Vengeful Luna

4

The chandeliers sparkled like falling stars, gold light glittering over a hundred faces I barely recognized. Kael stood beside me, his hand resting lightly on the small of my back as if we were still a united front—Alpha and Luna, untouchable. But I could feel the hollowness beneath it. Like something brittle pretending to be whole.

“Alpha Noren of Cliffshade,” the herald announced.

Another guest. Another wolf with sharp eyes and political smiles. I offered the customary nod, lips curved in the Luna's gracious mask I’d worn since the moment I stepped into the banquet hall.

Inside, I was drowning.

I hadn’t confronted Maris. Not yet. I told myself it was because I needed more proof. But the truth was simpler: I didn’t want it to be her. If I said it out loud—if I accused her—the illusion would shatter completely.

And there would be no going back.

So I smiled, and I played my part, and I searched the room for signs I might have missed before. Maris stood across the hall, laughing with a Beta from another pack, her hand resting casually on a glass of blood-red wine. She looked radiant. Unbothered.

Kael, too, was doing a masterful job. His mask hadn’t cracked once.

They were good at hiding.

Or maybe… I was just too good at denying what I didn’t want to see.

“Presenting Alpha Darius of Hollow Fang,” the herald called.

My stomach clenched.

Of course.

The room stiffened with the announcement, and I felt Kael’s posture shift beside me.

I turned, and there he was.

Darius Vale.

His reputation preceded him—ruthless, calculating, cold-blooded even among Alphas. We’d gone to school together, though calling us classmates was generous. He barely acknowledged me back then, and when he did, it was usually to argue over training rankings or mock my “charity-case packless origins.” I’d called him names too; ones that would never be found in any scroll.

So why was my heart beating faster now?

He moved through the room like he owned it. Tall, dark-haired, with silver-threaded cuffs and a glint of bored disdain in his expression that said he’d rather be anywhere else. When his gaze flicked to mine, just for a second, it lingered a little longer than it should have.

Then he turned away, as if it meant nothing.

As if I meant nothing.

Fine. That was mutual.

The rest of the banquet blurred together. More toasts. More empty conversations. Kael was pulled into strategic discussions, and I was left to smile beside visiting Lunas who wanted to talk about politics and pups and silk vendors.

I couldn’t breathe. Everything in me screamed to move, to run, to get away from this gilded performance of a life.

So I did.

I slipped out through the garden corridor, ignoring the curious glance from the servers at the door, and stepped into the cold night. The moon hung low and full above the stone courtyard. The chill was sharp against my bare shoulders, but it cut through the fog of my mind like ice water.

I didn’t know how long I stood there. Maybe minutes. Maybe longer. My pulse was still thudding in my ears.

I hadn’t meant to run.

One second I was enduring another conversation about border treaties and silk tariffs, the next I was ducking past the edge of the banquet hall, through a servant’s passage, and out into the open air.

Moonlight washed over the old courtyard, soft and silver, but it did little to quiet the pounding of my heart.

I sucked in a breath. Then another.

Everything about tonight itched beneath my skin like a wound that refused to scab over. His touch, his smile, his forced affection. And across the room, Maris had looked so serene, so polished, not a hint of guilt or betrayal in her perfect face. It made me feel like I was going insane.

So I ran.

And I hated that it felt like relief.

I didn’t hear him until he spoke.

“Well, well. I thought I smelled desperation and self-loathing.”

I spun around instantly, heart stuttering—only to find a figure leaning casually against the stone archway.

Alpha Darius Vale.

Of course.

He was dressed in formal black, with silver details sharp enough to match his tongue. His dark hair had grown longer since college, but those eyes? Still the same: cold, intelligent, and maddeningly unreadable.

I groaned. “Of all the wolves in the world… Why you?”

He smirked. “You never could run in a straight line, Selene. You always end up in my path eventually.”

“Please. I outran you more than once back at the academy.”

“You tripped me once. In the mud pit.”

“It worked, didn’t it?” I said flatly, crossing my arms. “You nearly lost a fang.”

“And you nearly got expelled for unsanctioned combat outside a simulation ring.”

“Which you started by mocking my lineage in front of half the barracks.”

His grin widened. “I said you were scrappy. That’s a compliment.”

“Scrappy is what you call a stray mutt. Not a Luna.”

He pushed off the wall and began walking toward me, his expression amused, but watchful. Always calculating, always two steps ahead—just like in the war games.

“So,” he drawled, “what is the Blackmoor Luna doing out here, alone in the dark, while her mate plays diplomat inside?”

I stiffened. “None of your business.”

He circled me slightly, like he was still sizing me up for a spar. “You know, I always wondered how long you’d last playing obedient consort. Didn’t strike me as your style.”

“And you still don’t strike me as someone worth listening to,” I snapped, refusing to give him the satisfaction.

He paused, c****d his head. “Touché.”

Silence fell between us then—thick and loaded. There was something different in the way he looked at me now. Less mocking. More... intrigued.

“You look like a wolf in a trap,” he said finally. “Like you’re chewing your own leg off and trying to smile through the pain.”

I flinched.

That cut too close.

He didn’t miss it.

“You can go back to whatever stone you crawled out from now, Darius.”

“I could,” he said. “But it’s far more entertaining out here. Especially when my old rival’s mask is cracking.”

He moved to leave then, but paused beside me—so close I could feel the heat of him, the wild power he carried like a second skin.

“You were always sharper than most, Selene. Even if they never gave you credit for it.” He looked down at me, voice lower now. “Start using those instincts again. Before someone takes advantage of how long you’ve silenced them.”

And then he was gone.

Just like that.

But I stayed frozen, his words rattling around in my skull like a warning bell.

Start using those instincts again.

Because deep down, I already knew what they were screaming at me.

***

The morning sun streamed through the tall windows of the dining hall, golden and too warm for the cold in my chest.

I sat at the head of the long oak table, hands folded neatly in my lap. The tea in my cup had gone cold. I hadn’t taken a single sip.

Kael sat to my left, still groggy, his hair unkempt from sleep but somehow still effortlessly regal. He glanced toward the door, then at me.

“Why is Maris joining us?” he asked, voice low, puzzled but trying to sound casual. “Did something happen?”

“Yes,” I said simply. “Everything happened.”

He blinked at me, clearly not expecting that answer, but before he could press, the door opened and Maris stepped in—bright-eyed, cheerful, her smile faltering just slightly when she saw how still I was.

“Selene,” she greeted me with forced warmth, walking over to kiss my cheek like she always did. I didn’t move.

Kael cleared his throat. “Did… you two plan this?”

I turned my gaze to both of them. My voice came out even, polite. The kind of calm that should’ve frightened them, if they’d known me better.

“I just thought we should all share a meal. Since the three of us have become… so close.”

Maris gave a nervous laugh. “Selene, what are you—?”

I cut her off gently. “Why don’t you both tell me how long you’ve been sleeping together?”

The words dropped into the space like a blade.

Maris froze.

Kael stiffened beside me.

“W–what are you talking about?” Maris asked, eyes wide. “Selene, that’s—what kind of-?”

“Don’t insult my intelligence, Maris,” I said sharply, my calm slipping for just a second. “You could at least have the dignity to lie better.”

Kael leaned forward. “Selene, this is ridiculous-”

“How long?” I asked again, this time looking him directly in the eye. “Spare me the speeches. Just answer the question.”

For a moment, he hesitated.

Then, with a shrug that felt like a dagger to the gut, he said, “Six months.”

My throat tightened, but I didn’t flinch.

Not yet.

Maris gasped. “Kael-”

He kept his eyes on me. “She asked. I’m done lying.”

I stared at him, numb.

No apology. No remorse.

And then he added, “I’m in love with her.”

The room went deathly quiet.

Something in my chest cracked, but I didn’t let it show.

“I see,” I whispered.

Maris looked at me, her face pale. “Selene, I never meant for this to happen. We-”

“You never meant to betray your best friend?” I cut in, smiling bitterly. “Of course not. Whoever does?”

Kael stood slowly, his posture rigid. “I never wanted to hurt you. But we both know we were never-”

“Don’t,” I snapped, standing too. “Don’t rewrite history now to justify your choices. You could’ve told me. Instead, you made me look like a fool.”

Maris stepped toward me. “Please-”

I stepped back.

“No. You made your choice. Both of you did.”

I let the silence hang there. I needed them to hear it; the finality in my voice.

Kael’s jaw flexed, but he didn’t argue.

And that told me everything I needed to know.

“I won’t stop being Luna. Not yet. I’ll stay until I decide how this end.”

I looked at both of them one last time. Maris was crying now. Kael looked… relieved.

I turned and walked out without another word.

Let them sit in their silence.

Let them feel the emptiness they'd created.

Because for the first time, I wasn’t breaking.

I was becoming something else.