Confirmed

V E R A L U N A

My breath hitched, heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. I blinked, hoping I was seeing things. But no, the glowing tattoo on Zach’s wrist—the exact same one I’d been staring at on mine—was still there, shimmering under the moonlight. The intricate design, the swirling pattern that I once thought marked me as different, now linked me to him in ways I hadn’t even begun to understand.

“Zach,” I breathed, my voice shaky. “What… what does this mean?”

He didn’t answer right away. His jaw was clenched tight, his whole body tense as he stared at the glowing mark. The pain in his face was unmistakable, like someone had ripped open a wound he had buried deep. “It means…” he finally said, his voice low and rough, “that we are mates, Vera.”

The world felt like it had tilted off its axis. My knees buckled slightly, but I managed to stay upright. Mates? My mind raced, trying to make sense of it all. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He said we weren’t mates. He *told me* we weren’t destined.

“But you said…” I stammered, my voice barely a whisper. “You said you weren’t my mate. You said the mark would appear only when we found our true match.”

Zach ran a hand through his hair, his expression a mix of frustration and something else—something deeper, more vulnerable. “I wasn’t lying. I didn’t think I was your mate. I’ve lived for centuries, Vera. Mates aren’t supposed to just… appear like this. Especially not when I already…” He trailed off, his eyes darting away as if he was trying to hide something.

“Already what?” I pressed, stepping closer, needing answers. My pulse was racing, and the bond between us felt like it was tightening with every second. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Zach let out a harsh breath, his shoulders slumping as if the weight of the world had finally gotten to him. “Because I already had a mate,” he confessed, the words dripping with sorrow. “And she died.”

The air left my lungs. “What?”

“My mate… centuries ago, I thought she was the one,” he continued, his voice barely above a whisper. “But she was killed during the war between the wolves and vampires. I swore I would never feel that connection again. And I thought that was the end of it.”

I couldn’t find the words. My thoughts were spiraling in a thousand different directions. A dead mate? How could this happen? Everything I had learned pointed to one mate for life. Once they were gone, that was it. And yet, here we were, standing in the middle of the forest with matching tattoos blazing on our wrists.

“So how… how can we be mates now?” I asked, my voice trembling. “If you already had one?”

He shook his head, clearly as lost as I was. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of something like this happening before. A second mate… it’s unheard of.”

For a long moment, the silence between us stretched, filled with confusion and something heavier—something neither of us wanted to acknowledge. The bond was there, pulling us closer, but the weight of his past was like a wall between us.

“I didn’t ask for this,” I said quietly, staring at my wrist, the tattoo still faintly glowing. “I don’t even know who I am anymore. My life, my identity… it’s all a lie. And now this?” I looked up at him, trying to keep the rising panic at bay. “I don’t even know if I can trust you, Zach.”

“I never lied to you, Vera,” he said firmly, stepping closer, his voice pleading. “I didn’t know this would happen. And I sure as hell didn’t want to hurt you.”

Hurt. That word seemed to hang in the air between us, heavier than anything else. He didn’t want this any more than I did, but here we were, bound by something bigger than both of us.

I turned away, running a hand through my hair as I tried to clear my head. “I need time. I need to figure this out.”

Zach was silent behind me, and for a moment, I thought he would argue, but then he sighed deeply. “I understand,” he said softly. “Take the time you need. But just know, whatever this is… it’s real. And I’ll be here when you’re ready to face it.”

I didn’t respond, too overwhelmed to even process what he was saying. My legs were shaky as I moved further into the clearing, my eyes scanning the dense trees that seemed to close in around me.

How did my life spiral into this? A few weeks ago, I was just a regular person—living, breathing, pretending that everything was normal. Now I was a wolf, with powers I didn’t fully understand, and a mate I hadn’t asked for.

The moon hung high in the sky, casting an eerie glow over everything. I could feel the primal pull in my chest, the urge to run, to hunt, to let go of all this madness and just be free.

But I couldn’t escape it. I couldn’t run from this bond.

“Vera.”

Zach’s voice was soft behind me, and I turned to see him watching me, his eyes filled with something I couldn’t quite name. Pain? Longing? Fear? Maybe all of them at once.

“Just… be careful,” he said, his voice low. “There are forces at work here, things even I don’t fully understand. And now that the bond has been triggered, there will be others—others who will want to exploit it. They’ll come for you, for us.”

My stomach clenched at his words, a fresh wave of anxiety crashing over me. “Who?” I asked, my voice shaky. “Who would come for us?”

His gaze darkened. “Wolves. Vampires. Creatures older than time itself. They’ll sense the bond, the power. And they’ll stop at nothing to control it.”

I swallowed hard, the weight of his warning sinking in. “What do we do?”

He stepped closer, his expression grim. “We fight. We stay together. And we figure out what the hell this all means.”

I looked at him, feeling the weight of the bond between us, stronger than ever. And for the first time, I realized just how dangerous this new world I had stepped into really was.