Chapter 1: Mate or Monster
Skye's POV
"Make a wish, Skye." My mother whispered, her hand squeezing my shoulder gently.
My family gathered around. Their faces were illuminated by the warm glow, but I could see the tension behind their smiles.
Today I turned eighteen. This was the age when most wolves had already appeared. According to tradition, my wolf should emerge soon.
With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and blew.
One wish. Please let my wolf come tonight.
"That's my girl," Dad said. His weathered face crinkled with pride as he ruffled my hair. "Doesn't matter what happens, you're perfect just as you are."
But it did matter. In our world, the lack of a wolf meant weakness. It meant being overlooked. My brother Ethan had shifted at seventeen. Leon, the Alpha's son, had summoned his wolf on his sixteenth birthday. Even Maya, my childhood rival, had shifted before eighteen.
Since then, they'd barely included me in anything. They preferred running through the forest together in wolf form. I was left behind to watch from windows.
"Don't worry, dear," Mom said. She cut a generous slice of cake and slid it onto my plate. "Boys often shift earlier. Your wolf will come." Her eyes flicked toward the window where the afternoon sun was already beginning its descent. "Perhaps tonight, with the full moon."
I nodded, but the unease remained. What if my wolf never came? What if I was one of those rare cases? A latent wolf. Someone who would never shift? Because today when I woke up, I showed no signs of shifting at all.
Dad cleared his throat. He wiped a smudge of frosting from his beard. "I received Alpha's orders. We're all required to attend the Hunt Festival tonight." His eyes met mine. "Including you, my little warrior. It's your first official activity as an adult member of the pack."
My stomach knotted. The Hunt Festival was where wolves displayed their strength, speed, and hunting prowess. What place would I have there without my wolf?
"I'll be ready," I promised, forcing confidence into my voice.
The moon hung low and heavy over the hunting grounds. It bathed the snow-covered forest in silver light. Our breath formed clouds in the frigid Alaskan air as the entire Frostshadow Pack gathered around the massive bonfire.
Alpha James stood before us. His powerful frame was silhouetted against the flames. Leon, his son, stood at his right. He was tall and proud. I couldn't help but notice every detail about him. His strong jaw. The way his golden hair caught the firelight. Those piercing blue eyes that seemed to look through everyone.
"The Hunt Festival is our most sacred tradition," Alpha James began. His voice carried across the clearing. "Tonight, we celebrate our strength, our speed, our very nature as wolves." His eyes swept across the gathered pack members. They paused briefly on me before continuing. "Tonight, we hunt as our ancestors did. We prove ourselves worthy of our lineage."
I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. Everyone knew the rules. Whoever brought down the most impressive prey would earn the Alpha's favor.
Last year, Ethan and Leon had each claimed victory. My brother with a black bear. Leon with a grizzly. Their dispute had ended in a fight that only the Alpha could stop.
Now, pack members began shifting around me. Human forms melted into powerful wolf shapes. Some were massive, like Leon's dark gray wolf. Others were smaller but no less intimidating.
Soon, the clearing contained only three groups. The elders who chose not to hunt. The children too young to participate. And me. The adult without a wolf.
Alpha James approached. He had something clutched in his hand. "Skye," he said. His voice was gentler than usual. "Since this is your first Hunt Festival as an adult, you may use this." He extended his arm, offering me a hunting rifle.
Whispers rippled through the remaining crowd. This was unprecedented. Weapons weren't typically allowed in the Hunt Festival.
"Thank you, Alpha," I said. I accepted the rifle with steady hands despite the humiliation burning in my chest.
"Good luck," he said, but his eyes held pity.
As the wolves disappeared into the forest, I felt the weight of sympathetic stares. They all believed I would fail. That I would return empty-handed.
I gripped the rifle tighter. I'll prove them wrong.
Midnight found me deep in the forest. I was alone with the rifle and my determination. The full moon illuminated the snow with an otherworldly glow. It turned the landscape into a sea of silver and shadow.
My breath formed crystals in the air as I tracked a snowshoe hare through the underbrush.
Not the most impressive prey, but it would be something. Better than returning empty-handed.
I positioned myself behind a fallen log. I sighted down the barrel as the hare paused to nibble at exposed bark. My finger tensed on the trigger.
Then it hit me. A scent so powerful it made me dizzy.
Pine and snow and something wild that I couldn't name. The smell invaded my senses. It was overwhelming in its intensity. I'd never experienced anything like it before. My nose had never been this sensitive.
My heart pounded against my ribs as realization dawned. This was what they'd described. This was what happened when you found your mate.
The rifle slipped from my fingers. It landed softly in the snow as I turned toward the source of that intoxicating scent. My heart hammered against my ribs. Each beat sent a rush of adrenaline through my veins.
This is it. This is what they described.
All those times I'd listened to the older pack members talk about finding their mates. How time stopped. How the world narrowed to a single point. How everything suddenly made sense. I'd thought they were exaggerating.
But now...
The scent pulled me deeper into the forest. It led me away from the familiar hunting grounds of the Frostshadow Pack.
My feet crunched through the snow. Each step carried me further from safety and closer to the source of that intoxicating aroma.
The rifle hung loosely in my grip. It was nearly forgotten.
This can't be happening.
I paused. I leaned against a tree trunk as confusion washed over me. Everything I'd been taught about werewolf biology insisted this shouldn't be possible. Without my wolf, I shouldn't be able to detect a mate's scent. Yet here I was. I was drawn by an invisible thread I couldn't explain or resist.
Why am I feeling this? I don't have a wolf. I shouldn't be able to sense a mate.
My fingers dug into the rough bark of the spruce as I tried to make sense of what was happening. Perhaps this was a sign my wolf was finally coming. Tonight, under the full moon, just as Mom had hoped.
The scent grew impossibly stronger. It made me dizzy with its intensity. I closed my eyes, trying to steady myself.
When I opened my eyes again, all thoughts of mates and wolves vanished in an instant.
I found no mate. Only a monster...