THE ASHES OF THE FORSAKEN LUNA

Chapter 2: The Sound of Laughter

POV: Lyra Vale

The laughter followed me all the way home. Not loud laughter, nor the kind that echoes through a room. Worse. The quiet kind. The whispered kind. The kind people think you can't hear. The kind that stays with you long after the voices disappear.

I stumbled through the Silvercrest village with my head down, trying to ignore the stares burning into my skin. Trying to ignore the pain clawing through my chest.

Trying to ignore the fact that only an hour ago I had walked toward the Blood Moon Ceremony believing my life was finally about to begin.

Now it felt like it had ended. The celebration grounds were still alive behind me. Music drifted through the night air. Voices, laughter, and cheers. The pack was celebrating.

Not me nor the future Luna. Not the sacred mate bond. They were celebrating Alpha Kael. Celebrating his choice and celebrating my humiliation.

My hands shook. I wrapped my arms around myself and kept walking.

A group of young warriors stood near the training grounds. As I passed, their conversation stopped.

For one foolish second, I thought they might show some sympathy. Then one of them snorted, "Guess the Alpha finally came to his senses." The others laughed.

"Can you imagine her as Luna?" "Silvercrest would've become a joke." More laughter.

My feet nearly stopped moving. I recognized every one of them because we had grown up together, shared lessons, shared meals, and even shared childhood memories.

Yet none of that mattered now. Tonight had erased everything; I was no longer Lyra, I was the girl who got rejected. The weak mate who wasn't worth claiming.

I hurried away before they could see the tears gathering in my eyes. By the time I reached my room, I was shaking so badly I could barely unlock the door.

The small wooden room greeted me with silence. The same bed, the same shelves and the same faded curtains. Everything looked exactly the same, yet somehow nothing felt familiar anymore.

I stepped inside and locked the door. Then I slid to the floor and finally broke. The sob escaped before I could stop it.

Then another. And another. Years of pain came crashing down all at once. Not just tonight. Everything, every insult, every cruel whisper. Every moment spent pretending I didn't hear what people said behind my back.

Weak, useless, unworthy, pathetic. I had spent years convincing myself things would get better. That once Kael publicly acknowledged our bond, everything would change. That the pack would finally accept me. That I would finally belong.

God, I had been stupid. My wolf whimpered inside me. The sound shattered what little composure I had left.

Mate… I squeezed my eyes shut. "No." The word came out broken.

"He doesn't want us." The silence that followed was unbearable.

Outside my window, the celebrations continued. Inside my room, my entire world lay in ruins. Hours passed. Or maybe minutes. I couldn't tell anymore.

At some point, a knock sounded against the door. I froze.

Hope is a cruel thing. Even after everything, my heart still jumped. Kael. Maybe he'd realized what he'd done. Maybe he'd come to explain. Maybe?

"Luna?" The voice belonged to one of the kitchen servants. Not Kael. My heart dropped.

"You don't have to call me that anymore."

The servant hesitated. Then she laughed. She actually laughed.

"Oh." A pause. "Right." The footsteps retreated.

Another servant joined her in the hallway. Neither bothered to lower their voices. "They really thought she'd become Luna."

"I know." A snicker.

"Did you see her face?" The first servant laughed harder. "I almost felt bad. Almost!"

Their voices disappeared but the damage didn't. I stared at the floor feeling numb, because that was the thing about humiliation. It didn't end when the crowd went home. It followed you. It settled into your skin. It became part of you.

Another hour passed. Then another. The moon climbed higher. My eyes burned from crying, yet sleep refused to come.

My wolf remained unusually restless. That was strange. Very strange. Rejected mates usually lost their wolves for days, and sometimes weeks. The bond shattered. The wolf withdrew and healing began.

That was how it worked. That was how it had always worked. Yet my wolf wasn't withdrawing. If anything, she seemed alert, agitated and waiting.

I pressed a hand against my chest. The pain was still there, though not as strong as before. But definitely there.

A faint pulse, a connection, a thread. My breathing slowed.

"No." I sat upright. "No, that's impossible." The bond should have broken. It had to have broken. Kael had rejected me before the entire pack. Before the Moon Goddess and before the elders. There was no stronger rejection than that.

Yet somehow, I could still feel him. The sensation was weak. Barely noticeable, like standing at the edge of a forest and hearing a distant howl. But it existed.

My wolf stirred. Mate… I swallowed hard. Fear crept down my spine. Because if the bond still existed, then something wasn't right.

A sudden knock interrupted my thoughts. Harder this time, and more forceful. I ignored it.

A second later the door opened anyway. My head snapped up. Selene Voss stepped inside. Of course she did. Who else would come?

Moonlight poured through the window behind her. She looked flawless, a silver dress, perfect hair and a perfect smile. The future Luna of Silvercrest. Everything the pack wanted, and everything I wasn't.

Her gaze swept over my swollen eyes, my tear-stained face, my miserable state. And satisfaction flashed briefly in her expression. There and gone, but I saw it.

"Leave." My voice sounded dead.

Selene smiled. "Oh, Lyra." I hated the way she said my name. Like she cared, like she was concerned, like she hadn't spent years waiting for this exact moment.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright."

I laughed. The sound surprised even me. It wasn't pleasant. It was broken, sharp, and bitter.

"You should stop pretending." Her smile widened.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Liar." The word slipped out before I could stop it.

For a brief second her eyes hardened. Then the mask returned. "You embarrassed yourself tonight."

The words hit harder than I expected, because part of me knew she was right. I had begged, pleaded and hoped. And everyone had seen it.

Selene crouched in front of me. "Do you know why Kael rejected you?"

I refused to answer. She didn't care.

"Because deep down he knows what everyone else knows." My stomach tightened.

"You're weak." The room went silent. My nails dug into my palms, Selene leaned closer. "So weak that even fate couldn't save you."

Something cold settled inside me. Neither sadness nor heartbreak. Something darker.

For years, I had tolerated her insults. Tonight felt different. Maybe because there was nothing left to lose.

"You sound very happy."

Selene smiled, "I am."

There it was. The truth. Finally, no mask, no pretending, just honesty. "I've waited a long time for tonight."

My pulse quickened. Something about the way she said it felt wrong. Very wrong.

"You knew." Her smile didn't falter.

"Knew what?”

“That he was going to reject me."

Silence. Then she stood, "You should get some rest." That wasn't an answer. And somehow that frightened me more than if she had admitted it.

She moved toward the door. Then paused. Looking back over her shoulder. "Oh, and Lyra?" I hated how gentle her voice sounded.

"The whole pack can hear you crying." The door clicked shut behind her.

I stared after her shaking. For a long time, I didn't move. Then my wolf suddenly froze. So did I.

A strange sensation brushed against my mind. Familiar, powerful and alive. My breath caught.

"No..." The bond. I could feel the bond. Neither a memory nor an echo. The actual bond. It's still there, still breathing, still connected. My heart began racing.

Rejected mates weren't supposed to feel this. The connection should be dead. Destroyed and gone.

Yet Kael's presence lingered inside my mind. Strong and unmistakable. My wolf stood alert. Listening and hopeful.

The feeling grew stronger. Closer. Like someone pulling on an invisible thread.

Confusion crashed into me. Why? How? What had happened beneath the Blood Moon?

Then, pain exploded through my chest. I screamed. The force threw me sideways. My shoulder slammed into the floor.

White-hot agony ripped through my body. It felt like someone had plunged silver directly into my heart.

My wolf howled. Mate!

Images flashed behind my eyes. Not memories. Something else. Fragments, dark hair, a familiar hand, silver fabric.

Selene. Kael. My breath caught, "No."

Another wave hit. Harder and crueler. I curled into myself, unable to breathe and think.

Then the bond surged. And suddenly, I saw it. Not clearly, just for a second. A flash.

Kael, standing inside the Alpha House. Selene is in front of him. Her hand resting against his chest, his hand catching her wrist.

The vision vanished instantly, but the pain remained. My blood turned cold. The bond wasn't merely alive, it was sharing things with me.

That shouldn't be possible. Not after a rejection. Not after what happened tonight.

Terror gripped me, because there was only one explanation. The rejection hadn't worked. Or worse, something had interfered with it. My wolf whimpered.

The bond pulsed again. This time, violently. Then a voice echoed faintly through the connection. Not Selene's, not Kael's. A third voice. Ancient, male and terrified.

A single sentence crashed through my mind, "The bond should have broken..."

My entire body went rigid. The voice continued. "What have you done, Alpha?"

The connection exploded. Pain ripped through me. The room spun. And just before darkness swallowed me completely, I heard Kael's voice through the bond. Distant, shocked and impossible.

One broken whisper, "Lyra?"

Then everything went black.