13 years later,
Black Moon Pack house's towering walls casting long shadows across the grounds under the moonlight. But it wasn’t the shadows that had Sorin restless. It was the stillness of his heart.
Tonight, the boy who had once screamed for his mate like a child, whose voice had cracked with desperation and whose body had trembled with uncontrollable need, was no longer that trembling soul.
Tonight, he was no longer a scared twelve-year-old Alpha, torn apart by something he couldn't understand. Tonight, he was Sorin Aldric, the heir to the pack, the future Alpha, a leader with the weight of the world pressing on his shoulders.
But the agony hadn't gone away. No, it had only grown stronger. And the ache, the pull that had once been a frantic sensation deep in his chest, was now an ever present throb.
The full moon was just a few hours away. The pack's elders had prepared everything for the official ceremony....the shifting, the vows, the claiming. Tonight, he would ascend to his rightful place as the Alpha of the Pack. But for all the years of training, the days spent at his father's side, the rituals that had led him to this moment, there was only one thing he could think about.
His mate.
The ceremony was supposed to mark a new chapter in his life, to cement his place as the Alpha who would guide his pack into the future. And yet, it felt like a hollow victory. Every fiber of his being screamed for something else.
For him. For the one person who was meant to complete him. The ache in his chest was like a constant fire, a gnawing emptiness that wouldn't cease. His body felt heavy with the absence, the absence of the one person who he knew, deep in his bones, was out there somewhere.
But where?
Sorin wandered through the empty hallways of the mansion, his footsteps echoing off the polished floors. It was supposed to be a night of celebration, a night where he stood tall, his pack looking to him for leadership. But it wasn't happening.
But tonight, everything was different.His thoughts kept spiraling back to his mate, to the person who had been missing from his life for as long as he could remember and whose absence threatened to swallow him whole.
The pack was preparing for the ceremony. His cousins were busy in the living room, discussing the final details. But none of it mattered. The sounds of their laughter and their plans only made the silence inside him more unbearable. Even as the sun set and the moon began its slow rise, he couldn't focus.
His wolf was restless inside him. It paced, clawing at the confines of his skin, urging him to move, to act, to do something ....anything .....to make the pain stop. But Sorin couldn't even explain the pain. He didn't understand why he still felt like he was being pulled in a thousand directions.
His body, now grown, his muscles honed and his mind sharp, was supposed to be ready. He was supposed to be strong enough to handle the weight of his pack, but how could he lead them when his soul was crying for something he couldn't find?
His hands clenched into fists at his sides as he stared out of the window, watching the moon rise higher, its pale light bathing the world below. The sound of soft footsteps behind him barely reached his ears.
Unable to bear the pain, he decided to have a run into the forest, towards the cliff, till the time of the ceremony. Officially becoming the Leader of his pack.
Twenty one-year-old almighty, The true blood alpha, Sorin Aldric, stood at the edge of the cliff, his dark eyes gazing out over the endless expanse of forest below, feeling a deep, familiar ache in his chest. It was late, the moon casting an eerie, silver glow over the landscape, but it was the pull of his mate, the constant ache,that dominated his senses.
The full moon had risen high in the sky, and as it bathed the earth in its ethereal light, Sorin felt the bond with his mate tighten, straining against him like an invisible force that pushed and pulled in equal measure.
His heart pounded with the force of a stampede, the rhythm erratic and desperate. Each beat felt like it was tearing through his ribcage, aching in ways he couldn’t describe,except to say it felt like life was being drained from him slowly. She's still out there, he thought. Still hurting.
His wolf growled inside him, pacing in restless circles, clawing at the walls of his mind, yearning to break free. He could feel it. The distress. His mate was suffering, and it hurt.
"Why won't you just let me come to you? Please Mate..... please let me find you." He whispered, his voice raw with emotion. His usually cool demeanor was now clouded with frustration, his every muscle trembling as though his body couldn't contain the fury and grief that roiled within him. It was maddening. It had been years, and yet the aching pull...no, the agony had only grown more intensely with time.
He could feel his mate's fear, their pain, and it left him breathless, feeling as if he was suffocating in the dark, isolated world he was trapped in.
He could hear the wind rustling in the trees below, feel the moonlight on his skin, but it wasn't enough to quiet the storm inside. It never was. Every day, he woke up feeling the same gnawing emptiness. Every night, the pull became more intense.
Sometimes, he could swear that his mate was calling to him, crying out from miles away, begging for him to come. And yet, every time he tried to get closer, it was as if fate itself yanked him back, pulling him farther from where he needed to be.
''Rin?"
His beloved sister Yoona, the one who had always been the most stoic, the most grounded of them all. The one who had taken care of him when he was just a pup, the one who had been there when the weight of his instincts first awakened.
She stood beside him, her eyes flicking to the moon before returning to Sorin's tense form. "You've been quiet all day."
Sorin didn't respond at first, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon, where the trees met the sky in a perfect line. His thoughts were scattered, disjointed.
"It's not what I thought it would be," he finally whispered, his voice strained. "I thought… I thought when I became Alpha, things would feel… right. Like I would be ready. I'd be able to find her. It's been years, sister, didn't mate feel our bond?"
Yoona didn't speak at first, but her expression softened. She stepped closer, placing a hand on Jungkook's shoulder. "It's not the position, Rin. It's you. You're ready. You've always been ready. But what you’re feeling… that's something else."
Sorin let out a shaky breath, his chest tightening again. "I feel like I'm missing something. I feel like… like I'm incomplete. It's worse tonight, sister. Worse than ever."
Yoona's gaze was somber, but there was a knowing in her eyes. "You're becoming Leader Alpha tonight, Sorin. Your instincts are pulling you in a hundred different directions. Your mind is torn between duty and desire. That's natural."
Sorin shook his head, his frustration bubbling over. "It's not just that. This ache… it's not just missing. It's different. It's like my soul is on fire. I'm feeling like burning but at the same time it's calming, sister and this is the very first time I'm feeling this.....like he's hereby. Why didn't the moon goddess let me see my mate. All i want is to make her feel safe. I want to erase every ounce of pain from my mate's heart. Every night I feel like I won't be able to make it to see the sunrise but then everything goes down and i feel sudden comfort, i don't know what to do anymore, sister......I don't know how to find my mate."
Yoona's hand tightened on his shoulder, as if trying to ground him, to bring him back to the present moment. "You're not alone in this, Rin. You never have been. But this... this is something only you can understand. You have been searching for your mate for years. You're so strong, bun..... Sister is so proud of you, baby and i know you'll be a great leader for our pack. Even this ceremony is just for formality but we have to go through this to announce your leadership officially."
Sorin closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the sting of tears prick at his eyelids.
I can't keep living like this. Not tonight. Not when I'm about to become the Alpha.
His breath hitched, and the throb in his chest became unbearable. For the first time in a long while, he couldn't fight it anymore. He didn't want to be the leader tonight. He wanted to be something else. He wanted to be whole.
His mate. Where are you? Yoona thought, a painful expression took over her grumpy face.
She was out there. His mate, Sorin, could feel the pain. He could feel the loss in the very air, a struggle to hold onto something that was slipping through his fingers like sand.
His mate was trying to forget. Trying to move on, trying to make the hurt go away. And in doing so, the bond was tearing at both of them. Sorin's chest tightened with the knowledge that, no matter how hard he tried to focus on his duties, he could never truly be the Alpha the pack needed until he found the one thing that could fill the hollow inside him. He needed her.
Because how could he lead if he was so completely undone?
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