Chapter 1

I, Ella Blackwood, was the only half-blood who couldn't shift among the pack.

At the mating ball, Raymond Nightshade, the Alpha's younger brother, threw the fate necklace in my face. The clasp sliced my eye, and blood dripped into my wine glass.

He forced me to my knees. With the Alpha's ring on his finger, he ground it hard against the back of my hand. The sound of my bones cracking was barely audible.

"You're a good-for-nothing who can't even shift. You think you deserve to be my brother's mate?" Raymond sneered.

The whole crowd burst out laughing. No one noticed the faint glow of the necklace at my neck, and no one heard the voice echoing in my mind.

It was Kaelen Nightshade, the Alpha, asking, 'Who dares lay a finger on my fated mate?'

*****

I was the biggest joke and oddball in the whole pack.

When we hit eighteen, everyone else awakened their inner wolf and learned to shift.

I was the only exception. There was nothing inside me, and no wolf ever stirred to life.

The pack called me a half-blood who couldn't shift, a stain on our pack, and a born loser.

Tonight, the full moon hung high in the sky, and the once-in-a-hundred-years mating ball was underway.

By tradition, every adult werewolf would follow the Moon Goddess's lead here to find their only fated mate.

On the altar, moonlight formed glowing white necklaces. These were the Moon Goddess's mark of fate.

The pack lined up, holding their breath, waiting for the moment a necklace would drop onto their neck.

Whoever the white light chose, that was their fated bond for life.

I huddled in the shadows at the edge of the crowd, barely daring to breathe.

Of course, I never dared to hope for the favor of the fate necklace.

I only prayed no one would notice me.

For a half-blood who couldn't shift, even catching the eye of a regular noble wolf would only mean humiliation and torment.

When all the fate necklaces had found their owners, the last streak of moonlight cut straight through the crowd.

It brushed past all the noble ladies who were waiting with bated breath and settled firmly around my neck.

The instant that cool moonlight touched my skin, I froze. My mind went blank.

The place fell into complete silence right away.

Then a wave of mocking laughter overwhelmed me because this necklace was linked to Kaelen, the Alpha and supreme ruler of the pack, on the high platform.

Kaelen sat upon the black iron throne, his dark cloak draping down the steps.

The Alpha's ring on his finger shimmered with icy silver.

He was born with the signature silver-gray eyes of the Alpha, and the purest wolf blood in the pack had awakened to its peak within him.

Kaelen looked puzzled. He clearly hadn't expected the Moon Goddess's guidance to lead to such an absurd outcome.

When his silver-gray eyes locked onto me, I wished I could vanish on the spot.

"How can a good-for-nothing who can't even shift be the Alpha's fated mate?" Raymond, the Alpha's younger brother, strode out from the crowd.

The tip of his boots, with dark patterns, ground harshly into the scattered moonlight on the floor.

His tone dripped with contempt and acridness, instantly igniting a storm of gossip.

The murmurs in the hall quickly turned into open mockery.

The noble ladies, decked out in fancy jewelry, giggled behind their hands.

They said I was only a half-blood with the lowest rank, way out of line to dream of being the Luna.

A few young, low-ranking werewolves even whistled, shouting for me to take off the necklace and grovel for forgiveness.

I clutched the fate necklace around my neck.

The icy touch felt almost dreamlike.

I was overwhelmed with insecurity and dread.

Without a second thought, my hand shot up to take it off, as if I could refuse a fate I had no right to claim.

I'd spent eighteen years living in an abandoned cabin at the farthest edge of the pack.

I managed to survive by patching up animal hides for the servants.

I didn't even deserve to share the same moonlight as the noble Alpha.

If this necklace really tied me to him, all I'd get was the pack's malice.

The second my finger touched the necklace clasp, a searing, two-way backlash stabbed through me out of nowhere.

I couldn't stop shaking from the pain.

My knees gave out, and I collapsed onto the cold stone floor.

My bones hit the stone with a dull thud, and the pain made my vision go black for a moment.

My fingers went totally limp.

Up on the throne, Kaelen, the cold, commanding Alpha, suddenly clutched his chest. His body jerked violently.

The Alpha's ring, worn for years, erupted in a burst of blinding silvery light.

His top silver wolf guards tensed up right away, thinking enemies were attacking.

But all they saw was the Alpha letting out a low grunt, a thin sheen of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.