Luna’s Point of View

The moon was still full when the binding was complete.

The ceremonial chamber now felt like a prison. The blood oath lingered in the air, thick with magic and smoke. I could still feel the sting of Kaiden’s bite on my neck, his mark, branding me as his mate. The mark pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat tethered to his. I was bound to him now. Bound by law, by magic, by fate. And yet, I had never felt so utterly alone.

Kaiden stood across the room, staring into the fire as if it had wronged him. His broad shoulders were tense, his jaw clenched. Not once did he look at me since the ceremony ended. I wasn’t expecting tenderness, but the silence between us was colder than rejection.

“You’ll sleep in the east wing,” he said without turning. His voice was sharp and dismissive. “You’ll have your own chamber.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I’m your mate now. Shouldn’t I....”

“You’re a contract,” he snapped, cutting me off. “Nothing more.”

His words sliced deeper than I’d like to admit. I blinked, forcing back the sting in my eyes. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me crumble.

“Fine,” I said, my voice steady. “I prefer it that way.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched, but he said nothing more. The silence wrapped around me like ice. I turned and walked away, my footsteps echoing against the stone floor, each step a reminder that whatever this bond was, it wasn’t love. It wasn’t even respect.

The next few days were a blur of whispered stares and hushed gossip.

Some wolves looked at me with pity. Others with disgust. An Omega mating with the Alpha contract or not was unheard of. It defied every tradition, every expectation. But no one dared speak out loud. Not when Kaiden’s rage had become legendary.

Still, the stares pierced through my skin.

I kept to myself, staying in the room Kaiden had assigned me. It was large, too large for someone used to sleeping on straw mats in the servant quarters. But it felt empty, as if the walls themselves knew I didn’t belong.

My power, however, seemed to think otherwise.

It began slowly, a flicker of energy in my fingertips, a strange heat blooming in my chest whenever Kaiden was near. One morning, I woke to find the curtains fluttering wildly despite the windows being shut. Another time, I touched a flower in the courtyard, and it burst into bloom under my fingers.

The first real surge came when I passed Kaiden in the hallway.

He brushed past me without a word, his arm barely grazing mine. But the second our skin touched, a spark ignited between us. A literal spark. Electricity crackled in the air, and the chandelier above us shattered, glass raining down like frozen rain.

Kaiden spun toward me, eyes narrowed.

“You need to learn control,” he said through gritted teeth.

I stared at the broken shards on the floor. “I didn’t mean to...”

“I don’t care,” he growled. “You’re dangerous like this.”

Something in his voice made me pause. He wasn’t angry because I’d lost control. He was afraid. Not for himself, Kaiden was too proud for that, but for the power I carried. For what it could become.

And that terrified me, too.

Kaiden dragged me to the old training arena behind the pack house. It was secluded, surrounded by trees, and reeked of old blood and sweat. He stood at the center, arms crossed, waiting for me like a general inspecting a recruit.

“We’re not here to play,” he said.

“Trust me, I don’t find this fun either.”

His eyes narrowed. “Try to summon your power.”

I frowned. “How?”

“Figure it out.”

I clenched my fists. He wasn’t going to help me. He was going to push me until I broke.

So I closed my eyes, focused on the heat inside me. I pictured the shattered chandelier, the way the air had crackled around us. I remembered the way his touch had set my skin on fire.

And then, it came.

A burst of wind erupted from my body, sending Kaiden staggering back. Leaves scattered, the earth trembled beneath our feet, and the sky above dimmed just slightly.

When I opened my eyes, Kaiden was staring at me with a mix of awe and… fear.

“You’re not ready,” he said finally.

“Then help me.”

Something shifted in his expression. For a second, just a second, the mask cracked.

“I can’t help you with something I don’t understand,” he muttered, then turned away. “Again. From the top.”

Kaiden remained cold, but every now and then, a crack appeared. A glance. A pause. A sigh that held more pain than anger. He never spoke of his past, but one evening, when the training left me bruised and breathless, he mentioned his parents.

“They died when I was sixteen,” he said suddenly, not meeting my eyes. “A rival pack invaded during the Blood Moon. My mother was slaughtered in front of me.”

I froze. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It made me stronger.”

But I saw it, the pain he tried to bury. The wound that never quite healed. And for the first time, I didn’t just see Kaiden, the Alpha. I saw the boy beneath the armor.

The peace didn’t last.

Damon arrived unannounced during one of our training sessions. Tall, lean, and oozing charm, he had Kaiden’s sharp jawline but none of his intensity. His eyes were colder, calculating.

“Well, well,” Damon drawled, circling me like a predator. “So this is the Omega everyone’s whispering about.”

Kaiden stepped between us. “She’s my mate.”

“Contract mate,” Damon corrected with a smirk. “Which makes her… useful.”

I bristled. “I’m not a tool.”

Damon’s smile widened. “Oh, but you are. You just don’t see it yet.”

He left after that, but his presence lingered like smoke. I didn’t trust him. And I could tell Kaiden didn’t either.

That night, I had the vision.

I was standing in the forest, the moon full and red above me. Shadows danced between the trees, and a cold wind howled through the branches. Then she appeared.

A figure cloaked in black, her eyes glowing violet. Her hair was silver, flowing like liquid moonlight. She raised a hand, and the ground beneath her withered.

Selene.

The name came to me unbidden, a whisper in the wind.

“The time is near,” she said, her voice echoing in my skull. “The bond has been sealed. The curse has begun.”

I tried to move, to run, but my feet were rooted to the ground.

“You will either save them all… or destroy them,” she whispered.

Then the vision shattered.

I jolted awake, drenched in sweat, my heart racing.

What did she mean? What curse? And how did she know about the bond?

I went to Kaiden’s room.

I shouldn’t have, but I needed answers. He opened the door, shirtless and tired, eyes narrowing when he saw me.

“What is it now?”

“I saw her,” I whispered. “The Dark Witch. Selene. She spoke to me.”

That caught his attention.

“Come in.”

I stepped inside, suddenly aware of how close we were. His scent was overwhelming—pine and musk and something that made my stomach twist.

“What did she say?” he asked, pouring a drink.

“That the bond has sealed the curse. That I’ll either save the pack… or destroy it.”

Kaiden’s face darkened. “I was afraid of this.”

“You knew something?”

“There’s an old prophecy. My mother used to speak of it before she died.” He sat down heavily. “It said the Alpha’s fated mate would awaken a power that would bring balance—or ruin. That’s why I didn’t want a mate. Why I hoped the prophecy wasn’t real.”

“But it is.”

He nodded. “And now… the curse has begun.”

A distant howl shattered the silence. Then another. And another.

Kaiden stood abruptly. “The patrols.”

A knock sounded on the door, and one of the guards rushed in, panting.

“We’re under attack,” he said. “At the eastern border.”

Kaiden’s eyes flashed gold. “Prepare the warriors.”

I followed him without thinking, my heart pounding.

I was no longer just an Omega. I was the Alpha’s mate.

And my war… had just begun.