Dominic Silvermane's Arc

Chapter 1 of 9

Dominic Silvermane had run a pack his whole life, but tonight he could not find the one wolf meant to stand beside him. His fated mate. He didn't know her name. He didn't know her face. And without her, his pack was coming apart. He felt it every morning in his own house, in the way two of his wolves stopped talking when he walked in. They wanted his place. They hadn't said the words yet. They would. Snow fell hard against the timber walls of Moonfang Lodge. Every fall, the packs gathered here for the winter solstice, and every fall Dominic hoped this year would be different. His people needed a luna. A strong mate settled the bloodlines and quieted the ambitious. He had searched three winters and found no one. Scarlett found him on the wide front porch, sharpening a blade he didn't need to sharpen. His beta had red hair and sharper ears than most, and she watched him the way she always did, like she was waiting for him to notice something. "The rival pack just crossed the tree line," Scarlett said. "You look like you're bleeding out and you haven't even seen them." "I'm fine." "You're never fine before a gathering." She sat close. Too close. "You don't need some mate the moon promised you. You need people already loyal. People already here." She let the last word sit. Dominic didn't answer. Headlights swung across the snow. Doors opened. Wolves from the other pack spilled out, stamping cold from their boots. Then he stopped breathing. A woman stepped down last. White hair fell past her waist in loose curls. She wore a thin blue dress, no coat, sandals in the snow, as if the cold didn't touch her. Her green eyes lifted and found his across the yard. Something struck him in the chest, hard and certain, like a hand closing around his ribs. He knew her. He had never met her, and he knew her. The bond snapped tight between them. His wolf rose under his skin, straining toward her. Her lips parted. She felt it too. He saw it in the way her hand pressed flat against her own chest. "Mate," Dominic said. The word came out rough. Beside him, Scarlett went still. The blade stopped moving in her hands. "No," Scarlett said quietly. "She's not one of us. She belongs to them." Dominic barely heard her. He was already on his feet, already walking down the steps into the snow. The white-haired woman stood frozen, staring at the alpha who had just claimed her out loud in front of two packs. He had found her. After three winters, he had found the one meant to rule at his side. And she had arrived as his enemy.