Chapter 1 Dragged To The Selection: Why Me, Moon goddess?

Aurelia

My heart pounded in my chest as the Pack Matron walked past the first row of maidens, her eyes scanning each face for signs of weakness.

I only made it to this year's Maiden Selection because I couldn't sneak out in time before the pack's shifter-guards stormed our house and dragged me out.

For two years, I managed to dodge them. This year, I wasn't so lucky.

I was determined to fail in the selection, though. And it had nothing to do with the secret I'd been hiding for years. Not that I ever stood a chance.

One of the major qualifications to make it in the selected few was beauty. And here, the definition of beauty meant starving yourself and competing with beanpoles in terms of body physique.

I was curvy, I had thick thighs that male shifters leered at and the females mocked. My hair was thick enough that if a wild cat leaped out of it, it wouldn't be a surprise.

I had nothing to worry about in that aspect. However, I couldn't ignore the prickling sensation that things were about to change tonight.

Alpha Zhayad was ascending tonight, and to rise to his full power under the full moon, he needed to claim his mate. Hence, the maiden Selection.

The pack's matron was in the second row now, and she had picked twenty girls from the first and second row. I was in the last row, as if I needed a reminder that I was the runt of the litter.

I kept my eyes down, studying the soft grasses underneath our feet. I couldn't make eye contact with the pack matron, not if I wanted to escape the premium embarrassment of being forced to join the long line of ‘beautiful’ maidens who each thought themselves more beautiful than the other.

As the pack matron stepped into the third row, my heart stopped pounding and began galloping at full speed.

We were all quiet, not because we'd been ordered to do so but because the pack matron had a palm made of sandpaper.

One slap, and you'd have a trademark courtesy of her palm on your cheek for days.

“You." She called out, pointing straight…. At me?

I swallowed, forcing myself to remain still. I muttered a silent prayer to the moon.

"You dare to pretend not to know it is you I speak of?” The pack matron barked, her stern voice slicing through the chilly air like a cleaver knife.

Slowly, I raised my head, dreading what would come next. I was surprised and relieved when I discovered she had her gimlet eyes focused on the girl right in front of me.

The girl's shoulders were vibrating, probably from tension. I knew her. She was a loner like me, but the only difference was that I was unashamed of what I was even though I'd never told anybody in the pack about it.

I was wolfless, I wasn't supposed to be in the pack.

The girl in front of me was actually a shifter, but she couldn't shift into her wolf form.

“You're not a maiden, are you? Look at me when I'm talking, you dirty slut." The pack matron’s voice rang like a bell, it caused my ears to tingle.

“I'm no…no…I… Ayamnonottt.” The girl stuttered, her shoulders trembling.

I sighed. She was not a virgin, so she wouldn't be selected.

"Turn around and get out of this place before I unleash my wrath on you. Pig.”

The girl did as she was told, turning around to leave. Her eyes met mine briefly and she looked away.

Alpha Zhayad, the big bad wolf who wanted a virgin. The pressure was on the girls. No one was interested in Alpha Zhayad’s virgin status.

Obviously, a shifter like Alpha Zhayad who looked like a walking sex dream wasn't a virgin. But he wanted a virgin mate.

Of course.

I snorted at the hypocrisy of it. I immediately regretted it.

The matron's sharp ears caught the sound because she was right in my row. Shit, how had she reached my row?

She narrowed her eyes, and from the corner of my own eyes, I saw her mouth curl up in disgust, then her lips stretched into a devilish smile.

I shut my eyes, my blood roaring in my eyes, heart sinking low to my stomach and melting to a puddle.

She wouldn't. Selecting me would be a waste of time. It wou-

“Aurelia."

The roof of my small world caved in and crashed on my head. She'd just called my name.

I lifted my head, flashing her my best pokerface expression.

“Did you think I called your name because I liked the sound of it? Move before I make you." She ordered.

The whispers and snickers started then. The girls giggled into their palms, making cruel jokes about my body as I walked stiffly to join the line of the selected girls.

The girls in the line immediately gave me a wide berth, as though there was something dirty about me that was contagious.

I ignored them and glowered at the pack matron instead. She'd probably selected me just to remind me I was different from the others. To turn me into a laughing spectacle, an object of scorn to mock.

She left the last row and strolled over to us.

“The rest may go home. As for the selected thirty, welldone. You will be ushered into the woods, where the border between us and the ordinary human lies. You will be stationed at different places, away from the others. Whichever one of you has been chosen by the moon, Alpha Zhayad will be led right to you." The matron said in an animated voice, as if being chosen by Alpha Zhayad was a lottery we were supposed to strive to win.

Her eyes flickered my way and she frowned. "A little warning, do not provoke the Alpha.” She added.

"Or what?” A Blondie standing five girls away from me asked. Her lips were painted a bright crimson red, like the other girls.

"You can find out yourself.” The matron said dryly.

We were led to the woods, barefoot and wearing almost nothing. The air was cold and the wind was unforgiving.

I wrapped my arms around my shoulders, rubbing them up and down to wade off the cold.

Rocks and other sharp objects I didn't dare name pierced the under of my feet as we trekked to the woods.

The shifter-guards leading us moved very quickly, so we were forced to either keep up or fall behind. I chose to fall behind.

I could seize the moment to run, but I didn't want to risk being dragged back by the shifter-guards like a stubborn goat who'd strayed from its owner.

When we reached the heart of the woods, the shifter-guards began stationing us. One shifter-guard grabbed my hand without warning and started leading me away. I tried to protest but he gripped my wrist tighter in warning.

I swallowed and followed without a fight. We walked deeper and deeper into the woods until the trees grew taller and blocked out the sky completely, allowing only a sliver of the moon to shine through.

Was he trying to make sure I couldn't find my way out?

Suddenly, he stopped and turned around in a different direction, leaving me there in the cold and alone.

What was I to do now? Stand all through the night until the heavens whispered it was time to go back? How would we even know when Alpha Zhayad finally found his mate?

I waited and waited until my feet ached and my knees turned to jelly. I kicked rocks, I braided my hair, I sang to myself.

The moon was at its brightest now. Midnight.

We'd been in the woods till midnight. I kept singing to myself, until I heard a low growl behind me.

I whirled around so fast I nearly got whiplash.

I listened carefully, squinting into the darkness. Nothing.

Perhaps my fear of the woods was starting to feed on me. I knew I'd heard something. A deep, fierce growl. I turned around and started walking away.

There was a flash of white behind me and my back prickled with the awareness that I was being followed.

I swallowed, then rubbed my arms to warm myself and chase off the goosebumps rising on my skin.

I heard another growl this time, it was so deep that it rattled in my bones with a clarity that sang in my soul.

I was trembling like a leaf in the wind, but I managed to keep myself upright. I started walking faster. And when I began to hear the sound of paws hitting the ground, I lost my bravado and let my body do its thing.

I ran.

The growl was closer now, louder, singing in my bones like a forgotten yet familiar song.

I didn't stop. I was panting and breathing through my nose, my breaths forming white clouds in front of my face but I didn't slow down one bit.

I stumbled over a rock and I fell, rolled like a ragdoll before smacking my back against a tree. I let out a strangled cry of pain.

Then, a massive shadow loomed over me, blocking out everything behind it.

Green eyes seared right through me and a wave of heat rolled over me, scorching me from the inside out until I was one w

ith the heat. I was burning yet not consumed by it.

I was staring at the largest white wolf I'd ever seen in my life.

Alpha Zhayad's wolf.