Hated by My Mate

Aurora

Mating…

Imprint…

Significant other…

True love…

Growing up in wolf society, I heard those words a lot in our village. It was all anyone talked about. People dreamed of the moment when the Moon Goddess would lead them to their destined love. When they would look into the eyes of their mate and feel a connection that was deeper than any ocean, stronger than any storm, and as enduring as the mountains.

I daydreamed about it myself. How could I not? Who wouldn’t want a love so pure, blessed by the silvery light of the moon?

But just like the moon, there’s a dark side to the mating bond.

The lust.

The craving.

The uncontrollable desire that gnaws at your soul like a starved beast. It's not just about the physical connection, it's a mental tether that pulls at your very essence, consumes your every thought.

It’s beautiful and terrible.

Divine and monstrous.

The mating bond will bring you the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. It’ll make you and break you at the same time. Equal parts blessing and curse. It’s the sweetest type of torment, one that’ll have you craving for more but also begging for it to stop.

Don’t believe me? Don’t think that something as wonderful as the mating bond could be so twisted? I speak from personal experience. I know firsthand how anger and love and lust and pain can twist together in a dizzying storm that’ll leave you helpless.

Because I found my mate.

And he absolutely hated me.

***

“You did what?” I asked, my mouth hanging open as I stared at my stepmother.

“I got you a job,” she repeated, like her deciding what to do with my life wasn’t a big deal. “As a maid, specifically. It’s going to be at the leader’s house.”

“Why on earth would you do that?”

“Because, Aurora, you spend too much time floating around with your head in the clouds. You’re about to turn eighteen. You’re going to be a fully-fledged she-wolf soon.” My stepmother took the half-finished plate of pasta in front of me and walked over to the sink. “Besides, your father’s pension isn’t going to last forever.”

I sighed and got up to help her clear the table. It was just the two of us. Ever since my father died in the last great war, it’s just been the two of us.

“You couldn’t have asked me first, at least?”

“So you could come up with some kind of excuse? I don’t think so.”

I grimaced because that’s exactly what I was going to do. Montanna knew me too well. After my real mom died giving birth to me, she’d always been there, even before my dad officially got into a relationship with her.

“Now, after you’re done bringing in the laundry, you’re to report to the leader’s house right away. There’s going to be a gala, and you’ll be helping set it up.”

“A gala?” My mind was filled with fancy parties and beautiful gowns. “For what?”

“Who knows?” Montana said. “But it’s an opportunity for you to get out there. Maybe you’ll even find your mate,” she gushed.

I rolled my eyes. “Sure, like that’ll happen.” Between the rogue threat and human hunters, the pack was having a hard enough time trying to survive, let alone trying to find mates.

“Never say never, Aurora. Now go on.”

I sighed and did as I was told, walking outside and gathering the dried clothes from the laundry line. It was still sunny outside, which was rare for this time of year in Alaska. Why the Blood Moon pack decided to settle down in this dark, cold place was beyond me, but Alaska was home.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I smiled, already knowing that the messages would be from my best friend Emma.

I sighed and rolled my eyes as I folded the clothes into the laundry basket. Emma was obsessed with Alpha Wolfgang, just like all the other girls in our pack.

I mean, sure, he was gorgeous. Drop dead sexy, even. But everyone knew that he was unavailable. He hasn’t shown the least bit of interest in finding a mate, always so obsessed with fighting the rogues and keeping our pack safe.

I knew more than most about how dangerous the rogues were. My dad was the gamma for the previous alpha of our pack. They’d given their lives to protect us.

Someone like Alpha Wolfgang was completely off-limits to normal wolves like us.

I smiled and shook my head at myself. If only I could be as carefree as Emma was. I was putting up a stink about Montana finding me a job, but it was true that we needed the money. I didn’t have time to worry about finding my mate when we might be homeless soon.

I put the laundry basket away inside and started the long walk through the village and towards the pack house where pack leadership lived. After a quick check-in with a security guard, I was told to wait in the grand hall.

I looked around at the grandeur of the mansion. It was a world apart from the small house Montana and I lived in at the edge of the village.

Just then, there was a loud crash by the entrance, and the sound of men screaming reached my ears.

“The rogue’s escaped!” someone yelled. “Don’t let him escape!”

A rogue came spinning around the corner. He looked horrible, dressed in tattered and ripped clothes. His hair was long and matted with grease. There were large gashes across his chest, and his wrists had iron manacles around them, the chain that was supposed to connect them broken.

The rogue saw me and snarled, sprinting straight for me, claws and fangs flashing as he started to shift.

I froze, completely caught by surprise. All of the training that my dad and Montana taught me flew out the window as I just stood there like a deer in the headlights.

Move, Aurora! I shouted at myself.

At the final second, I ducked just as the rogue’s claws swiped at where my throat was. I scrambled away from him, knowing there was no way I could fight a rogue. At least not until tomorrow, on my eighteenth birthday when I would meet my wolf for the first time.

Until then, I was as weak and frail as a human.

The rogue spun around, claws gouging into the wooden floorboards as he ran back at me, sensing an easy kill.

I couldn’t get away in time. I flinched away, closing my eyes as the rogue closed in on me…

There was a loud crashing sound and a howl of pain. Strong arms encircled me, shielding me away from the horrible noises of agony behind me.

I opened my eyes and looked up to find the most startling bright blue eyes staring down at me.

It was Alpha Wolfgang.

And he was carrying me, bridal style, in his arms.

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