Chapter 1 No.1 For my entire life, I believed my Alpha, Kaelen, was my fated mate.A sacred gift from the Moon Goddess.

But on the eve of my eighteenth birthday, he presented another she-wolf, Seraphina, as his chosen Luna, using a borrowed pup in a cruel plot to crush my spirit.

When Rogues attacked our pack, a silver chandelier fell towards us. Kaelen lunged past me without a glance, shieldingSeraphina with his own body while I was left to be crushed.

He nevereven looked back.

Later, after falsely accusing me of hurting her, he dragged my injured body to an ice-cold hydrotherapy pool and shoved me under the water.

As I struggled to breathe, he loomed over me, his voice a roar of command.

"If you ever touch her again, I will strip you of your name and make you Rogue."

Watching the man I loved try to kill me, the last of my hope finally turned to ash.

That night, I accepted an offer to jointhe Silverwood Pack.

Then, I walked to the forge and tossed every memento he'd ever given me into the flames, watching the girl who loved him burn away forever.

Chapter 1

Caelia POV:

The scent of moonpetal herbs and sweet cream filled my small kitchen. It was a calming aroma, one I'd spent weeks perfecting. Tonight was the night before my eighteenth birthday, the night before my First Shift. Butmore importantly, it was the night I would finally offer my heart, baked into a cake, to my Alpha. To Kaelen.

My wolf, still dormant within me, purred in contentment. She knew, just as I did. Kaelen was ours. The Moon Goddess had woven our souls together long before we were born. I felt it every time he walked past, a pull so strong it was a physical ache in my chest.

I carefully placed the finished cake into a transport box. Thefrosting was the color of a midnight sky, with delicate silver sugar crystals scattered across it like stars. It was perfect.

My hands trembled slightly as I walked towards the pack house's main wing, where the Alpha's offices were. He was always working late, managingthe vast corporate empire that was the public face of the Black Moon Pack.

As I neared his office, a strange scent hit my nose. It was faint, but unmistakable. Milk, baby powder, and the sweet, innocent smell of a wolf pup. A very young one. Confusion pricked at me. There were no new pups in the pack that I knew of.

I slowed my steps, my ears straining. The heavy oak door to his office was slightly ajar. Voices drifted out-Kaelen's deep, commanding tone, and the smooth voice of his Gamma, Jax.

"Are you sure about this, Alpha?" Jax asked. "It seems... cruel."

My heart began to hammer against myribs. I pressed myself against the cold stone wall, holding my breath.

"It's the only way to make her understand," Kaelen's voice was cold, devoid of the warmth I so often imagined. "She needs to see that I have a mate. A family. Then she'll finally back off."

A hollow feeling opened in my stomach. Hewas talking about me.

Then, a new, fragile thought brushed against my mind. It wasn't a full Mind-Link, more like a whisper on the wind, a side effect of my impending Shift. My senses were heightening, breaking barriers I didn't know existed.

The Rogue pup is sleeping. Seraphina did well to find one that wouldn't cause a scene. It was Kaelen's thought, clear as a bell in my head.

Seraphina is the one for you, Alpha, Jax sent back, his mental voice full of loyalty. Everyone knows it.

The cake box suddenly felt impossibly heavy. Seraphina. The beautiful, high-ranking warrior he'd always favored. They were planning to stage a fake family, using aborrowed Rogue pup, just to get rid of me. To crush my hope so he could be with her.

And then came the final blow, a thought from Kaelen so powerful, so full of raw emotion it felt like a physical strike. His inner wolf, a beast of legend, roared in my mind.

Seraphina is MINE! I will not allow a weak, pathetic Omega to be my Luna!

The box slipped from my numb fingers. It hit the marble floor with a soft, sickening thud. The beautiful cake, my heart, my hope-all of it shattered.

A pain unlike anything I'd ever known ripped through me. It wasn't just my heart breaking; it was my body. My bones felt like they were on fire, twisting and cracking. My visionblurred. The First Shift. It was happening now, triggered by the sheer force of my agony.

I couldn't let them seeme like this.

Ignoring the searing pain, I scrambled away, choking back a sob as I fled the pack house and plunged into the darkness of the surrounding forest. Each step was torture. I felt my spine elongating, my joints dislocating and snapping back into new, unfamiliar positions. A scream tore from my throat, but it came out as a pained, guttural howl.

In the haze of agony, a memory surfaced. I was ten years old, cornered by a Rogue wolf. Kaelen, just a teenager himself, had appeared like a shadow, dispatching the Rogue with brutal efficiency. He'd found me crying, my knee scraped and bleeding, and had pressed a bar of chocolate into my hand. His touch had sent a jolt through me, and his scent-pine and winter frost-had calmed my terrified soul. That was the moment. The moment I knew.

Now, that sweet memory was poison, turning my insides to ash.

The transformation completed. I collapsed onto the forest floor, my breath coming in ragged pants. I looked down at my paws. They were huge, covered in fur as white as freshly fallen snow. A dire wolf. A white wolf. The legends were real.

A mournful howl escaped my lips, a sound of pure, unadulterated heartbreak. My new, powerful senses picked up the Mind-Link network of the pack. I focused, pushing through the pain, and found my brother.

Ronan, I sent,my mental voice raspy and broken.

Caelia? What's wrong? I can feel your pain! His worry was a warm blanket in the cold.

I'm okay, I lied. Tell the Alpha... tell him I accept the offer to study abroad. I'll go to the Silverwood Pack's territory. I'll leave as soon as I can.

I cut the link before he could ask more questions. Shifting back was just as painful. Naked and shivering, I limped back to my small cottage at the edge of the pack lands.

As I stepped inside, a chime sounded in my head. A formal Mind-Link message from my Alpha.

I have found my mate. And our child. The message was curt, professional. An image flashed in my mind: a tiny, furry wolf paw. This is an invitation to our Mating Ceremony.

My fingers curled into fists. He didn't even havethe decency to tell me to my face. He was making it official. The lie. The whole pack would see it.

My own pain didn't matter anymore. Only survival.

I took a deep breath, composing my reply, making it as hollow andobedient as he believed me to be.

Yes,my Alpha.

Then, I walked to the small forge my father used to use. One by one, I gathered every memento of Kaelen. The training dagger he'd given me for my sixteenth birthday. An old tactical shirt of his I'd stolen from the laundry. The faded wrapper from that first chocolate bar.

Without a second thought, I tossed them all into the flames. I watched them burn until they were nothing but glowing embers, the last vestiges of a girl who had dared to love an Alpha who would never love her back.

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Chapter 2 No.2 Kaelen POV:

Yes,my Alpha.

The reply came through the Mind-Link, clean and immediate. Too clean. Caelia's acceptance was so swift, so devoid of the usual emotion that clung to her messages, that it made the wolf inside me pace with an unfamiliar agitation.

I pushed the feeling down. This was good. This was what I wanted. Relief. That's what this feeling was.

"See? She took it well," I said to Jax, whowas standing by the window of my office, looking out into the night. "The plan worked."

Jax turned, his expression still troubled. "I don't know, Kaelen. She's not the type to give up. This feels more like the quiet before a storm. She's probably planning some dramatic scene to win you back."

My jaw tightened. He was right. Caelia was persistent. Her crush had been the talk of thepack for years, a sweet but ultimately inconvenient fact of my life. I had to see this through, for Seraphina. I had to show Seraphina that I was completely, unequivocally hers.

The memory of Seraphina's scent-wildflowers and summer rain-filled my senses. I had first caughtthat scent years ago, a fleeting fragrance near the borderlands that my wolf had instantly claimed as mate. I'd spent years searching for its source, and a few months ago, I found it. On her.

Caelia's scent, a pleasant but unremarkable mix of vanilla and moonpetals, wasa confusing distraction. My wolf ignored it, but the human part of me had always felt a strange sense of peace around her. A weakness I needed to stamp out.

The office door burst open, slamming against the wall. Ronan, my Beta and my best friend, stood there, his eyes blazing with fury.

"What did you do, Kaelen?" he snarled, his voice a low growl.

"I did what was necessary," I replied, standing to facehim. "I ended her delusion."

"By humiliating her? By inventing a fake mate and a fake child?" Ronan took a step forward, his massive frame radiating menace. "She's my sister, Kaelen! An Omega under your protection!"

Before I could answer, a soft, feminine voice echoed in my mind. Kaelen, my love? The pup is awake and needs feeding. Could you come with me to the market tomorrow? We need to buy some things tomake this look more convincing. It was Seraphina. Her mental voice was a balm to my frayed nerves.

My duty was clear. My chosen mate needed me.

I looked at Ronan, my oldest friend, and my voicedropped into the low, rumbling timbre of command. The Alpha's Command. "You will stand down, Beta."

The power in my voice hit him like a physical blow. Ronan froze, his muscles locking, his jaw clenched in a silent snarl of defiance. He was fighting it, his Beta strength warring against my Alpha authority, butit was a battle he couldn't win. His body was forced into submission, even as his eyes burned with hatred.

"We'll discuss this later," I said coldly, turning my back on him. I walked out of the office, leaving him paralyzed in a cage of my own making.

Jax and the other Gammas quickly surrounded him as I left. I heard their muffled voices through the door. "Don't be stupid, Ronan.""He's the Alpha.""She'll get over it."

I shut their voices out. They didn't understand. None of them understood the pull I felt for Seraphina. It was a bond forged by fate, and I would let nothing-and no one-stand in its way.

A few days later, the pack gathered for Ronan's birthday celebration. It was a large affair, held in the main hall. I made my entrance with Seraphina on my arm, holding the borrowedRogue pup in a carrier. The pup was quiet, sedated with a mild herb to keep it from whining.

The pack members parted before us, their heads bowed in respect. My eyes scanned the crowd, looking for one person. I found her standing near the back, talking quietly with a few other Omegas. Caelia.

She looked different. Her usual bright-eyed optimism was gone, replaced by a calm, almost cold, composure. It was unsettling.

I led Seraphina directly to her. This had to be public. It had to be final.

"Caelia," I said, my voice projecting so those nearby could hear. "I'd like you to meet Seraphina, my chosen Luna." I gestured to the carrier. "And this is our son."

The entire hall seemed to hold its breath. All eyes were on theOmega girl I was about to shatter.

But she didn't shatter. She looked from me to Seraphina, her expression unreadable. Then, she lowered herself into a graceful, formal bow of submission, the kind an Omega offers to their Luna.

Her voice was clear and steady, without a single tremor. "It is an honor, my future Luna."

Seraphina, playing her part perfectly, placed a gentle hand on Caelia's shoulder. "Thank you, Caelia.I know this must be difficult for you." Her tone was sweet, but her eyes held a glint of triumph. "I do hope you'll come to our Marking Ceremony next month. It would mean so much to Kaelen... and to me."

The invitation was a final twist of the knife. A public demand for her towitness me binding my soul to another.

Caelia looked up, her gaze meeting mine for a fleeting second. There was nothing there. No pain, no love, no pleading. Just a vast, empty stillness.

"Of course," she said. "I would be honored to attend."

---

Chapter 3 No.3 Caelia POV:

"I promise, I will perform my duties as an Omega and offer you my full support," I said, my voice a perfect mask of obedient respect.

Seraphina smiled, a victor's smile.

One of Kaelen's Gammas, a brute named Marcus, stepped forward with asneer. "Good to see you finally know your place, Omega. We were getting tired of watching you trail after the Alpha like a lost puppy."

Another, Leo, chuckled. "Remember that time she tried to sing for him over the Mind-Link during the Blood Moon hunt? He cut her off so fast. It was embarrassing."

Their words were meant to sting, to humiliate me in frontof the entire pack. A few weeks ago, they would have. Iwould have flushed with shame, my eyes filling with tears.

But now, their taunts were like stones thrown into a bottomless well. They just disappeared.

I looked at Kaelen. He stood there, silent, his expression cold and detached. He didn't stop them. He watched as his inner circle tore me down, his silence a clear endorsement of their cruelty. In that moment, I understood. Any kindness he had ever shown me, any tolerance for my presence, had been purely because of Ronan. Without my brother's status as Beta, I was nothing to him. Less than nothing.

The party continued. Kaelen was the perfect mate-to-be. He shielded Seraphina when another male offered her a strong drink, taking the glass himself. He cut her portion of the roasted boar, making sure it was the most tender piece. He was putting on a grand performance for the entire pack, showcasing his devotion to his chosen Luna.

Later, Seraphina found me in a quietalcove. She had a glass of juice in her hand, her smile cloyingly sweet.

"I just wanted to make sure you're alright," she said, her voice a soft purr. "Kaelen worries, you know."

I didn't respond.

Her smile tightened. "How did you find out?" she asked, her voice dropping to a whisper. "About our plan. I know you know. Your reaction... it's too calm."

I met her gaze. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She leaned closer, her scent of wildflowers suddenly suffocating. "Don't play dumb withme, Omega. You heard something, didn't you?"

Before I could answer, a sudden tremor shook the great hall. Shouts of alarm erupted. I looked up. High above, the massive central chandelier, a monstrosity of iron and polished silver, was swaying violently. Its supports had been cut.

Rogues.It had to be.

The chandelier broke free, plummeting towards theground-directly towards us.

Time seemed to slow. I saw Kaelen's head snap up. His eyes widened in panic. His wolf, his instincts, took over. In a blur of motion, he lunged. Not for me. He shot past me, a black-clad missile of pure protective instinct, and wrapped his body around Seraphina, shielding her completely as he carried her out of the drop zone.

He never even glanced in my direction.

I had no time to move, no time to even cry out. The world exploded ina symphony of shattering crystal and blinding pain. The weight of the chandelier crushed me, but it was the silver that brought the agony.

Silver. The one substance that is poison to our kind. It seared my skin, its cold fire burning through flesh and bone, suppressing my wolf's natural healing abilities. A scream was ripped from my lungs, a raw sound of torment.

The last thing I saw before darkness claimed me was Kaelen. He was holding Seraphina, his hands running over her frantically, his voice a desperate whisper in her mind that I could faintly hear. Are you hurt? Seraphina, talk to me! Are you hurt?

He was completely oblivious to the fact that his true mate was bleedingout on the floor just a few feet away.

I woke up in the pack's infirmary. The air smelled of antiseptic herbs and blood. My brother, Ronan, was sitting bymy bed, his head in his hands. His shoulders were shaking.

"I'm so sorry, Caelia," he choked out whenhe saw my eyes were open. "I should haveprotected you. I should have stopped him."

My leg was wrapped in thick bandages, a dull, throbbing ache radiating from it. The Healer had done her best, but silver wounds were slow to heal.

I reached out and placed a hand on his arm. My own voice felt foreign, detached. "It's not your fault, Ronan." I lookedinto his worried eyes. "This time... I'm really letting go."

He looked confused.

I closed my eyes and focused, sending a silent message through the Mind-Link to the transport hub in the neutral territories.

Confirming my ticket for the portal jump in ten days. Destination: Silverwood.

This was it. There was nothing left for me here but pain.

---

Chapter 4 No.4 Kaelen POV:

I stood outside the Healer's den, a basket of restorative herbs in my hand. A peace offering. Seraphina had insisted I go, to show the packthat I was a benevolent Alpha, even to those who had been... a nuisance.

As I approached Caelia's room, I heard her voice in my mind. Not directed at me, but a broadcast to an external receiver.

Confirming my ticket for the portal jump in ten days. Destination: Silverwood.

Silverwood? Why would she go there? A cold knot of something I refused to name tightened in my gut.

I pushed the door open without knocking. She was sitting up in bed, her face pale. Ronan was gone.

"Where are you going?"I demanded, my voiceharsher than I intended.

She looked at me, her eyes empty of their usual adoration. "With all due respect, Alpha, the movements of an Omega are not your concern."

The formal title, the cold dismissal-it grated on my nerves. My wolf snarled in my head, irritated by her defiance. This wasn't how she was supposed to act. She was supposed to be heartbroken, pleading. Not this... this cold stranger.

"You're injured," I said, gesturing to her bandaged leg. "You're not fit to travel."

"The Healer says Iwill be able to walk in a few days."

An awkward silence fell between us. I saw the wheelchair beside her bed. She needed to go for a follow-up treatment, a cleansing ritual to purge the last of the silver from her system. Against my better judgment, I found myself stepping behind it.

"I'll takeyou," I said gruffly.

She didn't protest, just remained silent as I pushed her down the long, sterile corridor. The silence was unnerving. I was used to her filling every moment with cheerful chatter, with questions about my day, with shy compliments. This quiet felt like an accusation.

We reached the main lobby. Seraphina was waiting there, a worried expression on her perfect face.

"Kaelen, darling!" she cried, rushing towards me. "I was so worried. Is she alright?"

My hands immediately left the wheelchair. I went to her, my focus entirely on my chosen mate. "I'm fine, my love. How are you feeling after the shock?" I cupped her face, checking her for any sign of distress.

Behind me, I heard a gasp and a sickening scraping sound.

I turned. The wheelchair, which I had left on the slight incline of the ramp, had rolled away. It was headed directly fora large decorative planter made of intricately worked silver.

To avoid crashing into the poisonous metal, Caelia had thrown herself from the raw and bleeding. Fresh blood seeped through the bandages on her injured leg.

"Oh, you poor thing!" Seraphina said, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "Kaelen, you should carry her. She's hurt herself again."

I looked down at Caelia's pathetic, bleeding form, and then at Seraphina's concerned face. My wolf made the choice.

"No," I said, my voice like ice. "I am about to perform the Marking Ceremony with my mate. My arms are for her and her alone."

I turned my back on Caelia and led Seraphina away, leaving herto struggle on the floor. We only got a few steps before I heard Seraphina's voice, feigning kindness. I paused, listening.

"Here," Seraphina said, and I pictured her offering Caelia a handkerchief. Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, meant only for Caelia, but my Alpha hearing picked it up. "I knowyou heard our plan. But it doesn't matter, does it? In the end, he still chose me. He loves me."

Then, a splash and a shriek.

I spun around. Seraphina was flailing in the hydrotherapy pool, a deep basin filled with ice-cold water used for treatingsevere burns. Caelia stood at the edge, her expression shocked.

But I didn'tsee shock.I saw guilt.

"Caelia!" Seraphina sputtered, shivering violently. "Why would you push me?"

Jealousy. It had to be. The Omega had finally snapped.

I didn't hesitate. I vaulted over the railing, pulling a shivering Seraphina from the freezing water and wrapping her in my jacket. Her teeth were chattering, her body trembling. Rage, cold and absolute, washed over me.

I turned to Caelia. She opened her mouth to speak, to explain, but I didn't give her the chance.

"You dare," Isnarled.

I grabbed her by the arm-the same arm I had refused to offer in help moments before-and dragged her to the edge of the pool. She was already injured, weak, and I knew she was a poor swimmer. It didn't matter.

I shoved her hard.

She tumbled into the icy water with a cryof shock. Her head went under. She cameup sputtering, her eyes wide with terror.

I loomed over her, my shadow falling across the water. I unleashed the full force of my Alpha Command, my voice a roar that shook the very foundations of the building.

"If you ever touch her again, if you so much as breathe in her direction, I will cast you out of this pack! I will strip you of your name and make you Rogue! Do you understand me?"

Her face was a mask of terror and disbelief. She tried to stay afloat, but the cold and the shock were too much. Her struggles weakened. Her eyes rolled back in her head.

And she sank beneath the surface.

---

Chapter 5 No.5 Caelia POV:

The world returned to me in pieces. The sterile scent of the infirmary. The scratchy feelof a wool blanket. And the sound of shouting.

My eyes fluttered open. Through the slightly opendoor of my room, I could see two figures lockedin a furious confrontation. Kaelen. And my brother.

Ronan's face was contorted with a rage I had never seen before.His wolf was so close to the surface that its shimmering, ghostly outline was visible behind him, hackles raised, fangs bared.

"She is your packmate, Kaelen!" Ronan's voice was a guttural roar. "You grew up with her! And you tried to kill her! You left her to drown!"

Kaelen's expression was unrepentant, carved from stone. "She attacked my future Luna. An Omega who dares toharm the pack's Luna deserves death. A hundred deaths."

"She didn't touch her!"

"I saw it, Ronan! Stop defending her obsessive, pathetic behavior. Her constant whining, her endless staring-it makes my skin crawl. It's disgusting."

Disgusting. The word hit me harder than the silver chandelier, harder than the icy water. All my years of devotion, of quiet, hopeful love... he saw it as disgusting.

The sound of a fist connecting with flesh echoed in the hall.

Ronan had done the unthinkable. He had struck his Alpha. He broke through the primal suppression of the Alpha Command and physically attacked him. The air crackled with tension as the spectral forms of their two wolves lunged at each other, a silent battle of dominance and fury.

I couldn't let this happen. I couldn't let my brother throw away his life, his position, for me.

Ignoring the fire in my leg and the ache in my lungs, I threw back the blankets and stumbled out of the room, using the doorframe for support.

"Stop!" I cried, my voice weak and hoarse. I pushed myselfbetween them, my small frame a fragile barrier between two raging giants. "Ronan, please. Don't. It's not worth it."

I looked at my brother, my eyes pleading. "For me. Please."

Seeing my pale, tear-streaked face, the raw desperation in my eyes, finally broke through his rage. The tension left his shoulders. The ghostly wolf behind him faded. With a final, hate-filled glare at Kaelen, he released his grip on the Alpha's shirt.

Kaelen straightened his clothes, his face a mask of cold fury. As Ronan helped me back into the room and closed the door, a final, vicious message from Kaelen stabbed into my mind, as sharp and cold as an icicle.

Stop your pathetic act. Stay away from Seraphina.

I collapsed into my brother's arms, sobbing. The fight wasgone. The cold composure I had built around myself had shattered, leaving only the raw, bleeding wound of my heart.

"He's right, Ronan," I whispered, my voice muffled againsthis chest. "Don't fight with him anymore. Don't ruin everything because of me. I'm leaving soon. It'll all be over."

Ronan held me tighter, his own body trembling with suppressed fury. "I should have told you sooner," he murmured, his voice thick with regret. "He's been tracking Seraphina for years. Asking other packs for information, hiring investigators. He was obsessed with finding the source of that scent."

He pulled back, his hands on my shoulders, his eyes meeting mine. "From now on, I support you. Whatever you decide. If you want to leave, I'll help you. If you want to fight, I'll fight with you. Even if it means turning my back on this entire pack."

His loyalty was a painful, beautiful thing. It was the only love I had left. And I knew I had to leave to protect it. To protect him from the consequences of loving me more than his Alpha.

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The scent of moonpetals clings to my skin as I clutch the cake box, my heart pounding like a war drum. Tonight, I give Kaelen my soul—baked into midnight frosting, studded with silver stars. My First Shift looms, and with it, the bond I’ve prayed for since childhood. He has to feel it too. He has to.

I stop outside his office. The door’s ajar. Voices drift out—Kaelen’s cold command, Jax’s hesitation. Then a thought, sharp as glass: Seraphina is MINE. I will not allow a weak, pathetic Omega to be my Luna.

My fingers go numb. The box slips. Frosting splatters across marble like a dying star. Pain erupts in my spine—my bones cracking, shifting. The First Shift. Now. Here. I stumble back, gasping as my body twists into something new, something wild. I run, sobbing, into the forest, leaving behind the girl who believed in sacred gifts from the Moon Goddess.

As I collapse in wolf form, snow-white fur glistening under moonlight, one truth burns brighter than the agony: love didn’t save me. Survival will.