The Luna's Crown

Chapter 2: The Hunter's Cabin

I ran toward the north, my injured hand throbbing with each heartbeat. The howls grew louder behind me, and I knew they weren't random rogues. Those were pack wolves. My former pack.

Wyatt had sent them to make sure I was really gone. Or worse—to make sure I never came back.

The cabin appeared through the trees like a miracle. Small, wooden, with smoke still rising from the chimney. The door was unlocked, just like the stranger said it would be.

I slammed it shut behind me and locked it, my whole body shaking. The cabin was simple but clean—one room with a bed, a small kitchen area, and a fireplace still glowing with warm coals.

A note sat on the table: "Rest. You're safe until dawn. – W"

W. Was that the stranger? Another Wyatt in my life, but this one was nothing like the boy who'd destroyed me hours ago.

I collapsed on the bed, exhaustion hitting me all at once. But sleep wouldn't come. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Natalie kissing him. Heard my mother telling me to leave. Felt the pain of being nobody, unwanted, thrown away like garbage.

That warmth came again, stronger this time. It spread from my chest through my entire body, and suddenly I was burning up. I kicked off my shoes, pulled off my jacket, but nothing helped.

Let me out, a voice whispered. Not my wolf's voice. Something else.

"What are you?" I gasped, clutching my chest.

I am what they fear. What they tried to hide. Let me out, Charlotte.

The pain hit like lightning. I fell to my knees, screaming as my bones began to crack and shift. This wasn't like the weak, partial shifts I'd managed before. This was violent, powerful, unstoppable.

My hands turned to claws. White fur sprouted across my skin—not the common brown or gray of normal wolves, but pure, snow white. My body grew, larger than any wolf I'd ever seen.

When it was over, I stood on four legs, panting. I caught my reflection in the window and froze.

My eyes were silver. Completely silver, like liquid moonlight.

I was a white wolf. The rarest kind. The kind that hadn't been seen in over a hundred years.

The kind that was supposed to be impossible.

Now you understand, the voice said, and I realized it was my wolf. My real wolf, not the weak presence I'd felt before. They knew. Your parents knew. The pack knew. They kept me suppressed with those pills they gave you. The ones for your 'health condition.'

The pills. The daily vitamins my mother insisted I take. The medicine that would help me be 'normal.'

They'd been poisoning me my whole life.

The door burst open. I spun around, snarling, ready to fight.

But it was him. The stranger. Wyatt.

He stood in the doorway, his eyes wide as he took in my wolf form. "Impossible," he breathed. "You're actually—"

I shifted back before he could finish, the change easier this time. I grabbed a blanket from the bed to cover myself, my whole body trembling.

"What am I?" I demanded.

He closed the door behind him, his expression serious. "You're a Lunar Wolf. The last one, if legends are true."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you're more powerful than any Alpha. It means you can control other wolves, even Alphas, with a single command. It means..." He paused, running a hand through his dark hair. "It means everyone will either want to control you or kill you."

"My parents knew?"

"They had to. Lunar Wolves are born with silver eyes that fade to normal color after a few days. Unless..." He moved closer, his own eyes starting to glow gold. "Unless someone suppresses their wolf with wolfsbane extract. Small doses, daily, from childhood."

"The pills," I whispered.

"They were protecting you, in their own twisted way. A Lunar Wolf in the wrong hands could destroy entire packs. Or rule them all."

"So they just... destroyed me instead? Made me weak? Let everyone think I was worthless?"

"Fear makes people do terrible things." He was close enough now that I could feel his warmth. "But you're free now. The wolfsbane is leaving your system. You'll only get stronger."

"Why are you helping me?"

He smiled, but it was sharp, dangerous. "Because I have my own agenda. And because..." He reached out, his fingers barely grazing my cheek. "You're my mate."

I jerked back. "No. That's not possible. I don't feel—"

"You wouldn't. Not yet. The wolfsbane suppressed that too. But I felt it the moment I scented you in the forest. The pull. The need." His eyes darkened. "The absolute certainty that you're mine."

"I'm nobody's," I snapped, anger flaring. "I just got rejected by someone I loved. I'm not jumping into another—"

"I'm not him," he cut me off, his voice hard. "I'm not some weak pup who throws away treasures because his daddy told him to. I'm the Alpha of the Shadow Ridge Pack. The strongest pack in three territories. And I've been searching for you for five years."

"Searching for me? You didn't even know me."

"I knew a Lunar Wolf existed. The signs were there. Packs reporting strange suppressants being bought. Whispers of a white wolf born and hidden. I tracked every lead until it led me here. To you."

"So you want to use me too. For my power."

"Yes," he said simply, and his honesty surprised me. "But I also want you. The moment I saw you in that forest, crying and broken but still standing, still fighting... I wanted you more than I've ever wanted anything."

"You don't even know me."

"Then let me." He stepped back, giving me space. "Stay here. Train with me. Learn what you really are, what you can really do. And then decide if you want to run from me or with me."

"What about your pack?"

"They don't know about you yet. As far as they know, I'm hunting rogues near the territory border." He headed for the door. "I'll be back at dawn with supplies. And Charlotte?"

"What?"

"That boy who rejected you? He made the worst mistake of his life. When you're ready, when you're strong, he'll know exactly what he threw away."

"I don't care about revenge."

He laughed, dark and knowing. "Yes, you do. I can smell it on you. That rage burning under all that pain. Use it. Let it make you stronger."

He left before I could respond.

I sat on the bed, my mind spinning. In one night, I'd lost everything and discovered I was something impossible. My parents had lied to me. My pack had suppressed me. And now a dangerous Alpha claimed I was his mate.

But the strangest part? That warmth in my chest had settled into something steady and strong when he was near.

He's telling the truth, my wolf said. He's ours.

"No," I said out loud. "We're not doing this. We're not trusting another Alpha."

This one is different.

"They all say that."

This one would burn the world for us. I can feel it.

I lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Outside, snow began to fall, unusual for this time of year. When I raised my hand, frost spread across my fingertips.

Another power. Another secret.

What else could I do?

A howl echoed in the distance—long, lonely, and powerful. An Alpha's call.

Despite everything, despite my better judgment, something in me wanted to howl back.

I closed my eyes, trying to quiet my racing thoughts. Tomorrow, I would start learning what I really was. Tomorrow, I would decide if I could trust this mysterious Alpha.

But tonight, for the first time in my life, I felt it.

Power. Real power, running through my veins like liquid fire.

They'd tried to keep me weak, small, controlled.

They'd failed.

And when I opened my eyes, they were glowing silver in the darkness.