The Alpha's Biggest Regret-Claiming the Fake Luna

The heat of the brazier scorched my face, but it was nothing compared to the agony tearing through my chest. In front of seven assembled packs, Alpha Rayne of the Frostpine Pack tossed my mate ring into the flames. He tilted his chin, a dark sneer curving his lips. "A wolfless, lowborn Omega who hasn't shifted at eighteen? You think you're fit to be my Luna?" I dropped to my knees, reaching into the burning coals to retrieve the silver band. Before my fingers could close around it, the heavy heel of Rayne's boot slammed down on my hand. Bones ground against stone. "Pick it up on your knees," his voice could have frozen steel. "That's exactly how a pathetic wolf like you should act." Laughter erupted across the grand hall. Through my blurred vision, I saw my stepsister, Nasha, sitting on his throne. She was wearing the Luna ceremony dress—my dress. She trailed her fingers over the crescent moon necklace resting on her collarbone. My mother's necklace. Her smile dripped with venom masked as pity. "Don't blame Alpha Rayne, sister," Nasha murmured, perfectly playing the innocent. "He simply realized you aren't worthy of him." Not worthy. I gritted my teeth against the pain and looked up, only to see three men descending from the high dais. Beta Cole. Gamma Samuel, the Lead Warrior of the border. And Eli, the Pack Healer. Cole unfastened his heavy dark cloak and wrapped it around my trembling shoulders. He dropped to one knee, ignoring the collective gasp of the crowd. "If Rayne doesn't want you," Cole's voice was a low rumble that carried across the hall, "I do." Fury rolled off Rayne in waves. He kicked the brazier, sending sparks flying. "Are you three planning to commit treason over a wolfless piece of trash?" Before anyone could answer, the crushed silver ring in my palm began to seep black blood. My blood. A deafening chime echoed through the pack house. The heavy, dust-covered doors of the Moon Goddess Temple groaned open. The Luna's Trial bell had rung. A sound not heard in a century. "Who gave permission for the trial bell to ring at my Mating Ball?" Rayne shoved past his guards, his expression murderous as he stalked toward the temple doors. I huddled inside Cole's cloak, my palm throbbing with white-hot agony. The broken silver band was embedded in my flesh, the pain making my breath hitch. Elder Ogg was the first to lose his composure. The old wolf, who usually paraded around spouting ancient pack laws, scrambled down the dais like a frightened pup. "Hand over the ring!" Ogg demanded, reaching for me. Cole's arm shot out, blocking him. "Her blood has sealed the band. Touch her, and you'll lose that hand." Ogg's jaw ticked. He spun toward Rayne. "Alpha, the trial bell shouldn't be ringing. This lowborn Omega used a forbidden spell! She must be thrown into the dungeons immediately." Rayne turned to look at me. There wasn't an ounce of guilt in his eyes. Only the irritation of an Alpha whose authority had been challenged. "Are you done putting on a show, Ivy?" I clutched the broken ring, warm blood dripping through my fingers and staining the marble floor. "When you crushed it under your boot, did you ever consider it might wake the Goddess?" Nasha jumped up from the throne. The hem of my Luna dress dragged across the steps. She wanted to make sure everyone saw her in it. "Sister, don't push the blame onto Alpha Rayne!" She pressed her hands over my mother's necklace, her eyes welling with fake tears. "You've always been jealous of me. You even tried to steal what my mother left me. And now you trigger the bell to ruin Rayne's coronation?" I stared at her. "That necklace belonged to my mother." Nasha shrank back behind Rayne, trembling. "Look at her, Alpha Rayne. She's using her dead mother to bully me again." Rayne stepped forward, reaching out to snatch the broken ring from my bloody hand. Gamma Samuel stepped between us. The Lead Warrior was still in his border armor, the scent of the barren wastelands and dried blood clinging to him. "Alpha," Samuel said, his voice level. "Once the trial bell rings, the rejected mate is under the protection of the Goddess." Rayne's eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to teach me the law, Samuel?" Samuel didn't back down. "I've guarded the borders for twelve years. I've memorized the pack laws seven times over. If the Alpha needs a refresher, I can recite it for the entire hall." The laughter died. Every Alpha from the seven visiting packs was watching Rayne. Rayne hated looking weak in front of outsiders. He closed his eyes, reining in his wolf, and when he opened them, his tone softened. "Ivy. Come here." I didn't move. He held out his hand, palm up, as if he hadn't just crushed my bones a moment ago. "Enough of this tantrum. Give me the ring, and I won't punish you for disturbing the temple." A bitter laugh tore from my throat. "And what exactly is my crime?" A muscle ticked in his jaw. "Your crime is knowing you are wolfless, yet still delusional enough to think you could be Luna." "My crime is holding onto the mate ring you gave me?" "That was a childhood joke." "My crime is your inner wolf submitting to me when I was just a baby?" Rayne's expression shuttered. Ice settled over his features. Nasha grabbed his bicep. "Sister, stop forcing him! He's been tortured by his feral episodes for years. The only reason he kept you around was because your blood eased his pain. How could you mistake pity for a mate bond?" Whispers erupted across the hall. My ears rang. A blood bag. That was all I had ever been to him. Every time I slit my wrist to brew his medicine, every time he held me afterward... it was just him using me. He and Nasha had twisted my devotion into pathetic begging. Eli stepped to my side, pressing a clean white cloth to my palm. "You're losing too much blood." Rayne's upper lip curled in disgust. "Eli, you are the Pack Healer, not her personal servant." Eli didn't even look up. "If we wait any longer, Alpha, she'll lose the hand." Suddenly, Ogg lunged again, aiming for the ring. Cole caught the Elder's wrist in a vise grip. "The temple doors are open, Elder. Are you trying to destroy evidence?" Sweat beaded on Ogg's forehead, but he bared his teeth. "It's tainted! It must be confiscated." Looking at the sweat on the Elder's face, the numb humiliation in my chest finally cracked open. I had spent three years restoring ancient grimoires. I knew the old laws. If a fated mate is publicly rejected, the rejected may invoke the Luna's Trial—provided the rejector had siphoned their life force through a blood pact. I lacked proof. But now, with the evidence bleeding in my hand, Ogg was more terrified than Rayne. Rayne scoffed. "Ivy, do you honestly think a ringing bell is going to change anything?" He stepped closer, dropping his voice so only I could hear. "Wolfless is wolfless. Even if the temple opens, it's not going to hand you a wolf." Nasha smirked. "Just give the ring to the Elder, sister. Kneeling once is better than being dragged to the Breeding Camp." I slowly raised my injured hand. Black blood oozed from the cracks in the silver ring, tracing a perfect crescent moon across my palm. The hall fell dead silent again. From deep within the temple, a second bell tolled. Cole tightened his grip on my uninjured arm, shielding me. "Don't give it to them, Ivy."