The Rejected Luna's Second Chance

The worst day of my life started with a lie.

"Your sister will never be Luna," my mother whispered as she braided my hair. "The moon goddess chose you, Aria. Tonight everyone will see."

I wanted to believe her. I really did.

But when I walked into the great hall for my eighteenth birthday ceremony, I saw the truth in Kael's eyes.

He wasn't looking at me.

He was looking at Lila.

My sister stood beside him in a red dress, her hand resting on his arm like she already owned him. Like she already owned everything.

The hall went quiet as I walked forward. Hundreds of wolves watched me. My parents. My friends. The pack I had known my entire life. None of them spoke. None of them smiled.

Kael's face was carved from stone. Cold. Empty. Nothing like the boy I had loved since I was twelve years old. The boy who used to sneak me extra bread from the pack kitchen. The boy who promised me forever.

"Aria," he said.

My heart stopped.

"I, Alpha Kael, reject you as my mate and Luna."

The words hit me like a knife to the chest. For a moment I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Couldn't move. I just stood there waiting for him to laugh. Waiting for him to say it was a joke. Waiting for something that would make this make sense.

He didn't laugh.

The bond between us snapped. It felt like my soul was being ripped in half. The pain was so sharp I couldn't even scream. I just fell. My knees hit the stone floor. My white dress pooled around me like spilled blood.

"Kael." His name came out broken. Desperate. "Please. What did I do?"

He looked at me then. Really looked at me. And I saw nothing. No love. No guilt. No regret. Just cold indifference.

"You were never enough," he said.

Lila laughed. Actually laughed. She pressed herself against him and smiled down at me like I was a bug she had stepped on.

"Don't worry, little sister," she said. "I'll take care of him."

The crowd started whispering. Some of them were laughing too. The pack that had raised me. The people who had eaten dinner at my table. They were laughing at my humiliation.

I looked for my parents.

My father had turned his back. My mother was crying, but she didn't move to help me. She didn't say a word.

I was alone.

I don't remember leaving the hall. I don't remember running through the pack house. I don't remember slamming my bedroom door or falling onto my bed. I just remember the pain. It was everywhere. In my chest. In my bones. In my wolf, who was howling inside me like she was dying.

Maybe she was.

I lay there for hours. The moon rose outside my window. The celebration continued without me. I could hear music. Laughter. Cheers. They were celebrating my rejection. They were celebrating Lila.

When the house finally went quiet, I stood up.

My legs were shaky. My hands were trembling. But my mind was clear for the first time all night. I knew what I had to do.

I pulled a bag out from under my bed and started packing. Clothes. Money I had saved from working at the pack store. A knife my grandfather had given me before he died. I didn't have much. I didn't need much.

I wrote a letter and left it on my pillow.

"Don't look for me. I'm not your daughter anymore."

I shifted into my wolf form and slipped out the back door. The night air was cold against my fur. The forest was dark and quiet. I didn't know where I was going. I just knew I could never come back.

I ran until my legs gave out. I ran until I couldn't feel the bond anymore. I ran until the pack lands were nothing but a memory.

And then I kept running.

Three years later

The bar was loud and crowded. Smoke hung in the air like fog. I wiped down the counter with a rag and ignored the drunk wolf who was trying to get my attention.

"Hey sweetheart," he slurred. "You look familiar. Do I know you?"

I didn't look up. "No."

"I swear I've seen you somewhere. You from around here?"

"Passing through." I poured him a drink he didn't ask for and pushed it toward him. "Drink that and leave me alone."

He opened his mouth to say something else, but his friend grabbed his arm and pulled him away. Smart friend.

I glanced at my reflection in the mirror behind the bar. Same dark hair. Same brown eyes. But everything else was different. I was leaner now. Stronger. The softness had been carved out of my face and replaced with something hard.

I had spent three years running. Three years hiding. Three years building walls so high nobody could climb them. I had a new name. A new life. A new identity. Nobody here knew I was the rejected Luna of the Silver Moon pack.

Nobody knew I was a white wolf.

The door to the bar swung open and a group of wolves walked in. They wore the colors of the Blood Moon pack, one of the largest and most dangerous packs in the territory. I felt my muscles tense.

The leader was tall with a scar across his face. He scanned the room and his eyes landed on me.

"You," he said, pointing. "You're coming with us."

I set down the glass I was holding. "I don't think so."

"We've been looking for you for months." He smiled, but it wasn't friendly. "The white wolf. The one who killed three of our warriors and disappeared."

The bar went quiet. Everyone was staring at me now.

I sighed and reached under the counter.

"Wrong move," I said.

I pulled out my knife and threw it. It embedded itself in the wall inches from his head. He stumbled back, eyes wide.

"Tell your alpha," I said, stepping out from behind the bar, "that if he wants me, he can come get me himself."

I walked out the back door and shifted into my wolf form. My white fur gleamed in the moonlight. My wolf was not a small, weak thing anymore. She was a predator.

I ran into the forest but I didn't go far. I stopped at the edge of the trees and looked back at the bar. The Blood Moon wolves were piling out the door, shouting into the night.

I had been hiding for three years. I had been careful. I had stayed invisible.

But something told me my hiding days were over.

I could feel it in the wind. Something was coming. Someone was coming.

I turned and disappeared into the darkness. Behind me, I heard the howl of a wolf. It was distant but familiar. It sent a shiver down my spine.

I knew that howl.

I had spent three years trying to forget it.

Kael had found me.

And this time, I wasn't going to run.

I was going to make him bleed.