**Blessed Luna Arising:My Alpha Regretted Rejecting Me.

My name is Luna Nightshade, and on my eighteenth birthday, I learned that having the name Luna was the cruelest joke the Moon Goddess ever played on me. Because in the Blue Moon Pack, there was only one Luna. And it was never going to be me. I stared at my reflection in the cracked bathroom mirror of the Omega quarters. The single bare bulb above me flickered, making my face look even more tired than I felt. My brown hair was thin, pulled back in a messy ponytail because we Omegas weren't allowed to use the good shampoo. My grey uniform was patched at the elbows. Again. But my eyes... my eyes were the same color as storm clouds. My mother once told me they were beautiful. My mother had been dead for eight years. "Luna! Are you still wasting water in there? The Alpha's family needs their breakfast!" The scream came from Gamma Sarah, the kitchen supervisor. I flinched. It was 5 AM. On my birthday. "Coming!" I shouted, my voice hoarse. I hadn't found my wolf yet. Most wolves find theirs at sixteen. I was eighteen today and still... nothing. Empty. Silent inside where other girls said they could hear their wolf howling. That's why they called me the cursed Omega. Wolf-less. Motherless. Worthless. I ran to the kitchen. The packhouse was huge, a mansion built of dark stone and wood, and us Omegas lived in the damp basement. The kitchen was already hot, steam rising from huge pots. I was in charge of chopping, cleaning, and serving. For twelve hours a day. Today was special though. Today was the mating ceremony ball. Every unmated wolf who turned eighteen this year would be presented under the full Blood Moon tonight, and the Moon Goddess would reveal their fated mate. It was the most important night of my life. And somewhere deep in my stupid, hopeful heart, I believed mine would be there. My mate would save me. I had loved one person for five years. In secret. From afar. Alpha Kian Blackwood. He was twenty, two years older than me, the future Alpha of Blue Moon. Six foot two, black hair, eyes like amber fire. Every girl in the pack wanted him. But he was different to me. When I was ten and my mother died, and the other pups threw stones at me calling me an orphan, he had stopped them. He had looked at me and said, "Leave her alone." He didn't remember. But I did. For eight years, I remembered. "Kian will never be your mate, you stupid Omega," Sophia said, bumping into me with a tray. Sophia was Kian's girlfriend, the daughter of Alpha of Red Moon pack. Perfect blonde, perfect curves, perfect wolf. "Your mate is probably some rogue with fleas. Just like you." I kept my head down. "Sorry, Sophia." She smiled, sweet for anyone watching. "Don't be late tonight, Luna. I want everyone to see what a real Omega looks like when she gets rejected. It's entertaining." My hands shook as I chopped carrots. Rejected. The word tasted like blood. By 7 PM, the packhouse was transformed. Fairy lights everywhere, music, the smell of roasted meat and expensive perfume. All the Alphas and Lunas from neighboring packs had arrived in black SUVs. The ballroom was filled with wolves in silk dresses and suits. And I was standing in the corner in a dress Elder Mira had given me. It was old, faded blue, too big, but it was clean. Elder Mira was the only one who remembered my birthday. She had hugged me this morning and whispered, "Your mother said you were blessed, Luna. Remember that tonight." Elder Mira was the pack healer, seventy years old, with kind hands. She had raised me after mother died. The ceremony started. The pack's Beta called out names. "Jasmine River, 18!" A pretty girl stepped forward, trembling. A boy from another pack howled, "MATE!" Everyone cheered. They kissed. One by one. Mate after mate found each other. The room was full of crying, laughing, howling. Then Beta Ethan looked at his list. He paused. His eyes found me in the corner. I saw pity. "Luna Nightshade, 18!" Silence fell. A hundred heads turned to look at the Omega in the cheap blue dress. I heard giggles. Sophia covered her mouth, laughing. My legs felt like water, but I walked forward into the center of the circle, under the huge skylight where the Blood Moon was shining red and huge. The light hit my face. I was shaking so hard. Please, Moon Goddess, I prayed. Please let him be kind. Please. The air shifted. I smelled it first. Dark forest, rain, and coffee. A scent so intoxicating my knees buckled. My heart started beating like a drum. Mate. My mate was here. I looked up, following the scent. And I locked eyes with him. Alpha Kian Blackwood. He was standing by the Alpha throne, in a black suit, his hair perfect, his amber eyes wide. He was staring at me. He smelled it too. His nostrils flared. His hands clenched. For one second, his face... his face softened. His lips parted. I saw shock, then something like wonder. My mate. It was him. My childhood hero was my mate. The Moon Goddess had heard me. Tears filled my eyes. I took a step toward him, my hands reaching out. "Kian..." I whispered. Then Sophia grabbed his arm. "Kian? What is it? What's that smell?" That broke the spell. His expression changed. Fast. The wonder vanished. Horror replaced it. Disgust. He looked at me, at my cheap dress, at my thin hair, at my scarred hands from kitchen work, at the Omega mark burned into my neck. And he looked at Sophia, beautiful, rich, powerful. He made his choice in two seconds. His face turned to stone. Cold Alpha stone. He stepped forward, away from Sophia, toward me, and his voice, amplified by his Alpha command so every single wolf in the room could hear, boomed across the silent ballroom. "I, Alpha Kian Blackwood, future Alpha of the Blue Moon Pack, REJECT you, Luna Nightshade, as my mate and Luna." The words were a physical blade. I felt them slice through my chest, through my soul. My bond, which had just formed one second ago, thin as spider silk but bright as moonlight, SHATTERED. I screamed. It wasn't a human scream. It was the scream of a soul being ripped apart. I fell to my knees. The pain was white hot, everywhere. My heart felt like it was being torn out of my chest and stamped on. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't see. Through my tears, I saw him. He didn't even flinch. His amber eyes were cold. "I cannot accept a weak, wolf-less Omega as my Luna," he said, louder, for show. "The Blue Moon Pack deserves a strong Luna. Not this... thing." Everyone laughed. Sophia laughed loudest. "Good choice, Alpha!" someone shouted. Beta Ethan tried to step forward, "Kian, you can't—" "I can. I have," Kian snapped. Elder Mira cried out, "No! Moon Goddess, no!" I was on the floor, gasping. My blue dress was dirty now. The Blood Moon light turned my tears red. I had no wolf to comfort me. I was completely alone inside my own body, feeling the rejection bond snap and poison my blood. This was worse than being wolf-less. This was being mate-less. Marked as rejected. No wolf would ever want me now. I forced myself to stand. My legs were shaking. Blood was dripping from my nose from the pain. I wiped it with the back of my hand. I looked at Kian one last time. My mate. My Alpha. My first love. He wouldn't meet my eyes. "I, Luna Nightshade..." my voice was broken, barely a whisper, but I forced the ancient words out, because if I didn't, the pain would never stop. "Accept your rejection." As soon as I said it, the last thread broke. I felt empty. Hollow. Like someone had scooped out everything inside me. Sophia clapped. "Well, that was dramatic. Someone get the Omega back to the kitchen where she belongs." But I didn't go to the kitchen. I ran. I ran out of the ballroom, out of the packhouse, into the cold October forest behind our territory, barefoot, my blue dress tearing on branches. I ran until my feet bled. I ran until I couldn't hear the music and laughter anymore. I collapsed at the edge of Echo Ridge, the forbidden forest. It was cursed. No one entered. The trees there were white and dead. The Blood Moon was directly above me now, huge, bleeding light onto my skin. I was eighteen. Rejected. Wolf-less. Alone. "Why?" I screamed at the Moon. At the Goddess. "My mother said I was blessed! Why did you curse me with his name and then let him reject me? Why!" I beat my fists against the frozen ground until my knuckles bled. Then, the wind stopped. The forest went completely silent. Even the insects stopped chirping. The Blood Moon light, which had been red, turned... white. Pure, blinding white, focused only on me, like a spotlight. My body started to burn. Not the pain of rejection. A different burn. Deep in my spine, in my blood. I screamed again, but this time, something answered from inside me. A voice. Female. Ancient. Powerful. Not mine. *Finally, little one. I have been waiting for you.* In my mind, I saw eyes open. Huge, silver, wise eyes. *You are not wolf-less, Luna. You are wolf-full. You carry ME.* My back arched off the ground. My bones cracked. My skin glowed white. And for the first time in eighteen years, I heard my wolf howl. It wasn't a normal howl. It shook the entire forbidden forest. The white trees bowed. It was the howl of the first wolf. --- **End of Chapter 1**