REJECTED BY THE MOON, CHOSEN BY THE BEAST

She screamed right before the vows. It ripped through the sacred clearing with enough force to silence hundreds of wolves gathered beneath the silver moon. Then came the smell. Blood. Fresh. Metallic. Too heavy, thick enough to drown the scent of jasmine decorating the ceremonial table. Lyria didn't turn immediately. She already knew. These instincts weren't all wolf. Some belonged to survivors. A crowd parted in frightened whispers as elder staggered in, robe soaked with blood gasps from the gathered followers. A corpse was being dragged behind him by warriors across the white stone floor. Leaving a horrifying trail of blood. The body wore the crest of House Ashborne. Her father's house. Her heart stopped. "No…" she whispered. The elder’s trembling gaze met hers. "My Lady…" His voice cracked. "They're all dead." Silence. Not a single bird sang. Even the wind seemed afraid. Lyria watched as her father's dead face rolled up at her feet. His eyes were still open. His throat… Gone. A clear tear, as though something larger than any wolf had ripped his life away Someone gasped. Someone cried. Lyria couldn't. Grief refused to come. Only numbness. Tonight was supposed to be her mating ceremony. instead, someone had slaughtered her entire family before she could say "I do." A slow clap echoed around the clearing. One. Two. Three. Every head turned. A shadowed tall, black man in ceremonial armor stepped out. Alpha Kael. Her fiancé. This man that she'd spent five years learning to love... every girl dreamed of him. His silver eyes held no grief, only satisfaction. "How tragic," he said. "So unfortunate." Lyria frowned. "…Kael?" He smiled, and moved across her fathers body. How long until someone imported one? Her blood froze. "What…" His voice remained calm. "I ordered it." The clearing exploded gasps, cries, disbelief. Lyria laughed, small and broken. "No." Kael tilted his head. "No?" "You wouldn't…" "I did." He interrupted without emotion. "House Ashborne is dead. I killed each and every one." "No!" "I started with your brothers." "No!" "Your mother begged." "STOP!" "Your father proved stronger than we anticipated." Lyria collapsed onto her knees. It ripped her to pieces inside, not her heart, something deeper. The Moon Goddess, blesses true mates with warmth. Why did she feel so cold? Kael had crouched before her, fingers lifting her chin. You still think you're important ? His smile widened. "You were never my Luna. "All I wanted was your family's territory" His words stuck harder than claws. The alliance... The engagement... The promises... Everything had been a lie. Five years of whispered dreams... five years. She slapped him. That sound shattered the calm of the glade. Nobody moved. Touching his cheek, Kael laughed. "Oh, I hoped you'd do that." Without warning… CRACK. He whipped a backhand that sent her sprawling, the pain blooming across her jaw. Wedding crown shattered, pearls scattering across the blood-stained floor. She tasted blood. The crowd watched. Kael was more than an Alpha; he ran five unified packs and no one better step out of line. "You disappoint me." He approached slowly. "I expected more resistance." Lyria pushed up on her forearms and shook off the shivers. "You…" blood oozed out of her mouth. "…monster." "No," he said, crouching again. "I'm simply honest." He lowered his voice so only she could hear I already met the one true soulmate of mine. The world tilted. "What?" Then appeared a slender, golden-haired woman and she was tall and beautiful! Lady Selene. Lyria's childhood friend. The woman who soothed her through nightmares, and helped her sew this very dress. Selene smiled, apologetic. "I'm sorry." "You…" Lyria whispered. "…you knew?" Selene nodded. "For years." She had been living a carefully crafted lie. Kael stood. "Guards." Warriors surrounded her, chains rattling. "What are you doing?" "The wedding contract still awaits you with blood." His expression never changed. "Dead brides complicate politics." Her stomach twisted. "What…" He smiled. "You see, I have chosen not to kill you. A flicker of relief, lasting less than a heartbeat. "I'm stripping you of your wolf." The clearing erupted. Even the elders gasped. "No…" Lyria whispered. There was only one abominable ritual meant to sever the bond with a wolf: Soul Extraction. Nobody survived it sane. It was worse than death. "'Please…"" She pleaded for the first time that night. Kael watched her with neutral curiosity. "I believed that pride was a lesson the House of Ashborne had taught. "They did." Tears finally escaped. "But they're dead." His eyes softened for one short moment, before disappearing carefully behind a wall of ice. "Exactly." A high priest came before him with a moonstone carved into the shape of a black dagger. Every wolf stepped backward. That blade frightened even the most battle worn veterans. It has cut bloodlines, severed destinies, shattered souls. Lyria struggled wildly. "I'll leave! I'll disappear! You'll never see me again! All that Kael did was nod towards the priest. "Begin." The dagger pierced her chest. She screamed, not because it hurt, but because something inside her was screaming louder. Her wolf. Alive, afraid, crying, begging to not be pulled away "Lowly…" The voice echoed inside her mind "I'm scared…" She burst into sobs. "I'm here," she whispered internally. "I'm not leaving." "I don't want to die…" "You won't." The dagger twisted. Every nerve felt like it was being ripped apart by a throbbing agony. The sky darkened, clouds devouring the moon as smoke and lightning began to erupt and rumble through the air. The priest frowned. "This… is impossible." The dagger wouldn't move. Instead, it began melting. Black moonstone dripped like wax. His hands caught fire. Blue fire. Moonfire. Kael's calm expression finally cracked. "What is happening?" Nobody answered, because nobody knew. A deafening roar that seemed the very earth itself split open, a ground-shaking noise that echoed through the mountains. Not wolf, not bear, not dragon, something more ancient, more lost. something forgotten. All the wolves in attendance instinctively dropped to one knee, all of the Alphas. Even Kael. Thier wolves whimpered in terror. Lyria was the only one left on her feet, blood gushing from her chest, eyes aglow, not silver, but liquid golds. The clouds cleaved, the full moon revealing its face again, but not all alone. Behind it a second moon dark crimson impossible. An elder collapsed. "The Forbidden Moon…" Another whispered. "It exists…" Then came a voice across the valley, not spoken, but felt, in the bones of every heart. "She is not yours." The mountains trembled, the trees bent in reverence, entire rivers turned backwards. Kael's face drained of color. "Who is there?" Silence. Mountains trembled Then… A large shadow cut the moon in two pieces. Wings. No. too large. Far larger. It descended noiselessly, as the air itself appeared to flee the shape. Nobody could breathe or move. Felt for miles, the landing beyond the cliffs. Darkness opened and with it came a pair of coal-black eyes slitted, watching her alone, not the crowd, not the Alphas. The voice returned, closer now. "Little Heart…" She never knew but it felt like home. "…I finally found you." The beast took one step forward. Every Alpha there bowed down. Including Kael.