Bloom

Revelation

Alpha Azeo

(Time Line: Three years ago)

The map of the territories lay sprawled across Alpha Azeo’s oak desk, its edges curling from age, its ink faded but still sharp enough to remind him of battles long fought. His fingers traced the ridges of the borders absentmindedly, though his mind was elsewhere—rogues, disappearances, whispers of betrayal. His wolf prowled beneath his skin, restless in a way that made Azeo grind his teeth. Instinct told him something was coming, something he had waited far too long for.

The door creaked open, and Beta Rex stepped inside. His footsteps were measured, respectful, but tinged with urgency.

“Alpha,” Rex said, holding a thick folder. “We have the results for this year’s graduating class.”

Azeo didn’t look up. “Rex, you know I couldn’t care less about this. I have more important matters.” His tone was sharp, dismissive, as though the achievements of young wolves were pebbles tossed at his throne.

“Yes, Alpha,” Rex said, but he did not leave. He knew when to push, when to let the silence sit heavy until his leader’s attention turned. Azeo’s gaze finally snapped up, his green eyes glowing faintly in the dim firelight.

Rex drew a slow breath. “There is… a very interesting case this year.”

That caught him. “Interesting?”

“One of the females was rated a 0.5.”

The room stilled. Azeo’s wolf froze in place, ears pricked, heart beating hard. For the first time in years, his composure cracked.

“0.5?” Azeo repeated, his voice low. “That is impossible.”

“I thought so too,” Rex said, his lips tightening. “But the results are verified. She has no special abilities. She is considered… a weakling.”

The Alpha leaned back in his chair, silent, studying Rex as though the man had just placed the final piece of a long-broken puzzle before him. His wolf surged, pacing. It had been decades since he last heard of such a rating. Decades since prophecy whispered of one cloaked in weakness who might, in truth, be strength incarnate.

“Who is she?” Azeo asked, his voice a quiet growl.

“McKenna,” Rex replied.

The name struck something in him. His chest tightened, though he gave no outward sign. McKenna. His wolf snarled with a sound that was both warning and yearning.

“She has a sister,” Rex continued. “A twin. Not identical, but still bound. McKayla. Rated much higher. Special ability: healer.”

Twins. The Moon Goddess had a cruel sense of humor. Azeo’s hand curled into a fist on the desk. Two paths, two mirrors—one radiant, one dim. But which carried the truth?

“Request an interview with McKenna,” Azeo said at last. “Not the sister. Just her.”

“Yes, Alpha.” Rex bowed slightly and left.

Alone again, Azeo stared at the fire until its glow blurred. Could it be? After years of searching, of watching entire generations pass, had the Goddess finally set her piece on the board?

His wolf whispered a single word that made his chest burn.

Mate.

Azeo closed his eyes. If it were true, it would mean salvation… or ruin. And perhaps both.

---

I pulled my knees tighter to my chest, the cold floor seeping into my skin through the thin fabric of my pants. My room had always felt too big for me, the walls whispering my failures back at me like cruel echoes.

A rating of 0.5. The words still burned. Everyone else had gone out celebrating their scores—bragging, boasting, shining under the pride of their parents. And me? I had slipped away, because what pride was there to carry when the world had decided you were less than nothing?

McKayla had tried to cheer me up. She’d brushed my hair back, told me that strength wasn’t measured by numbers, that I had a fire in me no rating could touch. But her words, sweet as they were, couldn’t drown out the looks. The pity. The disgust.

I wasn’t just weak. I was an embarrassment.

Still, I wouldn’t cry where they could see me. I made myself a promise right there, hugging my knees, staring into the dark. One day, I’ll show them. One day, I’ll prove them wrong. Even if it kills me.

And yet… that night, as I closed my eyes, I swore I felt something else. A weight. A presence pressing at the edge of my thoughts, like unseen eyes fixed on me. It made my skin prickle, my wolf stir uncomfortably.

I whispered into the dark, “Who’s there?” but of course, no one answered.

---

Across the territory, Alpha Azeo stirred. His wolf was pacing, restless, pushing against the barriers of his mind. He could almost smell her through the distance—her uncertainty, her stubborn spark. Weak on paper, yet she called to him in a way no Alpha, no warrior, no gifted prodigy ever had.

“Is it you?” he murmured into the empty room. His voice cracked in a way he despised.

The memories of prophecy came unbidden, as they always did when he tried to shove them down. A vision whispered by a seer long dead:

She will be overlooked, discarded, a shadow among the strong. Yet in her, the Goddess binds flame and storm. She will either unchain you… or unmake you.

For centuries, Azeo had wondered, waiting, watching. He had seen generations of wolves rise and fall, but none fit. Until now.

McKenna.

---

The summons came the next day.

“McKenna Rochester, you have been requested for a private interview with Alpha Azeo of the Black Mountain Pack.”

I froze when the messenger said it. Me? Why me? Out of everyone, out of all the shining stars in my class, he wanted me?

McKayla gripped my hand after the messenger left. “Kenna… don’t go.”

But I had to. This was Alpha Azeo. He wasn’t someone you refused, no matter how much dread coiled in your stomach.

That night, I lay awake, staring at the ceiling, feeling like prey about to step willingly into a predator’s den. My wolf whimpered inside me, not with fear, but with something else. Something I didn’t dare name.

---

Azeo’s office was cloaked in shadow when he finally dismissed Rex and prepared to meet her. His wolf was straining at the edges of control, desperate, hungry. He set his jaw, forcing calm. He was Alpha, eternal, unshaken. He could not afford to let a girl—weak, trembling, 0.5—undo him.

And yet, as he imagined her walking through the door, Azeo could not shake the thought:

The Moon Goddess had played her hand.

And the game had only just begun.