Chapter 1 Mate

(Diane)

Clubs aren’t really my scene, but listening to my girlfriends gush over Alpha Darius’ long-lost son as if he were some celebrity heartthrob was almost entertaining enough to make me forget my worries. Victor, my fiancé, had ghosted me for a whole day now, that never happened before.

Victor is not my mate, but I couldn’t care less. My parents aren’t fated mates either and they are the happiest couple I knew. Victor came into my life three years ago and made me as happy as my Alpha father made my Luna mother. That’s all that matters to me.

“…Lucian’s here tonight! They say he’s drop-dead gorgeous. Like, way hotter than any guy from our pack.” My friend Maya said, practically bouncing in her seat.

“Gorgeous and mysterious,” chimed in Lila, swirling her drink. “You know the rumors, right? His mom was Alpha Darius’s true mate, and she died protecting him from his stepmother.” She leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a dramatic whisper. 

“They say Luna Celeste tried to have both of them killed out of jealousy.”  

I took another sip of my drink, pretending not to care, though I was mildly intrigued. Lucian’s return had been the talk of the pack for weeks. 

A child presumed dead, raised by rogues, and now reunited with the father he’d been stolen from—it was the kind of tragic, scandalous tale that spread like wildfire.  

“Please, you two are eating up gossip like it’s gospel,” I said with a smirk. “For all we know, he’s probably some rogue with a half-decent smile and a chip on his shoulder.”  

“You’re just worried he will steal Victor’s thunder,” Maya teased, nudging me. 

"Hardly," I said, rolling my eyes as I set my drink down, hating the comparison. "What’s he even doing here anyways? This place doesn’t exactly seem like the kind of place someone from his pack would show up."

Maya leaned in closer, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "That's the thing, though! Lucian’s not like his father’s pack. They’re so... uptight. You know the type—nose-in-the-air, anti-human, living deep in the woods like some medieval reenactment. They barely tolerate humans, let alone hang out at places like this."

"Right," Lila chimed in, swirling the straw in her drink. "Alpha Darius’s pack would never lower themselves to walk into a club like this. They think humans are beneath them—filthy, weak, and corrupting their ‘pure’ ways of life. It’s all tradition and isolation with those guys. No fun at all."

I tilted my head, feigning disinterest while internally absorbing every word. "And yet Lucian’s here. How very rebellious of him."

"Exactly!" Maya nodded enthusiastically. "He’s, like, the *opposite* of his father’s pack. A literal rogue. Word is he doesn’t even want to be part of Darius’s world. He’s been spotted in human cities, blending in, working with them, even living among them. Can you imagine anyone from a pack like that choosing to live like us?"

Lila smirked, leaning back in her chair. "It’s kind of hot if you think about it. The lone wolf who refuses to play by the rules. Meanwhile, our pack..." She motioned around the buzzing club, filled with wolves and humans mingling seamlessly. "We’ve always been about this kind of life. Interacting with humans, enjoying their world. Honestly, I don’t know how the other packs survive without this. Sounds... boring."

"Boring is putting it lightly," I said, shaking my head. "Living in isolation, hating humans for no reason, and following rules that were made centuries ago? Hard pass. I’ll take this life any day."

"But that’s why Lucian stands out," Maya said, her voice dreamy. "He’s not boring. He doesn’t fit the mold. He’s not like his father, and he’s not like us either. He’s... different."

"Different doesn’t always mean good," I shot back, trying not to let my curiosity get the better of me. Victor is not someone different. He is the one who made me feel safe. I am not saying I have father issue, far from it, but he does remind me so much of my father…

"Whatever," Maya said, brushing me off. "You can keep pretending you don’t care, but I bet the second you see him, you’ll be just as obsessed as the rest of us."

"Don’t hold your breath," I replied with a smirk, though my heartbeat was just a little faster at the thought. A wolf like Lucian, raised by rogues and rejecting the rigid, human-loathing traditions of his father’s pack... He was a walking contradiction. And I wasn’t sure if that intrigued me or made me wary.

I looked down and smiled when my phone lit up and Victor’s name showed up on the screen.

“If you’d Excuse me, Victor’s waiting for me upstairs,” I said, standing up and smoothing down my dress. “Enjoy the night without me, ladies.”  

“Oh, come on! You and Victor are too perfect,” Lila groaned, rolling her eyes. “I want a fiancé who can’t leave me alone for five minutes!”  

“You mean you want *any* fiancé,” Maya shot back, earning a playful slap on the arm from Lila.  

I chuckled and waved them off, making my way toward the elevators. The bass from the club’s music thumped under my heels, but just as I reached the hallway, a tall figure stepped into my path.  

I stumbled back with all the grace of a baby deer on roller skates, my heel catching on the carpeted floor. My arms flailed wildly as I tried to stay upright, one hand narrowly missing a poorly placed potted plant. 

Just as I thought I’d hit the floor in a spectacular display of clumsiness, a firm hand shot out and steadied me by the elbow.

“Careful,” a deep, smooth voice said, laced with the faintest hint of amusement.

“Do you make a habit of bowling people over, or am I just lucky?” he asked, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

“I—uh—” I started, still trying to find my footing.

“Speechless,” he said, clearly enjoying himself. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

I straightened up, brushing imaginary dust off my dress to cover my flustered state. 

“Actually, I think I tripped over your ego,” I shot back, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

His smirk widened, radiating pure confidence. “Lucian,” he said, his deep voice calm and self-assured, like he expected the name alone to mean something.

I stopped short, my pulse quickening as I looked up at him. So this was really him—the long-lost son of Alpha Darius, the one everyone couldn’t stop talking about.  

I noticed the sheer perfection of his features. His dark hair was slightly tousled, framing a chiseled face with sharp cheekbones and piercing gray eyes that seemed to pin me in place.

The air seemed to shift between us, crackling with tension. My wolf Nina stirred, more alert than she’d ever been, and that’s when it hit me—I knew exactly what this was.

The mate bond.