The ground shook.
Elara grabbed onto Lira's arm as the entire pack house trembled. Cars were pulling up outside, their engines so loud they sounded like thunder. Through the window, she could see black vehicles with tinted windows forming a line down the driveway.
"They're here," her father said, his voice tight with tension.
The visiting alphas had arrived.
Elara's heart hammered against her ribs. Ever since that howl this afternoon, she had felt like she was waiting for something terrible to happen. The strange pulling in her chest had gotten stronger with every passing hour.
"I can't do this," she whispered to Lira. "Something's wrong. I can feel it."
"You'll be fine," Lira said, but her voice shook too. "It's just your birthday nerves."
But it wasn't fear. Elara knew the difference between being scared and feeling like the world was about to change forever. This was the second feeling.
The front door slammed open so hard it hit the wall. Pack members who had been laughing and talking suddenly went quiet. Even the music stopped. Heavy footsteps echoed through the house.
"Where is she?" a cold voice asked.
Elara's blood turned to ice. She knew that voice. She had heard it in her dreams every night for weeks. But hearing it in real life was different. It was darker, more dangerous, and full of barely controlled power.
"Alpha Alaric," her father said, walking toward the front door. "Welcome to our pack lands."
"I didn't come here for pleasantries, Zane," the voice said. "I came for the omega."
Elara felt like she couldn't breathe. He was here for her? But why? She had never even met him before.
"She's just a child," her father said carefully.
"She turned eighteen today," the voice answered. "That makes her an adult."
Lira grabbed Elara's hand. "We should go upstairs," she whispered.
But Elara couldn't move. The pulling feeling in her chest was so strong now it almost hurt. It felt like someone had wrapped a rope around her heart and was yanking on it.
"I can smell her," the voice said, closer now. "She's here."
"Elara," her father called. "Come here, please."
There was no choice now. Elara's legs felt like jelly, but she forced herself to walk toward the front room. Lira stayed close beside her, squeezing her hand.
The room was packed with people, but Elara only saw one person.
Alpha Alaric stood in the middle of the room like a storm cloud. He was tall and broad, with black hair and the coldest blue eyes Elara had ever seen. Everything about him screamed danger. The other pack members had stepped back, giving him room, like they were afraid to get too close.
But it wasn't his size or his cold face that made Elara's knees weak. It was the way he looked at everyone else like they were insects he wanted to crush. His mouth was set in a hard line, and his eyes swept the room with clear disgust.
"Is this really the best your pack can do?" he said to her father. "Pathetic."
An older woman near the wall flinched. A young man looked down at his feet in shame. Alaric's words cut through the room like knives.
Elara felt anger rise in her chest. How dare he come into their home and insult her pack family?
"They're good people," she said before she could stop herself.
Every head in the room turned toward her. The silence was so complete she could hear her own heartbeat.
Alaric's cold blue eyes locked onto hers.
And everything changed.
His expression went from cruel indifference to total shock in half a second. His eyes widened, and his mouth opened slightly like he couldn't breathe.
The pulling in Elara's chest suddenly snapped tight, like someone had jerked the rope as hard as they could. Pain shot through her, but it was a good kind of pain, like stretching a muscle that had been cramped for too long.
"You," Alaric whispered.
He took a step toward her, then another. With each step, the air in the room got thicker. Other pack members started backing away, sensing something dangerous building.
But Elara couldn't move. She looked into Alaric's eyes and saw something that terrified her.
Recognition.
He knew her. Somehow, impossible as it seemed, this stranger knew her.
"Stay away from my daughter," her father warned, moving between them.
Alaric's head snapped toward Zane, and for a moment, Elara thought he might actually attack her father. His whole body went rigid, and a low growl rumbled in his chest.
"Your daughter?" Alaric said, his voice deadly quiet.
"Yes," Zane said firmly. "And she's under my protection."
Alaric laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound. It was cold and sharp and full of something that made everyone in the room shiver.
"Your protection?" he repeated. "Do you have any idea what she is?"
"She's my daughter," Zane said again.
"She's mine," Alaric said.
The words hit Elara like a physical blow. Mine? What did that mean?
"I don't belong to anyone," she said, finding her voice.
Alaric's eyes swung back to her, and this time there was something different in them. Something hungry and possessive that made her stomach flip.
"Don't you?" he asked softly.
Before she could answer, another voice spoke from behind Alaric.
"Well, this is interesting."
A second man stepped into the room. He had silver hair and green eyes that sparkled with amusement. Unlike Alaric, he was smiling, but his smile was sharp like a blade.
"Alpha Kian," her father said, worry clear in his voice.
"Hello, Zane," Kian said cheerfully. "I see Alpha Alaric has already found what he came for."
"What he came for?" Elara's father repeated.
Kian's smile got wider. "Oh, you didn't know? Alaric has been looking for your daughter for months. Ever since he started having the dreams."
Dreams. Elara's heart stopped. Alaric had been having dreams too?
She looked at Alaric, whose face had gone stone cold again. But his eyes... his eyes were still locked on hers with an intensity that made her feel like she was burning up from the inside.
"What dreams?" her father asked.
But before anyone could answer, Elara felt something terrible happening inside her chest. The pulling sensation suddenly turned into a ripping feeling, like someone was tearing her apart from the inside.
She gasped and doubled over in pain.
"Elara!" Lira cried.
The pain got worse. It felt like her heart was being pulled out of her body. She looked up at Alaric through tears and saw that he had gone completely white. He was clutching his chest too.
"No," he whispered. "Not yet. It's too soon."
"What's happening to her?" her father shouted.
Kian's laugh filled the room. "The bond is snapping into place. How romantic."
Bond? What bond?
But before Elara could ask, the pain became too much. She fell to her knees, gasping for air. And in that moment, she felt it.
A connection forming between her and the dangerous man across the room. Like an invisible chain wrapping around both their hearts and pulling them together whether they wanted it or not.
She looked up at Alaric one more time and saw her own terror reflected in his eyes.
They were mates.