_RYDER_

It probably didn’t bode well for a party if the host didn’t give a shit.

But I’d attended several Hunting Festivals, and they all had the same outcome—a big steaming pile of nothing.

Even with the grandeur of the event, the sound of lively music and celebration in the air, the happy chatter of wolves as they mingled and connected, I felt hollow.

Leaning against the railing of the cruise ship, I watched the crowd, trying—but I suspect, failing—to keep the sour look off my face as wolves from my pack and the invited packs passed by, reverently bowing in respect.

I forced myself to return each greeting with the grace and poise expected from the host of such a joyous celebration.

The Hunting Festival was the most anticipated event of the year, a sacred tradition steeped in both ritual and revelry. Wolves gathered from around the world in one place to honor the Moon Goddess. And amidst the festivities and celebration, they hoped to find their mates.

Year after year, I watched from a corner as mates scented themselves and met. That sizzling moment, locking eyes with the person you’re fated to be with forever…I heard it’s the most magical, surreal feeling in the world.

And I’d never felt it.

I didn’t think I ever would.

It felt like I was destined to forever be on the outside, watching mates find themselves, making myself sick to the knowledge that souls were connecting and wolves were mating under the blessing of the Moon Goddess.

“You should be mingling,” a gruff voice said next to me. “You’re the Alpha of Obsidian Howl, not a hermit.”

I sighed, turning to my grandfather, Lucian Blackwood. After both my parents died in a car accident and I was forced to assume the

Alpha role early, my grandfather raised me. He was my only family, and although I loved him very much, I wished very much that he would get off my fucking back.

“What’s the point?” I asked with a sigh. “She’s not here.”

“How would you know that unless you actually participated in the festival?” He shook his head. “Not that it even matters.”

I grit my teeth. “We’re not discussing this again.”

My grandfather scoffed. “A pack needs a Luna, and you holding out, waiting for an elusive mate is doing more harm than good.”

“You would rather I married someone that wasn’t my mate?”

“I would rather you think like an Alpha, Ryder,” he growled lowly. “By marrying the Thorn girl, you align yourself with another powerful pack, strengthening yours.”

I glanced away from my grandfather, mostly so he wouldn’t see the hot anger flashing in my eyes.

The thought of marrying anyone other than my destined mate made me want to throw myself overboard.

I threw my head back, staring up at the full moon.

Where is she? I desperately asked the Moon Goddess. Where is my mate?

Like an answer, a cool sea breeze blew over my face, mixed with the scent of the party, of the several hundred werewolves aboard the ship—and every muscle in my body tensed.

“What?” My grandfather eyed me wearily.

I didn’t move, scared that if I did, what I had just felt would dissolve.

The breeze blew again, and I smelt it again. Mixed with the scent of the wolves, one stood out, a hint of wildflowers and something sweet; unfamiliar, but…

Suddenly, all the noise and surrounding sounds from the celebration faded away, like my senses recalibrated to focus on that one aroma.

My grandfather was saying something next to me, but I couldn’t hear him as I pushed away from the railing and entered the crowd.

My heart thundered wildly in my chest as adrenaline flooded my veins. I weaved through the crowd, not really seeing, letting my nose and instincts guide me.

It couldn’t be, I thought, not really breathing right. But every nerve, every cell in my body was pulled taught, and my wolf was stirring, howling. Because even though my first instinct was to deny it, even though it felt too good to be true, he knew what I was heading towards.

Mate.

And there she was.

I halted in my tracks, the force of what I was feeling overwhelming me to a point that was almost terrifying.

Dressed in a long lavender gown with a slit that stopped almost at her hip and her dark hair curled into an intricate bun at the nape of her neck, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. She seemed to glow, a stunning radiance that outshone every other wolf on the deck.

I could sense what she was—an Omega. But that didn’t matter to me; she was my mate.

She was by the bar, facing me, but talking to another wolf—a Beta by his scent—with his back to me.

Her gorgeous face was twisted with anger and pain, and I felt a surge of that anger rise in me as the urge to reach her, to decimate whoever had hurt my mate, flooded through me.

But before I could move, she slapped the Beta across his face, the sound resounding.

Then she shouldered past him and headed in my direction.

Moving on instinct, I stepped into her path.

She stopped abruptly, looking up with an annoyed expression on her face.

Then our eyes met.

It was like lightning struck the space between us.

It was electrifying, and her scent washed over me, bringing with it a wave of desire that threatened to drive me crazy.

She cocked her head to the side, her eyes never leaving mine. They were a gorgeous hazel, the moon’s glow making the brown and green hues dance mesmerizingly.

I opened my mouth to say something, but all that came out was a growl, my wolf desperately trying to communicate with hers. Mate.

Then, her rosy lips pulled into a small smile that seared me. “You’re Ryder Blackwood, right?” she asked, her soft voice like a caress.

I nodded.

“It’s lovely to meet you; I’m Lyra.”

Lyra. My wolf growled as the name imprinted on my heart, rewove itself through the fragments of my soul.

She stepped closer still, so close that our chests brushed with every breath. I thought I was going to collapse from the force of my desire.

Instinctively, I placed an arm on her waist, feeling the bare skin of her back thanks to the low-cut dress. She smiled, those gorgeous eyes never leaving mine as she placed a hand on my chest, over my thundering heart.

The first brush of our lips made me shudder. It was soft, testing, but my wolf wasn’t having any of that.

With a low growl, I pressed her into me, reveling in the way her perfect body fit mine like we were made for each other.

And we were. Mate.

I don’t know how or when we moved, but the next thing I knew, I was lowering her onto the bed in my private cabin beneath the deck.

Like I was in a trance, bewitched by the scent and feel of her, I undressed her like a package—a gift the Moon Goddess had finally, finally sent my way.

And with the full moon shining through the window, the goddess’ glow blessing us, we mated. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced; love, desire, and devotion flooded through me, and I could feel our wolves rising to the surface, adding a primal edge to the moment.

The connection felt raw, intense, and all-consuming like we were not just sharing our bodies but intertwining the very essence of our souls.

And when it was over, it didn’t feel like an end. No, it felt like the beginning—of everything. I had found my mate; the world was brighter, happier, filled with a million possibilities.

But the next morning, when I rolled over, reaching out for her—the other half of my soul—she wasn’t there. The rumpled sheets and her purse on the nightstand were the only evidence that she had been there to begin with.

I searched the ship from top to bottom—and nothing.

Just like that, the blissful feeling dissipated, replaced with anger and betrayal that ached so much, I felt it with every breath. Had she not felt the connection? Was she not as enamored with me as I was with her? Did she use me?

There were no answers to my questions. And I felt more hollow than before I met her.

I had found my mate and, almost as quickly, lost her.