Chapter 3 The first of her kind

/Edlyn/

“How come I didn’t feel the mate bond?” I asked Moon the second I my thought process was balanced. My thoughts came out tight, my chest heavier than I wanted to admit. “I mean, I know I’m drawn to him, but the bond… it wasn’t there.”

“I blocked it,” Moon confessed softly. “The moment we walked into that room, I sealed the bond. I knew you’d either run off or—”

“Or Vamp would do something crazy,” I finished for her, exhaling through my nose.

“I’m glad you know that,” Vamp snapped sharply, her voice cold but steady. “You can’t just let a wolf mark you because he feels something. Not after everything we’ve been through.”

Moon sighed. “He’s not just any wolf, Vamp. He’s—”

“Don’t start,” I cut her off, pressing my fingers to my temples. My head throbbed from their bickering. “I need air. Both of you, shut up for five minutes.”

Neither replied, which was as close to peace as I was going to get. This is one of the reasons I stop taking blood, Vamp is very strong and never agrees with Moon about the mating of thing, which makes it very difficult for me to control two power part me that have different opinions. Vamp needs blood to be strong while moon needs nothing, and vamp hates that fact.

I grabbed my cloak from the small hook by my bed and stepped outside. The night air hit me like a splash of cold water crisp, quiet, and just what I needed. The pack house lights glowed faintly behind me, voices fading into the distance as I made my way toward the woods.

Each step I took into the darkness loosened something in my chest.

Maybe it was the air. Maybe it was the space.

Or maybe it was the fact that I could finally breathe without feeling his eyes on me.

The woods were quiet too quiet. The kind of silence that hummed with secrets.

I walked until the trees thinned out and the moonlight touched the river, turning it silver. Without thinking, I stepped closer, slipped off my shoes, and dove straight in.

The cold hit me instantly, biting through my skin and dragging the air from my lungs. But it was freeing.

For a moment, there was no pack, no titles, no expectations just water and silence.

Moon, I whispered inside, let it out. Just once.

She hesitated. Are you sure?

“Yes,” I said aloud, the word trembling out with the ripples.

And then she did.

I felt her power roll through me like heat under my skin wild, pure, ancient. The scent I’d been suppressing for years spread through the air, rich and impossible to hide. My true scent. The one that didn’t belong to just wolves.

Moon howled inside, stretching, alive and fierce. I usually allow the release when I can process what is happening in my life and allowing my wolf side out makes me calm instantly.

And somewhere deep within, Vamp purred in satisfaction.

The water shimmered faintly around me gold, red, and faint streaks of blue the marks of everything I was. Everything I’d spent my life hiding.

The last thing I needed right now was a mate.

A mate meant attention. Attention meant danger.

Because I wasn’t just any omega. I was a secret the world thought it had buried.

I was born different, the first of my kind.

My mother was a royal wolf from the Moon Crest line. My father, a highborn vampire whose blood carried the gift of the ancients. The night I was born, the air split open with power and the elders from every realm felt it. Witch, fairy, vampire, and wolf alike.

They called me an abomination.

A curse.

A threat that would destroy the balance of their world.

And so they came for me.

The night they found us, I was barely ten. My parents fought until the stars bled. The witches burned the skies, the vampires tore through flesh, and the fairies those who were supposed to protect life sealed my family’s fate.

My parents died to keep me alive.

The elders thought I died with them. They needed to believe it so they’d stop hunting. And I needed to stay invisible, to survive long enough to finish what my parents started.

For twelve years, I’ve trained in silence.

To control the wolf that rages.

To feed the vampire that hungers.

To channel the spark of witchcraft that hums in my blood.

To listen to the whisper of fairy magic that hides in my bones.

I was born to bring them all together the creatures who’ve spent centuries tearing each other apart. That’s my destiny.

I hated my destiny but I don’t really have much of a choice, if I don’t fulfill the reason I was born, I won’t live pass the age of 25… and adding a mate into the equation when it was almost time for me to implementing my destiny, in few months is the worst situation I’ve ever imagined see myself.

The water rippled softly as I surfaced, pushing my wet hair from my face. The night was still again, but not empty. Something had changed.

The wind shifted.

That was when I felt it a pulse, a strange pull deep in my chest that made my heart stumble.

I turned slowly, and through the veil of mist rising off the river, I saw him.

A wolf. Massive. Midnight black with silver streaks running along his fur like threads of moonlight. His eyes glowed bright, wild, burning blue.

Even from this distance, I knew.

It was him.

My breath caught, Moon went utterly silent, and Vamp hissed.

He found us, Moon whispered, awe in her voice.

Turn it off! Vamp snapped immediately.

I didn’t hesitate. I drew in a deep breath and slammed the door shut on my scent every drop of my power folding back into my core. The air fell flat around me, scentless, silent.

The wolf paused and his head tilting, confused for a moment before shifting. Bones cracked, fur receded, and then he was walking toward me in human form tall, broad-shouldered, droplets of moonlight still clinging to his skin.

Even clothed in shadow, he radiated power. Authority. And something I didn’t want to name.

He stopped a few feet from the water’s edge, his gaze locked on me.

“What are you doing out here alone this late?” he asked, his voice deep, rough, carrying that tone of command that came too easily to Alphas.

I didn’t answer right away. My heart was thundering, and I wasn’t sure if it was fear, anger, or that cursed bond scratching to be felt.

“Couldn’t sleep,” I said finally, wading out of the river and grabbing my cloak. “And I didn’t realize I needed permission to breathe fresh air.” I never wanted to be rude but Vamp channeled her anger to me.

His lips twitched, almost like he wanted to smile but didn’t know how. “Not permission,” he said quietly. “Just concern. These woods aren’t safe tonight.”

He can smell us, Vamp hissed. He knows something.

No, he can’t Moon murmured. He’s trying to understand while the scent he perceived suddenly vanished.

I kept my distance, clutching the edge of my cloak. “I can take care of myself, Supreme Alpha.”

He raised a brow slightly, those ocean eyes narrowing with faint curiosity. “I don’t doubt that,” he said, stepping closer.