The Alpha's Shadow Luna

Chapter 6

I turned away before I could cry, but not before I caught a couple of the younger wolves, pups, really, gawking at me, their eyes wide and full of something I refused to call pity. They were only in their late teens, but even they knew his reaction was wrong. Yet here I was at 23, too numb to defend myself. Honestly … I was in shock. Shane has never openly humiliated me to this extent.

I told myself not to run. I told myself to keep my back straight, to walk with dignity, even as I felt their laughter gnaw at me from behind.

I made it to the door before the tears started. I let the cold night air bite my cheeks, hoping it would numb me to what I’d just lost, but it didn’t.

If anything, it made it sharper, every detail burning in the afterimage.

I was nothing. Whatever Shane and I had it was obvious it was gone. This relationship was over. I wouldn’t cling to it anymore.

I’d made it barely twenty feet from the door before the night stopped me. I let the cold burn my cheeks raw, let my vision fog in the wind, until I was sure the tears had frozen into nothing. I wasn’t going to let anyone see me fall apart. I told myself I could wait out here until the crowd thinned, then confront Shane about ending our relationship. That was the plan, at least, until I heard the ripple of voices behind the heavy doors, a change in pitch that meant something new was happening.

It was Mary’s entrance, unmistakable even when I couldn’t see her. Her voice, cutting above the rest. I hovered at the edge of the porch, hunched into my sweater, arms folded tight. I could see her through the window, hair braided back with silver wire, pale skin gleaming against the navy blue of her dress. She walked with a dancer’s poise, every step calculated to draw eyes. She scanned the hall with a predator’s focus and locked onto Shane at the head table, her lips curling into a smile.

Mary crossed the room in five deliberate strides, never looking anywhere but at Shane. When she reached him, the entire table quieted, waiting for whatever would come next. She rested her hand lightly on his shoulder, just a whisper of contact, but it was enough to freeze him mid-sentence. For a second, they just stared at each other, two magnets locked in a silent dare.

“I brought you something,” Mary said. Her voice was velvet, low but clear enough to carry to the edges of the hall. She unwrapped a bundle from her bag, a long, narrow box, lined in dark cloth, and set it in front of Shane. The silver glinted even in the light, the hilt chased with old family sigils and intricate knotwork. The blade was not even a weapon. It was a decoration.

Mary’s fingers lingered on the box as she spoke. “It’s from the Moonlight Memories store.” She smiled, flashing just enough teeth. “I picked it out just for you.”

Shane’s whole body changed. The tension in his shoulders melted; his face, which had been stone moments ago, suddenly came alive. He picked up the dagger, ran his thumb along the edge, and for the first time all night, he looked up at someone like he actually saw them. “This is perfect,” he said. His voice was low, almost reverent. “Exactly what I needed.”

Their hands met over the box, fingers touching just a moment too long for propriety. They held each other’s gaze and the room seemed to pulse with the electricity of it.

I shrank against the wall, heart pounding in my ears. I couldn’t look away. My hands were still balled in fists, nails biting into the rejected pendant in my pocket. I forced my breath slow, counting the seconds as Shane and Mary’s exchange stretched out, each heartbeat a reminder of how different things were when Mary gave you something, how easily she bent the world around her.

Shane lifted the dagger, weighing it in his palm. “You know me too well,” he said, his voice carrying just enough intimacy that I felt it in my teeth. “Thank you, Mary.”

She leaned in, close enough that her hair brushed his cheek, and whispered something just for him. Whatever it was, it made him laugh. The sound was rough and easy, the way it used to be when we’d run together before all this started.

I stood outside, shivering in the doorway, watching my sister and my fiance play out a dance I would never be a part of.

I turned away, breath coming fast and shallow, my throat thick with humiliation. The world spun around Mary and Shane, and I was just an errant moon, always out of phase, never able to catch the light.

I pressed my back to the icy wood of the porch. Yeah, it was time to put an end to this s**t. I was done being the object of humiliation. In my pocket, the wood pendant dug into my fingers, sharper than any blade. I clenched it hard, bitter about the effort and work I put into it. How I'd carefully selected the wood piece … pathetic.

The cold should have hurt by now, but I barely felt it. I sat on the low stone wall behind the main hall, knees drawn up to my chest, cheek pressed to the rough granite. The only warmth was from my hands, still clutching the gift Shane had left behind. I wanted to throw it as far as I could—into the woods, into the river, anywhere but here—but my fingers wouldn’t let go. Maybe some part of me thought if I held it tight enough, it would hurt less.

I caught snatches of voices through the old, warped window above me, the glass so thin you could hear every word if you listened close.

At first, I didn’t want to. But then I heard Mary’s voice soft, coaxing, the way she got when she wanted something. I pressed closer, the stone biting my ribs.

“I’m surprised you didn’t just tell her off,” Mary was saying, and I could picture the way she leaned in, her head tilted, eyes wide and innocent. “She never was any good at letting go.”

Shane’s reply was a low rumble. “You know how it is. Your brother watches everything. If I dumped her outright, there’d be hell to pay. I worry how he would treat you if I leave her for you.”

There was a pause, the kind that’s full of shared understanding. Then Mary laughed, the sound slicing right through me. “He has always been hard on me.”

He snorted. “He’s blinded by Leah’s work. She does everything he asks and acts like the perfect sister to him. It’s his loss that he is missing out on knowing the better sister.”

I heard movement, the scuff of boots on wood. “So what now?” Mary asked. “You just keep pretending?”

There was a long silence. Then Shane spoke again, voice clearer, more determined than I’d ever heard it. “I can’t keep pretending with your sister. I love you, Mary. I always have.”

My heart stopped. For a moment, I didn’t know if I was breathing at all. The words hung in the air, heavy, like a blanket thrown over my head.

Mary’s answer was quieter, but sharp with meaning. “Then why the charade with Leah?”

Another silence, then Shane’s voice, hard and flat: “Politics. Your brother’s the alpha. He’s always favored Leah, even when it makes no sense. If I show him I’m loyal, maybe he’ll finally get off my back.”

I flinched, the shame worse than any slap. I’d been nothing more than a pawn, a prop, a placeholder until Shane could get what he really wanted.

Mary wasn’t done. “I don’t know why he hates me so much,” she said, her tone half sulk, half calculation. “It’s not like I ever did anything to him.”

“You scare him,” Shane said, almost admiring. “You’re better at this than anyone. Even him.”

She laughed again. “I like it when you say things like that.” A pause, then, in a voice thick with promise, “So you’ll come to me tonight?”

Shane’s answer was immediate. “I’ll be there. We won’t be sleeping.”

The words punched the air from my lungs. I doubled over, the pendant finally slipping from my grip, tumbling into the dirt at my feet. I stared at it, unable to move, watching as the string unraveled and the little wolf twisted on its side, already dirty, already forgotten.

I pressed my fist to my mouth to keep from making a sound. I wanted to scream, to break something,preferably my sister and Shane.

Inside, the voices faded, replaced by the thud of footsteps and the creak of floorboards. I heard Shane’s laugh, as he and Mary slipped away from the crowd.

I thought back to the beginning, those rare moments when I’d felt chosen. It had all been a lie. He used me to get close to Anton because my brother trusted me the most. He trusted me so much that when I suggested making Shane the beta, he didn’t hesitate.

I squeezed my hands into cold fists. It felt like the world had never been for me. I was a shadow, always standing behind the stars.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand, picked up the pendant, and tucked it deep in my pocket. This pendant would remind me of the pain. It would remind me that my pain was real, but it would not break me.

Above me, the moon shone sharp and pale. It didn’t care who watched, or who hurt, or who was left out in the dark.

The moon depended on itself to shine … maybe I should do the same.