The Rejected Luna's Secret Alpha

Chapter 8

I gasped.

The silver symbol flashed beneath my skin.

Elara grabbed my arm.

“Freya?”

The pain spread up my forearm, hot and prickling. I stumbled backward, knocking against a small table.

A glass vase fell.

Before it struck the floor, it stopped in midair.

I froze.

The vase hovered inches above the stone tiles, trembling as though held by invisible hands.

Elara stared at it.

I stared too.

Then the vase shot upward and shattered against the ceiling.

Fragments rained down around us.

I screamed.

The warriors in the courtyard immediately turned toward the windows. Within seconds, footsteps thundered through the corridor.

I backed away from the broken glass, shaking my head.

“I didn’t do that. I swear I didn’t.”

Elara’s face had gone pale.

“Don’t move.”

But I wasn’t listening.

Something inside me was waking up.

I could feel it beneath my skin, a strange current of energy that seemed to flow with every beat of my heart.

The air around me shimmered silver.

And then I heard a voice.

Not Elara’s.

Not one of the warriors outside.

A voice deep inside my mind, ancient and unmistakably female.

Remember who you are.

My knees weakened.

The silver light burst from my hands.

Every window in the corridor rattled.

And then everything went dark.

When I opened my eyes, Xavier was kneeling in front of me.

His hands were braced against my shoulders, and his golden eyes burned with an intensity that frightened me more than the magic itself.

“Freya. Look at me.”

I tried to sit up.

“What happened?”

“You tell me.”

“I don’t know!”

My voice cracked.

“I didn’t mean to do anything. The vase just—”

“I saw what happened.”

His tone was controlled, but I could hear the tension beneath it.

He glanced toward the shattered glass, then back at me.

“Did you hear anything?”

I went still.

“How did you know?”

“Answer me.”

I swallowed.

“A woman’s voice. She told me to remember who I am.”

Something changed in his expression.

For a moment, Xavier looked genuinely unsettled.

Then he stood and offered me his hand.

“Can you walk?”

I nodded and accepted it.

The instant our palms touched, a warm pulse traveled through my fingers.

The silver symbol appeared on my wrist again.

But this time, another symbol appeared beneath Xavier’s skin.

A thin golden mark curled around his wrist, glowing in perfect response to mine.

We both stared at it.

He released my hand as though the contact had burned him.

“What was that?” I whispered.

Xavier didn’t answer.

“Xavier?”

His gaze lifted to mine.

It was the first time I had called him by his name.

Something unreadable passed through his eyes.

“From now on,” he said, “you will not attempt to use your powers without me present. You will have a personal guard, and you will remain within the estate grounds until I understand what is happening to you.”

“You can’t keep me prisoner.”

“I’m trying to keep you alive.”

“From what?”

He looked toward the shattered windows.

“From anyone who would kill you for what you are.”

The words chilled me.

Before I could ask another question, a guard hurried into the corridor and bowed.

“Your Majesty. The physicians are ready. And the preparations for tonight’s gathering are almost complete.”

Xavier nodded.

“See that they remain so.”

The guard hesitated.

“There is one more matter, Your Majesty. A delegation has arrived at the southern gate. They claim to be representatives of the Bloodmoon Pack.”

My stomach dropped.

Bloodmoon.

My home.

Or what had once been my home.

Xavier’s face turned to stone.

“Who is leading them?”

The guard glanced at me before answering.

“Dorian Gray, Your Majesty. The new Alpha says he has come to discuss an urgent matter concerning a missing member of his pack.”

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

Dorian was here.

The man who had rejected me before everyone I had ever known was standing beyond these gates, searching for me.

Xavier slowly turned toward me.

“Do you want to see him?”

I looked at the silver mark fading from my wrist.

Then I remembered Dorian’s voice, the coldness in his eyes, and the way he had watched me run without trying to stop me.

“No,” I whispered.

Xavier’s expression darkened.

“Then he will leave without seeing you.”

But before he could give the order, another guard appeared at the end of the corridor.

“Your Majesty, there’s a problem.”

Xavier turned.

The guard bowed, visibly uneasy.

“Alpha Gray refuses to leave the gate. He says he knows Freya Hale is here.”

My blood ran cold.

And then the guard delivered the words that made my heart stop.

“He says he has come to claim his mate.”