PROLOGUE

The entire Silver Night night pack was in chaos for two reasons known to every single member of the pack.

One, the Alpha and his Luna had both died mysterious deaths after embarking on a journey for the betterment of the pack and two, their son who was still grieving his parents' death suddenly had to ascend the throne as the new Alpha.

The tragic incident had happened seven days to their son, Ryan's eighteenth birthday. Under normal circumstances, it was to be a joyful countdown for not just him but the entire pack as it was the day he was to finally find his mate.

Finding a mate had always been a big deal but to the silver night pack, it was more than a big deal to them. It was a necessity. It was the key and the sole criteria to be considered worthy enough to rule the pack.

In the case of the family of the Alpha, it was a tradition for them all fo find their mates on their eighteenth birthdays. The Beta wasn't left out as literary all their relatives treaded down that path and not even for a single generation had there been an exception.

So, as expected, Ryan Fox wasn't supposed to be an exception either.

"Ryan!"

Tugging at his jacket to give it a final adjustment, Ryan turned in the direction of the sound, immediately recognizing the voice to be his cousin's. Quickly signaling to the maids in charge of getting him ready to leave, he stepped down from the little podium in the dressing room and anticipated his cousin's arrival.

"There you are," Adam commented as he stepped into the dressing room. "Come on, aren't you ready yet? I understand it's a big day for you but would you really spend half the night in your dressing room getting ready?"

"I haven't even spent an hour here," he replied, giving himself another look in the mirror. "Also, you can't blame me. I want to look my best today."

He meant every word. It was his eighteenth birthday and the day he was supposed to finally find his mate. So how could he not want to look extremely dashing?

Especially since his nerves were suddenly getting the best of him.

He had never been the shy or nervous type but life throwing different events at him all at once had managed to bring out those emotions in him. Literally few days ago, he was standing by his parents' grave, tears welled up in his eyes and all of a sudden, he was expected to smile with lust in his eyes as they roamed the crowd looking for his mate.

"You know your mate would be attracted to whether you look like crap or not," Adam commented. "So you don't have to worry."

"How can you be so sure of that?" He teased. "What if my mate rejects me simply because I do not look gif enough for her?"

"Which wolf in her right senses would reject you, Ryan?" Adam smirked at him, shaking his head. "You're the Alpha and I tell you, that's a lot of title and power. Everyone would kill to have that title and the closest to having it is being Luna so why not?"

"I guess you can say so," Ryan raised his eyebrows. "You must be giddy yourself too, Beta Adam."

"Can't deny, I am," Adam nodded. "I have my eyes on a wolf already. I just really hope she ends up being my mate."

"Tell that to the moon goddess not me. I have no ability whatsoever to grant wishes cause trust me if I could, my parents would still be here."

A couple more words were exchanged between them before Adam took his leave, leaving Ryan alone in the room with nothing but the mirror in front of him. A sigh escaped his lips as he looked at himself in the mirror again, his dark eyes shining right back at him.

He was tall with long dark hair and muscular body. He greatly took his dad's features while his little brother on the other hand looked like his mother.

His brother, Declan who unlike him was taking their parents' death rather terribly.

Brushing away every thought other than the fact that he was going to be meeting his mate in less than an hour, he plastered a smile on his face and finally walked towards the door, stepping out of the dressing room.

The ceremony was to be held in the hall at the pack house. The grand hall that was only used for extremely important celebrations. Celebrations as important as the one that would be determining the fate of the Silver Night Pack.

"There he is! The future Alpha of the Silver Night Pack!"

Head's immediately turned in his direction as he took his first step into the hall, his heartbeat automatically quickening. Controlling himself with deep breaths, his smile widened as he resumed walking towards the podium already set for him, the chief priestess awaiting his presence.

Murmurs filled the air as he walked, Ryan taking it as an opportunity to look at the people in the crowd. Among all the ladies, none managed to immediately catch his eye, making him wonder who exactly was going to be his mate.

When was he going to find her? Was the connection going to be instant? Was she going to find him first or would he find her first?

The questions in his mind were endless and did not come to a halt until the priestess held his hand and offered him a warm smile.

"Come on, Ryan," she said in a voice audible to just him. "Find your mate. Find that connection."

He nodded then turned to look into the crowd. There were dozens of eyes staring at him. Perhaps, hundreds of them even. So many ladies of different size, shapes and colours. They were all so beautiful though so how could he pick a single one?

Right, he was supposed to feel a connection. A connection in what form though? A tingling feeling? A visible spark? A combination of both?

One thing was sure though, finding his mate wasn't going to be as easy as he thought.

But he was going to find her regardless.

Reassuring himself of that, he looked into the crowd again as just as eyes were about to roam again, he was interrupted by a familiar voice yelling directly at the priestess.

"Oh, stop this nonsense now!" Ryan's uncle snapped at the priestess. "We both this wouldn't change anything so stop it already."

"Beta Luca-"

Ryan alongside almost everyone in the hall turned in Luca's direction, wondering what was suddenly going on. Realizing he had gotten the attention he wanted, the frown on his face became deeper as he walked up to the podium to join Ryan and the priestess.

"Uncle-"

"Why are you doing this?" The priestess spoke up before Ryan could face his uncle. "That information was private and the elders concluded it would be concealed so why?"

"Because it's the right thing to do!" Luca replied her. "Instead of carrying on with this waste of time."

Ryan, suddenly more curious than ever, finally spoke up. "Uncle Luca, what are you talking about? Is this something about me? Something I do not know about?"

"It is," he replied his nephew. "It is about you. And you definitely should know about it."

"Beta Luca-"

"Standing here for hours and hours would not result in Ryan finding his mate!" Luca yelled, addressing the crowd directly. "Because he has been cursed! And as a result of that curse, the son of the former Alpha would never find his mate!"

"Beta Luca!"

Ryan could feel his entire world begin to shake, about to crumble. What was his uncle saying? A curse? He would never find his mate? Never?

An uproar broke in the crowd, every wolf present quickly having an opinion about what the Beta just said. Ryan himself had opinions and questions. Ones he needed to be answered by the priestess herself.

He turned to face her and she immediately looked away, unable to maintain eye contact with it. "Is it true? Is what my uncle said true?"

"Don't be an idiot," Luca spoke up with a bitter chuckle. "Do you think I'll come all the way here to spill lies? Look at your cousin over there. Look at my son. He has found his mate already. So tell me, why are you an exemption? It's because you're cursed, Ryan!"

"Answer me!" He raised his voice at the priestess, the entire crowd going silent as his voice resonated through the walls. "Look at me directly in the eye and tell me! I am to find my mate today and officially become the next Alpha of the Silver Night Pack. Tell me there's absolutely no obstacle to that becoming a reality!"

"Ryan-"

The priestess immediately felt to her knees and hung her head low, gasps immediately erupting from the crowd. Without sparing even a second, she brought her palms together and rubbed them against each other, quickly begging for forgiveness.

"I'm sorry, my lord. I tried to evade it but-"

Ryan finally felt his whole world crumble as his reality hit him. It felt like a slap on his face, a kick in his guts- a hard shove at reality.

He was cursed. No matter the amount of time he spent looking into the crowd, he was never going to find his mate. He was never going to be able to continue his parents' legacy.

He looked at the people in the crowd all staring at him, reading anxiety and fear from their faces. For them, all they had to worry about was not having an Alpha to rule the pack in time but for him, he had much more to be worried about.

He had to worry about the possibility of him never finding a mate and as a result, not only losing his childhood dream of ruling the Silver Night Pack as the Alpha and leader but also, being tagged a lone wolf for the rest of his life.