His Moonlight Angel

Akira's POV I’m Akira Woods — a member of the Moonlight Pack. At least… that’s what I tell myself. But how do you call yourself a member of a pack that takes pleasure in breaking you? A pack that should protect you, yet finds joy in your pain? Sometimes I wonder if I truly belong here — or if I’m just the ghost they keep around to torment when life gets too peaceful. I was the punching bag — the outlet for every burst of rage, every passing frustration. Whenever someone felt the urge to hit something… they chose me. It’s strange how pain becomes a routine. At first, it burns — it cuts, it screams inside your head. But then… it settles, like an old friend you can’t get rid of. You start to expect it. You start to fear the days it doesn’t come, because that silence only means it’s gathering strength for the next storm. Living among those who were supposed to be my family was its own kind of nightmare. A twisted irony — the pack meant to protect me from the world was the one I needed protection from. I was a loner — not by choice, but by design. They made sure of that. No one wanted to be seen with the weakling, the broken one, the disgrace. Once upon a time, I wasn’t like this. I wasn’t weak. My wolf was strong — fierce, even. But as the beatings grew worse, something inside me began to fade. Her voice — my wolf — grew faint, like a whisper slipping through the cracks of my soul. Now, there’s only silence where her strength used to be. And that silence… is the most painful thing of all. Maybe she was mad at me. My wolf, I mean. Mad that I never fought back. Mad that I let them hurt me. Or maybe… she was just too weak from all the years of pain I’d endured. Sometimes I couldn’t tell anymore where her silence ended and my exhaustion began. It wasn’t always like this, though. There was a time — a faint, distant memory — when I was happy. I was told the story so many times it almost felt like a fairy-tale. When I was just old enough to understand, they said my parents left me in a basket at the border of the pack’s territory. The border guards found me crying in the cold and took me to the pack house. That’s when the Luna saw me. She took me in without hesitation, wrapped me in her arms like I was something precious — something she had been waiting for. They said she smiled when she saw me, that she called me her miracle. The Luna had only one child — a son. And after his birth, the healers told her she would never bear another. Perhaps that’s why she took me in. Perhaps she saw in me the daughter she could never have. I was happy once — truly happy — living with Alpha Rowan, Luna Selara, and their son, Rex. They were the Woods — kind, noble, and everything a pack leader family should be. It was Luna Selara who named me Akira. She said it meant “bright” — that I was the light that entered her life when she had given up hope. She even gave me their last name, Woods, as though I was truly one of them. For a long time, I believed I was. Alpha Rowan and Luna Selara ruled with compassion. They treated everyone equally, no matter their status. The pack thrived under their care, and for the first time in my life, I knew what peace felt like. But peace doesn’t last long in my world. Neither did my happiness. It all ended the night Luna Selara died. They said it was my fault — that’s what Alpha Rowan never failed to remind me of every single day of my life. And the others… they never forgave me. Some didn’t even try to hide their hatred. It happened during a rogue attack. Chaos swept through the pack like wildfire — growls, screams, the metallic scent of blood in the air. Luna Selara found me hiding near the training grounds, trembling. She grabbed my shoulders, her voice firm yet gentle. “Akira, listen to me. Stay hidden in the passage — no matter what happens. Do you understand?” I nodded, but fear clawed at my chest. The sound of battle echoed through the walls — snarls, the cracking of bones. I waited only a moment before panic took over. The silence felt worse than the noise. I couldn’t bear it. So I disobeyed. I stepped out of the passage, my heart hammering, searching for her. And that’s when I saw her — my Luna — fighting off a rogue twice her size. “Akira! Go back inside!” she screamed. Her eyes were desperate, her voice shaking with both command and fear. But I froze. I couldn’t move. She turned to push me away — just for a second. One single, cursed second. That was all it took. The rogue lunged. Its teeth sank into her neck before I could even scream. Her eyes met mine — soft, forgiving — as she fell. And at that moment… my world shattered. I stood frozen, watching as the Luna staggered. Blood poured from the wound, dark and endless, soaking into the ground beneath her. Her eyes — once so full of life, warmth, and light — began to fade. “No! Luna! Please—” My scream tore through the night as I stumbled toward her. The rogue released her body and retreated with the others, disappearing into the forest shadows. Their growls faded, leaving behind only silence… and the sickening scent of blood. I fell to my knees beside her, shaking, my hands trembling as I tried to stop the bleeding. But there was too much blood. Too much. “Don’t leave me,” I whispered, my voice breaking. But she was already gone. I clung to her lifeless body, my small hands trembling as I cried against her blood-soaked clothes. Her warmth faded with every second, and the world around me blurred into chaos. I didn’t care. I just wanted her to open her eyes — to breathe again. By the time the warriors arrived, it was too late. I remember one of them pulling me away, his hands firm on my shoulders as I screamed and kicked, refusing to let go. When Alpha Rowan burst into the room and saw her body… something inside him broke. His roar shook the walls. The pain in his voice was raw, animalistic — and when his gaze finally landed on me, all that pain turned to hatred. That was the day my life turned to hell. Even now, twelve years later — at nineteen — I can still see that same hatred in his eyes, as vivid as if it happened yesterday. He didn’t need to say the words. I could feel them every time he looked at me. But he said them anyway. Every. Single. Day. “You took her from me.” “If you’d listened, she’d still be alive.” “You killed her, Akira.” Each word was a dagger, and over time, I stopped trying to pull them out. After that night, Alpha Rowan changed. The warmth he once had — the kindness the pack loved him for — vanished. He became cold, distant, unrecognizable. And I became his outlet. He punished me for everything. For the smallest mistakes, the slightest hesitation, even for breathing too loud sometimes. Forgetting to clean a room, breaking a glass, being late — anything was reason enough. Every punishment was a reminder. A reminder that I was nothing but the mistake that ruined his life. Yes — I had to clean the entire pack house. Every single room. Every hall, every corner, every inch that one hundred wolves called home. My hands were always raw, my knees bruised, but I never complained. Because deep down, I believed I deserved it. If I had just listened to her that night… if I had stayed hidden like she told me to… Luna Selara — my mother in every way that mattered — would still be alive. Her laughter wouldn’t just be a memory. Her scent wouldn’t just linger faintly on the old blankets in the Alpha’s quarters. It was my fault. All of it. And so, I accepted their punishments — every slap, every cruel word, every lash of blame. I thought that if I endured it long enough, maybe one day they’d forgive me. Maybe one day they’d see I wasn’t the curse they believed I was. But I was wrong. Because no matter how much I bled, how much I suffered…they would never forgive me.