Chapter 3 #2
“It is a day of celebration,” my father adds, his voice echoing across the space. “One we thank the Moon Goddess for as she continues to grant our lands and our people with continuous power. Our bloodlines are rich with her light, so we shall endure forevermore.”
“Forevermore,” I and those in my pack repeat automatically.
“We offer one last invitation of challenge,” Samson announces as he looks over the crowd, including those standing on the outskirts and in the balconies.
“If any pack member tonight feels that they are better suited for the role of alpha than the ones who stand on this stage … come make your claim.”
The cadence of his words is polite, but the venom behind them is anything but. It’s a threat, almost daring someone to step up right now and taint such a day. None do. Relief loosens my chest, and I finally breathe.
Clapping his hands together, my father’s tone lifts. “May the transition of power commence.”
The cheering crests again as we step back, taking our positions at the centre stage, which puts us directly beneath the full moon’s light.
Aiden and I kneel and bow our heads so we can only see the eyes of our fathers, who take the same position opposite us.
Around us, our pack’s elders gather, circling us in their symbolic attempt to safeguard the process.
I force myself to be still as a hush falls over the entire Hall, leaving no other sound but bated breaths as the elders look to the sky and call on the Moon Goddess.
It’s through them that her power flows. Through them, her hand on our souls would remove an alpha’s power from one and settle it in another.
Over time, much about werewolves and their way of life has changed, but one thing remains: no new alpha can come to be without the blessing of Goddess herself. Not a true one. It was the final test, the last bridge a wolf had to cross to see if the Moon Goddess believed them worthy.
I find myself wondering not for the first time if I am worthy; if I’d be given her trust or if I’d be left forever scorned.
Would I disappoint her here, and him as well, or would I finally excel?
The question haunts me as the elders pray, and I fear it always will—but then I feel it. The power of something more that fills the air. It’s as if a thread of Goddess’s spirit has descended into this realm to see her will is done. And it is.
In my father’s widening eyes, I witness a surreal glimpse of his amber irises glowing brighter than I’ve ever seen, until the light sputters, leaving them a muted version of themselves.
My next breath locks in my chest as a warmth unlike anything I’ve known crashes through my lungs to breach my veins.
It surges through my bones like electricity, passing through with a power that demands something more of me.
My canines extend first, growing wider and longer within my gums. My claws are next, growing too, before the weight of my pack redefines itself. The once-faint mental link strengthens, weaving fine threads that let me connect with every pack member in turn.
No one can question it now, not even my guilt or doubts—the Moon Goddess had chosen me to be alpha.
A chorus of howls erupts as the connection solidifies across my pack. The cheers from earlier are nothing compared to the explosion that follows as I rise to my feet as their new alpha.
My father stands so quickly it nearly takes him back down. He lunges at me and pulls me into his arms, trembling fingers clutching me as if I were pure gold, and I find my arms coming around him too, my shirt dampening with the evidence of his relief.
“Well done,” he rasps against me.
I cling to the words and try to savour them and his touch, because he draws away from me too soon. He takes my hand, drags me forward, and raises it high for the masses to see.
They erupt once more, and it’s deafening.
I don’t bother to hide my smile as I look over the restless wolves that make the crowd.
While everyone is undoubtedly happy with the events, those of the Dark Woods Pack are almost frenzied as their new alpha paces the stage, amping them up before he releases a deafening howl that bounces off the walls.
The word “manic” comes to mind at the outpour that follows.
Goddess chose Aiden too.
Feeling my eyes on him, Aiden twists towards me and staggers when our eyes meet. I wait for the scorning glare or his usual smartass smirk, but neither comes. His smile doesn’t shrink or waver. It remains as is, a genuine thing he’s never aimed at me.
Despite myself, I return it with a slight nod. Aiden’s eyes widen for a split second before he mirrors the gesture. Then he’s back to playing mascot as if it’d never happened.
It’s far too early for celebrations, seeing as our betas and deltas still wait for their role exchanges.
But there’s no settling the packs now, which in hindsight is something we should’ve expected with the sheer number of wolves jammed together on a full moon.
But I’m not inclined to ruin the fun as my first act as alpha, even if midnight is probably only a minute away. This is a big day for us all.
I tip my head back instead, eyes settling on Goddess’s full glow. For a moment, I let myself imagine Oli is up there with her, smiling as he looks down at me.
I did it, I tell him. I did it.
Somewhere distant, perhaps in one of the back rooms or some hidden corner of the pack, I hear the faint tick of a clock’s hand. The chime of midnight strikes, and brings with it an entirely foreign wave of pleasure. It courses through me, into every crevice of my being, until my entire soul hums.
Alex rises inside me with a newfound focus to hunt. Not for a kill or sport, but for something—no, someone—else.
I find their scent like a thread in the wind. It’s a heady mix of pine and something sweet I can’t quite name, but it makes my body thrum. I hone in on it. The source is close, so very close.
I scour the crowded room, frantic to find the source of the scent I’ve already become a slave to, but they remain maddeningly out of reach. Row after row yields nothing, yet in my soul, it feels as if they’re right beside me.
Agitation curdles Alex’s mood as he urges me to shift so I can track them better, but there are far too many eyes on me to act out of turn.
A hand on my shoulder forces my attention to my concerned father, but it lingers on him for only a heartbeat before slipping past to the pair behind him. To Samson, and then … Aiden.
The call is undeniable. A snap of two halves of a fractured soul realigning and drawing near from within their vessels, desperate to be whole.
Mates.
No.
No, no, no, no, no.
Aiden Calderon couldn’t be—could never be my—
Mate! Alex declares, excited until he registers who that mate is. Then, that excitement quickly turns bitter.
I watch Aiden twist his attention from side to side, desperately searching the quickly calming crowds, as I’d been only a moment ago. He’s looking for his mate. He’s looking for … me.
“This is impossible.”
The words barely slip out, but they do as a torn mess of dread that makes Aiden’s head snap in my direction. His eyes on me take my breath away. Those dark pits are no longer so empty, but fragile, hopeful and then—
Aiden tenses, his entire body going ramrod stiff, and as his eyes widen, they nearly bury me alive.
He feels it too. I can see it on his face, feel it in this newly forming bond that tugs at me, trying to pull us together while my insides churn with repulsion. This is not real. It can’t be. But if it isn’t, then why does Aiden look just as horrified as I feel?
“This cannot be happening,” he whispers as the blood drains from his face. He stumbles back as if he might run, and my chest clenches.
“What’s wrong?” Samson asks Aiden, with unease I can feel pouring from him in waves.
A hand touches my back, but I barely feel it. I stare blankly ahead until my father fills the space. He breaks our stare, but it does nothing to sever the pull that calls me to Aiden.
“Julian,” he tries, “what’s happening?”
I shake my head to clear it, trying to break from this reality, because this cannot be real. It just can’t be. But no matter how many times I say it to myself, I know it is when Aiden steps past his father and his eyes meet mine again.
“He …” I begin, though each syllable requires a profound amount of effort. “H-he’s my mate.”
The words are quiet, barely there, but in a space full of werewolves, they ignite a wave of shocked whispers from our onlookers. From the corner of my eye, I see my father’s eyes double in size before he looks at my equally shocked mother.
“Your mate?” she asks as she rushes to our side. The question is riddled with incredulity as they look at Aiden.
Aiden. A male alpha.
“It isn’t possible.” But it’s happening.
“They’re both male.” But I can feel him, scent him like never before.
“They’re both alphas.”
I tear my gaze from Aiden’s, unable to look a second more without the bile rising in my throat escaping.
How could this be happening?
How could I be mated to a male wolf—a male alpha wolf?
And why did it have to be Aiden Calderon?
“Leave!” My father’s voice booms throughout the Hall, the command still ringing with authority even if it no longer carries the weight of an alpha.
There’s a moment where no one moves; they only stare with shock written all over their faces. It’s a moment too long.
“All of you!” he roars with his canines bared. “Get out!”
Jolted into action, none dare utter a word as they shuffle out of the Hall as quickly as they can. It’s still slow moving with all the bodies, but eventually, the large doors slam shut behind the last person.
All that remains is the light that shines down on me, our parents, and the boy I’ve hated my entire life, who is also now … my mate.