THE. ALPHA'S HUMAN LUNA

Aria Bennett smoothed her blue dress for the third time and told herself to stop. The Pack Hall was packed tonight. Every bench was full, every torch lit, and the whole room smelled like pine smoke and roasted meat. The Full Moon Celebration always brought out the entire territory, but tonight felt different. Tonight felt bigger. She glanced at Ryder standing beside her at the front of the hall. He looked the same as always, tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in his black Alpha cloak with the silver wolf stitched across the chest. But his jaw was tight. His silver eyes kept flicking toward the door. "You okay?" she whispered. "I'm fine," he said. He wasn't looking at her when he said it. Aria pushed the worry down. Five years she had lived in the Alpha Mansion. Five years since Ryder pulled her out of a cage and told her she was free. She still remembered his exact words that day. *You're safe now. Nobody touches you again.* She had believed him with her whole heart back then, and she believed him now, watching him stand at the front of the hall in front of hundreds of wolves who all whispered the same thing when they thought she couldn't hear. *Tonight he'll finally name her Luna.* Aria wanted to laugh at how nervous she felt. She smoothed her dress again. The doors at the far end of the hall groaned open. Every head turned. A woman walked in wearing white robes, the kind only reserved for a Luna-to-be. She had dark hair pinned back with silver combs, sharp cheekbones, and a walk like she already owned the room. Aria had never seen her before in her life. Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Aria looked at Ryder, waiting for him to say something, to explain who this stranger was and why she was dressed like that. He didn't look at Aria at all. He stepped forward. "Ryder?" Aria said, so quiet only he could hear. He kept walking. Straight toward the woman in white. The hall went dead silent as he took her hand. "This is Selene Ashmoor," Ryder said, his voice carrying across the entire room. "My fated mate." For a second Aria thought she misheard him. "The future Luna of Moonshadow Pack," he added. The words hit her like cold water down her spine. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. Then somewhere near the back, someone laughed. It started low, just one voice, and then it spread through the crowd like fire jumping from branch to branch. Aria felt her face burn. She looked around and saw exactly what she expected to see. Smirks. Raised eyebrows. A few pack members outright grinning, delighted to watch the human girl who thought she was somebody finally get put back in her place. *A human, Luna? As if.* She didn't hear who said it. She didn't need to. The words were already crawling under her skin, the same words she'd heard her whole childhood, back when she was property instead of a person. Selene turned to look at her. Just for a second, their eyes met. Something flickered across Selene's face, gone so fast Aria almost thought she imagined it. Then Selene smiled, sweet and warm, exactly like a woman with nothing to hide. "You must be Aria," Selene said, loud enough for the crowd to hear. "Ryder's told me so much about you. I do hope we can be close." More laughter. Aria's throat felt tight. Her hands had gone cold. She looked at Ryder one more time, silently begging him to say something, to explain, to look at her like he used to. He wouldn't meet her eyes. That was the answer. Aria turned and walked out of the Pack Hall without another word. She heard her name being whispered behind her, heard the laughter following her out into the cold night air, but she kept her chin up and her back straight until she reached her room and shut the door. Then she broke. She sank down against the door, pressed both hands over her mouth, and let the sobs come quiet and shaking. Five years. Five years of believing she mattered to him, that she was more than some human he'd rescued out of pity. She had been a fool. By the time her tears slowed, her decision was made. She wasn't staying here to be pitied or mocked. She grabbed the small travel bag from under her bed, the one she'd never had reason to use, and started packing. A soft knock came at her door an hour later. "Aria." It was Ryder's voice. She didn't answer. "Aria, open the door." "Go be with your mate," she said, not bothering to hide the shake in her voice. Silence on the other side. Long enough that she thought he'd left. "I need you to stay in the mansion tonight," he finally said. "It isn't safe outside the walls right now." She yanked the door open, bag already in hand. "Not safe? You just humiliated me in front of the entire pack and now you're worried about my safety?" His jaw tightened. For half a second, something raw crossed his face, something that looked almost like pain. Then it was gone, replaced by that same unreadable calm he always wore as Alpha. "Stay in the mansion," he repeated. "That's an order." "I don't work for you," Aria said. "I'm not your subject. I'm leaving in the morning." She shut the door in his face. She heard him standing there a moment longer before his footsteps finally faded down the hall. The next morning, Aria walked to the front gates with her bag over her shoulder and her head held high, determined to start a new life somewhere Ryder Blackwood's name meant nothing to her. The two guards at the gate exchanged a look when she approached. "Sorry, Miss Bennett," the older one said. "Gates are closed for repairs today." Aria frowned. "Since when?" "This morning," he said, not quite meeting her eyes. She glanced at the gate. It looked exactly the same as it always had. No repairs. No workers. Nothing broken that she could see. "Try again tomorrow," the younger guard added. Aria stood there a long moment, staring at two solid iron gates that had never once been closed in the five years she'd lived here. Something wasn't right. She turned to walk back toward the mansion, and that was when she noticed him. Standing near the training grounds, half hidden behind the stone wall, was Ryder. Watching her. The moment their eyes met, he turned and disappeared around the corner like he hadn't been there at all. Aria's chest tightened. He was the one who closed the gates. .