CHAPTER 1

Aura's POV

“Why does everyone look like they’re waiting for a miracle but no one even sees me?”

The words slipped past my lips like smoke, soft and pointless. My reflection only gazed back without an answer, wide-eyed and uncertain. I smoothed the ceremonial robe clinging to my figure and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. White silk, too fancy for someone like me. It is too clean for someone they all call “the invisible girl.”

Tonight was my coming-of-age ceremony, the night I’d feel the pull of my wolf for the first time. The night my mate, if the Moon Goddess had been generous, would feel it too. Everyone in the pack gathered at the stone circle for this. They drank, danced, and whispered about power and legacy.

Me? I stood behind a dusty curtain in the far corner of the temple, unseen.

A knock jolted me. I flinched.

“Aura?” My cousin Ellyn poked her head in. “You’re on next.”

I nodded and smoothed down the trembling in my hands.

The walk from the temple to the circle felt like a death march. All eyes shifted. Not because they noticed me—no, never that. They just wanted to move on to the next event.

“Aura Blakes,” the Elder announced, raising his gnarled hand toward the moon.

I moved forward, the scent of wildflowers and pine heavy in the air. The drumbeats reverberating across the trees made my heart thud in time. All I had to do was look up at the moon and let it happen—let the shift happen.

But before I could even tilt my head, a wave of scent hit me.

God, it hit hard.

It was nothing like the herbs or rain or even the rich forest earth. No. It was... something hotter. Darker. Like fire hidden beneath the ice. It wrapped around my throat and dragged breath from my lungs.

My knees buckled.

And then—he was there.

Alpha Ryder.

He didn’t walk. He stormed toward me like he owned the air itself. His tall frame cut through the crowd, broad shoulders tense beneath his obsidian tunic, and those eyes—those eyes weren’t just looking at me. They burned straight through me.

Gasps spread around the circle.

“What’s going on?” someone whispered.

I couldn't speak. Could barely breathe. I just stood there as Ryder halted in front of me, his chest rising and falling like he’d run through hell to get to me.

Then—he growled. Not at me. At them.

And in the next breath, he gripped my arm, yanked me into him, and announced, loud and clear:

“She’s mine.”

The words crashed over the crowd like thunder. Like a war drum.

No rituals. No moon-blessed blessing. No explanation.

Just those two words.

“She’s mine.”

The Elder stammered. “Alpha Ryder—”

But Ryder ignored him. His thumb brushed across my pulse like he was memorizing it, his hold on my wrist was hot and rough.

I was still trying to catch up.

How could this be real?

How could he be my mate?

He didn’t give me time to ask. One nod from him and the crowd parted like they feared him. I was half-dragged, half-carried through the trees, away from the ceremony, away from the firelight and the chants and the judgment.

We didn’t stop until we reached the Alpha’s lodge at the hill’s edge. The doors opened at his touch, slamming shut behind us with the force of thunder.

He still hadn’t said a word to me. Still hadn’t let go.

“Alpha—” I began, barely whispering.

His eyes found mine. “Ryder,” he said. “Say it.”

“Ryder,” I echoed, heartbeat stuttering.

That was when I realized something terrifying.

The pull in my chest wasn’t fading. It was growing.

Ryder’s hand cupped the side of my face. His touch was rough—calloused—but his thumb brushed against my cheek like I’d shatter. His jaw clenched, like he was fighting something—himself maybe.

“You feel it too,” he murmured.

I swallowed hard. “What is this?”

He didn’t answer. Not with words.

His mouth was on mine, stealing all sense from me. Not a kiss of soft discovery, but one of raw hunger. My body betrayed me—melted, molded into his like I was made for him.

And maybe I was.

Maybe the Moon Goddess did tie me to the Alpha.

But this… this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. No courting. No approval. No slow-bloomed love.

Just fire.

He pulled me close until my back hit the bedpost in his room. My head was spinning. My mind was screaming warnings I didn’t understand.

“You’re mine,” he whispered, voice hoarse. “Only mine.”

And then—he sealed it.

That night, Ryder didn’t ask permission. He didn’t pretend to be gentle.

He claimed me.

Every growl, every kiss, every breath was a declaration.

Not of love.

But of possession.

The pain in my chest made no sense to me. Was this how it felt to be chosen by an Alpha?

Because it didn’t feel like a dream.

It felt like drowning.

Sometime later, when the moon sank low and my body shook from the heat he had put inside me, I lay twisted in his covers, skin sticky with sweat, heart raw with a tempest of emotions I didn't grasp.

He didn’t speak again. Just held me tighter as though I might vanish if he let go.

I should’ve felt special.

But I only felt lost.

Because whatever this was…

It wasn’t love.

Just before sleep could pull me under, I heard him whisper something into the dark.

“I should’ve told her… but it’s too late now.”

My heart stopped.

Told me what?