I wake up with a jolt, my heart pounding in my chest. Today is the day, my eighteenth birthday. But it’s not just any birthday. Today, I got my wolf and I can finally sense my mate. The moment my eyes flutter open I feel it, this deep pull undeniable pull. My heart skips a beat as I realize who it’s leading me to.
“It’s him” a voice whispers in my mind, her voice trembling with excitement. Ethan is our mate, Amelia!
I froze. “Are you my wolf?”
“Yes silly, who else do you think can sense our mate?” My wolf giggle “My name is Snow, nice to meet you.”
A surge of joy rushes through me, filling every part of my being. I finally got my wolf and she seems spunky too. Also best of all, Ethan is my mate. For two years, I’ve been with Ethan, loving him, dreaming of this moment and now it’s real. I can hardly believe it, because not everyone gets to be mated to their partner of whom they chose. I am glad the moon goddess, granted my wish to be Ethan mate and what better time for it to happen, just four days before is coronation to becoming Alpha.
I leap out of bed, hands shaking as I get ready to go Ethan. My heart races as I rush to the ball room, I knew he’d be in the ball room, helping organize he coronation ball. We’ve been working on it hard together. The decorations, the lights, everything is falling into place for the big event in four days. But nothing compares to the excitement bubbling inside me.
I burst through the doors, spotting Ethan across the room, organizing some final touches. His minty scent hit me, full force, I can’t get enough of it. He’s here, just like I knew he would be. My mate, my future. I can hardly contain my happiness as I make my way toward him.
“Ethan!” I call out, practically glowing with excitement. He turns to me, and for a brief moment, I see something flicker in his eyes. But it’s gone before I can grasp it.
“Amelia,” he said, his tone steady, too steady. It’s like a bucket of cold water dumped on my joy. What’s worst there’s no excitement on his face. Surly he and his wolf can sense, I’m his mate. Where is the joy one his face? Something is wrong, I slow my steps, my heart pounding for a different reason now.
“I have something to tell you,” he continue, his voice tight. My heart sink as Snow goes silent, sensing the shift.
“Ethan I got my wolf, and I-I felt it this morning, I know you’re my mate,” I blurt out, hoping aginst hope that this will change whatever is in his eyes. I know everyone in the room were paying attention to us, despite looking as if they’re working but I didn’t care.
Ethan expression hardens. “I know Amelia. I felt it too.”
My world cashes around me. “Then why… Why do you look like that? What’s wrong?”
He sighs, running a hand through his hair. “This isn’t easy to say, but we can’t be together.”
The words hit me like a punch to the gut. “What are you talking about? We’re mates. Ethan! We’re supposed to be together!”
“He’s a fool,” Snow growls in the back of my mind, but there’s a note of fear there too. He can’t do this. He wouldn’t.
But Ethan’s next words shatter all my hopes. “I have to put the pack first, Amelia. My duty as Alpha is more important than anything else. I can’t let my feelings get in the way of that. I have to focus on whats’s best for the pack.”
I swallow, I want to scream at him, to make him see that we could have both. That we could still be together. But I can’t it’s like he already made up his mind and nothing I say is going to change it. My hands clench into fist, nails digging into my palms. “And what about, what we had? Are you just going to throw that away?” My voice tremble.
“He’s no mate of ours. We’re better off without him.” Snow snarls, her voice a fierce echo in my mind. “If he can’t see what we’re worth, then he doesn’t deserve us.”
He looks away and for a brief moment I think I see a flivker of guilt in his eyes. But it’d gone as quickly as it came, replaced by that infuriating calmness. “I have to think about the future, the pack need a strong leader. I need to focus.”
I shake my head, refusing to believe what I’m hearing. “But we can be together. We can make this work. An Alpha needs is Luna to be strong. I can be your Luna-“
“No,” he cuts me off, his voice cold now. Stepping back, creating a huge gap between us. “I, Ethan Blackwood, rejected, Amelia Grey of the Ssilvermoon Pack, as my mate and Luna.” His voice loud enough for everyone to hear.
The world tilt beneath me, my breath catching in my throat. “No!” Snow howls her pain echoing through me. “He can’t do this! We’re his mate!”
I fell to my knees gasping for air as our mate bond snap, beads of sweats rolled down my forehead. I feel hurt, empty. My eyes burn as tears threaten to escape and I can feel everyone eyes on me. I won’t give him or them the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
“I’m sorry Amelia, you’re not strong enough to be my mate. I need a stronger Luna by my side. I hope you under, maybe someday you’ll find someone a chosen mate.”
I look up glaring at him. I can’t listen to this anymore. The hurt, the anger, it’s all bubbling up inside me threatening to spill over without another word. I got up, turn and walk away, my vision blurring as I leave him behind. I can’t let him see the broken pieces of my heart.
“He’s lost us,” Snow whispers, her voice tinge with sorrow. “But we’ll find our strength again, Amelia. We will,”
But as I leave the auditorium, the weight of his rejected presses down on me, and I know nothing will never be the same again.
I don’t know how I make it out the ball room. Everything’s a blur- faces, voices, the oppressive weigh of pity from those who witnessed my humiliation. The further I get form Ethan, the more the pain seeps in, clawing at my insides like a wild animal trapped in a cage.“Amelia, you have to breathe” Snow’s voice urges me, but even she sounds weaker than before. The severance of the bond has left both of us raw and bleeding.“I can’t,” I whisper back. My chest is tight, and it feels like someone has ripped my heart out and left a gaping wound in its place. “It hurts too much know Snow. He rejected us, despite being mate.”“I know, but you’re stronger than this. We’re stronger,” Snow insists, but even as she says it, I can feel her sadness, her anger. She’s trying to hold us together, but the bond… It’s shattered us in ways I never imagined possible.I find myself outside, the cool air a stark contrast to the suffocating atmosphere inside. My legs carry me to the edge of the pack’s terri
After leaving the woods, I barely manage to pull myself together long enough to reach home. The moment I step inside, the walls of my room close in on me. I live alone, no parents, no siblings, nothing. Just amplifying the emptiness left by Ethan’s rejections.My parents died when I was just a toddler. I have to memory or recollection of them and I was an only child, I stayed in the pack house, until I was 16. With the savings my parents left for me, I used that to purchase a small house in the pack. I collapse onto my bed, the silence heavy and suffocating.My phone buzzes, snapping me out of my thoughts. I glance at my phone, it’s a call from my best friend Ivy. For a moment, I consider letting it go to voicemail, but something in me- a desperate need for distraction- makes me answer.“That fuck bastard Ethan! He doesn’t deserve you Amelia.” Ivy voice exclaim over the phone. I wince at her words. The news had reach my best friend too. I take it everyone knew. “Yea, thanks,” I mutte
The sunlight streaming through the curtains wakes me up with a start and head pounding and my body tangled in sheets that aren’t mine. For a split second, I’m disoriented, struggling to remember where I am and how I got here. But then, it all comes flooding back- the club, it the drinks, Ethan with that girl… and Lucas. I freeze my heart racing as I take in the room around me. I’m in a hotel.I felt a stir beside me and I look over. There lay Lucas, his perfectly define face. Deeply a sleep. The memory of our night together hits me like a tidal wave, and I feel my face flush with embarrassment.Shit!... Fuck! What have I done?I bite my lip, trying to keep my breathing steady as I carefully slip out from under the covers. I don’t dare to look back at Lucas, afraid that he might wake up and catch me sneaking out like some thief. I can’t face the questions, the looks, the inevitable awkwardness that will come when he wakes up. I need to get out of here. I spot my clothes in a heap on t
Amelia P.O.VI sit on the edge of my bed, staring at Lucas's text. My thumb hovers over the screen, heart pounding in my chest. Can we meet and talk? The words seem so innocent, but I know there’s more behind them. There has to be, especially after that night.I take a deep breath and type out a quick reply: Sure, where? His response is almost immediate—meet me at the oak tree in the forest. My breath catches as memories of that place flood my mind. The last time I was there… it was right after Ethan rejected me. I ran to that tree, seeking solace, and it was Lucas who found me, offering comfort when I thought I didn’t have any left. I don’t know why he chose that place, but something about it feels significant.As I make my way to the oak tree, the cool forest air bites at my skin, sending shivers down my spine. My mind races with a thousand different thoughts, but one stands out above the rest—what does he want to say? My steps slow as I approach the tree, and I see him standing ther
Amelia P.O.VThe second Lucas's announcement leaves his lips, the weight of the room shifts. I can feel it. Eyes are on me, on him—on us. I stand there, my pulse quickening. They all must have have so many question giving the fact, I have been with Ethan for a while, only for him to reject me and now I appear as Lucas fiancé. Lucas leaves my side to mingle with some officials. The murmurs grow louder, whispers buzzing through the crowd like bees around a hive. I overhear some unmated females calling my slut under their breaths. I ignore them as I went to get myself a glass of champagne. I can practically feel the shock rolling off Ethan from across the room as I take a glass, but I don’t let my gaze wander toward him. I refuse to give him the satisfaction.Ivy is at my side almost immediately, her eyes wide with barely-contained glee. “Did you see Ethan’s face?” she whispers, trying—and failing—to stifle a laugh. “I thought he was going to explode.”I can’t help but smile at her enth
Amelia POVTension lingers in the air like a fog that refuses to lift. My heart is still pounding, but it’s quieter now, the adrenaline slowly fading as I stand on the balcony beside Lucas. The cool night air brushes against my skin, calming, but I can’t shake the heavy feeling in my chest. Even after I sliped out of Lucas’s arm, the warmth of his body quickly replaced by the coolness of the evening.I steal a glance at him, his face unreadable. The calm, collected Lucas everyone sees, and yet... I know there’s more to him than what he shows. I’ve seen glimpses of it, in the moments we’ve shared, in the way he was so quick to defend me tonight.Snow is pacing inside me, her energy restless. “That idiot,” she growls, referring to Ethan. “He has some nerve.”I nod silently, agreeing with her. My emotions are a tangled mess, and part of me wants to scream at Ethan, to make him understand that he doesn’t get to control me anymore. But there’s another part of me, a part that aches—a part t
Ethan's POVI storm away from the crowd, the laughter and music of my coronation party fading behind me. But I couldn’t care less about the celebration. It should have been a moment of triumph—becoming Alpha—but the only thing I can think about is the sight of Lucas’s arms wrapped around her. Around Amelia. My Amelia.My fists clench at my sides, and Magnus is pacing in my mind, his growl rumbling louder with each passing second.“I told you,” Magnus snaps, his voice thick with frustration. “You should have never rejected her. She’s our mate. You can feel it, can’t you? You went against the mate bond, and now, she’s with Lucas.”I grit my teeth, pushing open the doors of the packhouse and stalking through the halls. “I know,” I mutter under my breath, trying to silence Magnus, but his rage mirrors my own. The memory of Lucas holding her, the way her body fit against his... it’s like a thorn in my side that I can’t pull out.“You made the wrong choice,” Magnus growls again, his voice l
Amelia’s POVThe engine hums quietly beneath me as Lucas’s car glides smoothly down the narrow, tree-lined road leading away from my pack’s territory. I sit in the passenger seat, staring out the window, watching as the dense trees blur together like shadows. Each mile we travel feels like another step further from everything I’ve ever known—my home, my life, and... Ethan.I lean my head against the cool glass, my thoughts spiraling. I hadn’t expected to leave so soon. Just yesterday, I was standing in that ballroom, the weight of Ethan’s words pressing on me like a storm. She’s my mate. Those three words keep echoing in my mind, stirring up emotions I’ve been trying to bury.“He rejected us,” Snow growls in the back of my mind, her voice sharp with bitterness. “He had his chance, and now look where we are. Stop thinking about him, Amelia. We belong to Lucas now.”I clench my fists in my lap, the fabric of my dress crumpling beneath my fingers. “It’s not that simple, Snow,” I whisper,