The Rejected Luna

The first thing Selene heard was her name being spoken like a sentence. “Selene.” She stopped at the entrance of the Great Hall, one hand still resting on the carved wooden door. Hundreds of eyes turned toward her. Nobody smiled. Nobody welcomed her. At the far end of the hall, beneath the enormous silver-and-black banner of the Silver Moon Pack, her father sat in the Alpha’s chair with his arms folded across his chest. Beside him sat the woman who had spent the last three years waiting for Selene to disappear. Lydia. She wore a white dress embroidered with silver thread, her dark hair pinned elegantly behind her head. Around her neck hung the Luna necklace that had belonged to Selene’s mother. Selene stared at it. Her mother's necklace. Her stomach tightened. “What is this about?” she asked. The doors behind her slammed shut. The sound echoed through the hall. Selene slowly turned. Two guards stood on either side of the entrance. Her pulse began to race. This wasn't a celebration. It was an execution. Not the kind involving blood and blades. Something worse. The kind where the entire pack watched while they decided whether you still belonged among them. “Come forward,” her father ordered. Selene obeyed. She walked between rows of pack members who had once watched her grow up. Some looked away. Others stared openly. A few whispered behind their hands. She heard enough to understand. Traitor. Weakling. Curse. She reached the center of the hall. Her father rose. “Tonight, before the Moon Goddess and the entire Silver Moon Pack, we are making a decision concerning your future.” Selene looked at him in disbelief. “My future?” “Yes.” “You could have spoken to me privately.” A murmur moved through the crowd. Her father's expression hardened. “This is bigger than you.” Selene almost laughed. Everything that happened to her was always somehow bigger than her. Being ignored after her mother's death had been bigger than her. Being forbidden from training with the other young wolves had been bigger than her. Being blamed whenever something went wrong had been bigger than her. Now this. “What did I do?” she asked quietly. Her father didn't answer immediately. Instead, Lydia stood. “You were born under a bad moon,” she said. Selene's eyes narrowed. Lydia continued, her voice carrying easily through the hall. “Your mother died giving birth to you. Two years later, our eastern territory was attacked. The following winter, the crops failed. And now, just days before the Alpha King’s representatives arrive, three hunters were found dead near our border.” “That has nothing to do with me.” “You don't know that.” “I know I didn't kill anyone.” Lydia's lips curved into a small smile. “That is exactly what someone guilty would say.” Selene looked toward her father. “You believe this?” Her father wouldn't meet her eyes. That hurt more than anything else. She had spent eighteen years trying to earn one look of pride from him. One. Apparently, even that had been too much. Then the hall went silent. A strange pressure settled over the room. Selene felt it before anyone spoke. A scent. Pine. Cold earth. Smoke. Something wild beneath it. Her wolf stirred violently inside her. For years, her wolf had been unusually quiet. While other girls her age had felt their wolves clearly and learned to communicate with them, Selene had experienced little more than distant instincts and fragmented dreams. But now her wolf slammed against her consciousness with such force that Selene nearly stumbled. Mine. The single word echoed inside her head. Selene's breath caught. Across the hall, every wolf seemed to react at once. Heads turned toward the enormous doors. Then they opened. A man walked inside. He was dressed entirely in black. He wasn't the tallest person Selene had ever seen, but there was something about him that made the entire room feel smaller. His dark hair was slightly disheveled, his expression unreadable, and a faint scar crossed one side of his jaw. The guards immediately lowered their heads. Her father stood straighter. “Alpha Kael.” Selene's heart stopped. The Alpha of the Blackthorn Territory. The youngest Alpha to ever control one of the northern packs. The man people described in whispers. Cold. Ruthless. Untouchable. And according to every story Selene had heard, completely uninterested in finding a mate. Kael walked forward with two men behind him. His gaze moved through the room. Then it landed on Selene. Everything changed. His expression remained controlled, but his eyes sharpened. Selene's wolf nearly broke free. Mate. Her knees weakened. No. It couldn't be. Kael stopped walking. For the first time that evening, genuine shock appeared on his face. Selene could barely breathe. The bond between them was unmistakable. The Moon Goddess had chosen him. And somehow, impossibly, she had chosen Selene. Kael's gaze never left hers. “Who is she?” he asked. Nobody answered. Selene's father stepped forward. “She is my daughter.” Kael's jaw tightened. “Her name.” “Selene.” Something flickered in Kael's eyes. Recognition. Not of her face. Of the bond. Selene swallowed. He knew. He could feel it too. The entire hall seemed to hold its breath. Then Lydia spoke. “She is no longer part of this pack.” Kael looked at her. “What?” Her father finally spoke. “Selene is being rejected by the Silver Moon Pack tonight.” Selene's chest tightened. Even though she had known something like this was coming, hearing the words aloud felt like being struck. Kael looked back at her. “Rejected?” Selene lifted her chin. She refused to cry. Not here. Not in front of them. “Yes.” Kael's eyes narrowed. “Why?” Her father answered before Selene could. “She has brought misfortune upon this pack since the day she was born.” Kael stared at him for several seconds. “And you expect me to believe that?” Nobody moved. Selene's heart pounded. For one tiny, dangerous moment, she wondered if he would step forward. If he would claim the bond. If he would take her away from this place. Instead, Kael looked at Selene again. His face was impossible to read. Then he said the words that shattered the tiny piece of hope she hadn't realized she was holding. “I don't accept the bond.” Silence. Selene heard her own heartbeat. Her wolf whimpered. The pain was immediate, but she refused to show it. Kael turned toward her father. “I came here for negotiations. I will not allow a forced bond to complicate them.” Forced. The word burned. Selene looked at him. “So that's what you think this is?” Kael's eyes returned to hers. For a second, something almost like regret crossed his face. Then it disappeared. “I think neither of us asked for this.” Selene nodded slowly. He was right. Neither of them had asked for it. But only one of them was losing everything tonight. Her. She turned toward the crowd. “Is that all?” Her father hesitated. “No.” Selene closed her eyes. Of course. “There is one final matter.” Her father descended the steps of the platform. “Effective tonight, you are stripped of your rank, your inheritance, and your right to remain within Silver Moon territory.” A cold silence followed. “You're banishing me?” “Yes.” Selene looked around the hall. At the faces. At the people she had grown up with. At Lydia wearing her mother's necklace. Then she looked at Kael. He stood completely still. The man the Moon Goddess had chosen for her was watching her lose everything. And he did nothing. Selene reached up and removed the small silver pendant hanging around her neck. It was the only thing her mother had left her. She stared at it for a moment. Then she looked at her father. “You can take my title.” She placed the pendant in her palm. “You can take this house.” Her voice shook, but she continued. “You can take every piece of land you think belongs to you.” She closed her fingers around the pendant. “But you will never take my mother's memory from me.” Her father said nothing. Selene turned and walked toward the doors. This time, nobody stopped her. Nobody called her back. Outside, the night was colder than she expected. She walked through the forest alone. She didn't know where she would go. She didn't know how she would survive. She only knew that she couldn't turn around. Behind her, the gates of Silver Moon closed. Selene kept walking. She made it nearly a mile before the first tear slipped down her cheek. She wiped it away angrily. Then she stopped. Her wolf was growling. Not from fear. From warning. Selene slowly looked around. The forest was silent. Too silent. She heard a branch snap somewhere behind her. Her heart jumped. “Who's there?” No answer. Another sound came from the trees. Closer this time. Selene reached for the small knife hidden inside her boot. Then a voice came from the darkness. “You shouldn't have been able to survive the rejection.” Selene froze. A man stepped between the trees. She didn't recognize him. But she recognized the symbol burned into the silver ring on his finger. It belonged to a pack that had disappeared from the northern territories twenty years ago. Her mother's pendant suddenly grew warm in her hand. The stranger smiled. “Your Alpha doesn't know what you are.” Selene's breath caught. “What are you talking about?” The man's smile widened. “Neither does your father.” A howl sounded in the distance. Not from one wolf. From dozens. The stranger took one step toward her. “We've been looking for you, Selene.” She tightened her grip on the pendant. “Why?” The stranger looked toward the full moon rising above the trees. “Because the night you were born, the Moon Goddess marked more than one fate.” Selene's blood ran cold. Then, somewhere far behind her, another howl tore through the forest. This one was unmistakable. Kael. And his wolf was calling for her. For the first time that night, Selene wondered if rejecting her had been the biggest mistake the Alpha had ever made. Because the stranger's next words made her realize something far worse. “The Alpha thinks he rejected his mate.” He smiled. “He has no idea he just rejected the woman who could destroy every pack in the North.”