His Miracle Luna

Everly’s heart felt like it was being crushed in someone’s fist. “Please don’t do this,” I cried, pressing my trembling hand against my chest and rubbing small circles over the ache there, like I could somehow soothe the pain he was causing. Aiden’s lips twisted into a smirk. The sight of it made my stomach drop. He stepped toward me, and instinctively, I stepped back. The movement only darkened his expression. His strides quickened until he was towering over me. Before I could react, his hand tangled violently into my hair, yanking hard enough to force a cry from my throat. “Why would I ever want a loser like you?” Aiden snarled. My eyes burned with tears. “But… but we’re—” The slap came so fast I never saw it. Pain exploded across my face, and suddenly I was on the ground, dirt biting into my palms. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as it dripped from my split lip. I looked up at him in disbelief. “No,” he hissed, eyes blazing with hatred, “we are not.” My chest tightened so hard I could barely breathe. All this time… he knew. He had known I was his mate. Aiden never wanted me. Everyone knew his brother Aaron had already found his mate, which meant Aiden couldn’t avoid his own bond forever. And unfortunately for him… his mate was me. The human girl. The unwanted one. Tears blurred my vision as realization settled over me like a death sentence. It was rare for mates to reject each other. Unheard of for an Alpha. But I knew exactly why he was doing it. I wasn’t a wolf. I never had been. My parents found me abandoned in the woods as a baby and begged the former Alpha to let them keep me. They couldn’t have children of their own, and somehow, the pack had accepted me. I grew up here. Loved here. At least… I thought I had. Most of the pack treated me kindly enough, but after Aiden and Aaron became Alphas last year, something changed in Aiden. He stopped glaring at me all the time. Stopped acting like my existence annoyed him. Sometimes, he even looked at me like he wanted to say something. And today, when he caught me after I tripped outside the hospital, his fingers brushed my skin— Sparks. Warm tingles raced across my body so intensely it nearly stole my breath. I knew instantly what it meant. My mother had explained it to me years ago. When your mate touches you, your soul recognizes them before your mind does. I didn’t have a wolf to confirm it for me. But Aiden did. Which meant he’d known for years. So why wait until now? Why spend an entire year acting differently toward me if this was how he felt? Was it his wolf that wanted me… while the man himself hated me? “I’m begging you, Aiden,” I whispered desperately. “Please…” His jaw clenched. “I need a strong Luna,” he spat, glaring at me like I disgusted him. “Not some human.” The words sliced deeper than the slap ever could. He inhaled sharply, and for just a second, pain flickered across his face. His wolf was hurting too. But it wasn’t enough to stop him. “I, Aiden Parker, reject you, Everly Reynolds, as my mate and Luna of the River Ash Pack.” His voice thundered through the clearing. “I also banish you and declare you rogue from this moment forward until another pack takes you in.” Agony tore through my chest so violently I screamed. It felt like someone was ripping my heart apart with their bare hands. The pack bond snapping hurt almost as much as the mate bond breaking. “Accept it, Everly,” Aiden growled. I folded over onto the dirt, clutching my chest as sobs wracked my body. Humans almost never became part of a pack bond, but my parents had begged the Alpha years ago to let me be included. They didn’t want me smelling like a rogue or being mistaken for a hunter. Now I wished they hadn’t. Because losing that bond felt like losing the only home I’d ever known. Thankfully my parents weren’t alive to see this. It would have destroyed them. “I…” My voice cracked violently. “I, Everly Reynolds, accept your rejection.” The pain intensified instantly. I gasped, nails digging into the dirt beneath me. “You have two hours to get off my land,” Aiden snapped coldly before turning away. Ignoring his own pain. Ignoring me. I forced myself onto shaky legs and ran. Branches tore at my skin as I sprinted through the woods toward my house, barely able to see through my tears. I had to leave. Now. Because once those two hours were up, I wouldn’t just be unwanted. I’d be hunted. — I threw clothes into bags with trembling hands, my chest still aching so badly I could hardly breathe. My phone rang on the counter. Jocelyn. Fresh tears filled my eyes. I couldn’t tell her over the phone. If I did, she’d come after me without hesitation, bags packed and ready to go rogue beside me. I couldn’t let her ruin her life for mine. So I turned my phone off. Then I wrote her a note. By the time I finished packing my Jeep, an hour had already passed. I stood in the doorway for a long moment, staring at the tiny house that had once felt safe. Then I climbed into my Jeep and drove away. — Thirty minutes later, I reached the pack border. The gates slowly lifted, and my throat tightened painfully when I saw Aiden stepping out of his vehicle. I looked away immediately. He stopped beside my window. “I spoke to the Alpha of the Yarrow Pack,” he said stiffly. “He agreed to take you in.” I turned toward him sharply, disbelief and disgust flooding through me. “You asked him?” I snapped. “That disgusting creep? I’d rather live with rogues.” Aiden’s jaw flexed. “You can’t stay in unclaimed territory, Everly.” “I wouldn’t have to if you hadn’t banished me!” The fury in my voice echoed through the silence. Aiden had always been harsher than Aaron, but this? Rejecting me was cruel enough. Banishment was monstrous. “Give me a day,” he muttered. “I’ll find somewhere else for you.” I laughed bitterly. “I don’t need you or your help, Aiden.” His eyes narrowed. “See? This is exactly the problem. You never listen, and then you wonder why I rejected you.” The audacity of that nearly made me sick. “No,” I hissed. “You rejected me because I’m human. Because I wasn’t your perfect ‘strong Luna.’” I slammed my foot on the gas before he could answer. And I didn’t look back. — By sunset, exhaustion was beginning to weigh on me. I pulled onto the side of the road near the woods and leaned my head against the seat with a shaky sigh. I grabbed a bottle of water from the passenger seat, silently thanking myself for stopping at the convenience store earlier. The unclaimed territory wasn’t far now. Beyond that lay hundreds of miles of rogue land. I could try finding a human settlement instead. Most humans knew supernatural creatures existed now, even if some preferred pretending otherwise. Or… I could try reaching the Enchanted Forest. But getting there meant surviving over four hundred miles of rogue territory alone. Neither option sounded survivable. Eventually, I shut the Jeep off and closed my eyes. I must’ve drifted for a while because the next thing I heard was a growl. My eyes snapped open. Darkness swallowed the woods now. And staring back at me through it were two glowing red eyes. Rogues. Panic surged through me. I jammed the key into the ignition, but before I could shift into drive, something slammed into my window hard enough to make me scream. The glass cracked. The rogue backed up. Then charged again. I scrambled across the seats just as the driver’s side window shattered inward. Claws sliced across my back as I threw myself out the passenger door. Pain burned through me. I ran. Branches whipped against my skin as I sprinted blindly into the woods. I knew crossing onto another pack’s territory was dangerous, but dying out here was worse. Then— A child crying. I froze. Fear clenched around my lungs. Oh God… did they attack a child too? Without thinking, I ran toward the sound. The cries grew louder until I spotted a little boy curled beside a tree, clutching his wrist. Relief and terror crashed through me at once. He looked so small. So scared. “I need you to hide, okay?” I whispered urgently, kneeling beside him. “There are rogues here.” His wide grey eyes filled with fear. I stripped off my sweatshirt and carefully tied it around his injured wrist as a sling. “What’s your name?” “Jorge,” he sniffled softly, his tiny Spanish accent making my chest ache. I smiled despite everything. “I’m Everly.” A growl echoed behind us. My blood turned cold. I glanced upward toward the thick tree branches. “If I lift you up there, can you stay quiet for me?” He nodded immediately, trying so hard to be brave. I helped him onto a sturdy branch and pressed a finger to my lips. Then I turned around. Four rogues stepped from the darkness. My heart slammed against my ribs so violently it hurt. I smelled like a rogue now too because of my banishment, but I was still human. Easy prey. One lunged at me. I ducked barely in time. Another slammed into my side, throwing me against the ground hard enough to knock the air from my lungs. Pain exploded through my hip when I hit a jagged rock. The rogues circled me slowly. Like predators deciding where to bite first. One grabbed me from behind. Its teeth sank into my shoulder. I screamed. Hot blood poured down my arm as flesh tore free— Then suddenly the rogue was ripped away from me. Growls exploded around the clearing. Larger wolves crashed into the rogues with terrifying force. Pack wolves. Adrenaline surged through me as I staggered toward the tree. “Jorge!” I called weakly. “Come here!” The little boy climbed down quickly, throwing himself against me. “They’ll take you home now,” I whispered. But the second the adrenaline faded, dizziness slammed into me. My knees buckled. Jorge grabbed onto me as we both fell beside the tree. The fighting slowly quieted. Heavy footsteps approached. One of the wolves shifted into a man beside us, and even through my fading vision, I noticed how intimidating he looked. Strong jaw. Dark eyes. Sweat glistening against tan skin. Jorge pointed at me frantically. “She saved me, Uncle Kyle!” The man—Kyle—looked down at me, his expression instantly softening. After that, everything blurred. I vaguely remember being lifted into strong arms. The rush of wind against my face. Bright lights overhead. Voices shouting. By the time I realized I was in an infirmary, an IV was already in my arm. A nurse injected something into it, and exhaustion crashed over me instantly. Jorge was crying nearby. The sound twisted painfully in my chest. I turned my head weakly and saw him sitting beside Kyle while another nurse wrapped his injured arm. Jorge looked at me the second our eyes met. I smiled softly at him. He smiled back immediately, like seeing me awake fixed everything. My eyelids grew heavier. I fought sleep with everything I had. But eventually, darkness pulled me under.