CHAPTER TWO: Maybe It Wasn't A Curse
1112 Words
***VERA***
“Can you believe it, Vera? I’m Luna!” Tricia squealed, clutching my arm like I was supposed to share in her joy.
In our pack, a mate's mark is everything. It's a public crown and the best ticket to belonging. To be passed over is to be declared unworthy.
I stood frozen, dazed, my heart pounding too loudly for me to breathe, everything happened too fast that my brain could not process it.
“No,” I whispered, blinking hard to keep the tears at bay. “I actually can’t.”
She laughed, twirling with giddy delight. “I know, right? Even I can’t believe it.”
But my eyes weren’t on her. They were locked on Alpha Blake—my mate. My supposed savior,whom I spent all day preparing for. The man who had just chosen my sister instead of me.
Marking Tricia was the same as rejecting me. The truth sat like a dagger in my chest. My vision blurred, and I forced a smile that felt like glass cracking on my face.
“Enjoy yourself. I’ll be back,” I said, prying Tricia’s fingers off my skin. Then I turned, walking as quickly as I could, praying the tears wouldn’t fall until I was alone.
Why, Moon Goddess? Why curse me like this? What sin could warrant such humiliation?
“Vera.”
I stopped, body stiffening at the voice I least wanted to hear. I turned, glaring through my tears.
“You knew,” I spat. “You knew I was your Luna, and you still chose her?”
Blake’s expression was unreadable. “You’re right. I knew.”
The world tilted. “Then why?” My voice cracked, rising despite his low, careful tone as he glanced around to be sure no one was listening.
“My pack needs a Luna who is strong,” he said flatly. “Someone who can protect them when it matters. You… are not that Luna. Your wolf is a disgrace, Vera—it's not even news anymore.”
The words made my skin crawl. I staggered back, tears spilling hot down my cheeks.
“A disgrace?” My voice trembled. “I didn’t ask for this wolf. The Moon Goddess made me this way. And it hurts more that my fated mate—my only chance at belonging—calls me worthless.”
He stepped closer, lowering his voice to a warning. “No one must ever know you are my mate.” He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear as if his betrayal hadn’t just broken me in half. Then he turned and walked away, leaving me trembling, hollow, I couldn't say anything in my defense, I was just there—broken on my knees.
Maybe the Moon Goddess should just take me already. I wasn’t meant to live this life.
A sharp kick against my side jolted me. I looked up through blurry eyes to find Lana smirking down at me.
“Pathetic. Crying? You look even worse than usual.” She crouched, tilting my chin with her finger.
“You’re jealous, aren’t you?” she hissed. “Your mate chose your sister. You’re nothing but a shadow.”
Her nails dug into my skin as she yanked my hair hard enough to sting.
“Why do you always do this?” I rasped.
“Because I hate weak wolves. And you’re the weakest of them all.” She laughed, tugging harder.
Something inside me snapped.
I grabbed her ponytails and pulled with every ounce of strength I had. She screamed, stumbling. My knee slammed into hers and she collapsed, cursing as I hauled her back up by the hair.
“Why stop now?” I snarled. “Didn’t you want to play?”
Her friends rushed toward me, but rage had burned away all my fear. I ripped the dagger from her belt, holding it with trembling hands that didn’t feel like mine.
“I swear I’ll use this,” I growled, a manic smile coming from my lips. “Even if I die for it, I won’t die cowering anymore.”
One girl attacked. I shoved her back—too hard. The blade cut across her arm and she stumbled away screaming.
Everyone froze, horror on their faces. My heart pounded, but instead of fear, fire filled my chest.
All the years of torment. All the shame. All the rejection. Enough.
I dragged Lana up again, slapped her across the face, and spat, “You don’t get to own me anymore, you f*****g bitch.” Her bloodied nose was proof enough.
The guards arrived, shouting. One grabbed me by the shoulders. Without thinking, I shoved— and he flew across the yard like a rag doll, crashing against the wall. Blood splattered the stones.
I stared at my hands, horrified. That strength… had come from me.
The other guards charged, but an unseen force blasted them back before they even touched me.
The dagger trembled in my grip. My breath came in gasps.
What… am I?
From the shadows, a figure stepped forward. Or maybe he had always been there. His mismatched green-and-black eyes glowed faintly in the dark, catching the torchlight like two different moons.
“Impressive,” he murmured, voice like gravel and water.
I blinked—and he was gone.
Silence dropped like a pin. Around me, the pack’s murmurs crawled across the yard—fear, confusion, the sharp shift from mockery to something else. Heads turned. Some took a cautious step back. Others whispered prayers they’d never said aloud before.
The dagger felt heavy in my hand. Blood from Lana’s nose felt warm across my palm. My chest still burned with adrenaline, but beneath that flame a distinct feeling rang—cool, electrical, beating with possibility.
I wasn’t weak. I wasn’t broken.
I was something else.
A low hum emerged at the base of my skull, not sound but sensation, like distant thunder waking up. My wolf—my ugly, furless wolf—stirred beneath skin and bone, and for the first time it did not tremble in shame. It flexed, tasted the air, and an understanding slid into me: names and labels were not the same as the truth of what I could be.
Lana spat blood and venom, but her voice shook now. “You’ll pay for this, Vera.”
I rose to my feet slowly, the crowd parting like leaves. My knees didn’t wobble. My hands did not shake.
Whatever I was, it had just answered the call.Blake and all his pretty judges were stunned in silence—they had no idea what they’d awakened.
- Writer
