Moonlight spilled through the towering windows of the Silverfang Pack’s great hall, painting Selena’s pale face in ghostly silver as she stood behind a marble pillar. Her heart drummed a panicked rhythm as she watched the celebration unfold: lanterns flickered overhead, the smell of roasted venison filled the air, and the music of pipes and drums rose like a storm.

Tonight was supposed to be hers — the night Marcus, her fated mate, would publicly announce their engagement. Their quiet promises under the ancient oak, the night he’d pressed his lips to her mark and sworn he’d never let anyone come between them, were all she’d clung to these last desperate weeks.

But across the room, Marcus stood beside another woman.

Lyra Astoria.

She was stunning, of course: midnight hair, emerald eyes, the cold beauty of a wolf who’d never been forced to grovel or scrape. And why wouldn’t Marcus choose her? She was the daughter of Lord Valen Astoria, one of the most powerful Lycan lords in the realm.

Selena’s claws dug into her palms so hard she felt warm blood trickling down her wrists.

“Smile, Marcus,” Lyra cooed, loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. “It won’t do for the future Alpha to look so dour at his own engagement party.”

Future Alpha.

The words hit Selena like a blade.

It didn’t matter that she’d saved Marcus’s life twice on hunts. Or that he’d whispered love in her ear as they lay together beneath the stars. Or that the Goddess herself had bound them by fate.

An Omega like her would never be enough.

He made his choice.

“Selena?” A soft voice jolted her from her spiral. Her friend Mira, a Delta’s daughter, stood with wide eyes. “Are you alright? You look… dead.”

Selena swallowed hard, wiped the blood on her dress, and tried to steady her breathing. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine. You need to leave. Now.”

But Selena couldn’t make her feet move. She stood frozen, rooted like the old oak itself, as Marcus lifted Lyra’s hand to his lips and kissed it in front of the entire pack. Applause thundered around them, wolves howling their approval as their future Alpha pledged himself to a new mate.

Selena felt something tear inside her chest. The bond — the invisible thread that had bound their souls together since the day the Goddess had chosen them — was still there, but it pulsed with agony, a raw wound that refused to close.

She stumbled back a step, the world spinning.

“Selena, come on!” Mira grabbed her arm, tugging her toward the shadows. “If you don’t leave now, someone will see—”

“Selena Nightwind!” The Alpha’s voice boomed across the hall.

Every head turned.

Selena’s breath caught in her throat as she looked up to see Marcus’s father, Alpha Garrick, glaring down at her from the dais. His eyes, like shards of obsidian, raked her with open disgust.

“What are you doing skulking around the shadows like a rat?” he sneered. His words were amplified by the hush that fell over the hall. “Have you come to make a scene on this joyous night?”

Whispers rippled through the guests like wildfire.

Selena’s eyes darted to Marcus, silently begging him to say something — anything. But he stood motionless, expression blank, his hand still wrapped around Lyra’s.

Say something. Tell them you love me. Tell them you didn’t mean this.

But Marcus’s silence roared louder than any words.

Alpha Garrick descended the steps with slow, deliberate menace, each thud of his boots like a countdown to doom. He stopped inches from Selena, his towering frame casting her in shadow.

“You think your pathetic Omega blood entitles you to my son?” he spat, voice laced with venom. “The Goddess may have marked you, but we Lycans bow to power — not fate.”

He raised his voice, so the entire pack could hear: “From this day forth, Selena Nightwind is stripped of all protection. She is no longer recognized by this pack. She is banished.”

Gasps echoed across the hall. Mira let out a strangled cry.

Selena’s world shattered.

She had no family. No home. And now, no pack.

“Get out of my sight,” Alpha Garrick snarled. “If you’re found on our lands after sunrise, you will be hunted like prey.”

Selena’s knees nearly buckled, but she forced herself to stand tall, blinking back tears. She turned and fled through the hall, the laughter of Lycans and the faint strains of the engagement music chasing her into the night.

—

She didn’t stop running until the forest swallowed her whole.

She collapsed against the roots of the old oak, gasping for breath, her heart screaming with betrayal. The wind rustled the leaves like mocking whispers.

What now?

She heard a branch snap nearby and whipped around, claws out, eyes glowing gold. A tall figure stepped into the moonlight — an older man with hair like polished silver, eyes dark as midnight, and an aura that pulsed with cold, dangerous power.

He wore a long black coat, fine as any noble’s, but the way he moved was like a predator — silent, deadly.

“Selena Nightwind,” he drawled, voice deep and smooth as velvet. “I’ve been watching you.”

She glared at him, refusing to cower even as his Lycan scent hit her like a storm. “Who are you?”

He gave a wolfish smile, teeth gleaming white in the moonlight. “Dorian Valen. Prince of the Lycans.” He dipped his head in mock greeting. “And I’ve come to offer you a choice.”

Selena swallowed hard, every instinct screaming at her to run — but there was nowhere left to go. “What choice?”

Dorian’s eyes glinted with something dangerous and dark. “Pledge yourself to me. I will give you power, training, and revenge. Together, we’ll tear down the ones who wronged you — and reshape this world.”

He extended a hand, elegant and deadly.

Selena stared at it, heart pounding. The last threads of her old life — of love, of loyalty, of hope — had been burned to ash.

Now all that remained was fury.

She took his hand.