Days after the tournant it was finally another Mating Ceremony.
The scent of burning herbs mixed with the crisp night air, creating an intoxicating aroma that clung to the back of my throat. The mating ceremony had drawn in werewolves from all over our pack—pack Elders, warriors, and even Ogas, all here for one purpose. To find their mate. To complete the bond that would tie them together for life.
I watched from a distance, my expression carefully composed.
Around , werewolves whispered in hushed, eager voices. Excitent crackled in the air as couples—so newly mated, so already bound—embraced, their instincts pulling them toward one another like gravity. So pairs had already found each other in the past and were rely here to make it official, to solidify their union in front of the Moon Goddess and their pack. Others were still waiting—waiting for that mont when fate would sink its claws into them and change their lives forever.
But I... I felt nothing.
No pull. No bond. No sign of my mate.
And that was a good thing.
Without a mate, I was free.
Free to use my position as leverage. Free to form a strategic alliance through a match with an influential pack. Free to shape my future in a way that benefited not just myself, but my people.
It was better this way.
Yet, despite all of that, there was a hollowness inside that I couldn’t ignore.
Like sothing was missing.
Like I was missing.
I swallowed hard, pushing the feeling down. It didn’t matter.
The ceremony continued, the ritualistic chants growing louder as the imprinting process began. This was the mont when fate would call out to those who had yet to find their other half. It was said that the mont your mate was close, your very soul would know—your wolf would stir, your body would react. You wouldn’t think, you would feel.
I exhaled slowly.
I wouldn’t feel anything.
I—
A sudden chill ran down my spine.
The world seed to tilt.
My breath hitched.
It was faint at first—just a whisper of sensation, like a cold breeze brushing against my skin. But then it grew stronger, wrapping around like an invisible chain, pulling, pulling—
No.
This couldn’t be happening.
I shot up, my chair scraping against the stone beneath . My heart pounded as my wolf howled inside , an overwhelming force demanding I move.
And before I knew it—I was walking.
Then running.
I didn’t stop to think.
Didn’t stop to question.
Didn’t stop to breathe.
The pull was too strong.
My feet barely touched the ground as I moved, the ceremony fading behind . I followed the invisible thread, my pulse thundering in my ears. My wolf was guiding , dragging toward sothing—or soone—I wasn’t ready to face.
Deeper.
Deeper into the woods.
The voices of the pack blurred into silence as I ran past the trees, the dense forest swallowing whole. The further I went, the more intense the sensation beca—like fire in my veins, like static in the air.
And then—
I stopped.
Everything froze.
The breath rushed from my lungs.
And there—standing under the silver moonlight—was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Lylda.
He stood near the lake, his long, delicate fingers brushing against the soft fur of a deer. The animal nuzzled into his touch, unafraid, completely at peace in his presence. Lylda laughed—laughed—the sound ringing through the night like music, light and soft and so heartbreakingly pure.
My chest ached.
His hair clung to his face, damp and curling slightly at the ends, a clear sign that he had been swimming. His garnts were soaked, the fabric sticking to his slender fra, glistening under the moonlight. Droplets of water traced paths down his skin, catching the silver glow of the night, making him look almost... ethereal.
Almost unreal.
My hands trembled.
I couldn’t move.
Could barely breathe.
He’s mine.
The thought crashed into like a wave.
My mate.
Lylda was my mate.
My knees nearly buckled beneath as the realization hit.
The universe had bound to him. The very person I had tried to distance myself from. The stable Oga. The one my father would never approve of. The one who had unknowingly stolen my attention, my thoughts, my heart long before this mont.
And now he was mine.
Mine.
No! This can’t be happening.
I took a step forward.
Then another.
I wasn’t thinking anymore.
I couldn’t think.
Then—
He turned.
Our eyes t.
And everything stopped.
Lylda’s lips parted slightly, his expression unreadable. The deer beside him flicked its ears but didn’t move away, sensing no danger.
His gaze searched mine, as if trying to understand why I was here. Why I looked like I was on the verge of falling apart.
And then, slowly—hesitantly—he smiled.
A soft, gentle thing. A smile that had no idea the weight it carried.
My heart shattered.
And for the first ti in my life—
I was afraid. No scratched that! I was terrified.
Horrified.
But as if he could finally feel it, Lylda’s eyes widened. His soft, contented smile faded, replaced by sothing unreadable—sothing almost fearful.
The mont stretched between us, heavy, and suffocating.
The bond pulled, a force pressing into my chest, demanding I acknowledge it. Demanding I give in.
But I couldn’t.
My breath ca shallow and uneven. My fists clenched at my sides.
Lylda.
The stable Oga who never even bothered to attend the mating ceremony. The one who knew, deep down, that no one would ever want to be bonded to him.
Was the mate of the Alpha’s daughter.
It was almost laughable. Hilarious even!
I turned on my heel and walked away.
I didn’t dare look back.
Even when I felt his gaze burning into my back. Even when the bond ached like an open wound, screaming at to stay.
I ignored it.
I ignored him.
And I kept walking.
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