Chapter 1

Emma.

Like every she-wolf, I had imagined finding my fated mate countless times.

I always hoped the Moon Goddess would choose for me a good person. Someone who could love and care for me.

But never in a million years did I imagine it would be Alpha Xander King.

Alpha Xander was the most handsome man I’d ever seen. He was breathtakingly handsome with a perfectly symmetrical facial structure. A prominent jaw curved the lower part of his face creating sharp planes that I dreamed of tracing with my fingers.

I had always admired him from afar and every unmated woman in the pack craved him. Some even wished he would give them only one night to experience what it was like to have him inside them.

On that day, our eyes met under the full moon and everything around us seemed to fade away. A sweet musky scent of cedarwood made my wolf stir.

Mate.

My breath hitched. I felt like drawing closer to him but controlled myself. Xander was staring at me as if he had felt the powerful pull too.

Although he wasn’t smiling, I found myself smiling. Was this real? Had the Moon Goddess finally decided it was my turn to be happy?

“Is she really the Alpha’s mate?” Someone near me asked.

“Who is she?” Another asked.

“Isn’t that Emma Hart?”

“She’s an omega.”

Ignoring the chatter around me, I started walking towards the alpha. The crowd parted for me as I approached him. “Alpha Xander.”

His face twisted and my smiled vanished immediately.

“I know what you’re feeling,” he said coldly. “I reject you.”

The entire clearing went silent as tears welled in my eyes. I kept my eyes open to prevent them from showing. I had imagined many things but never this.

“Why?” I asked after almost a minute of silence. I looked into his eyes, desperately searching for an answer. What was wrong with me?

“I, Alpha Xander King, reject Emma Hart as my fated mate.”

“No...”

“An Alpha cannot choose a mate based only on fate.” He said as he looked at me, eyes moving from my face to my plain dress and worn shoes.

“You are not prepared to be Luna. The pack needs someone with influence, a woman who is strong and can fight beside me.”

I felt so small because everyone saw rejecting me and declaring I wasn’t good enough for him. The embarrassment was too much but my wolf was still pushing forward, desperate to run toward him.

He didn’t think I was good enough. Fine I wasn’t going to beg him.

I lifted my chin and looked directly into his eyes. “If that’s your decision, I accept your rejection.”

The bond shattered immediately. Strong waves of pain spread through my body and I bent over, holding my chest. My wolf let out a desperate cry as the connection broke.

Before anyone could see the tears forming in my eyes, I turned and ran into the darkness, away from everyone who had witnessed my humiliation.

When I stopped running, I leaned against a large tree and pressed a hand against my chest, trying to breathe through the pain.

Why did it hurt so much?

I knew he was of royal blood and I was just an omega. We were classes apart and it was a well-known fact that most alphas didn’t pick their Lunas from the gutter. But knowing that didn’t make it hurt less.

After running through the forest for over an hour, I returned to my small apartment near the college campus. I barely managed to unlock the door before collapsing onto bed.

That night I couldn’t sleep. At first, I cried and sobbed until there were no more tears left. I spent the rest of the night turning and tossing in my sleep. Sometime towards morning, I ended up falling asleep.

When I woke, I could tell something was wrong before I opened my eyes. Someone was in my room. I placed my palm over my mouth to stop myself from screaming as I stared at the tall frame standing near my bed.

I looked around the bed, hoping to see something I could use to defend myself. There was nothing.

Closing my eyes, I pretended to be asleep so I could have more time to plan how to get out of there. My heart was beating so fast I could hear it.

“Theres no use pretending that you’re asleep.”

I gasped. I knew that voice! It was alpha Xander. What the hell was he doing in my apartment after rejecting me?

I sat up immediately, not sure if I was more relieved or angry. “What are you doing here?”

The morning sunlight spilled through the curtains, lighting up his handsome face. His dark hair was combed back and he wore a white T-shirt and blue jeans.

Xander stared just at me. I noticed his face looked slightly weary, eyes tired and not full of life like always.

I wanted to jump out of bed and leave but I was a wearing a very short and translucent nightdress.

“Emma,” he said. “I need you.”

My jaw dropped the floor. Why would a man who rejected me only a few hours ago need me?

“You need me? For what?”