The Powerless Luna

Elena was born wolfless. That is not supposed to happen. Every child in Blackthorn hears their wolf by sixteen. At sixteen you shift for the first time. You hear a voice in your head, you feel power in your bones. At sixteen you become a wolf. Elena turned sixteen and heard nothing. She waited. She prayed to the Moon Goddess every night. Nothing. At seventeen, nothing. At eighteen, nothing. The pack started to call her names. First behind her back. Then to her face. Wolfless. Empty. Mistake. And finally, the name that stuck. Powerless Omega. She was not even allowed to live in the pack house anymore. She lived in the small hut behind the kitchens, with the old omegas who had no family. She cleaned dishes. She scrubbed floors. She was the girl everyone looked down on. But tonight was Mating Night. Every year on the full moon of October, all unmated wolves of Blackthorn gather in the Great Hall. The Moon Goddess shows you your mate. It is the most important night of your life. Elena did not want to go. She knew she would be laughed at again. But the Elder forced her. It is law. Every unmated wolf must attend. So she wore her only dress. Grey. Too big. Second-hand from the kitchen omega. Her hair was not brushed properly. Her shoes had holes. She walked into the Great Hall with her head down. Two hundred wolves were inside. The smell of perfume, meat, power. The hall was warm with fire. At the far end, on the high throne, sat Alpha Damir. Alpha Damir Blackthorn. Twenty four years old. The strongest Alpha in the North. He had taken over Blackthorn from his father at eighteen and made it the most feared pack in five territories. He was tall, black hair, golden eyes when his wolf came forward. Every unmated she-wolf in the North wanted him. He had not found his mate yet. Elena kept her head down and tried to hide near the back wall, near the servants. Then the Elder stood up and hit his staff on the floor. "Present the unmated!" One by one, girls walked forward. Beautiful wolves in red dresses, blue dresses. Strong wolves. They shifted their eyes, showing their wolves. Then the Elder saw Elena. His voice changed. "Elena. Born wolfless." Silence. Then whispers. Then laughs. "Powerless Omega," someone said loudly. "Powerless Omega! Powerless Omega!" Two young wolves chanted. Elena wanted to die. Her face burned. She stared at the floor. That is when the air changed. The scent hit her first. Pine. Smoke. Winter forest. A male scent so strong it made her knees weak. Her head snapped up without her permission. Across the hall, Alpha Damir had stood up. His throne had fallen backwards with a crash. His hands were shaking. His golden eyes were locked on hers. Not on the beautiful girls in front. On her. On the grey dress in the back. The whole hall felt it. The mate bond. MINE. His voice was not loud, but it shook the stone walls. The windows rattled. MINE. Elena's heart stopped. Her empty chest, where there had been nothing for eighteen years, suddenly felt warm. For the first time, she felt something. A pull. A heat. Mate. The Moon Goddess had given her Alpha Damir. Two hundred wolves gasped. The beautiful she-wolves in red dresses stepped back, shocked. For one second, Elena was not powerless. She was chosen. She was his. Then a red dress cut between them. Luna Regina. Damir's mother. The current Luna of Blackthorn. Beautiful, but cold. Her eyes were ice. She grabbed her son's arm. "My son will not mate with this," she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "A wolfless Omega? She has no wolf, no family, no bloodline. She will weaken Blackthorn." Behind her, another girl stepped forward. Anya. Damir's younger sister. Nineteen, cruel, spoiled. And she was pulling another girl with her. Selene. Selene was everything Elena was not. Beautiful. Tall. Long black hair, perfect skin. She wore a white dress that cost more than Elena's hut. Her family was rich. Her wolf was strong. She came from Silverfang, the second strongest pack. She was a perfect Luna. Selene looked at Damir and smiled softly. "We brought you a real Luna, brother," Anya said. "Selene. Father agreed. Mother agreed. She is strong. She will give you strong pups." Damir looked confused. His golden eyes flickered. The mate bond was pulling him to Elena, but his mother and sister were pulling him the other way. Selene stepped close and touched his chest. Elena saw her green wolf eyes flash. "I know this is sudden, Alpha," Selene said softly. "But I can be what she can never be." Elena stood alone at the back, shaking. From that day, everything got worse. Selene moved into the pack house. Into the room next to Damir. Elena was still in the hut, but now she was not even allowed to enter the main house. She was told to stay with the servants. She saw Damir only twice in a month. He looked at her with pain, but he did not speak to her. His mother was always with him. Then the framing happened. It was morning. Elena was called to the Great Hall. Everyone was there. Luna Regina was lying on a couch, pale, holding her throat. A healer was next to her. Selene was standing in the middle, holding a small bag. Elena's bag. The small cloth bag where she kept her herbs. Selene was crying. "I found this in her hut," Selene screamed. "Poison! She tried to poison Luna Regina! She put it in her tea!" Elena's blood went cold. "No! That is not mine! I never -" "Liar!" Anya shouted. "You jealous Omega! You wanted to kill my mother because she rejected you!" The whole pack stared at Elena. Two hundred angry eyes. Elena fell to her knees in front of Damir. She grabbed his hands. She was crying so hard she could not breathe. "Damir, please. I swear I didn't do it. Please believe me. You know me. I would never hurt anyone. Please!" Damir looked down at her. At the girl in the grey dress kneeling. At the poison bag. At Selene crying. At his mother nodding. And he made his choice. He pulled his hands away from her. His voice was cold. No mate in it. Just Alpha. "I don't believe you." Three words. Elena broke. Luna Regina smiled weakly from her couch. "Then banish her, my son. As you should have done at birth." Damir turned his back to Elena. He would not even look at her again. "Elena is banished from Blackthorn. She is no longer pack. Take her things and leave her at the border. Now." Broken. Banished. Elena was dragged out of the hall. That night, with one small bag and no shoes, she walked alone into the frozen forest beyond Blackthorn. The snow was to her ankles. No pack. No mate. No wolf. She thought it was the end. She didn't know her 19th birthday was at midnight. And when midnight came, her mighty bloodline would awaken. Her real name was Elena Drago. The name that makes every Alpha in the North bow down in fear. She was the last Royal MoonBlood. More powerful than them all.