Starlight’s POVI should hate the Moon Goddess. For making me his. For tying my soul to the one person who made my life a living hell. But as I watch Helios struggle, his perfect composure crumbling piece by piece, I find myself whispering a silent prayer of thanks. Because this? This is poetic justice.Helios paces like a caged animal, because he's become the alpha who could control everyone but me. His shoulders are taut, his fists clenched, his wolf simmering beneath the surface. Every instinct in his body tells him that I should be his. That I should fold.That the bond should have me whimpering for his touch. It must be agonizing for him to realize… I am not affected the way he expects. Not entirely. I won’t lie to myself, I feel the pull. When he’s close, my heart betrays me, speeding up. His scent, dark cedarwood and crisp frost, prickles at my senses, tempting me.His voice, when he growls my name, sends chills down my spine. But here’s the thing about pain. If you endure enou
Helios POV Starlight is playing with me. I know it. I can see it in the way she looks at me, her eyes glinting with quiet amusement whenever I struggle. The worst part? She isn’t even trying.She just exists, and somehow, that alone is enough to unravel me. I, Helios Blackwood, Alpha of the Moonlit Pack, the strongest of my generation, am falling apart. And she is watching it happen.The worst part of all this, I can’t escape her. I hear her heartbeat in my sleep. I breathe her in even when she’s nowhere near me. I don’t need to see her to know she’s close because my body reacts to her presence before my mind even registers it.This bond is supposed to make her submit. Instead, it’s doing the opposite. It’s making me weak. And Starlight? She revels in it, and shamelessly so. She acts as though she feels nothing. But I don’t believe it. In fact, I refuse to believe it.The truth is that this is a game I can't win. It happens again the next morning. I stand in the hallway, waiting for
Helios POV Starlight is playing with me. I know it. I can see it in the way she looks at me, her eyes glinting with quiet amusement whenever I struggle. The worst part? She isn’t even trying.She just exists, and somehow, that alone is enough to unravel me. I, Helios Blackwood, Alpha of the Moonlit Pack, the strongest of my generation, am falling apart. And she is watching it happen.The worst part of all this, I can’t escape her. I hear her heartbeat in my sleep. I breathe her in even when she’s nowhere near me. I don’t need to see her to know she’s close because my body reacts to her presence before my mind even registers it.This bond is supposed to make her submit. Instead, it’s doing the opposite. It’s making me weak. And Starlight? She revels in it, and shamelessly so. She acts as though she feels nothing. But I don’t believe it. In fact, I refuse to believe it.The truth is that this is a game I can't win. It happens again the next morning. I stand in the hallway, waiting for
Starlight’s POVI’d always dreamed of finding my mate. Not because I thought I deserved love, but because, for once, I wanted to feel like I belonged. That there was someone, just one person in this whole world, who would see me as more than the Moonlit Pack’s worthless runt. I should have known better.The moment I stepped into the grand hall for the Alpha’s coming-of-age ceremony, my heart clenched. A strange pull wrapped around me, tightening like an invisible chain, dragging me toward the one person I never wanted to be near.Helios. The son of the former Alpha. The strongest warrior in the pack. My tormentor. And now, my mate.I had no time to process the shock before his icy golden eyes locked onto mine. I shivered under the weight of his gaze, my breath hitching as his expression twisted into something ugly, disgust.“You?” His voice cut through the chatter in the room, laced with disbelief and simmering rage. The room fell silent. I felt every gaze turn toward me, felt the sne
Starlight’s POVFate had played its cruelest trick on me. Helios. The boy who spent his life tormenting me. The Alpha who stood before me now, looking at me like I was dirt beneath his feet. My mate.His golden eyes burned with disgust, his voice still echoing in my mind. "You’re not even worth the effort it takes to reject you." "I’ll take another she-wolf, mark her, mate her, and let you break on your own." "That way, you’ll die quietly from the pain, and I won’t even have to lift a finger."He had spoken those words so easily, as if my suffering was nothing but an inconvenience to him. As if my existence, our mate bond, was a joke. But as I stood there, fists clenched at my sides, the past eighteen years replayed in my mind.The bruises. The jeers. The loneliness. The pain. And suddenly, something inside me shifted. I was done. Done being weak. Done being the runt. Done crying over a pack that had never once treated me as one of their own. They wanted me to die quietly? No. If I wa
Starlight's POVThe night was eerily silent, the kind of quiet that made the hairs on my arms stand on end. The Moonlit Pack’s territory was bathed in the silver glow of the full moon, and despite the cold air, the pack house buzzed with activity. Warriors patrolled the borders, omegas scurried about completing their duties, and the elite members gathered in the grand hall to celebrate Alpha Helios' rise to power.I had stayed away from the main house, as I always did. The pack had no use for an omega runt like me, especially one they openly despised. I was nothing but a shadow in their world, unseen and unwanted. That was until my mate, Alpha Helios, made it his mission to remind me of my place. "You're not even worth rejecting."His words still rang in my head like a cruel melody, one that I had grown accustomed to over the years. I clenched my fists, pushing away the ache in my chest. I refused to feel anything for a male who had made my life a waking nightmare.The scent of blood
Starlight’s POVThe battle ended as abruptly as it had begun. The moment Alpha Helios collapsed, the rogues, witches, and vampires retreated into the night like shadows dissolving into darkness. The stench of blood and burnt wood lingered in the air, a testament to the brutal attack that had left the Moonlit Pack in ruins.Despite the destruction, there were no fatalities. The warriors, though wounded, were alive. But Helios, their Alpha, my stupid mate, lay unmoving on the ground, his body trembling from the dark magic that still coiled around him.The pack scrambled to assist the injured. Warriors were supported by their comrades, omegas rushed to fetch water, and the healers worked tirelessly to stabilize the wounded. But the weight of one devastating truth hung over all of them. Their Alpha was hanging by a thread.A group of warriors lifted Helios’ limp form and carried him toward the infirmary, his father, Former Alpha Killian, leading the way. The sheer panic in his storm-gray
Helios' POVPain. It wasn’t the kind of pain I was accustomed to, the sharp bite of a blade, the dull ache of bruises, or the searing heat of claws raking through flesh. No, this pain was different. It came from within, deep and consuming, like my very existence had been shattered and forced back together in a way that didn’t quite fit. I gasped awake, my senses flaring, instinct kicking in before logic.The scent of sterile antiseptic burned my nose, but beneath it, something sweet and familiar coiled around me like an intoxicating whisper. Vanilla and moonlight. My wolf stirred instantly, and I turned my head, muscles tense, ready to attack whoever dared intrude on my space.And then I saw her. A frail body lay beside me in this oversized hospital bed, tucked beneath the same sheets I was under. Soft waves of midnight hair framed a face too pale, her chest barely rising with shallow breaths.Starlight. My heartbeat faltered. She was....why was she here? The memories crashed back al
Helios POV Starlight is playing with me. I know it. I can see it in the way she looks at me, her eyes glinting with quiet amusement whenever I struggle. The worst part? She isn’t even trying.She just exists, and somehow, that alone is enough to unravel me. I, Helios Blackwood, Alpha of the Moonlit Pack, the strongest of my generation, am falling apart. And she is watching it happen.The worst part of all this, I can’t escape her. I hear her heartbeat in my sleep. I breathe her in even when she’s nowhere near me. I don’t need to see her to know she’s close because my body reacts to her presence before my mind even registers it.This bond is supposed to make her submit. Instead, it’s doing the opposite. It’s making me weak. And Starlight? She revels in it, and shamelessly so. She acts as though she feels nothing. But I don’t believe it. In fact, I refuse to believe it.The truth is that this is a game I can't win. It happens again the next morning. I stand in the hallway, waiting for
Helios POV Starlight is playing with me. I know it. I can see it in the way she looks at me, her eyes glinting with quiet amusement whenever I struggle. The worst part? She isn’t even trying.She just exists, and somehow, that alone is enough to unravel me. I, Helios Blackwood, Alpha of the Moonlit Pack, the strongest of my generation, am falling apart. And she is watching it happen.The worst part of all this, I can’t escape her. I hear her heartbeat in my sleep. I breathe her in even when she’s nowhere near me. I don’t need to see her to know she’s close because my body reacts to her presence before my mind even registers it.This bond is supposed to make her submit. Instead, it’s doing the opposite. It’s making me weak. And Starlight? She revels in it, and shamelessly so. She acts as though she feels nothing. But I don’t believe it. In fact, I refuse to believe it.The truth is that this is a game I can't win. It happens again the next morning. I stand in the hallway, waiting for
Starlight’s POVI should hate the Moon Goddess. For making me his. For tying my soul to the one person who made my life a living hell. But as I watch Helios struggle, his perfect composure crumbling piece by piece, I find myself whispering a silent prayer of thanks. Because this? This is poetic justice.Helios paces like a caged animal, because he's become the alpha who could control everyone but me. His shoulders are taut, his fists clenched, his wolf simmering beneath the surface. Every instinct in his body tells him that I should be his. That I should fold.That the bond should have me whimpering for his touch. It must be agonizing for him to realize… I am not affected the way he expects. Not entirely. I won’t lie to myself, I feel the pull. When he’s close, my heart betrays me, speeding up. His scent, dark cedarwood and crisp frost, prickles at my senses, tempting me.His voice, when he growls my name, sends chills down my spine. But here’s the thing about pain. If you endure enou
Helios POVI’ve always believed in power and that power meant control.For me, power meant dominance and I believed that I was meant to be obeyed. But Starlight is shattering every law I have ever known.Every second. Every breath, I feel her. The bond is there, alive, pulsing, unbreakable. The moment I step into a room, my body locks onto her like she’s the only thing that exists. Her scent should make me dizzy with pleasure and mine should make her dizzy with submission.I push my Alpha aura onto her, expecting her to wilt beneath it. But she doesn’t. She barely flinches like she doesn’t even feel it. As if my power, the very essence of what makes me Alpha, is nothing to her and I am nothing to her. That realization burns deeper than any wound I have ever suffered.Starlight is breaking me, without even trying and It’s been weeks. Weeks of pushing. Commanding. Cornering. Weeks of watching her meet every attempt with the same infuriating indifference. I try everything.Growling. Snar
Helios' POVI couldn’t breathe. She was right there, close enough to touch, to claim, to command, but I had no power over her. And it was driving me insane. An Alpha without control. A mate without submission. A bond that only tightened the longer I stayed near her, yet she stood there, calm, unfazed, as if it meant nothing. As if I meant nothing.The Pack was watching and they could see my weakness. The whispers had already started. Although they were subtle, I wasn’t a fool. My wolves had noticed. They had seen their Alpha falter. They had seen me chase, Star. And worse, they had seen her ignore me.Starlight, an Omega, should have been at my feet. She should have been affected, trembling, weak to my presence. But she wasn’t. She was standing tall, sharp, and untouchable. Like she didn’t even need me. And that infuriated me more than anything.My Pheromones should have worked on her, yet my Omega runt never gave a reaction. I turned my gaze on her, letting my Alpha command bleed int
Helios' POVMy mate was killing me. Not with words. Not with anger. No. Starlight was killing me with silence. With every unreadable glance, every dismissive shrug, every moment she let me touch her yet gave me nothing in return. I had spent years ignoring her. Now, she was ignoring me. And I hated it.The most infuriating thing was the fact that I could not escape this bond. I didn’t want a mate. I certainly never wanted her. Yet here I was, trapped. Tied to her by something stronger than any mate bond. Tied to her by her blood, her sacrifice.She had saved me, and now my wolf refused to let me go. Every time I tried to leave the room, my body locked up. Every time I forced myself to walk away, my lungs ached like I was suffocating. I needed her close. Damnit! I truly needed her.And I could feel it, the bond pulling me deeper, tightening its hold. The longer I was near her, the worse it got. And the cruelest part? She felt nothing.It had been days of this. Days of me standing at h
Helios’ POVIt started with little things. The way my hands itched when someone else reached for her. The way my wolf bristled whenever she spoke to another male, even if it was just a healer. The way my jaw clenched when she dismissed me, over and over, as if I was nothing more than background noise.She didn’t reject me outright. But she didn’t accept me either. She simply existed, untouched by the mate bond that was destroying me from the inside out. And I...I was losing my mind.The first time she flinched away from someone, I almost didn’t notice. A healer had been adjusting her pillow, hands brushing her shoulder as they shifted her into a better position. It was a simple, harmless touch. Yet her entire body went rigid and her fingers curled into the sheets.She didn’t say a word, didn’t push them away, but the tension in her muscles was unmistakable. I dismissed the healer before I even realized what I was doing. Starlight exhaled slowly when they left, as if she had been holdi
Helios’ POVThe first thing I noticed when she woke up was her eyes. Not their color, not the way they fluttered open after days of stillness but the way they looked at me. They were cold, empty and indifferent. Like I was just another face in the pack. Like I was nothing.My wolf recoiled at the absence of recognition, of warmth, of any sign that she felt what I did. The raw pull of the bond had been gnawing at me since I woke up. It coiled tighter around my ribs the longer I stayed near her. But she…She acted like it didn’t even exist. "You're awake." My voice came out rough, unreadable. She blinked up at me, slow and impassive, before turning her head away, staring at the ceiling as if I wasn’t even in the room. A sharp pain twisted in my chest.The last time we were in the same room together, she had been half-dead, her blood keeping me alive while she wasted away. Now, she looked weak but intact. Yet something about her had changed. Not physically.No, physically, she was still
Helios’ POVI never wanted a mate. Not like this. Not her. Yet, here I was, sitting at the edge of an oversized hospital bed, watching over the runt who had somehow bound me to her with something stronger than a mere mate bond, her blood.It had been three days since I woke up to find Starlight beside me, pale and unmoving. Three days of watching her remain locked in that damn coma, her breathing too shallow for my liking. Three days of listening to my father and Elysia command me to stay by her side.Three days of my wolf growing increasingly restless every time I thought of leaving. I hated it. I hated how trapped I felt. Hated the way my instincts screamed at me to protect her, touch her, keep her close. I equally hated how my wolf refused to let me pull away.I clenched my fists, trying to ignore the way my body gravitated toward hers. Even now, with her unconscious, she had some kind of hold over me. "You shunned her. You denied her. And now you're stuck with her." My wolf had be