THE MOONBORN’S REJECTED MATE

##THE NIGHT EVERYTHING CHANGED

I woke up screaming.

My back arched off the mattress as a searing heat tore through my body.

"Ah!"

I grabbed the sheets.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

My bones felt like they were burning from the inside.

My heartbeat thundered in my ears.

And Lyra—

Lyra was awake.

Not sleepy.

Not quiet.

Not the timid wolf who usually hid behind my consciousness whenever another wolf came near.

She was furious.

**Alara.**

Her voice shook through my mind.

**Wake up.**

"I'm awake!"

**No.**

Her growl deepened.

**Wake up completely.**

I barely understood what she meant before another wave of pain hit me.

I cried out.

My room suddenly felt too small.

The walls seemed to move closer.

My senses sharpened.

I could hear footsteps outside.

Someone breathing in the room next door.

A mouse scratching beneath the floorboards.

And something else.

A heartbeat.

Far away.

Powerful.

My eyes snapped open.

For one strange second, everything went silent.

Then—

**BOOM.**

A wave of energy rushed through me.

The window shattered.

I screamed.

Glass scattered across the floor.

Footsteps thundered down the hallway.

"What's happening?"

"Get the healer!"

"Someone call the Beta!"

I scrambled backwards until my back hit the wall.

My hands were shaking.

"What is happening to me?"

Lyra didn't answer.

**Lyra?**

Nothing.

"Lyra!"

Then I heard her.

But her voice sounded different.

Older.

Deeper.

Almost...

afraid.

**Don't let them see.**

My heart stopped.

"What?"

**Whatever happens, Alara... don't let them see what you are.**

Before I could ask what she meant, the door burst open.

Mrs. Hale stood there with three other servants behind her.

She stared at the broken window.

Then at me.

Then at the strange silver light spreading across my skin.

Her face went completely pale.

"What..."

I looked down.

Silver markings were appearing along my arms.

Thin lines.

Almost like veins.

But they weren't veins.

They formed symbols.

Ancient-looking symbols I had never seen before.

"Mrs. Hale?"

She didn't answer.

"Mrs. Hale, what's happening?"

She stumbled backwards.

"No."

Her voice was barely audible.

"No, no, no."

One of the servants stared at her.

"What is it?"

Mrs. Hale suddenly grabbed my wrist.

I cried out.

She pulled my sleeve down.

"Cover that."

I stared at her.

"What?"

"Cover it!"

Her voice was sharp enough to make everyone freeze.

I quickly pulled the sleeve over my arm.

The silver glow disappeared.

Or at least, I couldn't see it anymore.

Mrs. Hale looked toward the hallway.

"Nobody says anything."

One of the servants frowned.

"But—"

"I said nobody says anything!"

Silence.

My heart pounded.

Why was she afraid?

And why was she looking at **me** like I was something dangerous?

"Get the healer," she ordered.

"I'm already here."

Everyone turned.

The pack healer pushed through the doorway.

She was an older woman named Mara.

I'd known her my entire life.

She had always treated me with indifference.

But now...

She was staring at me as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Elena."

I swallowed.

"Yes?"

"Come here."

I hesitated.

Lyra immediately growled.

**Don't.**

That frightened me more than anything else.

Lyra had never been afraid of the healer.

"Why?"

Mara's eyes narrowed.

"Because you're having your first shift."

"Oh."

Relief flooded through me.

That was it.

My first shift.

I almost laughed.

All this panic over something normal.

"I'm eighteen today."

Mara's face remained grim.

"Yes."

I smiled nervously.

"So I'm finally going to shift."

Nobody responded.

My smile faded.

"Right?"

Mara looked at Mrs. Hale.

They exchanged a strange glance.

Then Mara said something that made my stomach drop.

"You're not shifting."

I stared at her.

"What?"

"Your wolf has already shifted."

I looked inward.

"Lyra?"

Silence.

I could feel her.

But she wouldn't answer.

"That's impossible."

Mara stepped closer.

"You shifted years ago."

I blinked.

"What?"

"Your wolf awakened long before you turned eighteen."

My mouth fell open.

"Then why didn't I shift?"

Mara's expression changed.

And for the first time, I noticed fear in her eyes.

"I don't know."

That was a lie.

I knew it.

She knew it.

And somehow, Mrs. Hale knew it too.

I looked between them.

"What aren't you telling me?"

Nobody spoke.

My chest tightened.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Mara reached for my wrist.

I pulled away.

"Don't touch me."

She froze.

I'd never spoken to her like that before.

I immediately regretted it.

But something inside me had changed.

Maybe it was because today I was eighteen.

Maybe it was because I had finally become tired of being afraid.

Or maybe...

It was Lyra.

Because she was suddenly awake.

And she was listening.

Mara's expression hardened.

"Alara, you need to come with me."

"Where?"

"The infirmary."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"No."

The word came out before I could stop it.

Everyone stared at me.

I stared too.

I had never refused an order in my life.

Mara's eyes narrowed.

"You are an Omega."

There it was.

My old identity.

The word that had always made me shrink.

But this time, something inside my chest burned.

"Yes."

I stood.

"But I'm also a person."

Mara's face changed.

For a second, something almost like shock crossed her features.

Then—

A howl sounded outside.

Every wolf in the building went silent.

It wasn't an ordinary howl.

It was deep.

Powerful.

Commanding.

The kind that made the air itself feel heavy.

My wolf instantly stood at attention.

**Lyra?**

She whispered one word.

**Alpha.**

My heart began racing.

Another howl answered from somewhere beyond the pack house.

Then another.

And another.

The entire pack was howling.

I hurried toward the window.

Outside, wolves were running toward the main courtyard.

"What is happening?"

Mara grabbed my arm.

"Don't go outside."

I stared at her.

"Why?"

"Because the Alpha has returned."

My stomach flipped.

Alpha Adrian.

He had been away for weeks.

And tonight—

Tonight was my eighteenth birthday.

My eighteenth birthday.

My first shift.

And the Alpha's return.

Something felt wrong.

Very wrong.

I pulled my arm away.

"I need to go."

Mara's expression became desperate.

"Alara, listen to me."

I stopped.

She looked around the room before lowering her voice.

"Whatever happens tonight..."

Her eyes dropped to my covered wrist.

"Do not let the Alpha see those marks."

My blood ran cold.

"Why?"

Mara didn't answer.

"Mara."

She looked directly into my eyes.

And then she said something I would remember for the rest of my life.

"Because the last person who carried those marks was killed by the Alpha's father."

My entire body went cold.

"What?"

Mara's eyes widened.

As if she hadn't meant to say it.

Mrs. Hale immediately stepped forward.

"Mara."

But it was too late.

I had heard her.

The last person.

Someone like me.

Someone who had carried those symbols.

Killed.

By the Alpha's father.

Why?

Who had they been?

And what did that have to do with me?

I backed toward the door.

Mara moved in front of it.

"Alara, you need to stay here."

"Move."

"No."

"Mara."

"Listen to me! You don't understand what you're carrying."

My heart hammered.

"What am I carrying?"

She went silent.

I stepped closer.

"What am I?"

Nothing.

I grabbed the sleeve covering my arm and pulled it up.

The silver markings had returned.

Only this time, they were brighter.

Much brighter.

Mara's face drained of colour.

I looked down.

The markings weren't random.

They were forming a pattern.

A crescent.

Surrounded by four tiny stars.

And beneath it—

A symbol I recognised.

The Blackthorn crest.

Except there was something different.

Something hidden inside it.

A second symbol.

A symbol that made Mara drop to her knees.

"Moon Goddess..."

I stared at her.

"What?"

Her lips trembled.

"You're not an Omega."

The world seemed to stop.

I laughed nervously.

"What?"

Mara looked up at me.

"You were never an Omega."

My heart slammed against my ribs.

"Then what am I?"

She opened her mouth.

Before she could answer—

**BOOM!**

The entire pack house shook.

A deafening Alpha roar echoed across the territory.

Every wolf inside the building dropped to their knees.

Every wolf except me.

I remained standing.

Completely still.

My eyes widened.

Because the roar hadn't come from outside.

It had come from the courtyard.

And somehow...

I could hear the voice behind it.

A voice only I could understand.

**Where is she?**

My blood ran cold.

The voice continued.

**Where is my mate?**

My wolf finally spoke.

But this time, there was no fear in her voice.

Only certainty.

**He's here.**

I couldn't breathe.

"Who?"

Lyra's answer sent a chill down my spine.

**The Alpha.**

Then she added—

**Our mate.**

My heart stopped.

And somewhere outside the door, Alpha Adrian Blackwood suddenly went silent.

As if he'd heard her too.