm fine. Callum promised me, remember? Tonight, after the ceremony, he's going to announce our engagement."
Maya doesn't look convinced. "Isla, I just... I have a bad feeling."
"You always have bad feelings." I try to laugh, but it sounds fake even to me.
The truth is, I have a bad feeling too. It's been growing in my chest all morning like a dark cloud. Something is wrong. Something is coming.
But Callum loves me. He's loved me since we were kids. That has to count for something, right?
I touch the simple leather bracelet on my wrist. Callum gave it to me when we were twelve. I remember that day so clearly.
---
"What if my wolf never comes?" I had asked, sitting beside the creek behind his house. "Everyone else shifted at eighteen. What if I'm broken?"
Callum had taken my hand. "Then you're broken. So what? I don't care about your wolf, Isla. I care about you."
"But you're going to be Alpha someday. You need a strong mate—"
"I need YOU." He had tied the bracelet around my wrist. "Wolf or no wolf, you're mine. And when we're old enough, I'm going to marry you. I promise."
---
That promise kept me alive through three years of waiting. Three years of watching other wolves find their mates while I remained unchanged. Three years of whispers and pitying looks.
But tonight, it all ends. Tonight, Callum keeps his promise.
"Isla!" Mrs. Renfield snaps. "Stop daydreaming and finish those vegetables!"
I work faster. Hours blur together. Cook, clean, prepare. My feet ache. My back screams. But I keep going because tonight is special.
Finally, as the sun starts to set, Mrs. Renfield dismisses me. "Go make yourself presentable. And try not to embarrass us in front of the Blackwoods."
I run to my room and pull out my only nice dress. It's simple—pale blue, slightly too big—but it's clean. I brush my long black hair until it shines. Check my reflection in the cracked mirror.
Violet eyes stare back at me. That's the one interesting thing about me. Everyone says my eyes are strange. Too bright. Too purple.
My mother had violet eyes too. At least, that's what the pack elders told me before she died. Before my parents were executed as traitors when I was six.
I shake away the dark memories. Tonight is about the future, not the past.
I head downstairs just as the full moon rises over the trees. The ceremony grounds are packed with wolves from our pack and the visiting Blackwoods. Lanterns hang from branches, casting golden light everywhere.
And there's Callum.
My breath catches. He's so handsome in his formal clothes—tall, strong, with warm brown hair and golden eyes that used to look at me like I was the only person in the world.
But right now, those eyes aren't looking at me.
They're looking at Sienna Blackwood.
She's perfect. Blonde hair like spun gold. A figure that makes every male wolf stare. She stands close to Callum, laughing at something he said, her hand resting on his arm.
My chest tightens.
"Isla." Maya appears beside me. "Maybe you should talk to him—"
"He's just being polite to our guests," I say quickly. "He has to be. He's the future Alpha."
But my bad feeling grows darker. Heavier.
The ceremony begins. Wolves gather in a circle. The pack elders start their chanting. The full moon climbs higher, and its light feels different tonight. Stronger. It pulls at something deep inside me.
I stand at the edge of the circle, watching. Waiting.
Callum catches my eye across the crowd. For one second, his expression changes. He looks... guilty? Scared?
Then he looks away.
The elders' chanting grows louder. The moon reaches its peak. And suddenly, pain explodes through my entire body.
I scream.
It feels like my bones are breaking and reforming all at once. Like my skin is on fire. Silver light bursts from my body, so bright that wolves cry out and shield their eyes.
What's happening? This isn't normal. Shifting isn't supposed to feel like this!
The light grows brighter. Power—raw and ancient—floods through me. Every wolf in the ceremony drops to their knees. Every single one.
Except Callum. And the visiting Alphas.
Through the pain and confusion, I feel it. A golden rope snapping into place, connecting my heart to someone else's. The mate bond. It's real. It's HERE.
I look at Callum, tears streaming down my face. Our eyes meet.
And I know. He feels it too. We're mates. The Moon Goddess chose us for each other.
Joy explodes in my chest—
Until I see his face twist with horror.
"No," Callum whispers. "No, no, no."
And the forest around us goes completely, impossibly silent.
Then, from somewhere in the darkness beyond the lantern light, I hear it. A low, dangerous growl that makes every wolf freeze in terror.
Something is coming.
Something ancient and powerful.
The silver-eyed wolf from my dreams is real.
And he's here.