THE MOON LUNA GODDESS

CHAPTER 1: REJECTED IN FRONT OF 1000 WOLVES The night of the Blood Moon was supposed to be my mating ceremony. Instead, it became my funeral. The entire Blood Moon Pack stood in a perfect circle. 1000 wolves. 1000 eyes. All of them waiting to watch me break. The bonfire was so high it licked the black sky. Sparks flew up and died like dying stars. The smell of roasted meat and moonflowers filled the air. Thick. Suffocating. And in the center of it all, I knelt in silver chains. The chains were cold. They bit into the skin of my wrists until blood ran down. But I didn’t cry. I learned at 8 years old that crying only made them hit harder. The last time I cried, Aunt Vera locked me in the basement for 3 days. "No weak Omega in this pack," she had hissed. My name is Selene Carter. 18 years old. Packless Omega. The girl everyone called "cursed" because I never shifted. The girl who scrubbed floors until her hands bled. The girl who ate leftovers from the trash. I was 6 when my parents died in the rogue attack. The Alpha said it was "a mercy" to let me stay. I’ve been paying for that mercy with my blood ever since. And the girl standing beside Alpha Damien Blackwood... was my best friend. Damien looked like a god in his black ceremonial robes. 22. Broad shoulders. Gold eyes that every she-wolf in 12 packs dreamed about. The future Alpha King. He didn't look at me. Not once. Not when I patched his arm after training at 14. Not when I told him about my mate mark at 15. Not when I saved him from drowning at 16. He forgot all of it. Mira did. She smiled. Mira, who braided my hair when I cried. Who shared her bread when I had none. Who swore on the Moon Luna Goddess that she would be my bridesmaid. She was wearing my dress. The white one I sewed for 3 months with bleeding fingers. The one I was supposed to wear tonight. Moonflowers were stitched into the hem. My mother's pattern. My chest felt hollow. Like someone had carved out my heart and left only ice. I used to imagine this night. Damien calling my name. The mark on our wrists glowing together. The pack cheering for us. Instead, they were cheering for her. The Elder stepped forward, staff hitting the ground. "Tonight, under the Blood Moon, the Moon Luna Goddess will bless the sacred mating of Alpha Damien and Luna Mira." Gasps ripped through the crowd. Whispers. Because everyone knew. Everyone had seen the silver mate mark on my wrist burn for Damien since I was 15. It glowed every time he walked past. It burned when he smiled at me. Everyone knew he was supposed to be mine. A beta in the front row laughed. "She really thought the Alpha would choose trash?" Another one nodded. "She doesn't even have a wolf. What kind of Luna is that?" I opened my mouth. My voice cracked. "Elder, please, there's been a mistake," "Silence, Omega," Damien cut me off. His voice was ice. Final. He walked to me. Slow. Like I was nothing. Like I was dirt on his boots. He lifted my chin with two fingers. His touch used to make me shake with love. Now it made me shake with fear. The whole pack leaned in. Waiting for blood. "I, Alpha Damien Blackwood," he said loud enough for the trees to hear, "reject you, Selene Carter, as my mate and future Luna." The words hit harder than a punch to the ribs. The air left my lungs. My knees hit the dirt harder. "You are weak." "You are barren." "You have lived 18 years in my pack and never once shifted." He leaned down. Whispered in my ear so only I could hear. "I never wanted you. You were a mistake. And mistakes get erased." Then he stood. Loud again. "The Moon Luna Goddess must have been drunk the day she tied us together." "What a waste." Laughter rolled through the crowd like thunder. Someone threw a rock. It hit my shoulder and I didn't even flinch. I was used to pain. "Pathetic." "Packless trash." "She doesn't even deserve to die on pack land." "Look at her. No wolf. No mate. No future." Mira stepped forward then. She kicked my ankle. Hard. "Get up, servant. Don't ruin my mating ceremony with your filth." My chest constricted. Inside me, the thin silver thread of the mate bond... snapped. I felt it tear. Like my ribs were being ripped out one by one. Like my soul was being peeled from my body. I screamed. The sound tore out of me, raw and animal. I collapsed to the dirt, clutching my chest. Gasping for air that wouldn't come. My mate mark burned white hot, then went dead cold. A scar was left behind. Damien stepped over me like I was garbage. "Guards," he said, bored, already turning away. "Take her to the border. If rogues kill her tonight, that's the Moon Luna Goddess's will." Two warriors grabbed my arms. Dragged me. Past the fire that used to warm me. Past the feast tables I served at. Past my parents' memorial stone. "Please watch over me," I used to whisper there. No one stopped them. Not even my aunt. She just looked away and drank her wine. Red like blood. At the pack border, they shoved me into the Dark Forest. "Run, Omega," one sneered. "Or don't. We don't care if the rogues have you." The second one laughed. "The Blood Moon only comes once." "Waste of time to watch her die." They turned and walked away. Leaving me bleeding in the dark. The forest was black. No moonlight came through. My wolf was silent. Dead. She had never spoken to me. I used to press my hands to my chest at night and beg her to wake up. I was bleeding from my wrists. Cold. Shaking. I was going to die here. Alone. In the dirt. Just like they wanted. Just like I'd always been told I would. Is this it? Is this all I get? 18 years of pain for this? I closed my eyes. Waited for the rogues. Waited for death. That's when I saw the light. An old woman sat under a dead oak tree. Silver hair down to the forest floor. Eyes that glowed like the moon itself. She wasn't cold. She wasn't scared. She was waiting. For me. "Child," she said. Her voice was like wind chimes in a storm. "Do you know why your bond broke so easily?" I spat blood onto the leaves. "Because I'm worthless." The woman tilted her head. "No." She stood. And the ground shook. "The bond broke because it was a lie." "The Moon Luna Goddess doesn't make mistakes, Selene Carter." She cupped my face. "She makes Goddesses." Pain exploded behind my eyes. Memories that weren't mine flooded in. A woman with silver wings. A crown of stars. A war in the sky. Palaces made of moonlight. Armies of wolves bowing. A baby, hidden in a wolf pack. Me. My back arched. My scream tore through the forest. Gold light burst from my chest. The crescent mark on my wrist changed. It grew. Wrapped around my whole arm in glowing Luna marks. Ancient symbols I somehow understood. The language of the Moon. The trees bent away from me. The wind died. Above us, the red Blood Moon turned pure white. It pulsed once. Twice. Like a heartbeat. "The _Moon Luna Goddess_." "The last of your line." "And the war for the throne starts tonight." She vanished into silver dust. The dust smelled like moonflowers. And then I heard it. Howls. From the north. From the east. From the south. Rogue wolves. Dozens. Hundreds. Running toward the power they just felt. Running toward me. I stood. My legs didn't shake anymore. The chains on my wrists melted into gold dust. For the first time in 18 years, I wasn't afraid. For the first time in 18 years, I wasn't alone. In the distance, I heard Damien's voice yelling my name. Panic in it. Too late. The Moon was with me. The power was in me. And if Damien wanted to see what a "weak Omega" looked like... He was about to. Because Queens don't beg. Queens burn. TO BE CONTINUED...