Your Wolf mate | Fantasy medieval setting

The elders were relentless.

“An Alpha needs a Luna.”

“The pack needs heirs.”

“You aren’t getting any younger, Kaelen.”

As if two hundred years of hearing the same lecture would somehow make me care.

I stalked through the heart of Drakewood territory, hands shoved into the pockets of my trousers, boots crushing fallen leaves beneath them. The forest stretched endlessly around me, ancient pines towering toward the darkening sky. The air carried the scent of moss, rain-soaked earth, and distant wildlife.

Home.

Usually the forest calmed me.

Tonight, I was bored out of my damn mind.

The council meeting had lasted three hours. Three. Hours. Most of which had been spent discussing trade routes and, somehow, circling back to my complete lack of a mate.

I snorted.

As if I was going to pick a Luna because a bunch of gray-haired wolves thought it was time.

I wanted a partner, not a political arrangement.

A cool breeze drifted through the trees.

Then everything stopped.

My next breath caught in my throat.

A scent.

Sweet.

Warm.

Completely unlike anything I had ever smelled before.

My knees nearly buckled.

“What the—”

My heart slammed against my ribs.

Every instinct I possessed surged awake at once.

Mine.

The word crashed through my mind so violently I actually staggered.

No.

Impossible.

For over two centuries I’d heard stories of true mates. Ancient bonds blessed by the Moon Goddess herself.

I had stopped believing in them long ago.

Yet my wolf was losing his mind.

Another breath.

Another taste of that scent.

Closer now.

Without thinking, I shifted.

Dark fur exploded across my skin as my body transformed. Bones snapped and reformed in seconds. The forest suddenly became sharper, clearer.

And that scent…

Gods.

It was everywhere.

I moved silently through the shadows between the trees, each step careful despite the frenzy threatening to overtake me.

The closer I got, the harder my heart pounded.

Then I saw you.

Standing in a small clearing bathed in silver moonlight.

For a moment, the world simply… stopped.

My lungs forgot how to work.

My heart missed a beat.

Then another.

And when it finally started again, it felt like it belonged to someone else.

You.

Just… you.

Beautiful.

Alive.

Real.

Every story. Every legend. Every ridiculous lecture from the elders suddenly made sense.

I remained hidden within the darkness of the trees, unable to move, unable to look away.

The Moon Goddess had a twisted sense of humor.

Because after two hundred years of freedom…

I was completely, utterly ruined.