Chapter 7 Who Was My Fated Mate?

Damian's POV:

The gray clouds hung low as I navigated the winding road to the Pack House. Today was Elaina's twentieth birthday—a milestone that carried immense significance for both of us. I'd known her my entire life, grown up alongside her, been told countless times that we were destined to lead the pack together.

My parents had arranged our match years ago, with her parents' eager blessing. The Beta's daughter and the Alpha's son—a perfect union to strengthen pack bonds.

I rolled down the window, hoping the fresh air would clear my head. According to everything I'd been taught, I should be overwhelmed by Elaina's unique mate scent by now. The absence nagged at me like a persistent itch I couldn't quite reach.

"You're quiet today," I said to Luke, trying to ignore the growing unease in my chest.

Just thinking, came his uncharacteristically brief reply. He'd been distant all morning, avoiding my questions about the mate bond we should be feeling.

The Pack House loomed ahead, transformed for tonight's celebration. Pack members bustled about, carrying decorations and arranging elaborate flower displays for Elaina.

Several servants hurried past carrying silver platters while others hung ceremonial wreaths along the entrance pillars. The air buzzed with excitement and anticipation.

I straightened my casual button-down shirt before entering the side door, avoiding the main entrance where guests would arrive later. The day crew nodded respectfully as I passed. A few younger wolves cast envious glances. I nodded back with practiced authority, swallowing the doubt that threatened to rise in my throat.

"Damian!" Noah's voice echoed down the hallway as he appeared, grinning broadly. "Perfect timing. Mom's driving everyone crazy with last-minute changes to the seating arrangements and ceremonial details."

"Wouldn't miss it," I replied, clasping his shoulder firmly. "Where's the birthday girl hiding?"

"Getting beautified in the east wing. Been in there for hours with Mom and three stylists." He leaned closer, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "So... feel anything special yet?"

I forced a smile, pushing down my growing unease. All morning I'd been breathing deeply, searching for that distinctive scent change. I'd sniffed discreetly every time the wind shifted, hoping to catch something—anything—that would validate what I'd been told since childhood.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing beyond her familiar scent.

"It'll happen," I said, more to convince myself than him. "Probably just ceremonial timing."

Throughout the afternoon, I found myself repeatedly near Elaina as we finalized celebration details. She looked radiant, her golden hair styled elegantly, her blue dress perfectly complementing her eyes. Perfect Luna material by any standard.

Her laugh tinkled like silver bells as she directed servants and greeted early arrivals with practiced charm. Yet each time she brushed against me, each time we worked side by side arranging ceremonial goblets or reviewing traditional speeches, I kept waiting for that thunderbolt moment described in pack legends—the overwhelming certainty, the primal recognition, the uncontrollable pull toward your destined mate.

It never came.

I caught her sniffing discreetly several times when she thought nobody was watching, her expression shifting from anticipation to confusion before she masked it with a bright smile. Was she experiencing the same emptiness? The same growing dread that something fundamental was wrong?

Something isn't right here, Luke finally spoke clearly in my mind after hours of silence. You should be feeling something by now. Anything.

"It's just nerves," I replied silently, helping arrange the ceremonial goblets for tonight's ritual while trying to ignore the hollow feeling in my chest. "Pre-confirmation jitters. Everyone gets them."

This is different and you know it, he countered, his mental voice unusually serious.

By evening, the Pack House overflowed with members in their finest attire. Wolves from every corner of our territory gathered, dressed in formal clothes that showcased their rank and lineage. My parents arrived to thunderous applause, taking their places at the head table adorned with silver candlesticks and ceremonial artifacts. My mother's eyes met mine across the crowded room, her smile expectant and slightly anxious.

The feast began with traditional speeches praising Elaina's qualities, her diligent preparation for Luna duties, her perfect bloodline spanning generations of loyal pack members.

Sebastian stood proudly beside his daughter, his chest puffed out as my father praised their family's service. I smiled and nodded at all the right moments, raised my glass for appropriate toasts, but my attention kept drifting to the strange emptiness where certainty should have been growing.

Why couldn't I sense her? Why was Luke so distant tonight? Why did this feel increasingly wrong with each passing hour?

As midnight approached, my father rose to signal the ceremonial part of the evening. The musicians fell silent as the crowd formed a respectful circle around us. Elaina and I faced each other beneath the skylight specially designed to capture the moon's light, the silver beams bathing us in ethereal light as tradition demanded.

"Tonight," Father intoned, his voice carrying the full weight of his Alpha authority, "we celebrate not only a birthday but a special bond blessed by the Moon Goddess herself—a union written in the stars since these children were born."

I took Elaina's hands in mine as tradition required, staring into her eyes, desperately seeking what should be there. Her fingers trembled slightly against my palms as she squeezed them, her smile growing strained as seconds stretched into uncomfortable silence.

The pack watched expectantly, waiting for the traditional signs—the synchronized heartbeats, the instinctive leaning toward each other, the subtle changes in scent that would confirm what everyone had always assumed.

That's when I knew for certain. The look in her eyes mirrored my own confusion and growing panic. No matter how close we stood, how deeply we breathed each other in, the distinct scent of mates—that unmistakable pull in the chest, that absolute certainty described by every mated pair I'd ever known—simply wasn't there.

A murmur rippled through the gathering as the silence lengthened. My father's confident expression faltered slightly, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion.

"Perhaps..." he began, clearly unprepared for this outcome, his voice tinged with bewilderment.

"I don't understand," Elaina whispered, her voice breaking slightly, loud enough only for me to hear. "We've always known it would be us..."

Victoria stepped forward abruptly, her face pale with shock and something that looked almost like fear. "There must be some mistake. Try again! The ceremonial words—say them now!"

My mother joined her, a tight smile masking her obvious concern. "Sometimes the connection needs a formal moment to establish itself. The traditional acknowledgment often triggers recognition."

We obediently recited the traditional words, our voices unnaturally loud in the hushed room: "Under moon and stars, by blood and bond, we claim what fate has joined."

The silence that followed was deafening.

Twenty years of being told we were perfect for each other, destined by the Moon Goddess herself. Now, in one brutal moment of moonlight, that certainty crumbled into dust between us.

"No," Victoria's voice broke the silence, her composure cracking completely. "This can't be happening. Not after everything..."

Elaina's eyes filled with tears though she fought valiantly to maintain her dignity before the pack. "Perhaps the ritual wasn't performed correctly," she began weakly, clutching at straws. "Perhaps if we try again tomorrow night..."

My chest felt hollow, carved out and empty. Everything I'd been raised to believe was suddenly thrown into question. Yet beneath the confusion and embarrassment lurked an unexpected emotion that I couldn't quite name—something almost like relief?

The Moon Goddess has other plans for you both, Luke murmured in my mind, sounding strangely unsurprised.

The celebration continued awkwardly, but the atmosphere had fundamentally changed. Whispers followed me as I eventually escaped to the terrace, seeking fresh air away from the stifling weight of disappointed expectations and confused stares.

If Elaina wasn't my fated mate, who was ?