The Rejected Luna's Secret Alpha

Chapter 4

By the time I reached the northern forest, my legs were trembling.

The trees grew thicker here, their branches tangled together overhead. The familiar paths disappeared beneath moss and fallen leaves, and the air carried a strange, bitter scent that made the hairs on my arms rise.

I recognized the boundary stones.

Every wolf in the Bloodmoon Pack knew them.

They marked the edge of our territory, beyond which lay lands controlled by neighboring packs. The northern border was especially dangerous. Few wolves traveled there without permission, and even fewer crossed it alone.

Beyond those stones lay the territory of the Blackthorn Lycans.

Stories about them had followed me since childhood.

They were not ordinary wolves. Their bloodlines were older, their bodies stronger, and their transformations far more powerful than those of common werewolves.

Their leader was said to be the most dangerous creature alive.

Some called him the King of Lycans.

Others claimed he had no heart at all.

I had never seen him, and I had no intention of finding out whether the stories were true.

Unfortunately, the forest behind me was beginning to feel more dangerous than the land ahead.

The voice inside my head had gone quiet, but the strange energy beneath my skin continued to grow.

My hands trembled.

I looked down and froze.

The silver light had returned.

This time, it spread from my wrists toward my fingertips, forming delicate patterns beneath my skin. They resembled tiny branches, each line glowing with a soft, moonlit radiance.

I rubbed my hands against my dress.

The light remained.

“No,” I whispered. “Please.”

I didn’t want another secret.

I didn’t want another reason for people to look at me as though I were a monster.

I had barely survived the rejection. I couldn’t bear the thought of discovering that there was something else wrong with me.

Something worse.

The ground beneath my feet suddenly vibrated.

I stumbled and grabbed a tree.

A low sound rolled through the forest.

At first, I thought it was thunder.

Then I realized it was a growl.

It was so deep that I felt it in my bones.

I slowly turned toward the darkness.

Nothing moved between the trees.

But I knew something was there.

My wolf stirred.

For the first time since the strange transformation began, she didn’t sound frightened.

She sounded alert.

Almost reverent.

Do not run.

I swallowed.

“Why?”

Because he is near.

My heart began to pound.

“Who is near?”

There was no answer.

The growl came again, closer this time.

I backed away from the trees and stumbled toward the boundary stones. My shoes were ruined, my dress was torn at the hem, and my body felt as though it had been put through a battle I couldn’t remember fighting.

I had nothing left.

Not even the strength to be afraid properly.

When I reached the largest boundary stone, I placed my hand against its cold surface.

A sudden flash of silver light burst from my palm.

I screamed and pulled away.

The stone glowed.

Not brightly, but enough for me to see thin symbols appearing across its surface. They spread like cracks in ice, forming a pattern I had never seen in my life.

Then, just as quickly, they disappeared.

I stared at the stone, unable to move.

Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled.

The sound was unlike anything I had ever heard. It was powerful and commanding, carrying through the forest as though the entire wilderness belonged to whoever had made it.

My wolf lowered her head inside my mind.

The King.

My blood ran cold.

I didn’t know why the title frightened me more than the growl, but it did.

The King of Lycans was somewhere beyond these trees.

And whatever was happening to me, I had a terrible feeling that he would know about it.

I forced myself to take another step.

Then another.

I crossed the boundary.

The moment my foot touched the other side, the world seemed to split open.

A wave of energy erupted from my body, sending a burst of silver light through the surrounding trees. The air shimmered, and every leaf around me trembled as though struck by an invisible wind.

I fell to my knees.

Pain tore through my chest.

I couldn’t breathe.

My vision filled with strange images: a vast hall illuminated by silver flames, a crown resting on dark velvet, and a woman standing beneath a moon so bright that her face was hidden.

Then I heard a voice.

Not the voice inside my head.

This one seemed to come from somewhere impossibly far away.

The blood of the first moon has awakened.

I tried to understand the words, but the images vanished before I could grasp them.

The energy disappeared.

Silence returned to the forest.

I collapsed forward, catching myself on my hands.

My entire body shook.

I wanted to cry, but I was too exhausted even for that.

Whatever had happened, I couldn’t make sense of it. I didn’t know what the symbols meant, why my blood glowed, or why my wolf had suddenly begun speaking to me.

All I knew was that I needed help.

And I had crossed into the territory of the one creature everyone feared.

I tried to stand.

My legs refused to cooperate.

The darkness crept in from the edges of my vision, swallowing the trees one by one.

I fell onto my side, my cheek pressing against the cold earth.

The last thing I saw was the moon between the branches.

“Please,” I whispered, though I no longer knew who I was asking. “Someone help me.”

My eyes closed.

For a while, there was nothing.

No pain.

No memories.

No voice.

Then a scent reached me.

Dark cedar. Cold rain. Smoke.

And beneath it, something that made the dormant part of my soul stir.

Power.

Immense, terrifying power.

I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids felt impossibly heavy.

A shadow moved across the ground beside me.

Something enormous stepped between me and the moon.

I heard the soft crunch of leaves beneath its paws, followed by a low, controlled breath.

I forced my eyes open.

A massive black wolf stood over me.

Its fur was darker than the night surrounding us, so black that it seemed to absorb the moonlight. Its shoulders rose higher than my waist, and its powerful body was covered in scars that disappeared beneath its thick coat.

But it was the eyes that held me still.

Golden.

Bright.

Unnaturally intelligent.

The wolf lowered its enormous head until its nose hovered inches from my face.

I couldn’t move.

I couldn’t scream.

Every instinct inside me insisted that I should be terrified of the creature standing before me.

Yet my wolf did something I never could have imagined.

She bowed.

Deep inside my mind, her voice trembled with an emotion I couldn’t understand.

My King.

The black wolf’s golden eyes narrowed as he inhaled my scent.

For one long moment, he simply stared at me.

Then his entire body went rigid.

A low growl escaped his throat, shaking the leaves around us.

And as the last of my strength slipped away, I heard a man’s voice speak from somewhere above me.

“Impossible. Why does she smell like the First Luna?”