Renda’s POV

I glanced around the large room he had brought me to the night before. It was nothing like the apartments or houses I was used to; this place was luxurious, dark, and quiet, like something out of a fairytale… or a nightmare.

I should’ve been at work. Not trapped in a strange home with people I didn’t know.

Still dressed in my nightwear, I heard a knock. A servant entered, holding a tray.

“You need to eat,” she said quietly, setting the tray down before walking out.

I picked up the spoon and slowly began to eat, barely tasting the food.

---

An hour passed. I sat on the bed, tapping my legs furiously.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” I said, glaring at the man who stood silently at the corner of the room. “I’m not going to run away or do something stupid.”

“I’m not a babysitter,” he finally replied, his voice deep and firm. “I’m his Beta. His right hand.”

I blinked. “Beta?”

He nodded, touching his temple and whispering something under his breath.

“The Alpha wants to see you now,” he said.

“Alpha?” I repeated. “Can someone please tell me what all this means?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he led me toward the hallway.

---

I stepped into the Alpha’s room.

Dedrick stood shirtless by the window, his sexy body catching the glow of early morning light that shone the room. My breath caught in my throat.

“What are you staring at?” he asked, not turning.

“Nothing,” I snapped, looking away quickly.

“I can hear your heartbeat… feel your blood rushing,” he said, walking toward me. “I can sense your desire.”

“You can… read my mind?” I asked, trembling.

“Yes,” he said simply. “You’re my mate, Renda. You’ll have to get used to it.”

“Mate?” I whispered. “Like a girlfriend… a wife?”

“Something like that. When a wolf-shifter finds his fated mate and marks her, their bond becomes unbreakable.”

He stepped closer and gently touched my shoulder.

“Except by death,” he added quietly.

Death?

Was that why my mother never remarried? Another memory struck me—how she used to avoid talking about love. How fiercely she protected me from men.

“Just a small bite. Right here,” he said, lifting a finger to my neck.

I stepped back. “Wait… did you just say wolf-shifter?”

That word echoed in my mind. Wolves. All this time. I’d been surrounded by them.

“I’m the Alpha of the Moondane Pack,” he said. “And you… are my mate. Even though you’re human.”

I moved back

“But why me?” I asked, tears pooling in my eyes.

“I don’t know you. I don’t belong here. I’m just… a girl.”

He sat on the velvet sofa, his face unreadable.

“It’s rare for a wolf to have a human mate,” he explained. “But not impossible.”

He looked up. “You’ll have to accept me, Renda. I won’t mark you by force.”

“Mark? You mean… like sex?” My heart dropped.

I swallowed hard.

“I’m a virgin. No way I’m letting some Alpha—”

“Yes,” he interrupted. “I’m cursed.”

The air in the room thickened.

“What kind of curse?” I asked slowly.

“If you reject me,” he said, standing and walking to the window, “I’ll die. My pack will fall into the hands of dark witches who want the heir throne.”

He turned and lifted his shirt, revealing a blackened mark on his side—like a tattoo that pulsed with dark energy.

“This was branded on me by a witch. She said if I don’t find and mark my mate before my twenty-seventh birthday, I’ll die.”

“What happens if you do?”

“My people will be saved. The curse will break.”

I paused for a while.

My mind flashed back to my father, how he died protecting us. How my mother never loved another.

“What did you do to deserve this?” I asked, stepping closer, touching the cursed mark.

“A good Alpha makes enemies when he protects his pack,” Dedrick said. “My father was betrayed by his own Beta. Someone he called brother.”

He met my eyes.

“I just hope I won’t face the same fate.”

His fingers grazed my cheek. “And if I don’t make it... you’ll lead this pack as their Luna. Carrying my pup.”

My stomach twisted.

“Wait—what? Pup? You want me to have your baby?”

He nodded solemnly.

“Once I mark you and the mating ceremony is done, you become Luna. That’s like a Queen in your human world.”

I shook my head. “You expect me to just sleep with you? Have your child? This is insane.”

“Renda, it’s part of the curse. You—carrying my pup—breaks the curse. The mark will vanish.”

He stepped closer again.

“But I must do it before my twenty-seventh birthday. In two weeks.”

“No!” I shouted. “This isn’t fair! I didn’t ask for this.”

“You’ve felt it—the bond,” he said. “The supernatural energy between us. That’s not your imagination.”

He grabbed my hand gently, locking eyes with me.

“I’ve seen our future in the mind-link. You’re in it, Renda.”

“You’re just trying to trick me,” I said, yanking my hand away. “Trying to seduce me with your little fairytales.”

“Renda, I would never—” he began.

“Stop! I don’t know what to believe anymore,” I said, moved toward the door.

“I want my life back. My normal life.” I held the door handle.

“Then believe this,” he said behind me.

The room trembled. Lightning struck outside the window.

I turned—and saw something I wasn’t prepared for.

My breath caught.

“It was him.”