I stood frozen as my father threw words at him. My legs were trembling.

Still I tried to look brave even though my trembling legs and shaky voice already sold me out. I shivered not from cold but from betrayal. From fear. From rage.

“You will marry Alpha Andrew. That’s final.” My father’s voice echoed like a death sentence across the silent hall.

I couldn’t breathe.

“I won’t.” My voice cracked.

The wolves standing along the walls—the council, the warriors, even my own blood relatives—watched silently as my world burned. No one spoke. No one defended me.

I took in a deep breathe and then lifted my chin high enough to lock eye contact with my dad. “He cheated on me, Father. He slept with my cousin.”

Father’s gaze darkened, his jaw clenched. He tightened his fist. I could tell, he was one step away from slapping me. He looked strong and firm like a true Alpha, standing at the top of the stairs, staring down at me like I was a disobedient pup.

“You will marry him, Ava,” he growled. “Because this is not about you.”

My legs went weak. I staggered a bit. Tears gathered in my eyes as his words particularly felt like a sharp arrow was been pierced into my heart. “Not about me? You’re sacrificing me for a political alliance.”

“I’m protecting this pack.”

“At the cost of your daughter!.”

He turned his head slightly, refusing to meet my eyes. My mother stood behind him, silent as always. She wouldn’t save me. She never had.

“You are the future Luna. This is your duty.” His voice was steel.

“Duty?” I laughed bitterly, staring at him with disbelief. “He marked another, Father. He claimed my cousin. And you expect me to stand beside him like nothing happened?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I have to choose between your happiness and the safety of everyone in the pack. You can live with a cheating husband but if you don’t marry him, none of us will survive.”

Tears threatened to drop, but I forced myself not to cry. I bit my lips tightly given myself a different kind of pain than what I felt in my heart.

I wouldn’t cry.

Not in front of him.

Not in front of them.

“I am your daughter.”

“You are an Alpha’s daughter. That comes first.”

I turned around, looking at everyone staring at me with pity. Desperate for anyone to speak up for me.

No one did.

Cowards.

Every last one of them.

Even my own blood.

My voice shook. “I won’t marry him.”

My father’s growled loudly. Everywhere shook! I could feel his anger. I trembled but i still wouldn’t allow myself to be tied to a loveless marriage. So I stood strong and bold against him.

“Your choice is irrelevant,” he said coldly. “The ceremony will take place at moonrise.”

I gasped.

“No.”

His golden eyes flickered as his wolf rose within him, dominating the air. “You are dismissed.”

Dismissed.

Like a servant.

A worthless daughter.

My body moved on instinct. I turned and ran. Not caring where. I shoved past warriors, ignoring their shocked expressions. My mother’s voice called weakly after me once.

I didn’t look back.

I wouldn’t look back.

I don’t remember how long I ran.

My bare feet bled as I fled past the village, through the forest, past the river where I used to play as a child. My tears blurred the path. My lungs burned. My wolf inside me howled, confused, frightened, betrayed.

I was supposed to be strong.

I was supposed to be Luna.

But I was nothing.

Just a daughter no one wanted.

Just a pawn to be traded.

I ran until I couldn’t.

I collapsed beside a large oak tree, gasping, sobbing, broken.

The moon rose slowly, casting his light on me. I kept wiping my tears but it didn’t stop flowing. My mind started thinking of several things.

I thought of Andrew’s smug smile.

Of my cousin’s cruel laugh.

Of my father’s cold command.

And something inside me cracked.

I stood.

I refused to let them own me.

Not tonight.

Not ever.

That’s when I heard it.

Music.

Distant. Faint. But real.

It drifted through the forest like a promise.

I followed.

Branches scraped my skin. Rocks dug into my heels. But I didn’t care.

The sound grew louder as I climbed the ridge.

Then I saw lanterns glowing between the trees. It looked beautiful. I was drawn to it so I moved closer.

Wolves in mask laughed and danced under the moon light.

It was a mask party.

My heart pounded—not from fear, but something stranger. Something... electric.

I stepped closer, the pulse of drums matching my heartbeat.

At the edge of the clearing, a woman approached silently, holding out a golden mask without a word.

I hesitated.

Then I took it.

I tied the mask over my tear-streaked face, the cool metal pressing against my skin.

The moment it settled, I felt weightless.

No one here knew who I was.

No one knows Ava Nightwind.

No one knows I’m the Alpha’s disappointment.

Just another masked face in the night.

I stepped into the clearing.

Music swirled around me, lifting me, pulling me into its rhythm. I walked slowly, my body aching, but my heart strangely quiet. For the first time in days, no one watched me with judgment. No one whispered behind my back.

Here, I could breathe.

I could be nothing.

Or someone else.

I closed my eyes, letting the drums vibrate through my bones.

When I opened them...

...he was there.

Across the clearing, standing perfectly still amidst the moving crowd, was a man.

Tall.

Broad-shouldered.

Cloaked in black.

A mask covered half his face, but his eyes burned through the shadows—silver like the moon itself.

My wolf stirred sharply inside me, rising so suddenly it stole my breath.

I froze.

Those eyes...

I couldn’t look away.

Neither could he.

The world faded—the music, the dancers, the night itself. Only his gaze remained.

My heart raced.

My breath caught.

Every instinct inside me screamed danger.

But I didn’t turn away.

I stepped forward.

One step.

Then another.

His head tilted slightly, curious. His aura radiated power. Authority. Something primal and dangerous.

But I wasn’t afraid.

I should have been but instead, I felt...Safe?

No.

Seen.

For the first time in my life.

And as we stood locked in that silent moment beneath the full moon, I felt the shift.

My life, splintering in ways I couldn’t understand.

This wasn’t the end. It was the beginning.

I don’t know what I was feeling but it felt like fate.