The Alpha Cursed Luna

The bonfire's heat licked at my skin as I stood trembling before the entire Silverfang Pack. Tonight was supposed to be sacred—the Mate Ceremony when the Moon Goddess would bless me with my fated partner. My damp palms clung to the thin fabric of my ceremonial gown as I watched Alpha Kael emerge from the crowd. My breath caught when his golden eyes locked onto mine. The world seemed to freeze. This couldn't be happening. The Moon Goddess couldn't possibly be this cruel. Alpha Kael—the most feared wolf in the northern territories—was my mate. His lip curled as he stalked toward me, his massive frame blocking out the firelight. The pack fell deathly silent, every eye fixed on us. I could smell the pine-and-iron scent of him, could see the disgust twisting his handsome features. "You?" His voice cut through the silence like a blade through flesh. "This is the joke the Moon Goddess plays on me?" His nostrils flared as he inhaled my scent. "A defective wolf who can't even complete her shifts? A weakling Omega?" The whispers started immediately, slithering through the crowd like snakes. "An Omega for our Alpha?" "Look how she's shaking!" "Pathetic." My knees threatened to buckle, but I forced myself to stand straight. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing me collapse. Not yet. Kael circled me like I was prey, his shadow swallowing me whole. When his fingers gripped my chin, his touch burned colder than midwinter frost. He turned my face left, then right, examining me like livestock at market. "Pathetic," he spat, releasing me with a shove that nearly sent me stumbling. That word. That damned word that had followed me my entire life. It carved itself fresh into my heart as the pack's laughter rose around me. "A Luna should be strong," Kael announced to the gathered wolves. "Fierce. A proper mate for an Alpha." His gaze swept over me with utter contempt. "Not this trembling, broken thing." Then came the words that shattered my world: "I reject you, Layla of the Silverfang Pack." The bond between us snapped with a pain so intense I screamed. It felt like someone had reached into my chest and ripped out a lung. I collapsed to my knees, gasping, as the pack erupted in cruel laughter. Through the haze of agony, I saw her approaching—Selene, the pack's golden warrior. Her leathers hugged every curve of her perfect body, her golden braid swinging as she sauntered toward me with a predator's grace. The firelight caught the silver rings on her fingers—trophies from battles I could never hope to fight. "Look at her," Selene purred to the delighted crowd. "The Moon Goddess must be laughing to pair our mighty Alpha with this... creature." She crouched before me, her honey-sweet voice dripping venom. "Did you really think you could be Luna? You can't even control your own wolf." The laughter grew louder, crashing over me in waves. My vision blurred with tears I refused to shed. I wouldn't give them that satisfaction. Selene's hand shot out, gripping my hair and yanking my head back. "Let's see what our Alpha's rejecting," she announced, dragging me toward the fire. I stumbled, my bare feet scraping against rough stones. The pack formed a circle around us, their eyes gleaming with cruel anticipation. Kael stood at the edge, arms crossed, watching with cold indifference. Selene released me with a shove that sent me sprawling near the fire's edge. Heat blistered my skin as embers scattered around me. The pack howled with laughter. "Show us your wolf, Omega," Selene demanded, planting a booted foot on my back. "If you can." My stomach twisted. Not this. Anything but this. My wolf had always been weak, fractured—the reason I'd been an outcast my entire life. The shifting pain was excruciating when it even worked at all. "I said shift!" Selene drove her heel between my shoulder blades. Agony ripped through me as something deep inside stirred. Not the familiar feeble flicker of my wolf—this was different. Darker. More powerful. A surge of energy burned through my veins like molten silver, setting every nerve alight. My bones ached with the need to change, but I clenched my fists, nails biting into my palms. Not here. Not like this. The power raged against my control, wild and furious, terrifying in its intensity. Selene leaned down, her breath hot against my ear. "What's wrong? Can't even do that much?" She straightened and addressed the crowd. "This is what our Alpha was supposed to accept as mate? This weak, sniveling—" The power inside me surged again, stronger this time. I choked back a gasp as my vision tinted red at the edges. Something primal and ancient stirred in my blood, whispering promises of violence. Kael finally spoke, his voice cutting through the noise. "Enough." He stepped forward, his gaze locked on me with something like... curiosity? "Leave her be." Selene's smile turned sharp as broken glass. "Why? Feeling protective of your mate?" She delivered a sharp kick to my ribs that sent me rolling. "Oh wait—you rejected her." The pack howled with laughter again. I curled around the pain in my side, my breath coming in ragged gasps. The strange power still thrummed beneath my skin, but I forced it down, forced myself to stay human. Kael's expression darkened. "I said enough." He turned to the pack. "By our laws, I claim Selene as my chosen Luna." The declaration hit me harder than any physical blow. Though I'd expected nothing less, hearing the words aloud carved fresh wounds in my already bleeding heart. Selene preened, shooting me a triumphant look before sauntering to Kael's side. The pack erupted in cheers as he pulled her close, his hand possessive on her waist. No one noticed when I crawled away from the fire. No one cared when I stumbled to my feet and ran. Their laughter followed me into the trees, chasing me like hunting hounds. Branches lashed at my arms and face as I plunged deeper into the forest. The cold night air burned my lungs, but I didn't stop. Couldn't stop. Not until the sounds of the pack faded behind me. Not until my legs gave out and I collapsed against a moss-covered tree, my entire body shaking. Tears streamed down my face, mixing with the dirt and blood. The pain of the rejection bond still throbbed in my chest, a wound that might never heal. I pressed my forehead against the rough bark, letting the sobs wrack my body. A whisper of movement made me freeze. The hair on my arms stood straight as the air itself seemed to thicken around me. "You carry quite the storm inside you, little wolf." I whirled around, heart hammering. An ancient woman stood between two gnarled oaks, her tattered cloak shifting like living shadow. She hadn't been there a moment ago. "Who—" My voice cracked. I wiped my face with a shaking hand. "Who are you?" The woman smiled, revealing yellowed teeth. "Names have power, child. But you may call me Morga." She stepped closer, the earth seeming to shift beneath her feet. "Keeper of the old ways. Seer of broken bonds." Her gnarled fingers reached for the crescent mark on my collarbone—the Moon's Mark every wolf bore. "Your Alpha is cursed," she murmured. "His wolf will sicken without its true mate. Every day he resists the bond..." Her cracked lips curled. "It will eat him alive from the inside." A dark satisfaction curled in my gut. "Good," I spat. "Let him suffer." Morga's laughter sounded like dry leaves scraping stone. "Oh, he will. But child..." Her bony finger tapped my chest, right over my frantic heartbeat. "The curse has claws. And they're already in you." Before I could respond, a gust of wind howled through the trees. Morga's form seemed to dissolve into the shadows. "You're not an Omega," her voice whispered from everywhere and nowhere. "You're something much worse." Then she was gone. The forest erupted in sound—an unearthly scream that seemed to come from the trees themselves. The ground trembled beneath me as a wave of pure energy pulsed through the air. And for the first time in my life, my wolf answered. Not with the usual weak flicker. Not with the half-formed shifts that left me broken and bleeding. This was power—raw, ancient, and hungry. It surged through me like a tidal wave, burning away the last of my tears. The rejection bond still ached in my chest, but something new burned alongside it. Something dark and dangerous and... free. As the forest's scream faded into silence, I realized two things: Kael had made the biggest mistake of his life by rejecting me. And soon, the entire Silverfang Pack would know it.