Alpha's Regret: The Forsaken Luna

Chapter 3: Into the Darkness

Rhiannon's POV

I didn't stop running until the packhouse was a blur behind me.

The forest swallowed me whole. Branches clawed at my dress, ripping the fabric. Roots tried to trip me. I didn't care. My chest burned—not from exertion, but from the phantom bond still screaming where it had been torn away.

Lies. All lies.

His hands on my skin. His mouth on mine. His voice promising forever.

I love you. You're mine. Nothing changes that.

I sobbed, the sound tearing out of me like something feral. My vision blurred with tears. I stumbled over a root and crashed to my knees, dirt smudging my ruined dress.

How could I have been so stupid?

Six months. Six months of sneaking around, of believing his whispered promises, of thinking I was special.

And he'd thrown me away like garbage in front of the entire pack.

The pain in my chest intensified. Physical now, not just emotional. I pressed my hand to my stomach, nausea rolling through me in waves.

That's when I realized.

The sickness. The exhaustion. The way my body had felt different these past few weeks.

No. Please, no.

But I knew.

I was pregnant.

The sob that ripped from my throat was animalistic. I collapsed fully onto the ground, my fingers digging into the dirt as the truth crushed me.

Darius's child. Growing inside me. A piece of the man who'd just destroyed me.

"Gods," I whispered. "What do I do?"

The forest was silent. Even the birds had abandoned me.

I didn't know how long I sat there. Minutes. Hours. The sun began to set, casting long shadows through the trees.

That's when I felt it.

A pull. Deep and primal, tugging at something buried in my chest. It came from deeper in the forest—the Forbidden Zone. The place where wolves went to die. Where ancient magic lingered and nothing came back alive.

I should have turned around.

Should have crawled back to the pack and begged for scraps.

But what was left for me there?

Nothing.

I had nothing.

Then go forward.

The thought wasn't mine. It was older. Wilder. A voice from somewhere deep inside me that I'd never heard before.

I stood on shaking legs.

And I walked toward the pull.

The trees grew twisted the deeper I went. The air turned cold, biting through my torn dress. My feet bled from rocks and thorns, leaving a trail of red behind me.

But the pull grew stronger. Warmer. Like a golden thread replacing the one Darius had destroyed.

Come home, it whispered. Come home, daughter of silver.

I stumbled into a clearing.

At its center stood a woman.

She was impossibly beautiful—silver hair cascading down her back like liquid moonlight, eyes glowing molten gold. She wore robes that shimmered with starlight, and power radiated from her in waves that made the air hum.

"Rhiannon," she said. Her voice was ancient. Kind. Familiar, though I'd never heard it before.

"Who are you?" I croaked.

"I am Nyx. Guardian of the Chimera bloodline." She stepped closer—no, she floated, her feet inches above the ground. "And you, little one, are the last of our kind."

I shook my head. "I'm wolfless. I'm nothing."

"You are everything." Her hand reached out, brushing my cheek. Warmth flooded through me, chasing away the cold and pain. "Your mother hid your heritage to protect you. But tonight, you were cast out. The bond you felt—the rejection—it shattered the seal she placed on your power."

"I don't understand—"

"You will." Her golden eyes burned brighter. "Your mother was Chimera. Your father was wolf. You are both and neither—a hybrid with power beyond anything these wolves can comprehend."

The words swirled in my head, too big to grasp.

"The pain you feel," Nyx continued softly, "is not just heartbreak. It's your true self waking. Fighting to break free." She pressed her palm to my chest, right over my heart. "But first, you must survive the awakening."

The ground beneath me began to shake.

"What—"

"Do not fear the pain, Rhiannon." Nyx's voice echoed, multiplying. "Let it forge you into steel. Let it burn away the girl who believed in false promises. What emerges will be a queen."

Silver light erupted from her palm, slamming into my chest.

I screamed.

The pain was worse than the rejection.

Worse than anything I'd ever imagined.

My bones cracked, breaking and reforming. My skin burned like I'd been thrown into fire. Something inside me moved—writhing, expanding, demanding space.

I fell to my knees, clawing at the dirt. My fingers elongated, sharpening into claws. Silver fur burst through my skin in patches, painful and wrong.

Breathe, Nyx's voice commanded in my head. Breathe through it.

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. There was only agony—

My spine arched. Snapped. Reformed.

My jaw extended, teeth sharpening to points.

My legs twisted, bones grinding as they reshaped.

And then, suddenly—

Silence.

I gasped, my vision clearing. I was on all fours, but my hands weren't hands anymore. They were paws—massive, silver, tipped with razor claws that gleamed in the moonlight.

I looked down at my body.

Fur. Silver and shimmering like liquid metal. Muscles coiled beneath my skin, powerful and foreign. My senses exploded—I could hear the heartbeat of a rabbit a hundred yards away. Smell the rain coming from miles off. See in perfect clarity despite the darkness.

"Your first shift," Nyx said, pride in her voice. "A Chimera's form is unique to them. You are not bound to one shape, Rhiannon. You can become anything your power demands."

I stared at my claws, my heart—or whatever this new form had—racing.

This wasn't possible.

I was wolfless. Broken. Nothing.

"You were never nothing," Nyx said, reading my thoughts. "You were sealed. Hidden. Protected." Her expression darkened. "Your mother bound your power at birth. She knew enemies would come for you if they sensed what you were. But tonight, the rejection shattered that seal. You are free now."

Free.

The word should have brought relief.

Instead, it brought rage.

"Why now?" I whispered, my voice a growl. "Why did it take him destroying me for this to happen?"

"Because pain," Nyx said softly, "is the greatest catalyst for transformation."

I shifted back to human form—instinctively, painfully—and collapsed onto the ground. My body ached everywhere, but beneath the pain was something new.

Power.

Raw, untamed, mine.

Darius had thrown me away.

The pack had laughed at me.

They thought I was nothing.

"I'm going to make them regret it," I said quietly. "All of them."

Nyx smiled—sharp and fierce. "Good. Then let's begin your training."

She offered her hand.

I took it.