"You are not worthy to stand beside an Alpha King. I, Dante Silvercrest, reject you as my mate and Luna."

The words echo across the sacred Moon Claiming ceremony as every wolf in the kingdom watches Elara Moonwyn—daughter of disgraced traitors—reach for a bond that will never be hers.
Publicly humiliated, stripped of her dignity, Elara flees into the one place no wolf dares to enter: the Forbidden Veilwood, where rejected mates go to die and ancient magic devours the broken-hearted.

But Elara doesn't die.

She awakens something older than the Moon Goddess herself—a bloodline sealed away because it was too powerful, too dangerous, too divine. The mark on her skin is no longer the rejected mate brand. It's the Starborn Sigil, proof that she descends from the first children of the cosmos, the ones who created the Moon Goddess and the werewolf species.

And the moment her seal breaks, Alpha King Dante begins to die.

Deadly visions plague him. His heart stops whenever hers races. His wolf howls in agony, claiming its mate was never truly rejected—the bond merely transformed into something darker, a cosmic punishment for scorning what the universe itself blessed.

But when Dante comes crawling back, desperate and dying, Elara has already caught the eye of another: Alpha Kieran Nightshade, the mysterious Wolf King of the North, who kneels before her and calls her what Dante never did—Queen.

Now Dante must watch the woman he rejected become the most powerful being in their world while he suffers the consequences of breaking a bond the universe never meant to be broken.
The prophecy was always clear: When the Moon is rejected, the Stars will claim their daughter back, and all wolves will kneel or burn.

Elara Moonwyn was never just a rejected mate.
She was always the end—and the beginning.

"Get out of my head!" I scream, pressing my hands against my temples.


Seraphina's laughter echoes through the bond, using Dante's voice like a puppet. "Oh, little star. I'm not in your head. I'm in his. And through him, I can feel exactly where you are. The North won't protect you."


"Elara!" Kieran grabs my shoulders. "What's happening?"


"She's possessing him. Seraphina is inside Dante, controlling him through the bond!" The words tumble out in panic. "She can see through his eyes, feel what he feels. She knows I'm here!"


The elderly woman's blind eyes widen with horror. "Cut the bond. Now. Before she uses him as a weapon against us."


"I can't!" Tears stream down my face. "If I cut it, Dante dies. He's innocent in this—he doesn't even know he's infected!"


Through the bond, I feel Dante fighting. His consciousness struggles against Seraphina's dark magic, trying to break free. He's still in there, trapped and terrified.


Chapter 10 - Welcome to the North