Emma Greens pushed the heavy mower through the thick, unruly grass of the front yard, the blades slicing through the stubborn weeds with a dull, rhythmic hum. The afternoon air was still, carrying only the scent of pine and damp earth from the surrounding forest.
Then it ca.
A distant growl of engines rolled across the Dark Moon Pack estate.
The sound was low at first, almost like thunder rumbling beyond the mountains, but it grew steadily louder, echoing through the towering pines and vibrating faintly beneath her feet. Emma’s grip tightened around the handle. Her chest constricted instinctively.
She resisted the urge to look up. She already knew who it was—Lunara Greens, the Moon Goddess’s blessed one.
Ever since she could rember, Emma had been an outcast in the pack. Raised under the strict supervision of Alpha Daniel, she had learned early that her presence was tolerated, not welcod. She was the shadow behind the celebrated faces of the pack, the forgotten wolf in the corridors of power.
The Alpha’s blood daughter, Lunara, was the pride of the Northern Territory—the future High Luna or even Queen Luna as so wolf addressed her. The pack adored her, and every mber knew better than to cross her path. Lunara, in turn, despised Emma’s very existence, a disdain that needed no words. She arrived to visit her parents, as always, in a grand convoy.
An hour later, Emma’s communication device vibrated sharply in her pocket.
"Emma, what happened?"
She glanced at the screen. It was Marta, the older she-wolf who lived across the forest ridge. Emma typed slowly, hesitant.
"Nothing, Marta." Her eyes wandered toward the distant cabins nestled among the trees.
"Then why did you register on the Howling Union? Begging wolves to claim you? You’re twenty-three, Emma!"
Emma frowned, her fingers moving swiftly over the keyboard.
"Marta, please calm down. What is the Howling Union?"
"It’s a mating registry!" Marta replied sharply. "Delete those images now. Your hair is wild, your clothes... poorly chosen. He-wolves are laughing at you!"
The mower slipped from Emma’s grip, clattering against the stone pathway.
"Lunara! She did it again!" Emma shouted, her voice cracking as she ran toward the stone lodge at the estate’s heart.
She burst into the grand hall, breath ragged.
"Lunara, did you register on a Howling Union?" Emma demanded.
Lunara reclined elegantly on one of the carved sofas, her posture flawless, her ankles crossed with deliberate grace. Power clung to her like a second skin.
"Oh?" Lunara’s tone was lazy, almost mocking. "You roam the Howling union but never thought to make a profile yourself? Aren’t you overdue to be claid?"
"I never visited it! Sowolf contacted just now. Did I ask for a mate?" Emma’s voice rose despite herself.
Theresa, the Luna and Lunara’s mother, rose abruptly, shouting, "Emma!"
"Stay out of this, Mother. I’m talking to my sibling," Emma snapped, eting Lunara’s gaze.
"You stupid creature," Lunara hissed. "I have told you repeatedly: I am not your sibling. Your mother dragged you here as collateral. You were paynt. Stop calling pack-kin. I am refined. I am intelligent. I will not be linked to a dull, filthy stray."
Emma pressed her lips together, swallowing back the sting. Collateral. That word followed her everywhere, clinging to her like a curse.
She had been taken in as a pup, yet the truth of her origin remained obscured. Was it desperation? Malice? She didn’t know—but the pack’s constant reminders burned into her soul: she did not belong to their bloodline.
Whispers haunted her. So said her mother arrived at the pack borders desperate, borrowing gold and silver from Alpha Daniel, then vanished into the mountains. Others claid she knowingly traded her she-wolf to settle a debt. Emma had no mory clear enough to confirm either version. She only knew she had grown up feeling invisible, resentful, and wounded by a past she could not piece together.
"Please remove all the pictures you uploaded," Emma said quietly, her voice fragile. "I will choose a mate when I find the right wolf for ."
"When will that be?" Lunara snapped. "You are twenty-three! You consu the pack’s food and contribute nothing. If raising a pup were easy, your blood parents would not have abandoned you. You are leaving this pack whether you want to or not."
Emma lowered her gaze. "Fine. I’ll go. I just need ti to find sowhere to stay."
Her real need was freedom—silver, independence, and a life that wasn’t dictated by her collateral status.
"Your ti is up," Alpha Daniel said, stepping into the great hall. "A suitor contacted thirty minutes ago. He arrives tomorrow morning. He has cleared the debt your mother left behind."
Emma froze. "You sold ?"
"No. Soone cleared your debt," the Alpha replied sharply. "Either you leave as his mate tomorrow, or you leave with nothing. Pack your things."
Tears burned her eyes as laughter echoed from the council lounge below. Every rejection, every whispered word, every bruise to her self-worth pressed down heavier than the last.
Emma Greens, twenty-three, with her soft pink-tinged pale skin and cascading golden hair, had always been told she was ugly. They said the only beautiful thing about her was her hair. And yet... there was sothing more, sothing in her scent she herself did not understand. Sothing that stirred a reaction in certain wolves, though she had no idea why.
She collapsed onto her bed, sobbing, when a gentle voice broke the silence.
"Emma," Princess Elara said, her silver robe shimring in the doorway.
"Elara..." Emma whispered.
"Blessings co in many forms," Elara said softly. "Those who see beauty in humble places are truly blessed. Wipe your tears. Prepare yourself for tomorrow."
"They hate ," Emma sobbed. "They will give to a monster."
"What kind of he-wolf would you wish for?" Elara asked gently.
"One who loves without conditions."
Elara smiled faintly. "Pure hearts are never ignored." She paused. "And rember, go with whoever they choose for you."
Emma moved to the window, watching Lunara waiting outside, red-gold hair glowing, flanked by guards. She radiated power, beauty, and influence—the very embodint of what Emma was not.
When Moon Princess Elara departed, the convoy rolled away, swallowed by the forest road.
Alone in her chamber, Emma touched the windowpane, her reflection wavering in the glass. There was sothing in her blood and her scent, sothing she could not yet na, sothing that had already begun to stir...
A presence that drew certain wolves without reason. An unclaid power that whispered her na in the forest wind.
She did not yet know it, but far beyond the mountains, a powerful Alpha had already felt her presence.
And by tomorrow morning, he would co to claim what had always been his.
User Comments
0 comments from readers