Chapter one

The gentle beat of the drums echoes through the moonlit night, the wolves howled and maidens danced and clapped, leading the bride to be to the center of the crowd where a bright flame burned beneath freshly chopped firewood.

Emily glowed under the luminance of the moonlight, you could see her smile, bright and proud beneath the the mesh material of her transparent veil.

This day was no doubt the happiest day of her life, she was getting engaged, to an Alpha, the most powerful one she knew. Her pack was equally proud and she could see the satisfied thin lipped smile of her father there in the crowd as she danced her way to the middle where the ceremony will be initiated. All was well, all was perfect, until she realized… her fiancé was nowhere within the crowd. He was gone.

“Alpha… you shouldn’t.” Melissa breathed shakily as he nuzzled his face between the bridge of her neck. He let out a soft groan in the back of his throat, but he did not pull away. How could he? She smelled so delicate, like rain and roses. His hands tightened ever so slightly around her waist and she let out a soft whimper, sinking further into his touch.

“Mate.” He breathed against her neck, causing shivers to travel down her thighs. Melissa whimpered softly again this touch, she scooted closer into him, all rational thoughts within her melting into a puddle of mushy feelings.

His fingers felt warmed against her soft skin, her wolf howled with pleasure and excitement within her and she fought to restrain her own emotions.

“Alpha Mason…” she called his name softly, her eyes darting up slowly to stare at his face.

“Yes, mate?” He hummed softly, blinking his eyes open.

“Y…you’re getting engaged today, we shouldn’t be here.” She frowned.

His deep brown eyes narrowed for a moment and his brows drew together.

Alpha Mason has searched for his life mate for ten years since he turned eighteen before growing weary of the search and deciding to settle.

Like every Alpha who has come of age, he travelled to other packs, meeting, greeting and forming bonds in hopes of finding his life mate.

When an Alpha finds their life mate, they become even stronger. A mate is both their strength and their weakness. So when Alpha Mason did not find his life mate, he settled to marry the Beta’s daughter, Emily Henderson; who is also Melissa’s best friend and mistress. And today is their engagement party.

It was there in the crowd he first saw her, the beautiful girl with eyes that glowed green like emeralds. Her long dark hair wrapped around her like a cloak.

Just at the sight of her, he felt it, his wolf rising to the surface. He felt a rush he had only ever heard about, a thundering sensation in his ears as he watched her meekly make her way through the crowd, innocent eyes wide and wandering around with a tray in her hands. She was serving something around the crowd, he could not tell what it was, did not care for it, all he could feel was the restless clawing of his wolf against his mind. The electricity that was flooding through his very being, he could smell her so strongly from here, it was driving his wolf mad.

She turned her eyes in every direction, like she was searching for something. No doubt she must be able to feel her connection to him too, her senses must be searching for the source of it all, those overwhelming feelings.

Finally, her green eyes locked with his and they widened in a look he could not comprehend. Surprise, fear, amazement?

She dropped the tray in her hands almost at once, she turned around and she disappeared through the crowd immediately.

Mason stood up at once, his focus was no longer on his bride to be who was so delicately dancing her way through the crowd, coming to meet him. It was on her, the mystery girl who had just disappeared at the sight of him. All rational thinking disappeared from him and he pushed his way through the corpse behind him, eager to find her again.

It was not hard to, he could smell her, her enticing fragrance stood out from every other thing he could smell. He followed it and he found her behind the crowd. She turned around and her eyes widened again as she saw him, she gasped and she took to her heels.

Melissa ran through the dirt outside away from the village square, her heartbeat thundering through her ears. Why she was running she did not know, but she could hear him coming after her, could feel him even.

It did not take long for him to catch up, he was an Alpha after-all with immense strength, his hand grabbed her and she flew into a pile of dried leaves behind her, he cornered her at once. His eyes glowing a bright amber color as he stared at her. “Mate…” he panted, falling to his knees before her.

All rational thinking disappeared as he reached for her, unable to resist sinking his nose between her neck, inhaling her intoxicating scent to calm his wolf.

Alpha Mason stared down at Melissa, he lifted his fingers to gently tilt her head, ensuring she was looking into his eyes. “I have found my mate, after searching for all these years. That is more important, there will be no engagement. I have found my true Luna.”

Melissa shook her head, what is he saying? Does he not know?

“I cannot be your Luna.” She shook her head, “that is not possible.”

Mason’s eyes dimmed, a broken look upon his face. “Why? Do you not want to be my mate?”

She let out a long exhale, fiddling with her fingers as she cast her gaze to ground , unable to look into his eyes.

Mason reached for her hand, and at once she felt it, the mate bond, the tingling sensation she had heard so much about, it sparked through her arm. She stared into his mud colored eyes with her emerald ones.

“Why do you not want to be my mate?” He asked.

Melissa shook her head. She thought he must already know, she fought hard to say it, but there would be no point keeping it from him. He will find out really soon.

She turned her neck to the side, patting her long black hair to the side for him to see the unmistakable birthmark on the back of her neck. “I am an Omega.”

Melissa has been an Omega all her life and that is a fate she has long come to accept, she did not expect a life mate. She did not even want to meet hers, life mates are a rare phenomenon now in the werewolf world. Only Alpha’s tend to find a life mate and nine out of ten times, she is of an equally high rank. Never an Omega.

Alpha Mason stared at the mark on her neck, instantly his eyes widened and fell. His hand fell from hers and he stared at the mark on her neck with a mix of several overwhelming emotions.

She tried to read him, the clenching of his fists by his side, the intensity with which he stared at the downturned crescent moon mark on her neck. A mark all Omegas are born with, a downturned crescent moon. It is a symbol too, of their position in the wolf chain, they are the lowest of the lowest, and they live and are treated as such. Servants.

Melissa removed her hand from her hair, allowing it to cover the birthmark again. She stared at him, the clench in his jaw. She was tempted to reach for him, to cradle his face in her hands, but his disappointment burned through her. It broke her heart and made her ache within. She could see it. The once sweet eyes that had stared at her with so much glee and relied at having found their other half, he stared at her like she was the most precious thing in the world, with a certain kind of glimmer in his eyes. That glimmer was now gone, and all she saw was the disappointment within his eyes. Alongside some anger and confusion.

She took a step back, inching away from him. “Go ahead, do it.”

She hardened her gaze as she stared at him, trying to ignore the longing feeling that called within her, her wolf, it was trying to reach for its mate.

She wondered if he could feel it too, if he could feel his wolf calling out to hers. But she could not read him at all. His gaze was hardened.

“How?” He breathed, his voice cracking ever so lightly. “How is that possible? How can you be an Omega? How am I mates to an Omega”

His brows furrowed deeply as he stared at her, a small triangle shape forming between them.

Melissa sniffled, how was she to know?

The moon goddess must be trying to punish one of them, or both. Why else would she bring this cruel date upon them? An Alpha mated to an Omega? Impossible!

“Just go ahead and do it.” She shook her head, “reject me.”

It even hurt to say that, her wolf howled in pain within her, being rejected was one of the worst things that can happen to a wolf, especially an Omega. A rejected wolf might go rogue. The pain of rejection is a rough one.