Chapter8
1450 Words
The Bloodstone Pack had hosted countless gatherings over the decades—winter festivals, solstice feasts, treaty negotiations, coronation oaths. But nothing, nothing, compared to the energy coursing through the pack grounds the night of Aeron Samson Hale’s coming-of-age.
It felt like the moon itself leaned close, waiting.
Lanterns strung between towering pines glowed like suspended stars. Magic—werewolf, witch, fae, and something older still—wove through the air in soft currents. The packhouse’s grand hall, normally impressive on its own, was transformed into something out of a royal ballad. Silver-veined marble floors gleamed. Banners stitched in shimmering thread depicted the Bloodstone crest: a wolf silhouette wrapped in a halo of celestial fire.
At twenty feet tall, the double doors of the hall stood open to welcome guests from every allied territory. Wolves from northern mountain packs mingled with the forest clans. Witches in ceremonial cloaks stood beside fae nobles whose features shimmered faintly with glamour. Even a few representative ambassadors from the peaceful vampire courts strolled with careful grace, black eyes reflecting candlelight.
The hall thrummed with anticipation.
Because tonight, the Alpha Heir shifted for the first time.
And tonight, many believed the Moon Goddess herself would move the strings of fate.
Aeron wasn’t nervous.
He kept telling himself that.
Standing in front of the mirror in his room, he adjusted the collar of his fitted black ceremonial jacket and repeated the thought again:
I’m not nervous. This is just… tradition. Nothing scary. Nothing huge. It’s fine.
Zephyrion, still settling into his consciousness from the shift only days before, snorted.
You lie terribly.
Aeron rolled his eyes at his reflection. You’re not helping.
You’re jittering like a fox pup, the wolf replied, amused. But it’s good. Keeps you awake. Mates appear when the soul is sharp, not dull.
That statement didn’t help ease the pressure knotting his stomach.
He wasn’t afraid of having a mate.
He was afraid of not being good enough if she—or he, the Moon worked in her own patterns—stood before him by the end of the night.
A soft knock came from his door.
“Aeron?” Aurora called. “You ready?”
He opened the door to find both of his sisters waiting: Aurora in deep gold that matched her warm complexion and glowing amber eyes, and Ember in black threaded with molten crimson, her presence intense enough to make the air hum.
“You look like you’re about to pass out,” Ember said dryly.
“Thank you for the support,” Aeron muttered.
Aurora’s smile softened. “You’ll be fine. Better than fine. Tonight is your night.”
Ember looped her arm through his. “Also, if your mate happens to be a b***h, let me know. I’ll burn her hair off.”
“Ember—”
“Kidding.” Mostly.
Aeron exhaled, tension easing, and let his sisters lead him toward the stairs.
Downstairs, the celebration had already begun.
Kaiden and Lyra were surrounded by a group of visiting warriors from the Ironwood Pack, both twins radiating that same charismatic stone-born energy they always had. Kaiden’s Beta presence filled the room easily; Lyra, glowing in midnight blue, flashed him a grin that made her silver-flecked eyes shine.
Ryan—towering now at eighteen, broad-shouldered and sharp-jawed like Bane—was leaning against a pillar, chatting with a fae girl whose laughter tinkled like a silver bell. He looked older than his age, confidence coiled beneath his calm posture.
Aeron caught his eye.
Ryan winked.
Great.
Everyone was relaxed except him.
The moment he stepped into the hall, however, sound dipped. Heads turned. Conversations hit a soft pause as dozens of supernatural beings looked toward the young man who would one day inherit Bloodstone.
Aeron swallowed.
Solara’s voice whispered warmly within Aurora’s mind, He carries the moon well tonight.
Vespera purred inside Ember, Power. Fear. Fate. I love gatherings.
Rhydderch rumbled in Kaiden, He stands tall. As an alpha should.
Astaera hummed in Lyra, gentle but perceptive, Tonight shifts everything.
Dustin and Crystal approached from across the hall. Dustin’s wolf, Maverick, radiated proud energy beneath his skin. Crystal, elegant in soft silver, wrapped her arms around her son the moment he was within reach.
“My boy,” she murmured, voice thick with emotion. “You’re officially an adult.”
“Almost,” Dustin corrected, smirking. “Tomorrow morning he gets shoved into Alpha training for real.”
“Dad—”
“What? You think we’re giving you a week to adjust? No chance.”
Aeron groaned, but the tension in his shoulders broke as laughter rippled around them.
“Presenting the Alpha Heir,” the announcer called, voice magically amplified.
All lights dimmed.
A single beam of silver—enchanted moonlight—illuminated Aeron from above.
He stepped forward.
The crowd parted, forming two sweeping lines down the center of the hall, every faction watching him.
He felt Zephyrion push forward gently, lending strength.
Walk like the ground is yours. Because one day, it will be.
Aeron moved with steady confidence down the long aisle toward the gleaming crescent-shaped stage.
Crystals floated above the stage in a swirling pattern, casting soft light. This was where his father had stood at eighteen. Where Crystal had stood as a rare celestial-blessed Luna. Where history had shifted many times.
Where bloodlines found their mates.
A hush swept the hall.
Aeron reached the stage, placing his hand against the shimmering Bloodstone crest embedded in the floor.
It glowed beneath his palm.
Warm. Familiar. Alive.
“As Alpha Heir,” Dustin announced beside him, voice deep and resonant, “Aeron Samson Hale now stands before the pack as a full adult, bound to Bloodstone, bound to the moon, bound to the duty he will one day inherit.”
The crowd bowed their heads.
Aeron felt the ceremony magic sink into his bones.
And then—
He scented something.
Soft.
Electric.
Ancient as storm winds yet new as spring rainfall.
The scent swept through him like lightning, slamming into his chest so hard he staggered forward.
Zephyrion roared with sudden, explosive recognition.
MATE.
Aeron’s breath caught.
His heart thundered.
His vision sharpened unnaturally, eyes sweeping the hall—
There.
A woman stood near the edge of the floor, half-hidden behind a tall warrior from the Moonfrost Pack. She was small, delicate, wrapped in deep blue with silver embroidery that matched the moon’s arc overhead.
His gaze locked with hers.
Her eyes widened, luminous and storm-grey.
And he knew.
He knew.
Aeron’s voice left him in a whisper.
“…Oh moon above.”
Zephyrion surged against his consciousness.
GO TO HER.
Aeron stepped off the stage, barely aware of the crowd’s collective inhale.
Ember’s mouth fell open.
Aurora grinned instantly.
Lyra grabbed Kaiden’s arm with sparkling excitement.
Ryan muttered, laughing, “Damn, that was fast.”
Aeron walked straight toward her—
each step sure, unstoppable, instinctual.
The girl clutched her hands to her chest, breath trembling.
When he reached her, the world fell away.
Up close, she was even more breathtaking—silver hair braided in a crown, soft curves wrapped in midnight blue, faint glow beneath her skin that hinted at magic pulsing through her veins.
She swallowed, cheeks warming.
“I… I think…”
Her voice barely carried.
“I think the moon just chose something.”
Aeron smiled—soft, stunned, completely undone.
“Yes,” he breathed. “She did.”
He held out his hand.
“May I know your name?”
She hesitated, then placed her fingers lightly into his palm.
“Sylvi,” she whispered. “Sylvi of the Crescent Hollow Pack.”
And the moment their skin touched—
Energy surged between them.
Light crackled.
The bond thread snapped into place like a silver comet streaking across the night sky.
Aeron inhaled sharply.
Sylvi’s breath stuttered.
Zephyrion howled triumph.
MATE. OUR MATE.
Aeron drew her closer, not touching her fully—just close enough to feel her heartbeat.
“I found you,” he murmured, voice trembling for the first time that night.
Sylvi smiled, shy but shining.
“It seems,” she whispered back, “that you did.”
Behind them, Aurora felt a spark of cold breeze brush her skin—
followed by an unfamiliar, intoxicating scent…
Ember paused in mid-sip of her drink, eyes narrowing at a female warrior entering the hall…
Kaiden lifted his head, catching the faintest echo of a connection forming across the crowd…
Lyra froze, pupils dilating as someone stepped through the doorway—
And the moon outside shimmered brighter, waiting.
Because tonight…
Fate wasn’t finished.
And Aeron’s mate was only the first revelation.
- Writer
