Chapter 3

That night, my legs led me back to the moon altar, and I stood under the night sky, the chilling cold piercing under the thin layer of clothes I had worn.

I clenched my fist and glared at the moon. “I didn’t ask for a mate.” My voice was hoarse as I voiced my displeasure. “I did not want…” My fingers trembled, my words coming to a stop. Sharp nails dug into my palm, my heartbeat a loud, frantic sound that threatened to burst my eardrums.

Seeing Selim today had completely shifted my perfect axis, and my world had spun beyond control. I shivered as I remembered how cold his eyes were, staring at me—through me like I didn’t exist.

He had people around him, male and female, that would always cheer for him and were ready to do anything for him. He had a girlfriend—beautiful, slim—everything I was not.

I had avoided making contact with any reflecting surface because it would only highlight our differences—my inadequacies.

He had everything, so why would he want me? The fat omega whom people mocked at the end of the hallway. The girl who was shoved, ignored, and at the end of their taunting tongue.

If any news managed to leak that he was my fated mate, it wouldn’t be salvation. It would be my complete and total destruction.

Will things ever get better for me?

A tired sigh escaped my lips, the answer glaring enough for me to see. No.

It would be worse. There will only be more pain and more cruelty, and everyone would hate me because I had stolen someone important.

Some would even envy me, and then they would hurt me, just like they have always done. Only that they would do it more viciously, making sure not only to bruise my body but also my soul.

A fury of anger, laced with fear, churned in my chest. It rose higher and higher until finally it broke, and I whispered to my wolf, my voice broken, just like my soul.

“Why now? Why did you appear now?” I asked her. “Where were you on my birthday, when they dragged me away and humiliated me? Why didn’t you wake up then? You stayed silent all this time, and now you show up—for an Alpha?” I scoffed at how ridiculous it was.

“Is it because he is powerful or because he is so good-looking? You live inside me; you should have told me. Or do you hate me too?”

The wind rustled the leaves above me, my voice breaking with every word I said, yet my wolf gave no answer.

She had only awakened the moment I saw Selim.

It was like this body meant nothing to her. I was just as useless with or without her, only that with her, I was fated to my mate.

But I don’t want this fate.

I just wanted… to be better, to be strong enough to protect myself, to stop being the victim.

I could still remember that night when I made my wish. I knew I said, “I want to be slim.”

It was the Moon Goddess who misunderstood. It wasn’t my fault.

So why do I have to pay the price for her mistake?

I looked up at the moon, cold and distant, no longer the goddess I once begged for mercy.

If she won't answer me—then I’ll become someone who no longer needs to ask.

(Selim's POV)

I never liked noise. But somehow, I was always at the center of it—ball in hand, every eye on me, like it meant something.

And it was all too loud.

The footsteps, the shouting, the high-pitched screams—it all bled together into one meaningless blur.

Excitement. Envy. Desire.

And beneath it, something else.Something meant for me.

A strange kind of heat—anticipation—made my skin prickle. My nose flared, and my skin tingled as I caught a scent.

No—not just a scent.

A presence.

It was faint and damp, overshadowed by the throngs of people, but I could still perceive the hint of salt and grass, like moss drenched in spring rain under the moonlight.

It was soft, subtle, and strangely tender.

Instinct took over, and I turned towards the source, and there she stood at the far corner, tucked away from people. She was like the rejected stone, merely a passing phase, and everyone else walked around her, like she didn’t belong in their story.

She wasn’t the kind I’d ever notice—soft, round, hiding behind her sleeves like she wished she could disappear.

And yet—

I saw her.

Noticed every nervous twitch, every breath.

Like my gaze had locked onto something my mind couldn’t explain.

“Selim.” Emma’s voice snapped me back to reality, and I followed the sound of the voice to the bottle of water she had held out. But I didn’t take it yet; instead, my gaze was on the girl who had piqued my curiosity.

The female already lowered her head—startled, maybe frightened—and she turned to run.

I was still staring at her departing figure, wondering why I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Why she stood out in all that chaos still baffled me.

I rubbed my temples, the buzzing in my ears growing louder and louder, yet I could feel something.

That sound, that pulse.

It was my wolf, restless beneath my skin.

It had been happening more often, especially whenever I got close to a certain kind of scent. My emotions spiral beyond control, unleashing anger, tension, and unease.

And I knew what that meant. My mate was near.

Yet there was a problem. I was not old enough.

I was of royal blood. A line made from the purest of alpha, only stronger and more rational. But also more…alone.

Most wolves awaken at sixteen. But for me, one born into royalty, it won’t happen until eighteen.

A full year from now.

So why did my wolf stir tonight?

I clenched my jaw, eyes still fixed on where she’d disappeared.