Chapter 1

At eighteen, I finally stood beneath the Bloodmoon, awaiting my fate.

The elders chanted in an ancient tongue, and I stood still in the center of the stone circle. My heart pounded like a drumbeat—my wolf was awakening, my blood was boiling. I knew… my fated one was near.

Then I caught his scent.

Pine. Snow. Alpha—pure, primal, unmistakable.

I looked up and saw him stepping through the crowd, backlit by the red light of the moon.

Alpha Alex Silvercrest, heir to the Shadowcrest Pack. My fated mate.

I took a step forward.

And then he turned… and reached for someone else.

“I, Alpha Alex Silvercrest, hereby announce my soul resonance with Omega Isabella. She is my chosen mate.”

The crowd erupted in applause. I froze.

My wolf howled inside me. No one heard.

After the ceremony, I was brought to the dressing chamber.

As I opened the door, laughter echoed from within.

“Took you long enough,” Omega Isabella said sweetly. “Too bad you didn’t come earlier. You missed our soul-kiss.”

I stopped in my tracks. She stood before the mirror in her white and gold gown, perfect from head to toe. Alpha Alex stood behind her, expression unreadable.

“What… are you doing here?” I asked.

“This is my fiancé’s chamber. Why shouldn’t I be?” she said, voice still sugary.

Then she turned, and her tone sharpened.

“On your knees.”

I blinked. “What?”

She stepped forward, lifting her foot—silver-heeled, pristine—and pointed it toward me.

“Lick the dirt off my shoe.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I looked at Alpha Alex.

He didn’t stop her. Instead, he walked over and grabbed my chin, forcing my gaze up to his.

“She’s my Omega. She’s everything you’re not,” I whispered.

He smirked.

“Fated? You think fate changes your worth?” His voice dropped to a threat. “You’re nothing. You’ll always be her shadow.”

Then his hand tightened around my throat.

“If you dare speak of fate again, I’ll make sure you never shift again.”

I trembled. In the end, I knelt.

Omega Isabella giggled triumphantly. “Good girl. This suits you.”

I clenched my teeth, lowered my face, and—inch by inch—licked the filth from her heel.

In that moment, I died inside.

They left. I collapsed against the wall, curling into a ball.

My body ached. My pride was dust.

The communication stone on my wrist vibrated. I tapped it.

A single message appeared:

“Fire will burn the chains.”

No signature. But I recognized the phrasing. Shadow wolf Daniel.

He was our Shadow Wolf. Cold, quiet, and full of secrets.

I stared at the message.

Fire? Chains?

I didn’t care. Not anymore.

Let fate burn. Let the wolves burn. Let everything burn.

That night, I stayed in the storage room beneath the altar, surrounded by dust and silence.

Footsteps approached.

I sat up.

Shadow wolf Daniel stepped in, tall and composed, and placed an old soul-stone into my palm.

“You should leave,” he said.

“Why?”

“You don’t belong here anymore.”

I laughed bitterly. “I never did.”

He paused, then said, “When the fire comes, you’ll understand.”

I clutched the stone.

Maybe… maybe leaving is the only way to survive.