Avery’s POV

A few days later I stood in front of my mirror. I pulled my nightshirt away from where my shoulder met my neck.

My bite mark was already healed.

That was remarkably fast.

I touched the smooth skin in disbelief.

There was now no visible indication of what had happened under the Mating Moon. I knew the mark was still there, but it was sealed inside and invisible to others.

If only I could reach out and find the man who had mated with me! However, since my wolf was dormant, I also could not sense my mate through the bond.

I had no way to find him, or communicate with him. I didn’t even know what he looked like!

Today was the Mating Ball where the Nightwolf Alpha would choose his mate.

I needed to find someone to accept me by the end of today, or my father would kill me to save face.

It felt like an impossible task.

A commotion rose from down below, and I lifted my head from my knees, listening.

“Alpha Gideon is about to arrive!” I heard my step-mother snap.

“Finish the preparations.” Zara’s tone was tense and fearful.

Alpha Gideon was not someone anyone would mess with.

I pressed my hand over my heart, feeling it thud against my palm. I could hear it clearly in the silence of my dusty, still, bedroom.

It was time for me to leave, but when I stood and tried to leave my room, the door lock clicked loudly.

From the other side, I heard Zara laughing.

“No one want you anyway. You might as well just wait for death, dear sister!”

Gideon’s POV

Being Alpha of Nightwolf pack means dealing with a large amount of bureaucratic bullshit.

Tradition was a venerable word that sometimes felt more like a venomous curse. I had long ago learned to face uncomfortable duties head-on.

Still, there were few obligations I despised more than this one to which I was headed.

It was the day of the mate selection.

I had done my best to distract myself from the distasteful task to come. Spread across the leather seat next to me were thick dossiers detailing the most recent reports on attacks throughout my territory. The ledger in my hands detailed my commands for troop movements, and where to place our scouts as the dangerous time of the dark moon approached.

Paperwork, unfortunately, was not enough to occupy my mind these days.

As my driver guided the sleek sedan through the dense woods, I watched swirls of mist rise above the trees. Thick bands of vapor arced up towards the distant sun and shattered into smaller puffs, drifting down the valley into which we were descending.

The motion reminded me of a woman, arching her back in pleasure off of the forest floor beneath me. She too, had shattered and disappeared.

“Still no sign of that girl from that night?” I snapped. It came out more harshly than I intended, and my Beta sitting across from me widened his eyes in surprise.

“Apologies, Alpha.” Tegan replied carefully, “No new marked women have been reported in any pack I searched.”

I tapped my fingers on the seat and frowned. Within me, my wolf was pacing in aggravation.

“Keep finding her. At all cost.”

Tegan flinched at my response but said nothing as the car rolled to a stop at the Silvermoon ceremony hall. Behind us in the drive, more vehicles from my pack parked behind us.

I stepped out of the car, and straightened my jacket. There was a group of women standing near the door, eying me appreciatively.

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