The Rejected Luna

Chapter 5

Sloan

The first thing I felt was warmth, real warmth not the kind trapped you in a room filled with wondering thoughts, but something way deeper. I noticed it before I was fully awake, my body sensing it before my mind caught up to it.Then came the smell: pine and stone, with something cold and metallic underneath, I sensed there was a fire somewhere nearby.

This place didn’t smell like something I knew, not the palace, nor the forest.Somewhere else, Somewhere better, I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was the stone ceiling, it looked high looking at it from the bed which I was currently laying on. Window to my right, daylight outside, it looked like it was probably late in the. I could feel the heat from the fireplace, as it warms up my whole body. The bed was big and plain and the blankets were dark and heavy and I felt genuinely comfortable, I couldn't remember the last time I felt this way.

I scanned my body for any pain other than the usual one that I normally have in some places, nothing new. I checked the exile mark, the pain was still there, but duller. And then something else, I went still when I felt it. Deep inside me, in a place that had always been empty, now felt full. It felt like a room had finally been filled up in my chest

I could see the moon shape mark on my collarbone, it was huge and glowing. Like it was saying hello to me for the first time. I pressed my hand over the mark on my collarbone, it felt different, the glowing light that it produced was a reflection of light coming from the window that hit it. I stared at it until someone knocked.

"Come in."

The man who opened the door was tall. Really tall, the doorway wasn’t a problem, and he moved through it without thinking, that’s the way people do when they’ve spent a lifetime ducking under low doorways. His silver hair was pulled to the back, pale blue eyes, it looked almost grey. A face that looked like it had been through things. Things that had not broken them, but made it stronger.

Lunar mark was on the back of his neck, it was very visible. He stopped near the door, keeping a very deliberate distance. I noticed it, it was kinda hard to ignore. "You're awake," he said,"Apparently." My voice worked, which was good news because I tried talking earlier and it wasn’t a good idea. "Where am I?"

"Shadowcrest estate. Southwest border, my scouts found you." I remembered bits of what happened.The rogues, the rain, the dull and numb feeling, darkness, that was all I could remember. O and then the crack-open feeling, like something that had been sealed for a long time was set free and I couldn't have stopped it even if I'd tried. "You carried me yourself." I didn't know how I knew that, I just did. Something moved across his face,"You weren't walking or responding when we tried to wake you up." "How long was I out?"Two weeks.

Two weeks was long enough for everything to be over, I’d known it would happen. That didn’t make it hurt less.

“There’s something I should tell you,” he said. “About what my men saw.”I looked at him,“The power that came out of you. Every wolf in this territory felt it. Most don’t know what it was, I have some ideas, but I want to hear what you know first.” “I don’t know anything,” I said. “I’ve spent the past twenty-two years of my life not knowing what’s wrong with me. That’s been my life.” A small smile almost appeared on his face, “Then we have a lot to figure out.” “We?”

“You’re in my territory, You’ve been exiled, it is kinda obvious. And someone sent that rogue pack after you. And whatever happened out there wasn’t normal.” He said it calmly, “It didn't seem like it would be right to leave you alone with it.”

I studied him for a moment. His eyes were steady, he wasn’t judging me or trying to figure out how to use me like everyone does, he was just listening and observing.“I don’t even know your name.” “Lucien Ravaryn. Shadowcrest Alpha.” “Umm I’m Sloan Vale.”I pushed the blankets aside trying to stand up, but I fell back hard into the bed. Lucien rushed to my side with a worried expression, “I don’t think you should be moving around so quickly, you need to rest.” That earned him a faint smile from, “ thank you”. My hand drifted unconsciously to my sternum,the pain was still there, it felt like a part of her. A small shiver ran through her, “What is it?” Lucien asked, I looked up, “I can feel it, the power within.” His expression sharpened, “And?” “And I still don’t know what it is,” “my men described it as different,” “How so?”

“They said it felt ancient,” my stomach tightened. “They said when it appeared, every wolf in the territory stopped.” “Stopped as how?” “they all froze”, “ who froze”, “ all the werewolves”, "Even the patrols miles away.” His gaze move briefly toward the window,“One of my oldest pack members dropped to his knees.” That got my attention. “What! how can that be?” “He said it felt like standing in front of something that existed long before wolves.”

A chill crawled down my skin, hearing what he said.