The Broken Luna

The Scent of Rejection

Hope.

The feeling was so strange that Gianna almost didn’t recognize it. For years she had stopped expecting good things. She had stopped wishing for kindness, for acceptance, for someone to look at her and see more than a disappointment. Yet as she stood outside the grand hall with the servant’s words echoing in her mind, something inside her stirred.

A mate. The Moon Goddess chose one person for every wolf. One soul. One home.

Gianna pressed a trembling hand against her chest. Maybe she hadn’t been forgotten after all.

She took a deep breath and stepped into the ballroom.

The hall was magnificent. Hundreds of candles hung from golden chandeliers, bathing the room in warm light. The air smelled of roasted meat, sweet wine, and expensive perfume, and music drifted from the musicians gathered near the fireplace.

Laughter filled every corner. Gianna immediately wished she had stayed in her room.

Conversations faltered as people noticed her. Whispers followed her across the hall.

“She actually came.”

“The wolfless daughter.”

“What if she never finds her mate?”

“She’s eighteen already.”

Gianna lowered her eyes and moved toward the edge of the room, hoping to disappear into the crowd.

At the center of the hall stood the most powerful families of Shadowmoon. Her father, Alpha Enzo, stood proudly beside her mother. Matteo laughed with his friends nearby, while Bianca twirled in her silver dress, soaking up the attention.

Beside the Alpha family stood Marco De Luca.

Gianna froze.

Everyone knew Marco. As the Beta’s son, he was expected to become one of the strongest warriors in the pack. He was tall and handsome, with dark hair and sharp eyes that made girls blush whenever he walked past. He was twenty years old and already led hunting parties into rogue territory. Half the unmated girls in Shadowmoon dreamed of becoming his Luna.

Standing beside him was Chiara. Her red dress hugged her figure perfectly, and her hand rested possessively on Marco’s arm.

Gianna quickly looked away. She barely knew Marco. They had exchanged only a few words over the years, but still, she could not deny that she admired him from afar. He was everything she was not. Strong. Confident. Wanted.

The musicians suddenly stopped playing. At the front of the hall, the Moon Priest stepped onto the raised platform, and a hush fell over the crowd.

“My brothers and sisters,” the old man announced, his voice echoing through the room. “Tonight, beneath the blessing of the Moon Goddess, we celebrate the sacred bonds she has chosen for our people.”

Excitement swept through the room. Couples squeezed each other’s hands. Gianna stood alone.

The Moon Priest smiled. “May every heart find its home.”

Music began again, softer this time. Around the hall, people started mingling, searching for the strange pull that marked a mate bond. Gianna tried to ignore the ache in her chest. She did not belong here.

She was about to slip outside when a scent hit her. Sudden. Sharp. Wild. Her heart skipped.

The smell of pine and smoke wrapped around her like an invisible hand. Her body reacted before her mind could understand. Warmth spread through her veins, and her pulse quickened.

She looked up.

Across the ballroom, Marco had gone completely still. His smile vanished. The glass in his hand slipped from his fingers and shattered on the floor.

Every conversation stopped.

Marco stared directly at her, his eyes widening in disbelief. For one impossible moment, Gianna forgot how to breathe.

The bond. It had to be. Her mate had found her.

A thousand emotions crashed through her at once. Fear. Joy. Relief. Maybe the Moon Goddess had answered her prayer after all.

Slowly, she took a step toward him. “Marco.”

The word barely left her lips before something changed in his expression. The shock disappeared, and in its place came fury. Pure, burning fury.

“No.”

His voice thundered through the hall. People turned to stare. Marco shook his head violently, backing away from her as though she carried a disease.

“No,” he repeated.

Gianna stopped moving. Confusion swept through her.

Marco’s face twisted with disgust. “You cannot be my mate.”

The room erupted into whispers. Chiara tightened her grip on his arm. Gianna felt the blood drain from her face.

“I don’t understand.”

Marco let out a bitter laugh. “Of course you do.” He stepped forward, his voice rising. “The Moon Goddess expects me to accept this? She expects me to mate with a wolfless girl?”

Gianna flinched.

He pointed at her. “A weak girl who cannot shift. A burden who embarrasses her own family.”

Every word struck like a blow.

“Marco,” she whispered.

But he was no longer listening. His anger filled the room. “I am supposed to become Alpha one day.” He looked around at the gathered pack members. “I need a strong Luna by my side.” His eyes returned to Gianna. “Not her.”

The whispers grew louder. Gianna searched the faces around her. No one defended her. Not her father. Not her mother. Not her siblings. No one.

Marco took Chiara’s hand. The beautiful girl smiled triumphantly.

“I reject you, Gianna Enzo.”

The words shattered something deep inside her. Gasps rippled through the hall.

“You’re weak.” His voice was merciless. “You’re useless. You will never stand beside me.”

Chiara stepped closer, wrapping her arms around him. Marco did not push her away. Instead, he pulled her into his embrace.

“I choose Chiara.”

The room exploded. Some people gasped in shock. Others laughed openly. Gianna could barely hear them over the roaring in her ears.

Her legs felt weak. Her chest burned. This was impossible. Mates were sacred. No one rejected their mate. Not publicly. Not like this.

She turned desperately toward her parents. Her father’s expression was colder than ice. Her mother looked embarrassed. Matteo smirked. Bianca covered her mouth to hide her laughter.

The pain became unbearable. Gianna staggered backward.

“Please,” she whispered.

Marco looked at her with contempt. “You should be grateful I rejected you now instead of after marriage.”

Laughter echoed through the ballroom.

“Even her mate doesn’t want her,” someone muttered.

“She truly is cursed,” another voice added.

Gianna could not breathe. The bond that had sparked moments ago now felt like knives cutting through her chest. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to hold together the pieces that were falling apart.

Chiara rested her head against Marco’s shoulder and smiled at her. “You never stood a chance.”

Tears blurred Gianna’s vision. The room spun around her. She took another step backward. Then another.

Suddenly, her mother’s voice rang out. “Enough.”

The hall quieted. For one foolish second, Gianna thought Elena might defend her. Instead, her mother sighed heavily.

“You have humiliated this family once again.”

The words crushed the last fragile hope inside her.

“I tried”

“Silence.” Elena’s face hardened. “Go back to your room.”

Gianna stared at her. “I did nothing wrong.”

The sentence escaped before she could stop it. A shocked silence fell over the room.

Alpha Enzo slowly stepped forward. For the first time that night, he looked directly at his daughter, and the disappointment in his eyes hurt more than Marco’s rejection ever could.

“You should never have come here.”

The words hit harder than a slap. Gianna’s lips parted, but no sound came out.

Around her, people whispered. Mocked. Laughed. The daughter of the Alpha stood completely alone in the center of the grand hall.

Marco turned away first. Chiara clung to his arm as they walked toward the dance floor. The musicians began to play again, and the celebration continued, as though Gianna’s heart had not just been torn apart.

Her knees finally gave out. She collapsed onto the cold marble floor.

The last thing she saw before darkness swallowed her was Uncle Aldo standing at the edge of the crowd, watching her, smiling.