Forced

Earlier that day

Kaleb’s POV

The ceremonial tunic clung to my chest, freshly pressed. My mother had sewn it before she passed, and I had kept it for this day the day I would mark Moira as mine, as Luna.

My wolf paced just beneath my skin, restless but content with anticipation.

For Moira...my mate.

A knock shattered the quiet.

“Alpha,” came a guard’s clipped voice through the door. “The Council has summoned you. Urgently.”

I blinked. “Now?”

“It’s important, Alpha.”

It was hours until the ceremony. What could be so important?

“I’ll be right there.”

I couldn’t explain it, but something about this wasn’t right.

The Council Chamber was cloaked in shadow. The five Elders were gathered. And in the center stood a figure.

An old woman I didn’t recognise.

She was hunched, veiled in tattered gray cloth. Her eyes were blindfolded with silk. Her hands shook as she clutched a staff.

The air was thick with incense. I resisted the urge to cough.

“Alpha Kaleb,” Elder Andrew said, voice grave.

“What’s going on?” I asked, my eyes flicking to the Seer. “Why call me now, just before my—”

“She is a seer and she has come with a warning,” Elder Remi interrupted.

The Seer lifted her head slightly, as if she saw me with something beyond her eyes.

“Speak, prophet,” Remi said.

“A Luna without a wolf shall bring a pack to ruin.”

Silence fell like a blade.

I blinked. “What?”

“The mate you have chosen is broken,” she hissed. “Incomplete. The Moon has turned her face from her. Bind yourself to her… and this pack will rot from within.”

My hands clenched.

“That’s a lie,” I snapped. “Moira is kind. Strong in her own way. And she is mine.”

The Seer’s breath came in heaves. “You will see your fields die. Your newborns will fall still in the womb. The blood of your people will stain the earth.”

“Enough,” I said through my teeth.

But she was relentless.

“You were not meant to claim her. She is cursed. She will tear down your legacy and drown your line in sorrow.”

“She’s my fated,” I growled. “The Moon Goddess gave her to me!”

A pause. A silence so sharp I could hear the beat of my heart.

Then—

“The Goddess has changed her mind.”

I took a step back.

“No,” I whispered.

“She is not meant to lead. She will bring only darkness. If you love your people, Alpha… choose duty over desire.”

And then, with a final rattling breath, the Seer collapsed.

Gasps filled the chamber.

Elder Naren rushed forward and caught her just before her skull struck the stone.

“Mark my words, Alpha. That girl will cost you everything.”

They carried her out.

The Elders closed in. Elder Andrew’s voice was the first to pierce through.

“She fainted at training last week, didn’t she?”

I stiffened. “She was tired. Pushed too hard—”

“She’s always tired, Kaleb,” Elder Vanto said. “No wolf. No strength.”

“Other packs already whisper,” Naren added. “That our Luna is shiftless. What message does that send?”

“Rumors can’t dictate my future,” I said, trying to sound sure. “She was chosen for me—”

“And if that choice dooms us?” Elder Remi’s voice cut like glass. “Will you bury your people because of a crush?”

“It’s not a crush,” I said tightly. “It’s the bond. The Moon Goddess—”

“Does not always know what is best,” Vanto said bitterly. “Even Selene has made mistakes.”

I reeled.

These were my Elders. The ones who raised me after my father died. Who had trained me, stood beside me during my trials.

And now they looked at me like I was a child. A fool.

“She’s not a mistake,” I whispered.

Elder Andrew stepped forward. “Your father would have been ashamed to see this weakness. To see you throw away our future for a girl who cannot even shift.”

My jaw tightened.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to hit something. But most of all, I wanted Moira.

I wanted to see her standing in the garden, smiling, her hair catching the sun.

Elder Remi placed a hand on my shoulder. Cold. Heavy.

“If you mark her tonight,” she said, voice low and final, “you fracture this pack’s future.”

They all walked out, one by one.

And I was left alone.

And the weight of my pack resting on my shoulders.

I leaned against the cold wall outside the chamber. My chest was tight, my thoughts a storm.

Moira. My wolf howled for her. But my pack… my people…

I closed my eyes and whispered, barely audible—

“I’m sorry, Moira, I have no choice.”