Chapter 2: The Night the Moon Disappeared
867 Words
The night the moon disappeared… a child was stolen.
No one saw the moment it happened.
No one heard the first cry swallowed by the restless wind.
But beneath a sky that should have been whole, something shifted—quiet, cruel, and irreversible.
Fate did not simply change that night.
It was stolen.
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Three years later, the Moonveil mansion was alive with laughter.
Warm light spilled across the gardens as lanterns swayed gently in the evening breeze. Music drifted through the air, blending with the cheerful voices of pack members gathered to celebrate. Long tables overflowed with food, children ran freely across the grass, and for a while, everything felt peaceful—untouched by the shadows that lingered beyond the estate walls.
It was a special night.
The third birthday of two girls born under the same moon.
One—the Alpha’s daughter.
The other—Selene’s.
“Careful, Lysara,” Helena said softly, a smile warming her face as she knelt to adjust the little girl’s dress.
Lysara Vale.
A child born under prophecy.
A child marked by destiny.
She giggled, her laughter light and unguarded as her tiny fingers clutched her mother’s sleeve. There was something about her—something bright and unexplainable—that drew people in without effort, even at such a young age.
She was loved.
Deeply.
Completely.
Dominic stood nearby, watching them, his usually firm expression softened by quiet pride.
“My little princess,” he murmured.
Not far from them, Selene stood beside her daughter.
Elizabeth.
Where Lysara was warmth, Elizabeth was stillness—calm, composed, already shaped by discipline far beyond her years. She did not chase the other children or laugh as freely. She simply observed.
Just like her mother.
Selene’s gaze moved slowly across the celebration before settling on Lysara.
She said nothing.
But her eyes lingered.
She saw the way the pack looked at the child—the admiration, the quiet reverence, the unspoken recognition of something… more.
Her fingers curled slightly at her side.
It should have been Elizabeth.
Not her.
Not Dominic’s child.
Her gaze shifted briefly, landing on her brother across the garden—the Alpha. The life that should have been hers.
A flicker of something dark crossed her expression.
“This ends tonight,” she whispered.
No one heard.
No one noticed.
The celebration continued, untouched, wrapped in a false sense of safety.
Across the crowd, Selene’s eyes met her maid’s.
That was all it took.
The maid lowered her head.
Then she moved.
Slipping through the gathering like a shadow, she went unnoticed, her steps careful and precise. One moment she was part of the crowd—next, she was something else entirely.
Lysara had wandered just far enough from her parents, her attention caught by the lanterns glowing above her.
The maid approached quietly.
Gently, she lifted the child into her arms.
Lysara blinked, surprised—but not afraid.
Why would she be?
There was no danger in her world.
She trusted.
And that trust made everything easier.
Within moments, the maid turned and walked away, disappearing into the shadows beyond the light.
It took only minutes.
“Where is Lysara?”
Helena’s voice cut through the night, sharp with sudden fear.
The laughter faded almost instantly.
“Dominic—she was just here!”
Something shifted.
Panic spread quickly, swallowing the warmth of the celebration whole.
Dominic’s aura surged, raw Alpha power pressing down on everyone present.
“Search the entire grounds,” he ordered, his voice cold with command. “Now.”
The pack scattered immediately.
Guards ran in every direction. Voices overlapped. The night that had once been filled with joy turned chaotic in seconds.
Helena’s hands trembled as tears filled her eyes.
“My baby…” she whispered, her voice breaking. “Find my baby…”
Far from the mansion, the maid ran.
Branches tore at her skin as the wind picked up, carrying the first drops of rain. Her breathing grew uneven, her grip tightening around the small body in her arms.
Then the child stirred.
A soft cry broke through the night.
“Mama…”
The sound hit harder than she expected.
Her steps slowed.
Then stopped.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly as something unfamiliar crept in—doubt.
This was wrong.
This was just a child.
For a moment, she hesitated.
But then Selene’s voice echoed in her mind—cold, unyielding.
Do not fail me.
Fear crushed everything else.
Her hands shook as she knelt, lowering the child onto the wet ground.
Lysara reached for her, crying harder now, her small hands trembling.
“Please…” the maid whispered, tears slipping down her face. “Forgive me…”
She stepped back.
Hesitated.
Then turned and ran.
She did not look back.
The storm broke.
Rain fell harder, thunder rolling across the sky as the child’s cries weakened, slowly swallowed by the darkness.
Far away, within a mansion filled with fear—
A child had been taken.
A destiny had been buried.
But not erased.
Because even when the night swallows the sky—
The moon never truly disappears.
And one day…
It would return for what was its own.
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