CHAPTER 2 - FATED TO TWO

ASTRID

“See you soon – Dear Mate.”

Kieran’s words echoed. They were laced with a promise. A threat. He shoved me towards Logan. Logan’s grip was firm. Not unkind, but unyielding. He dragged me down the hall. The cell door groaned shut behind us. It swallowed the last sliver of moonlight. My prison plunged into suffocating darkness.

My heart hammered against my chest. Mate. To him. The son of the man who killed my father. My stupid wolf, Eliza, was still jumping for joy. She forgot everything he said.

He’s just hurt – he loves us, Eliza purred.

He’ll get back to his senses, she insisted.

I still couldn’t understand. Why would he be mad? Or hurt? His pack destroyed my family. If anything, I was the one meant to be angry. My rage burned.

Logan led me down the corridor. The stone walls were thick. Slick with damp. They carried the heavy scent of earth. Torches flickered in the hall. The light made it look more oppressive.

“What ceremony is it?” I demanded. My voice was sharp.

Logan didn’t even look at me. His gaze was fixed straight ahead. His profile was grim.

“The one where you’d face the pack. And confess your sins.” His voice was gruff. Devoid of emotion. “The one for traitors like you.”

“Traitors?” My voice rose. “Logan, you just fucking met me. How do you know I’m a traitor?”

He shrugged. A heavy movement of his broad shoulders. “I don’t – but the Alpha says you are. So there’s no arguing.”

The Alpha said so. So fucking pathetic, I thought. Blind loyalty. It was sickening. A familiar knot tightened in my gut.

We reached a heavy, ornate wooden door. Logan pushed it open. It revealed a dimly lit hall. A young, nervous-looking girl scurried forward. She looked barely older than I was when I was locked away. Her eyes were wide.

“Clean her,” Logan ordered the girl. His voice was flat. “And dress her. The Alpha’s son… ceremony must be…. proper.”

He emphasized ‘Alpha’s son.’ As if to distract me. To make me forget the main event. It only made me wonder more. What was this ceremony? Why hadn’t he killed me? He hated me so much. Was it because of the bond? Or something else entirely?

Logan left. The girl’s eyes mixed fear and curiosity. Had she heard about me too? Were people actually scared of me? Or was it just the Alpha’s power she feared?

“You..… you need to get ready for the ceremony,” she stammered. Her voice was a shaky whisper. She avoided my gaze. Her hands twisted nervously at her sides.

She led me towards a simple wooden chair. A small basin of water sat on a stand nearby. She started braiding my long, raven-black hair. Her fingers were surprisingly gentle. 

“Do you really not remember?” she asked me gently. Her voice was barely audible.

“Remember what exactly?” I asked. My voice was sharp. My patience was thin.

She sighed. A long, shaky breath. She was contemplating. Whether to tell me or not. Her fingers paused in my hair.

“The night your parents died…” she began. Her voice dropped even lower. “It wasn’t actually their fault. It was…it was... yours.”

My breath hitched. My fault? What was she saying? My ears threatened to fall off.

How would she even know?

She continued, rushing her words now. As if to get them out before she lost her nerve. “You aren’t actually related to them either. They just… they just picked you up. During the Blood Moon Ceremony. Because they couldn’t give birth.”

The words hit me. Like a physical blow. Not related? Picked up? Blood Moon Ceremony? My world tilted. My parents. My entire life. A lie.

“What….what are you talking about?” My voice was a strained whisper. “What Blood Moon Ceremony? Who are my real parents? How is it my fault?”

Anya, her eyes wide with terror, shook her head. Her stutter was more pronounced now. “I....I…I don’t know. Just rumors. They say… they say your real mother was a… a witch. And your father… a werewolf. A hybrid.” She gulped. “That’s why you couldn’t shift. You were… cursed. The ceremony… it went wrong because of you.”

Cursed? Abandoned? Hybrid? My mind reeled. My rage, once so clear, now fractured. My revenge. Was it based on a lie? My parents… had they lied to me my whole life? Why was I just hearing about this? Now? After four years?

“Please,” Anya begged, her voice trembling. “Please don’t tell the Alpha I said anything. They’ll…..they’ll kill me.” Tears welled in her eyes.

I stared at her. My own thoughts a chaotic storm. This was too much. Too fast. My parents. Not my parents. My fault. A curse. A hybrid. My entire identity, shattered.

The door burst open. Logan stood there. His face grim. “Enough,” he grunted. “Time.”

Anya jumped, startled. She scurried away. Disappearing into the shadows of the hall. I stood. My legs felt like stone. My mind was still reeling from Anya’s words.

Logan grabbed my arm again. He pulled me along. We walked through a series of grander halls. The sounds of distant murmuring grew louder. The air grew thick with anticipation. Then, we emerged.

My breath hitched.

It was a cavern. Not just a hall. A vast, natural cavern. Smoothed and shaped by generations of wolves. Hundreds of them packed the space. Their eyes gleamed in the torchlight. Ancient carvings adorned the rock walls. They stood in hushed anticipation. Their gazes were fixed on a raised platform in the center.

As Logan pulled me forward, a ripple went through the crowd. Whispers, like a venomous tide, washed over me.

“It’s her.”

“The Sterling girl. Still alive?”

“Useless. Un-shifted.”

“Daughter of traitors.”

“They say her parents tried to poison the Alpha’s bloodline.”

“She’s paying for their sins.”

A snicker, sharp and cruel, came from a group near the front. “Still looks like a starved stray,” a young male voice sneered. Someone from the crowd, a young female with a sneer, threw something. A small, hard object. It bounced off my shoulder. A dried berry.

They hate us, Eliza whimpered. Her sadness was a dull ache in my chest. They think we’re weak.

My fists clenched. Useless? Un-shifted? Oh, if only they knew. The anger, a familiar, comforting inferno, ignited within me. It pushed back against the doubt.....she could be lying i said.

Logan pushed me onto the platform. The silence that followed was deafening. Broken only by the frantic beat of my own heart. Kieran stood opposite me. His face was a mask of controlled indifference. But his eyes. They burned. A cold, hateful fire. He felt it too. The undeniable pull. The thrumming mate bond that connected us. He hated it.

A stern-faced elder, robed in ceremonial furs woven with silver threads, stepped forward. His face was etched with hard lines. His eyes were cold. “Astrid Sterling,” his voice boomed. Amplified by the cavern’s acoustics. “You stand before the Silvermoon Pack. A symbol of your parents’ unspeakable treachery. For four years, you have been held. Awaiting your true punishment for the atrocities they committed against our kind. Today, that punishment begins.”

My blood ran cold. This wasn't just a shaming. This was something far worse. My gaze darted to Kieran. A silent plea for an explanation. But his eyes remained unreadable. He knew. He knew what was coming. And he relished it.

“Your parents, Elias and Lyra Sterling,” the elder continued. His voice dripped with contempt. “Sought to corrupt the very essence of our pack. They dabbled in forbidden magic. Consorting with dark witches. Attempting to weave spells that would weaken our Alpha line. Turning our pure blood into a poisoned stream!”

A collective gasp from the crowd. Witches. It was true. The lie was public. And now, I knew it wasn't just a lie about them. It was a lie about me.

“And not only that,” the elder thundered, his voice rising. “They brought a curse upon us! They adopted a child of the Blood Moon. A moon-touched abomination who brought ruin upon them! And upon our pack!”

My breath hitched. Anya’s words. They were true. I was the abomination. The crowd’s whispers grew louder.

They’re right, Eliza whimpered. We are a curse.

“You are deemed unworthy!” the elder declared. He raised a ceremonial dagger. “Unworthy of our pack. Unworthy of a wolf. Unworthy of even the air you breathe. By the decree of Alpha Xavier Thorne. And with the blessing of the Moon Goddess. Your lineage shall be severed. This mark,” he gestured with the dagger towards my face, “shall forever brand you as an outcast. You shall be exiled. Your existence erased from our pack records. A ghost of a traitorous past!”

Exile? No. This wasn't how my revenge began. This was how it ended before it even started. My eyes narrowed. They wanted a show? I’d give them one.

“You speak of unworthiness?” My voice, though a whisper, cut through the silence. It carried an unexpected power. “You speak of severing ties? How can you sever what the Moon Goddess herself has bound?”

A ripple of confusion went through the crowd. Kieran’s head snapped towards me. A flicker of alarm in his gaze. He knew what I was about to do. He hated it. His jaw clenched. A muscle twitched in his temple.

“You speak nonsense, girl!” the elder spat. He raised the dagger higher. Its tip now pointed directly at my forehead.

“Do I?” I met Kieran’s eyes. A defiant smirk played on my lips. “Tell them, Mate. Tell them what the Moon Goddess decided just hours ago.”

The word “Mate” hung in the air thrn collective gasps erupted. Suddenly a visible pulse. A faint silver light. It seemed to thrum between Kieran and me. A shared tremor. Only pack members could sense it. Undeniable proof of the bond. The murmuring started. Low at first. Then swelling into a roar of disbelief.

“Mate?”

“The Alpha’s son?”

“With her?”

“Impossible!”

“A trick! She’s a witch’s daughter! A hybrid!”

Kieran’s composure finally broke. His eyes, usually cold and calculating, blazed with fury. He took a step towards me. His hand clenched at his side. He glared at me. A raw, visceral hatred. “Silence!” his voice thundered. It silenced the crowd instantly. But the shock remained. A palpable force. He was furious. But trapped.

The elder, his face pale, stammered, “Alpha Kieran… is this… is this true?”

Kieran’s jaw tightened. He looked at me. Then at the stunned faces of his pack. His shoulders slumped almost imperceptibly. A sign of reluctant, bitter acceptance. He still eyed me with venom. “The bond is undeniable,” he stated. His voice was clipped. Each word a hammer blow. “The Moon Goddess has seen fit to bind me to Astrid Sterling.”

More gasps. More frantic whispers. The elder looked utterly bewildered. The obsidian dagger forgotten in his hand. Pack law was absolute. A fated mate bond. Especially for an Alpha’s son. It could not be ignored. Not publicly. It superseded even a traitor’s condemnation.

“Then… then the ceremony must proceed as a…as a mating ritual?” the elder finally managed. His voice was laced with awe and confusion.

Kieran closed his eyes for a brief second. A flicker of something akin to pain crossed his features. When they opened, they were hard as steel. He looked at me. His gaze promised torment. “It shall,” he ground out. His gaze locked with mine. “The Luna Ceremony will commence.” He mouthed something under his breath. A silent, venomous promise: You will pay for this.

My heart pounded. A mix of triumph and terror. I had forced his hand. I had bought myself time. But at what cost? My revenge plan, once so clear, now felt… muddled. How could I destroy the pack of the man I was now bound to? And who was I, really? A hybrid?

The elder, still flustered, began to recite ancient words. Kieran stepped closer to me. His movements were stiff. Unwilling. He took my hand. His touch was cold. Formal. Not the brush of a mate. More like a captor. We stood, facing the pack, as the words of the Luna Ceremony were chanted. It was brief. A simple declaration. A public acknowledgment. No warmth. No joy. Just a binding.

As the elder finished, Logan stepped forward again. “The Alpha’s mate will be escorted to her new quarters,” he announced. His voice was flat.

I glanced at Kieran. He avoided my gaze. He was already turning away. Dismissing me.

Logan took my arm. He led me from the platform. We moved through the still-stunned crowd. Their whispers followed me. Their stares burned. But I kept my head high.

We walked down a different corridor. Quieter. More private. It led to a heavy, polished wooden door. This was clearly a more important part of the packhouse. Logan pushed it open.

“Your quarters,” he grunted. He ushered me inside. The room was spacious. Luxurious. A soft bed, plush rugs, a roaring fireplace. It was a stark contrast to my cell.

Logan didn’t enter. He just stood at the threshold. “Don’t try anything,” he warned. His eyes were hard. Then he closed the door, leaving me alone.

I stared at the room. My new prison. A gilded cage. I walked to the window. It overlooked a vast, moonlit forest. Freedom. So close. Yet still out of reach.

I turned from the window. My gaze swept the room. My eyes landed on a figure. He was standing in the corner. Hidden in the shadows. He hadn’t been there a second ago.

He was taller than Kieran. With the same dark hair. And piercing eyes. But his build was leaner. More agile. He moved with a quiet grace. His gaze was already on me.

A jolt. Sharp and electric. It shot through me. It wasn’t the agonizing pull of Kieran’s bond. This was something else. Something equally profound. A deep, resonant hum. It vibrated through my very soul. My wolf, Eliza, stirred within me. Not with excitement. But with a profound, almost reverent recognition.

This is… different, Eliza whispered in my mind. This is… right. Ours. True Mate.

My head swam. Two mates? How was this possible? The bond to Kieran was undeniable. But this… this felt stronger.

I actually wasn't sure anymore but i know i feel somehing.

His eyes, dark and intense, met mine. A flicker of surprise. Then something unreadable. It crossed his face. He took a slow, deliberate step forward. His gaze never leaving me.

“You’re…. Astrid?” he asked. His voice was a low, resonant rumble. It sent shivers down my spine.

I could only nod. My voice was caught in my throat.

He took another step. Then another. Closing the distance between us. The mate pull intensified. A soft hum. Not painful. But overwhelming.

Then, heavy footsteps. Approaching fast. From the corridor outside.

The door burst open. Kieran stood there. His eyes immediately landed on me. Then on the man in the corner. His face twisted. A mixture of shock and fury.

“Brother?” he asked. His voice was a strangled gasp. His eyes still fixed on mine.