Chapter 3
A shrill phone ring jolted me from restless sleep.
It was my best friend, Lila, her voice urgent.
“Anna! Check the pack news. Alen… he just officially announced the relationship with Vivian!”
I immediately checked the news.
The comment section was flooded with congratulations.
The video showed Alen, smiling proudly as he declared:
“Vivian is my chosen Luna. We have a true soul bond. As for Anna… I guess even the Moon Goddess makes mistakes sometimes.”
Gasps echoed from the crowd.
A young warrior nervously raised his voice, “But Alpha Alen… isn’t Anna your fated mate?”
Alen scoffed, sneering. “Anna? She can go find some obedient Omega. She’s not worthy of me.”
Tears streamed down my face before I could stop them.
The entire pack was stunned.
He had dared—dared—to humiliate me, his fated mate, in front of everyone. It wasn’t just a slap on my face. It was a slap on my father, on the entire Silver Claw bloodline.
A sharp knock on the door interrupted my spiral.
“Miss Anna!” It was Beta Lake, breathless and urgent. “Your father, Alpha Brian—he needs to meet you immediately!”
I swallowed my rage, straightened up, and rushed to my father’s demesne.
The air inside was thick with fury.
He was livid, his voice shaking the room as he roared at Alen, “Alen! Explain yourself! How dare you defy the Moon Goddess’s will in front of the whole pack? How dare you humiliate my daughter—your fated mate?!”
Alen stood there with smug arrogance and Vivian was trembling behind him.
“There’s nothing to explain, Alpha Brian,” he said coldly. “My wolf has chosen Vivian. My heart belongs to her. Why should I sacrifice my happiness for a fate I never asked for? Why mark someone my soul doesn’t even howl for?”
A dangerous glint sparked in my father’s eyes.
“I took you in when you were just a stray from a rogue pack,” he growled. “I gave you land and t aught you how to fight. Trained you to be an Alpha. And this is how you repay me? By spitting on the sacred bond of the Moon Goddess?”
“You can’t buy my wolf’s soul, old Alpha King,” Alen sneered. “For the sake of the alliance, I’ll go through with a symbolic marking ceremony with Anna. But the real Luna—the one I’ll share the true bonding ritual with—will only be Vivian.”
His shameless declaration sucked the air from the room.
Alexander’s fists are clenched white. His eyes darkened with fury.
The next moment, he growled low and shoved Alen hard.
“You son of bitch!” he snapped. “How dare you treat your fated mate this way?”
Alen stumbled back, baring his teeth. His wolf stirred beneath the surface, ready for a fight.
“Enough!” I barked, my voice ringing with unexpected authority.
Both Alphas froze.
I turned to my father. “Let him go. He’s made his choice. The Moon Goddess will punish those who dare defy her will.”
Alen blinked, thrown off by my calm. There was a flicker of unease in his eyes—he hadn’t expected this from me.
I guided my trembling father to his chair.
His aging hands gripped mine tightly. “Anna… my dear daughter… he’s disgraced us. Disgraced the Moon Goddess’s gift!”
I met his gaze, steady and cold. “He will pay for it, Father.”
“No!” my father suddenly thundered. “The Silver Claw Pack’s future Luna will not be humiliated like this! I will hold an even grander Bonding Ceremony for you! One that will show all the packs that you, Anna, will choose an Alpha who is truly strong—and loyal to you! Not some deluded traitor!”
I nodded silently, a bitter frost settling in my chest.
The pain of rejection still throbbed, but beneath it, something darker was awakening—something clear, sharp, and terrifying.
My wolf wasn’t mourning anymore.
She was waking up.
