chapter 1: The Awakening

Selena Grey had always known she was the weakest wolf in the Silver Moon Pack. Born an omega, she was smaller, slower, and lacked the raw power that defined her kind. While other wolves shifted with ease by the time they were sixteen, Selena's wolf, Luna, remained dormant inside her, silent and unresponsive.

Tonight, under the silver glow of the full moon, the entire pack gathered at the Moonlight Festival, an event where newly-turned wolves would discover their fated mates. The air buzzed with excitement as couples embraced, the intoxicating scent of mate bonds filling the air. Selena stood at the edge of the crowd, arms wrapped around herself, trying to ignore the way her heart pounded in anticipation.

She had turned eighteen today. This was her chance—her only hope—to prove she wasn't as useless as everyone believed. If she had a mate, maybe she wouldn't be an outcast anymore. Maybe she would finally belong.

A sudden, overpowering scent of musk and pine hit her senses, sending a shiver down her spine. Her wolf, silent for years, suddenly stirred. Mate.

Her breath caught in her throat. Eyes darting through the crowd, she searched desperately for the source of the scent, heart pounding with nervous excitement. And then—

Her gaze locked onto him.

Alpha Ryker Blackwood.

The most powerful Alpha in the region. The man feared by all. His dark eyes, cold as midnight, met hers across the clearing. For a moment, the world stood still.

And then, without hesitation, Ryker's lips curled into a smirk, and he took a step forward. The pack turned to watch as he approached her, the dominance radiating from him making her knees weak. But before she could say a word, he spoke.

"I, Alpha Ryker Blackwood, reject you, Selena Grey, as my mate."

A collective gasp rippled through the pack. A sharp, soul-tearing pain exploded in Selena's chest, her wolf howling in agony inside her mind. The bond that had barely formed was already being shattered.

The rejection cut deep, but Ryker wasn't finished.

"You?" He scoffed, his voice laced with disdain. "An omega as my Luna? Pathetic."

Laughter erupted from the surrounding wolves, their mocking whispers slicing through her like knives. Selena's vision blurred with unshed tears, her body trembling from the overwhelming pain of rejection. She wanted to scream, to beg, to ask why fate had been so cruel.

But she wouldn't. She couldn't.

Instead, she did the only thing she could—she turned and ran, disappearing into the darkness of the forest, away from the pack that had never wanted her.

Away from the mate who had just shattered her heart.

But as she ran, something deep inside her awoke.

A surge of power unlike anything she had ever felt pulsed through her veins, her wolf stirring for the first time in years.

Selena Grey was no longer just the weakest wolf.

She just didn't know it yet.