Luna Everleigh's POV
***
This wasn't real.
It couldn't be real.
I stared at Rhydian, my breath uneven, my mind a tangled mess of disbelief and raw fear.
A mate. Another mate.
The words echoed inside my skull, each repetition making less sense than the last. I had already been rejected. I had already lost everything. There was no fate left for me—no second chance, no new beginning.
And yet, here he was.
Tall. Unyielding. Speaking in a voice that left no room for argument.
Claiming me.
My pulse pounded in my ears as I took a step back. "You're wrong," I whispered. "You have to be."
Rhydian tilted his head slightly, his silver eyes gleaming under the moonlight. "I am never wrong about what is mine."
His words sent a sharp shiver through me, but I clenched my fists, forcing my legs to stay rooted to the forest floor.
This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening.
I needed logic. I needed reason.
"You're a wolf," I blurted out, my voice shaking. "How the hell am I supposed to be your mate?"
Rhydian didn't answer. Not right away.
Instead, he exhaled, slow and deliberate, before stepping back. His gaze never left mine, but something in the air around him shifted—like the atmosphere itself was bending to his will.
Then—
Light.
It started at his chest, a soft silver glow that pulsed and grew, radiating outward. The very air shimmered with it, like the moonlight had become something alive.
And then, before my eyes, his form began to change.
The fur melted away, bones twisting, reshaping. His massive frame shrank slightly, yet somehow felt larger, more commanding.
When the light faded, he stood before me—not as a beast, but as a man.
And gods, what a man.
—
To be continued...