The Sacred Luna

Chapter 1

(Sanya's POV)

I stand on the empty road, my suitcase sitting at my feet like a loyal dog. The moon hangs full and bright above me, so close I could almost reach up and touch it. Almost.

Aaron should be here by now.

I check my phone again. The screen lights up my face in the darkness, making me squint. No messages. No calls. Nothing.

My heart pounds in my chest. We planned this for weeks. Every detail. Every step. Tonight, we run away together and start a new life in a different pack. A life where my brothers can't tell me who to love. Where I don't have to hide what I feel.

But the road stays empty. Aaron...

Still nowhere in sight.

I pace back and forth, my shoes crunching on the gravel. Five steps one way. Turn. Five steps back. I've worn a path here, I think. My brothers will notice I'm gone soon. They'll come looking for me. They'll drag me back home, back to that suffocating house where every breath feels like I'm stealing something that doesn't belong to me.

I can't go back. Not after what they said about Aaron. Not after they forbade me from seeing him.

The memory plays in my head like a broken record. My oldest brother Derek, standing in the doorway of my room, his arms crossed over his chest. His face hard as stone.

"He's a nobody, Sanya," he said. "No rank. No father. Just a weak mother and empty pockets."

But I love Aaron. And he loves me. That's all that matters. That's all that should matter in this world.

Isn't it?

I check my phone again. Still nothing.

Where is he?

My hands shake as I stare at the screen. I try calling him. It goes straight to voicemail. His voice comes through, warm and familiar. "Hey, this is Aaron. Leave a message and I'll get back to you."

I hang up. I don't leave a message. What would I even say?

A car engine roars in the distance.

My heart leaps. I grab my suitcase, lifting it with both hands. This is it. This is him. Finally.

But it's not Aaron's old truck. It's my brothers' black SUV. The one with the tinted windows and the dent in the front bumper from when Brandon backed into a tree last summer.

No. No, no, no.

The SUV screeches to a stop, tires squealing against the asphalt. Both my brothers jump out. Their faces are dark with rage. Derek's jaw is clenched so tight I can see the muscle twitching. Brandon's hands are already curling into fists.

"Get in the car, Sanya," Derek says. His voice is cold. Controlled. Which is worse than if he were shouting.

"No." I step back, clutching my suitcase like a shield. "I'm waiting for Aaron."

"Aaron isn't coming."

"You're lying!" The words tear out of my throat. "You're lying to get me to come home. But I won't. I won't go back there."

Brandon grabs my arm. His fingers dig into my skin hard enough to bruise. I try to pull away, but he's too strong. He's always been too strong.

"He never loved you," Brandon says. His breath smells like coffee and cigarettes. "He was just using you. Playing with you."

"That's not true!" I kick at him. My shoe connects with his shin, but he doesn't even flinch.

They drag me toward the SUV. I scream. I fight. I kick. My suitcase falls to the ground, spilling open. My clothes scatter across the road like fallen leaves. The blue dress Aaron said made my eyes look beautiful. The sweater his mother knitted for me last winter.

But it doesn't matter.

None of it matters.

They throw me in the back seat. The leather is cold against my skin. My oldest brother gets in beside me, blocking any escape. My second brother drives. The engine roars to life.

"You're getting married," Derek says. He's not even looking at me. He's staring straight ahead like he's reciting something he memorized. "To Alpha Tyron Stone of the Blood Moon Pack."

My blood runs cold.

Alpha Tyron Stone. I've heard the name. Everyone has. The Alpha who rules Manhattan with an iron fist. The Alpha whose first wife mysteriously disappeared. The Alpha who demands perfection in all things.

"No. I won't."

"You will. The arrangements are already made. The wedding is in three days."

I stare at him. Three days?

Three days.

How is that even possible?

"You can't force me to marry someone I don't love!" My voice cracks. Tears burn my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. I won't give them the satisfaction.

"You brought this on yourself." Derek finally turns to look at me. His eyes are hard. Unforgiving. "Running around with that worthless boy. Shaming our family. Shaming our parents' memory."

Our parents' memory.

The words hit me like a slap. Mom and Dad have been dead for five years, but Derek still uses them like weapons. Like their ghosts are watching, judging, keeping score.

Tears burn my eyes. I turn to look out the window. The empty road disappears behind us, swallowed by darkness.

The moon follows us, hanging in the sky like a silent witness.

Aaron, where are you?

Did something happen? Did you change your mind? Did you wake up this morning and realize I wasn't worth the trouble?

No. No, I can't think like that.

Aaron loves me. He told me he loves me. He said nothing in this world could keep him from me.

So where is he?

The SUV speeds through the night. Brandon drives too fast, taking corners hard enough to throw me against the door. Derek sits beside me like a statue. Neither of them speaks.

I press my forehead against the cold window. My breath fogs the glass.

Three days.

In three days, I'll be married to a stranger. To an Alpha I've never met. To a man who might be just as cruel as they say.

And Aaron...

Aaron will think I left him. That I changed my mind. That I chose my family over him.

He'll never know I waited. That I stood on that empty road until my brothers dragged me away.

He'll never know I would have waited forever.

The tears finally come. Silent. Hot. They slide down my cheeks and drip onto my lap.

Derek glances at me. For just a second, something flickers in his eyes. Something that might be regret.

But then it's gone.

"This is for your own good, Sanya," he says quietly. "One day, you'll understand that."

I don't respond. What's the point?

The SUV eats up the miles. The road stretches on and on, pulling me further and further from the life I wanted. From the future I planned.

From Aaron.

I close my eyes. But all I see is him. His warm brown eyes. His gentle smile. The way his hair falls over his forehead when he forgets to brush it back.

The way he held my hand last week and promised me everything would be okay. That we'd be together. That nothing could tear us apart.

He was wrong.

Or maybe I was wrong to believe him.

The SUV finally slows. We're pulling up to the house. Our house. The place that stopped feeling like home the day our parents died.

Brandon parks. Derek gets out first. He opens my door and grabs my arm.

"Come on," he says. "Let's get you inside."

I stumble out of the car. My legs feel like water. The house looms in front of me, dark and silent.

This is it. This is my prison now. For the next three days, until they hand me over to another prison. To another man who thinks he owns me.

Derek pulls me toward the door.

I look back one last time. At the road. At the darkness.

Hoping against hope that I'll see headlights. That I'll hear the rattle of Aaron's old truck.

But there's nothing.

Just the moon, hanging in the sky.

Watching.

Judging.

Better yet, mocking my naivety.