When sunshine broke through the cracks in Aurelia's small wooden cabin, she woke up. 18 years old. Today was her 18th birthday. It didn't really matter when you lived by yourself in the middle of nowhere. She sat up on her creaky bed and kicked off her thin cover. She ran her fingers through her tangled ash-brown hair. It reminded her that food was more important than her birthday, so she ate.
The cabin was just big enough for her bed, a small table with one chair, and the stove, which was where she cooked her meals. She had been running away from the mean wolves who treated her like a slave for three years and this has been her home ever since. She took her hunting knife out from under her pillow and thought, "Better alone than hated." As she lit the fire to cook breakfast, memories rushed back like they always did on her birthday. Ten years ago today, everything had been different. She was Alpha Alder Mooncrest's proud daughter. Her father loved her, and her little sister Lyanna was so cute. Until that day by the river. "Watch me, Auri!" seven-year-old Lyanna had called, hopping from rock to rock across the rushing water. "Be careful!" Aurelia had yelled back, but the warning came too late. Lyanna's foot slipped. Her golden curls vanished beneath the foaming water in seconds. Aurelia had jumped in after her, searching furiously, but the current was too strong.
By the time the pack found them, Aurelia was half-drowned herself, and Lyanna was gone forever. Her father's words still cut deeper than any knife. "Why did she die but not you?" he'd roared, eyes wild with grief and drink. "It should have been you!" Aurelia shook her head, forcing the images away. She wouldn't cry today. She'd done enough crying to last a lifetime. She grabbed her bow and headed out to check her traps. The morning air felt fresh against her face as she moved quietly through the trees. This was her area now - not pack land, but the wild spaces between, where rogues like her could hide if they were smart enough, strong enough. And Aurelia was both. Her first trap held a fat rabbit. Perfect for a special meal. She knelt to free it from the snare when a strange feeling shot through her body like lightning. What was that? Her heart pounded suddenly, racing like she'd run for miles. Heat flushed her skin. Every muscle tensed as an unseen force seemed to tug her toward the north. Toward Silverfang country. "No," she whispered, dropping the rabbit. "No, no, no." She'd heard the stories. Felt the dread every time her birthday approached. The mate bond - that unbreakable chain that could show on a wolf's eighteenth birthday, binding them forever to another.
Usually it was something dogs hoped for, dreamed about. But not rogues. Not her. "I won't go," she growled, turning deliberately away from the pull. The pain hit instantly - a heavy weight on her chest that dropped her to her knees. She gasped, grabbing at her shirt as if she could tear the feeling away. It's not real, she told herself. I can fight this. She stumbled back toward her cabin, each step in the wrong direction making the pain worse. By the time she reached her door, she could barely breathe. Inside, she grabbed her emergency pack - the one always ready if she needed to run. Water, dried meat, extra knife, matches. The basics of life. "I'm not going to Silverfang," she hissed through clenched teeth, though no one was there to hear her anger. Everyone knew about Alpha Cazriel Drake of the Silverfang Pack. He was feared even among other Alphas - cold, ruthless, with ice-blue eyes that never showed emotion. His pack was the strongest for hundreds of miles, and he ruled it with an iron hand. If the mate bond was pulling her there... to him... "I'd rather die," she spat, though the words made the pain in her chest flare hotter. She paced her tiny home, fighting the pull with every step. Her view blurred. Sweat dripped down her face. "I am Aurelia Mooncrest," she told herself. "I survived being cast out. I survived ten years of guilt. I survived dogs who wanted me dead. I can survive this too." But the pull only grew stronger. It wasn't just pain now - it was a hunger, a need so deep she could feel it in her bones. Her wolf, usually quiet inside her, howled to be freed, to run north, to find whoever waited at the end of this invisible tether. Aurelia grabbed the table edge as another wave of pain crashed through her. The wood cracked under her grip. Her legs shook. Maybe I can reason with him, she thought desperately.
Explain that I want nothing to do with pack life. That I'm better off alone. That we can ignore this stupid link. But deep down, she knew. No Alpha would let their mate go, especially not one like Cazriel Drake. Mates were power. Mates were rank. And if the rumors were true, Cazriel was without a mate in his twenty-fifth year - nearly unheard of for an Alpha of his standing. "One hour," she gasped, trying to deal with her own body. "Give me one hour to prepare, and then I'll go." The pain eased slightly, as if her wolf accepted the deal. Aurelia sank to the floor, breathing hard. One hour to say goodbye to the life she'd built. One hour before she'd have to face the man fate had cruelly tied her to.
One hour of freedom left. She pulled her hunting knife from its sheath, looking at the blade. Could she run far enough to escape this? Could she fight a bond that was already making her dizzy with need? The sound of a twig snapping outside froze her in place. Someone was here. In her area. She moved to the window, looking through the dirty glass. Nothing but trees and shadows. Another snap, closer this time. Aurelia gripped her knife tighter, moving quietly to the door. No one had found her in three years. No one had even gotten close. Whoever this was, they were good. Too good. Her wolf growled inside her, but not in warning. In tribute. The pull yanked at her so fiercely that she doubled over, gasping. He was here. Already. The door burst open with a crack of splintering wood. Aurelia raised her knife, ready to fight even as the pain threatened to black her out. A tall figure filled the doorway, his wide shoulders blocking the light. Black hair. Chiseled face. And those eyes - cold blue like winter ice, fixed on her with an intensity that stole her breath. Alpha Cazriel Drake of the Silverfang Pack had found her. And from the grim set of his jaw, he wasn't going without her. "You," he said, his deep voice cutting through the air like a blade. "You're my mate." It wasn't a question. It was a claim. Aurelia's legs finally gave out. The knife clattered to the floor as darkness swept over her. The last thing she saw was the Alpha lunging forward to grab her before she hit the ground. Her last conscious thought: My birthday curse has finally found me