Deanna Frostclaw was always in charge of her life, her future, and her heart, until destiny intervened. She was meant to be with one guy, but when her mate turns out to be not the one, she believed, everything changes. Her genuine mate is Isaac Greywood, the arrogant, entitled, unforgiving Alpha. A heartbreaker, an arrogant leader, a well-known playboy... he is everything she vowed she never wanted but could not resist. One touch makes her tremble. One look causes her to lose control. Isaac, however, is not alone himself. With seven strong Alpha guys all asserting their link to her, she finds herself trapped in a web of attraction. Deanna has to choose whether to fight for the love she believed was hers or give in to the strong pull of fate tying her to not one but seven alphas as she negotiates this complex web of desire, rivalries, and unmistakable attraction.
Chapter 1 Deanna's 25th Birthday
"Deanna Frostclaw, your true mate has been revealed."
Deanna's heart stopped in her chest. She had imagined this moment many times, how she would gaze into her mate's eyes and watch the future unfold. Archer would be it. Archer had to be it. He had been the one she had always known she would end up with.
Raising his palms to the heavens, the elder spoke with ageless enchantment. Isaac Greywood is your mate.
Deanna's thoughts raced in a thousand different directions. The reality of the circumstances seemed to be a nightmare she could not wake from. Archer was next to her, but he was different today; his presence, once reassuring, was now strained and remote. Once a lifeline, his palm now felt chilly against hers. His fingers were rigid, no longer giving her the warmth she had always discovered in them.
"I didn't ask for this," she said quietly, the words more to herself than to anybody else. How could this be actual? How could Isaac, a man she hardly knew, be the one she was meant to connect with for life?
Archer's hold became tighter; for a second, she believed he may drag her away. Instead, he retreated, his gaze sharpening. "You don't get it, Deanna," he said softly, his voice strained. "This is not right."
He didn't have to say anything more. His remarks sliced through the ambient tension like a keen knife. His eyes momentarily darted to Isaac, who stood at the outside of the ceremony area observing them with an enigmatic look. Isaac was unmistakable; his strength was clear; it was almost as if the whole room changed as he looked at Deanna.
Turning to her one more time, Archer's voice broke and his face reflected both treachery and urgency. "You don't know what you're getting into," he snarled, slicing through the air with his words. Isaac is risky. With him, you will never be free.
Deanna could no longer stand there. The moment's weight was stifling; she required oxygen, required to flee the urgent feelings and thoughts spinning within her. Rushing outdoors, her footfalls pounding on the earth, she hurried towards the edge of the clearing, breathing shallowly.
"Archer!" She had to get him to see. She had to show him that this was not her decision. Though she couldn't define the connection between them or the draw she felt towards Isaac, she knew she couldn't overlook it.
The night was cool against her skin, and the moon hung high above, casting an otherworldly light on the trees surrounding her. Though it didn't help to quiet the storm forming within her, she could hear the rustle of leaves and the soft chirps of far away animals.
Emerging from the darkness, Archer's face was clouded with rage and suffering. Those familiar, warm eyes of his were now frigid, like a stranger's.
Deanna pleaded, her voice cracking, "Archer, please." Stay, please. You have to realise, this is beyond my control. This is destiny; I didn't select it. This is not what I desire. I wanted you.
For a short while, his demeanour softened and she noticed the flare of the guy she had known. The Archer I loved. But suddenly his look hardened, and the familiar warmth in his eyes vanished, replaced with the bitterness of someone deceived.
You are no longer mine, he remarked plainly. I will not be involved in this.
His steps deliberate and last, he turned away from her. Deanna, goodbye.
Turning away, her hands shook at her sides. She was meant to feel anything for Isaac, this man she hardly knew, who suddenly held a claim on her soul. Instead, all she experienced was uncertainty, the great weight of a destiny she had not chosen pressed upon her like an invisible shackle.
The elder's voice rang out once more, drawing her back to the present. "Deanna Frostclaw," he yelled, his voice thick with finality. You should now accept your position. His gaze darted to her, then back to Isaac. "As his Luna."
The words struck her like a punch. Luna She had pictured the part her whole life, but not like this. The burden of it, the duty, the awareness that all she had known had only moved under her feet. The weight of her new reality bearing down on her chest made her feel the walls closing in and her breath getting shorter.
Then Isaac shifted. His presence great, his steps deliberate. Until he was only inches away, he walked across the room with the confidence of a king, every step bringing him closer to her. Deanna was unable to move. His gaze, icy yet powerfully compelling, locked with hers. He was telling her, not asking.
Isaac's voice rumbled, "It's time you accept your position as my Luna." It was a demand, not a request.
Isaac was still there, watching her from the edge of the room, his keen gaze fixed on her. Even as her heart yearned for the warmth of the past, for the life she had always envisioned, the ease with which he controlled the area around him made it hard for her to overlook his presence. Isaac's insistence on her approval without even enquiring roused something in her, a combination of dread and wonder.
But she could not refute it. There was something obvious about the relationship between them, something that drew her towards him in a manner she couldn't understand no matter how hard she wanted to fight it. She had always believed that when the moment arrived, she would feel something for her right mate, a sense of connection, perhaps even of love. But all she experienced was chilly doubt.
Deanna.
The voice sliced through her musings and she turned to find the elder of the pack coming towards her. His creased, aged face was serious and his eyes reflected a grief she couldn't exactly identify. Longer than anybody could recall, he had been with the pack; his knowledge was both respected and dreaded.
His hold was strong but not cruel as he touched her arm. Softly, with an edge of finality in his voice, he continued, "You have no choice but to accept your genuine mate." Archer will never grasp what you have to turn into.
Other books by Eral Annobil
More