THE REJECTED LUNA: TWICE MARKED, TWICE BROKEN.

Chapter 3

A whole month had passed after the unfortunate incident that happened to Aurora at the full moon celebration, and everyone seemed to have moved on, everyone but Aurora. Aurora didn't really have any friends or confidants; she lived alone in a small apartment and rarely spoke to anyone or engaged in anything that was happening at the pack. This made her wallow in misery, and she spiralled into a great depression. She didn't come out of her house for days, and she also didn't eat anything. She cried herself to sleep on most nights, and when she slept, she had the recurring nightmare of rejection. If she didn't dream about the rejection, she would dream about either of her late parents calling for her to come, but she wouldn't be able to reach them. Luna Esmeralda, who was now very fond of her, became extremely worried. She decided to pay Aurora a visit.

Aurora opened the door slowly, self-aware of the state of her house and her entire being as she avoided the gaze of the Luna. Luna Esmeralda walked into the house, graceful as always, but with a dissatisfied look on her face. Aurora bowed her head in respect and also in shame. "Why are you doing this to yourself, Aurora?" Luna Esmeralda began in a calm voice, "Why bury yourself in misery when you can get up, get out there and do something meaningful!" she added, this time her voice becoming stern. Aurora fixed her mouth to say so but was cut off by the Luna. "I'm not finished", she said in a commanding manner." Now I need you to clean yourself up, clean this house and go out somewhere and do something productive!" At this point, the Luna was almost screaming. Aurora realised that the Luna hadn't come to pacify her but had come to order her, so she stayed quiet and didn't protest. After getting her point across, the Luna gave Aurora a little pat on the head and a quick goodbye and left.

Aurora, realizing that Luna was keeping tabs on her and not wanting to piss her off, immediately got to work. She cleaned up her messy house, arranged the items which were out of place, did the overdue dishes and took the trash out. All these she did amidst mental breakdowns. After all of that was done, she decided to lie down and sleep in. However, she had second thoughts and, fearing that Luna Esmeralda might just pop back at her front door unannounced, she decided to go out. She got dressed in a pair of light blue jeans, a black turtleneck top to cover the mark and a pair of white sneakers. She looked into the mirror and was dissatisfied with what she saw. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she had dark circles and eye bags. She contemplated her choice of leaving the house, but then her eyes met a pair of sunglasses. She smirked, grabbed the sunglasses and her purse and left the house.

She flagged down a cab and decided to go to whatever restaurant caught her fancy. She finally found one, paid for the fare and walked into the restaurant. While she was walking towards an empty table, a man bumped into her so hard that her sunglasses fell off her face. "Watch where you are going", the man said in a menacingly low voice. Aurora looked down at her sunglasses before glancing up to look at the man. He had a small scar on top of his cheekbone, and his left eye was bloodshot. Aurora had never seen him before in her entire life, and she also didn't want to see him again. She muttered a low apology to him, and with that, he brushed past her, leaving the restaurant. Aurora bit the inside of her cheek and fiddled with her fingers, she had already started to regret leaving her house.

Aurora picked up her sunglasses and picked a seat in the corner of the restaurant close to the counter. She examined her sunglasses and realised that one of the lenses had cracked. She sighed in defeat, placed the sunglasses in her purse and proceeded to order an iced cold drink. After a while, Aurora started to have a fun solo time in the restaurant, ordering drinks and food. She finally ate properly for the first time in weeks. She picked up her phone to scroll on it a bit, and whilst she did that, more customers walked into the restaurant. A group of people walked into the restaurant, chatting noisily and laughing heartily. Their voices were loud and impossible to ignore, so Aurora looked up from her phone to catch a glimpse of them. Her breath hitched in her throat when she saw who they were. It was Rowan and his friends. Rowan had a girl clinging onto his arm as if she was holding on to him for dear life.

On seeing this, Aurora's heart shattered. Memories of that night came rushing like a flood. She buried her head into the menu, trying to hide behind it and hoped that they wouldn't see her. "Could this day even get any worse?" Aurora thought to herself. She just hoped they would take a seat at the back of the restaurant so that she could escape unnoticed. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on her side today. Rowan and his boneheaded friends took their seats at the very entrance of the restaurant. Aurora's head began to pound in frustration. She broke into cold sweat; this was something that always happened whenever she was anxious. "Breathe, Aurora, breathe", she heard a voice say to her. This was the same voice that spoke to her on the day of the full moon celebration. She kept her head lowered, still trying to hide from Rowan, and she wondered what was talking to her. She stayed still, trying to hear if the voice would speak again, but it didn't.

Aurora decided to lie low and wait for Rowan and his friends to leave. However, they stayed for a very long time, laughing loudly and having obscene and lewd conversations. After several hours of buying drinks, drinking them slowly and hiding behind the menu, Aurora could finally leave. Aurora stepped out of the restaurant, making sure that the coast was clear and Rowan and his friends were nowhere within sight before she started making her journey home. She made futile efforts to flag down a cab, but none was in sight. Aurora continued walking down the road, which was rapidly becoming lonely. The sky was already turning dark, and the cool evening breeze had started to fill the air. Aurora walked home silently, enjoying the peace and serenity. But as she walked, she felt uneasy, she was being followed. She quickened her steps, refusing to look backwards; she feared that it might be Rowan and his friends trying to spite her. To be sure, she turned around, and there he was following her, the man who had bumped into her earlier that day.

Aurora began to run. She ran as fast as her frail legs could carry her, and so did the man. She kept running until she got lost and veered off the road into the woods. Aurora kept running and breathing heavily until she lost the man. She hid behind a tree, trying to catch her breath. Suddenly, the howling of a wolf was heard. The strange man had shifted into his wolf form to hunt better. Aurora tried to start her race again but was hit with a sharp pain in the gut. She crouched down to the ground in severe pain and confusion, trying to keep her voice as low as possible. The cool breeze hit her skin, but a rising heat surged from within. Aurora was hit by another surge of pain, but this time, it was more excruciating than before. A guttural scream escaped her lips, and this was followed by the sound of bones cracking and popping. Her fingers extended into claws, which were literally bursting out of her skin. Aurora was finally shifting into her wolf form.