Chapter 1 The Fire Beneath Her Skin

The moon hangs low, although heavy, casts a small light across the courtyard of Moonshade. The night was quiet, asides for the whispers of animals echoing through the trees and the nervous sounds of feet among the gathered wolves.

I stood tall with my chin high, despite the pressure that weighed my shoulders down. My ceremonial robe, dark as ash and lined with red embroidery, blown lightly in the night breeze. Elder women had braided back my long silver-blonde hair, lined my eyes with black pencils, and my body had been painted with sacred runes.  But it wasn’t the runes that made the pack worry tonight. It was me,Aria.

The daughter of a Beta who had died pitifully. I am the one with a wolf no one could tame and the girl with the wolf like flames of fire.

I could feel the heat in my blood, the burning through my spine, the way my fingertips was tingling. Just then, my wolf stirred, restless and alert. That moment, I knew something was coming.

The Council stood around the ceremonial pyre, their robes trimmed with silver apparel. High Priestess Elira raised her staff, the silver head catching the moonlight, and silence fell over the pack.

“Tonight, the Moon Goddess speaks,” Elira said “She reveals what no eye can see and who we are bound to, by soul and scent, by blood and spirit.”

The mate bond ritual was always performed, unveiling each wolf's fated mates. Who their destiny is set to align with.

My heart pounded. I was scared and wasn’t sure what to expect. I had secretly hoped and prayed that it would be him. Alpha Kade,My crush.

The most powerful Alpha our pack had seen in generations. The boy I'd trained beside. The one who had once handed me his dagger when mine was damaged. The one whose cold eyes had grown distant since my father’s death. The one I dreamt of, even when life begged me to forget.

Just the way I  felt, my wolf growled and I smelled Alpha kade from a distance.

Every mated pair recognized each other through scent first. That undeniable feeling. The surge of longing. The surge of fate.

I turned my head sharply, locking eyes with Kade. But as I stared, I noticed His face was unreadable. It wasn't shock, joy or even confusion. It was cold and emotionless.

I took a step forward, waiting for him to move and claim me, to reach across the fire and complete the bond fate had sealed but he didn't. Instead, his voice echoed in the air, slicing it like a blade.

“I reject this bond.”

That instant, I felt my world shattering right before me.

Whispers and the scent of disbelief began to flood the air.

My knees shook for just a second but I forced myself to stand upright again. My breath was caught in my throat.

‘No! He didn’t! He can't!” This was all I could think of.

“I reject Aria Blackthorn,” Kade continued, his voice louder now. “And I reject the curse that clings to her blood.”

The Council looked shaken. The fire cracked loudly in protest. My wolf whimpered, and something inside me snapped.

“Why?” I managed to ask with a shaky voice.

Kade looked at me and for a moment, I thought I saw something behind the coldness. Pain.

“She carries danger in her blood. The same fire that killed her father,” he said. “She is not a blessing. She is a warning.”

The once joyful atmosphere of finding each other's mate turned to Ice.

Elder Alric stepped forward, with his voice echoing, he said “By decree of the Council, Aria Blackthorn is no longer a member of the Moonshade Pack. She is hereby banished.”

These words echoed In my ears like thunder.

“No.” I said,my voice was small but broken.

“You cannot…” I tried to speak again, but no one met my eye. Even my old friends turned away.

“Don’t do this,” I whispered with tears in my eyes.

My wolf howled in rage and sorrow, clawing against my ribs, but there was no flame, no fight.

Guards came forward. They didn’t touch me but they surrounded me like a wall of shame and silence.

The Council dispersed. The crowd began to murmur. Some with pity, some with satisfaction.

Meanwhile Alpha Kade turned and walked away.

That night, I was led beyond the protective borders of Moonshade and cast into the shadowed forest where banished souls, and beasts with no honor roamed.

There was no farewell, it was a cold exile.

The forest was colder than I had imagined.

I ran until my lungs burned, until the bitter wind sliced through my skin like a whip. My ceremonial robe tore to pieces and my bare feet bled. I had lost all my strength.

I collapsed beneath a tree as the moonlight broke between the leaves above.

I cuddled myself, shivering, the fire in my chest was flickering weakly, dangerously close to fading.

At this cruel time, I thought of my father how he would always say I was destined for greatness.

I thought of my mother’s grave which  was marked only by a stone and some wildflowers that I placed herself.

And then I thought of Kade.

How he had once smiled at me like he would never let an insect bite me. But now he has turned his back against me without taking a glance back.

“I’m not cursed,” I whispered to the night. “I’m not.”

But there was no one to answer. As the fire inside me dimmed, I became silent.

Just as I was about to close my eyes, I began to hear some sounds. As I tried to lift my head my eyes became bleary and my body was shaking. The sound drew closer as I could recognized it as the voices of people.

“Is she dead?” one asked.

“The body is still warm, no rotten smell,” said another, guarded.

“She’s from Moonshade. I recognize the runes.”

Just then they paused and one said “We can’t just leave her.”

Another said “She’s their reject. Their disgrace. Let her die.”

Suddenly they heard a voice from behind. Deeper and calm but commanding. “Bring her.”

I could only hear the sounds of boots. Just then, I felt arms, strong but not unkind, lift me gently.

However, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. But I clung to the last word I heard before I fainted and passed out.

“Alpha Theron will decide.”