Moonlit Embrace

The moon was full tonight. And I was the only one in the pack without a wolf to show for it. I stood at the edge of the clearing with the rest of the Crescent Moon Pack, bare feet in cold grass, head bowed like everyone else. Around me, girls my age were shifting. Bones cracking, fur bursting through skin, howls tearing the night open. One by one they found their wolves. One by one they were claimed as warriors, healers, future mates. And me? I just stood there. Human. Empty. “Pathetic,” someone whispered. “Still nothing? At 19?” “That’s why no Alpha will ever want her.” I kept my eyes down. If I looked up, they’d see it — the shame. The ache. Luna was supposed to be the heart of the pack. But how could I be a Luna if I didn’t even have a wolf? The ceremony ended. The others ran off into the woods, wild and free, moonlight on their fur. I walked back to the den alone, the way I always did. That’s when I saw him. Leaning against the old oak tree at the border, arms crossed, watching the ceremony like it bored him. Alpha Kael. He was 3 years older than me. Cold eyes. Scars on his knuckles. The kind of Alpha other packs feared. The kind of man my mother told me to stay away from. “You’re still here,” he said when I got close. His voice was low. “I live here,” I answered. “You’re supposed to be shifting.” “I tried.” He studied me. Really studied me. Not with pity like the elders. Not with disgust like the other girls. Just... curiosity. “Maybe your wolf is cursed,” he said finally. “Maybe,” I whispered. The wind moved. His scent hit me — pine, storm, and something wild I couldn’t name. My chest tightened for no reason. “You shouldn’t be out here alone on a full moon,” he said. “Neither should you.” A ghost of a smile touched his mouth. “I’m the Alpha. The moon doesn’t scare me.” “It should,” I said before I could stop myself. “The legends say on a blood moon, mates find each other. Even the ones who aren’t supposed to.” His smile vanished. “Mates,” he repeated. Like the word tasted bad. “You don’t have a wolf, girl. You can’t have a mate.” “I know.” But my heart was pounding anyway. Because when he looked at me, it didn’t feel like he saw a broken Luna. It felt like he saw _me_. A howl split the night. Not from the pack. Deeper. Older. From beyond the border. Kael’s whole body went still. His eyes flashed gold. “Go inside,” he ordered. “Now.” “What was that?” “Something you don’t need to worry about.” He stepped between me and the trees, and for a second his shadow looked bigger. Claws instead of fingers. I should have been scared. I wasn’t. “Kael—” “Inside. Mara.” He used my name. No one used my name like that. I ran. Behind me, I heard the sound of fabric tearing. Of bone shifting. Of a wolf, finally breaking free. But it wasn’t mine. That night I lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. The moonlight came through the window and pooled on my hands. No fur. No claws. No wolf. Just me. And yet... for the first time, I didn’t feel completely alone. Because somewhere in the woods, the Alpha was fighting something. And somehow, I knew it was because of me. _Cursed Luna. Forbidden Alpha. One moon._ That’s all it would take to break us. Or save us.