The Snow Wolf's Mate

What If I’m Not the One?:

[POV: Aria]

My pulse hadn’t slowed since Mia’s words.

She’d said them so casually—so matter-of-factly—like she hadn’t just dropped a weight on my chest that threatened to crush everything I’d barely begun to believe in.

Hayden. Choosing a Luna.

Soon.

“Mia,” I said, trying to keep my voice light, casual. “When you say he’ll be ‘announcing’ someone soon… what exactly do you mean?”

She glanced up from wrapping my side with fresh gauze, her hands still busy. “Exactly that. It’s been expected for a while now. Hayden’s held off longer than most would have, but a pack can’t thrive long without a Luna.”

I tried to keep my expression neutral, but the tension creeping into my shoulders said otherwise. “Isn't Luna supposed to be… the Alpha’s mate?”

Mia chuckled. “That’s ideal. Of course. When it’s a true bond—fated, chosen—it strengthens the entire pack. The Alpha and Luna’s connection can boost the wolves’ energy, sharpen instincts, make them stronger in battle. It’s not just romantic—it’s spiritual. A sacred bond.”

Her tone shifted then, quieter. “But not all Alphas are given the luxury of mating for love.”

I stiffened. “So you think Hayden might choose someone even if he doesn’t—”

“Love her?” she finished for me, giving a small, wry smile. “Absolutely.”

She adjusted the bandage, then met my gaze directly. “Hayden is… respected, Aria. Even feared. But what makes him a good Alpha isn’t his power—it’s that he puts the pack first. Always. Even if it costs him.”

The words rang in my ears like a bell tolling far away.

He puts the pack first. Even if it costs him.

Even if it costs us.

I didn’t speak, my throat tight.

Mia, mistaking my silence for curiosity rather than panic, kept talking.

“He’s already lost one Luna. The pain nearly tore him apart, though he doesn’t speak of it much. You think he’d ever risk that again? No. He’ll do what’s safe. What’s strong. He’ll choose a Luna who can lead with him—not one who makes him vulnerable.”

The bandage was finished, but I didn’t move.

My hands were clenched in my lap, and I couldn’t lift my eyes from the floor.

Vulnerable.

That was me, wasn’t it?

The girl who only recently learned to shift. Who still sometimes woke with a scream in her throat from dreams too sharp to shake. The girl who couldn’t walk into a room without wondering if people were watching her, judging her, waiting for her to fail.

Not the strongest.

Not the safest.

Not someone like Talia.

She was everything I wasn’t—fierce, confident, trained for years, with the reputation and bloodline to back it all up. She didn’t hesitate. She didn’t falter.

And I—what did I have?

A kiss in the woods.

A moment of weakness.

A night where Hayden held me like I was his whole world and whispered that he’d never wanted anything like he wanted me.

But maybe that was just… a moment.

A fleeting storm before he remembered what he owed to the pack.

And I? I didn’t fit into either version of the future Mia described.

If Hayden chose based on strength, it wouldn’t be me.

If he chose based on safety, on fear of heartbreak, it still wouldn’t be me.

And if he chose no one at all…

Then I’d remain what I always was. On the edge. Close enough to burn, never close enough to belong.

“I’m sure it’ll all work out,” Mia said kindly, patting my hand. “You’ll see.”

I forced a smile, nodded, and whispered my thanks as she stepped away. But inside I was sinking.

Because I finally understood what it meant to love someone so much it terrified you.

And what it felt like to know you might lose them, no matter which way the winds of fate turned.