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Elara is running for her life, her heart pounding as she weaves through the dense forest, chased by warriors sworn to her own blood. Her only wish is to escape a marriage she never asked for. Still too young to shift into her wolf form, she's defenseless-trapped in a body that won't yet allow her to fight or flee as she longs to. Chapter One begins with Elara's capture and return to the home she dreads. There, her father, Alpha Thorne Wynford, and his cruel son Kael treat her as little more than a servant, stripping her of dignity and freedom. Now, her fate has been sealed: she is to be handed over to Alpha Magnus, a feared and powerful leader, under the command of the ruling Alpha King. Elara pleads for a chance to remain, offering to work harder and sacrifice more for the pack that never accepted her. But her words are dismissed, her worth reduced to that of a bargaining tool. Her dream of meeting her fated mate is shattered in a single, heartless command. Locked once more in the small attic that has been her only refuge for years, Elara is left to cry in silence. Tension escalates when Kael makes an inappropriate advance, only to be stopped by Thorne, who warns of an old curse tied to her existence. Even this dark omen is not enough to halt what's coming. Her father coldly informs her that Magnus's Beta will arrive the next morning to collect her. Shocked and heartbroken, Elara questions why he's suddenly willing to give her away. The response is devastating-he holds her responsible for everything that went wrong: her mother's abandonment, a comrade's death, and years of sorrow. He claims he only kept her as part of a promise to her late mother. But that promise no longer matters. Alone in the darkness, Elara's mind is consumed with anguish and confusion. She gazes at the moon, wondering why the divine forces have forsaken her, why her path leads to a man known for cruelty and merciless rule. Will Elara submit to a fate she never chose? Can she escape the shadows of betrayal and uncover the strength buried deep within her? And what will happen when the true mate she once dreamed of finally crosses her path?
Chapter 1 She's Cursed
The chilling howls pierced through the twilight, each one drawing nearer, making Elara's chest throb violently with fear.
"Please! Just let me go! Don't do this!" Elara screamed, stumbling through the dense trees as her father's warriors closed in.
The underbrush tore at her tattered dress, and her worn shoes barely held together as she pushed her exhausted body forward.
Tree branches whipped across her skin, leaving thin, red trails on her otherwise pale, fragile frame.
Her dark brown hair unraveled from its hastily tied knot, cascading wildly as she ran.
Panic shot through Elara's golden-amber eyes when the trees behind her rustled with unnatural movement.
They were gaining ground. She knew it. The fleeting hope of escape slipped further away with each step.
If only she could shift already, she might have had a chance. But she wasn't twenty-one yet, the age when most she-wolves gain their true form.
Until then, she had nothing to rely on but the faint strength that came with her alpha lineage.
"Elara! Stop this nonsense! I command you to return!" her father's booming voice thundered through the forest, saturated with the dominance of an alpha's call.
"Heed your Alpha, now!"
His command sank into her bones, making her legs waver.
Her knees buckled slightly under the weight of the command, but she fought it with every ounce of resistance left in her.
"No! No, I won't!" she sobbed, eyes stinging as tears blurred her vision.
A misstep sent her tumbling. She rolled down a slope, her body bruised by the unforgiving earth.
When she finally came to a stop, she staggered upright-only to see him standing there, flanked by Kael, her stepbrother, and three of his warriors.
Alpha Thorne Wynford, leader of the Stormfall Pack and her father.
Defeated, Elara collapsed to her knees. Tears spilled freely down her cheeks as she pleaded, "Father, please. Don't give me away. I'll do anything you ask. Just... don't send me to him."
What more did he want from her? Hadn't they taken enough already?
Her life had become a series of servitude-cleaning, cooking, obeying every petty order from her stepmother and Kael, all under the roof of the man who once claimed to love her.
And now, this? Offering her as a bride to a savage alpha, one she had never even met?
Her dreams of a fated mate, of love, were shattered completely.
"You don't understand, Elara," Thorne said coldly.
"The entire pack is at risk. This marriage-this command-comes directly from King Daemon. You think this is about you? It's about survival!"
He stepped closer, voice sharp as a blade. "You want your family dead? Your siblings? Your friends and their families? Because that's what defiance means."
Elara shook her head in disbelief, but her father's face remained unreadable.
"The king's word is law. We have no say," he said with finality. Then, snarling, "Take her!"
Within minutes, she was dragged back home. Thrown into the attic that served as her makeshift bedroom for years, the old floor creaked beneath her as she hit it hard.
Kael had shoved her in roughly, as though she were nothing but garbage.
As she lay there, she caught him staring-his breath shallow, pupils dilated. Lust tainted the air.
Her body tensed, her fear tangible. "Touch me, and it'll be your last breath," she warned, voice trembling with fury.
It wasn't the first time Kael had leered at her. The last time he tried something, a searing pain in his chest had knocked him back.
No one knew why, but she suspected the Moon Goddess had intervened.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Alpha Thorne's voice cut through the room like thunder.
He stormed in, eyes dark as night. Seeing Kael hunched near her, he grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall.
"She's cursed, you idiot!" Thorne growled.
"Touch her again, and I'll end you myself. She belongs to Alpha Magnus now. We can't risk damaging her before the handover!"
Kael was shoved out, coughing and staggering, while Thorne turned his attention back to Elara.
"Tomorrow morning, Alpha Magnus's Beta will come for you. You will go. You will marry him. End of discussion."
The door slammed behind him, the echo thundering in her ears.
Left in silence, Elara curled up on the cold wooden floor. Her sobs came in waves, unstoppable, wrenching.
Her mind wandered back to gentler times-the bedtime stories, the forehead kisses, the way her father once called her his "little flame." Where had that man gone? When had he turned into this... stranger?
She crawled toward the door, fingers trembling, voice soft. "Dad... do you really not care about me anymore? What did I do to deserve this? What changed?"
Elara's voice cracked as she whispered, "I'm your daughter. I'm your blood. But you treat Kael and the others like royalty while I'm cast aside like a burden."
A pause. Then Thorne's voice returned-low, bitter.
"Your mother left because of you. She abandoned me... and my best friend died because of you. I kept you out of obligation, nothing more. A promise to your mother. I waited for her to return... but she never did."
He exhaled, a sound between grief and frustration.
"She swore she'd come back. I held on to that hope even after I remarried. But she never came. And I finally accepted the truth-she left you too. You were never meant to stay here. Maybe she never planned to return for you."
With clenched teeth, he said the words that sealed her fate.
"By King Daemon's decree, you will marry Alpha Magnus Rowe. That is your destiny."
Then silence again, the final blow as the door remained shut.
Elara stayed on the floor, numb with disbelief.
In a week's time, she would be a bride to one of the most feared Alphas in the realm-a man known for his brutality and merciless rule.
Would she survive it?
As the night deepened, the weight of her father's words crushed her spirit. Her mother had left her. It was undeniable now.
Ten long years had passed with no letter, no visit, not even a whisper on the wind to suggest she remembered her daughter. Had she seen Elara as cursed, too?
Grief slowly morphed into rage. Her fists clenched. Her chest burned.
And then came the memory-Beta Ronan's death. The moment her father started treating her like a stranger. This was the first time he ever voiced why. All these years, she had been blamed for something she didn't even understand.
"But how was it my fault?" she whispered. "Why did he blame me for something I had no part in?"
The tears eventually stopped. Her face was raw, her soul drained. She sat by the attic window, gazing at the moon hanging high above.
Her voice, soft and broken, called to the divine. "Moon Goddess... have you forsaken me, too? Why are you sending me to a man like Magnus? Is this truly my path?"
And in the stillness of the night, she heard nothing in return.
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