Chapter One – Nothing
Turning sixteen is supposed to mean something.
At least that's what everyone kept saying.
"You'll feel it immediately," my cousin whispered last week.
"It's like your chest lights up," another girl said in school.
"My sister fainted when she found hers," someone else added, like that was romantic.
I didn't want to faint.
I just wanted to feel normal.
Tonight was my birthday.
The whole pack gathered in the clearing like they always do when someone turns sixteen. Bonfire in the middle. Elders standing too straight. Kids running around like it's a festival instead of something serious.
Because it is serious.
At sixteen, you meet your wolf properly.
At sixteen, you feel your mate.
At sixteen, you finally belong.
I stood near the edge of the clearing, rubbing my sweaty palms on my jeans.
"Relax," my older brother muttered. "You look like you're about to throw up."
"Maybe I am."
He snorted. "Drama."
The Alpha started speaking, but I barely heard him. My heart was already beating too fast. My ears rang. Everyone was watching me.
I hated that part.
When they called my name, I stepped forward.
The air felt heavy. The moon was bright. Too bright.
"Layla Morgan," the Alpha said, "step into your wolf."
I closed my eyes.
It hurt. It always hurts the first time.
Bones shifting. Heat spreading under my skin. Like fire trying to escape.
Then—
Silence.
Not outside.
Inside.
I waited.
Everyone says you feel your mate like a pull. Like something clicks into place.
I felt nothing.
No spark.
No voice whispering a name.
Just my own breathing.
Maybe it's slow, I told myself. Maybe it takes a second.
I opened my eyes.
People were staring.
Waiting.
I looked around the clearing.
Nothing changed.
No sudden connection. No locking eyes with someone. No magical moment.
Just normal faces.
My chest tightened. Not in a romantic way. In a bad way.
The Alpha frowned slightly. "Do you feel it?"
All those eyes on me again.
I swallowed. "No."
Murmurs started immediately.
"That's not possible."
"She's sixteen."
"Maybe she's nervous."
Heat crawled up my neck.
"I don't feel anything," I said again, quieter this time.
My brother stepped closer to me, like he could block the whispers. He couldn't.
Across the clearing, I noticed something.
Kael Ryder.
Future Alpha.
He wasn't looking confused.
He wasn't whispering.
He was looking at me.
Not shocked.
Not surprised.
Just… watching.
Like he expected this.
Our eyes met for half a second.
His jaw tightened.
Then he looked away.
And that's when something strange happened.
Not a spark.
Not a pull.
Just a tiny ache in my chest.
Small.
Sharp.
And gone.
I pressed my hand over my heart.
Nothing.
The Alpha cleared his throat. "It may take time."
But the whispers didn't stop.
Broken.
Cursed.
Unchosen.
I stood there under the moon, feeling more alone than I ever had in my life.
Sixteen.
No bond.
No mate.
No belonging.
And for the first time, I wondered something no wolf is supposed to think.
What if the problem is me?