The night before Alpha Lucas and Heidy’s mating ceremony, an eerie calm settled over the whole pach house, it was thick like the mist before a full moon rises. The air felt heavier as if something unseen was holding its breath, waiting for the shift of fate.
Lucas—normally cold like a battle-scarred wolf hardened by years of dominance—acted strangely gentle toward me, surprised me with rare gentleness — perhaps a pitiful scrap of guilt beneath his perfectly groomed exterior.
“You’ll be alone here tomorrow, you can't go with us,” he said in his usual cold voice, but softer now, as though throwing a bone to a wolf that had stopped snarling. “If you're bored, go shopping. I'll take care of all the expenses.”
I could hear the command behind the feigned concern — the tone of a man who no longer saw his mate as a woman or even a wolf, but as an obligation.
A fading scar on his reputation. A burden to be managed.
“Get some rest. We’ll rise before dawn.”
I remained silent and nodded, I curled into the farthest edge of our stone-carved bed, my back to him. My waist ached from the long day of chores, but it was my soul that throbbed like a raw wound, festering in silence.
I stared up at the high ceiling of the Alpha wing, watching the moonlight shift across the ancient carvings — ancestral wolves howling at twin moons.
I once dreamed of running beneath those moons, of becoming the Luna of an Alpha mate as strong as I.
But dreams had long since withered in this cold Pack House.
I didn’t want to live like this anymore. Not as a Luna in name, a slave in truth.
I was born to Alpha Marcus of the Wildfang Pack — feared across the northern ridges for his ruthless command and wisdom. I was his only daughter.
A pure-born wolf.
And yet…
Here I was—mated to a weak, ruthless Alpha of the Sharp Fang Pack, a male who had long forgotten I was his Luna. Every chance he got, he fed me nothing but cold disdain and subtle humiliation. I was the daughter of a powerful Alpha, born to be a Luna, not to be wasted in a pack that saw me as nothing more than a decoration… or worse—a failed bond.
At exactly three in the morning, Lucas shook me awake.
“Get up,” he ordered. “Help me prepare.”
He rarely woke early. He never asked for help unless he wanted to remind me of my place.
I said nothing as I helped him into his suit — deep charcoal, lined with silver thread meant to reflect the blue moonlight. A ceremonial pin adorned his lapel: the sigil of his bloodline — a wolf’s Fang in front of a wolf skull. It was the symbol of the Sharp Fang Pack, an ancient rival of my own.
When I left our room, the lower halls were already alive with murmurs and the clicking of heels. My son and daughter-in-law — both spoiled and slothful wolves who usually slept past noon — were up and dressed in silks and gold.
“Mother,” my son called out, handing me a list. “Pack our bags. We’re leaving early. And don’t forget the ceremonial silks.”
I bowed slightly, as trained, then slipped into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. My hands worked on instinct — slicing root vegetables, mixing wild garlic into the stew — while my mind drifted. My daughter-in-law’s loud voice cut through my thoughts.
“I won’t eat. I have to be ready to stand by Luna Heidy’s side.”
Luna Heidy…
The name and how she addressed my best friend, sent invisible chains tightening around my chest.
I bit down on my tongue. Heidy and I were the same age — both unmated when we were younger — yet now she stood at the threshold of power, and I was being erased.
“I won’t eat either,” my son added. “I’ll accompany my mate.”
Alpha Lucas approached with calculated indifference, his palm landing on my shoulder like a clawed weight. “Eat alone.”
I stared at the untouched plates of food. The breakfast I had prepared for four was now just for me.
The doorbell rang. I moved to open it.
Heidy stood there, dressed in a blood-red ceremonial robe — a cheongsam fitted to perfection, with the crest of the SharpFang Pack shimmering on her chest. Her lips were stained wine-dark, and her eyes gleamed with triumph.
Behind her, two Betas waited in an elegant SUV. The magic curling around it pulsed with authority.
My daughter-in-law rushed forward, gushing with false cheer.
“You’re so beautiful today, Luna Heidy!”
I sneered inwardly. That snake was no best friend of mine.
Heidy smiled demurely. “You look radiant too, Jasmine. But we mustn’t be late. I’m here to collect Alpha Lucas for his trip.”
They moved quickly, and the entire household was abuzz with final preparations. Just as Jasmine bent down to grab her bag, we all heard a sharp tear. The back of her dress ripped wide open, threads unraveling like cursed vines.
All heads turned. And then… every accusing gaze landed on me.
My son’s voice was sharp. “Mother, didn’t you prepare that dress? Didn’t you check it?”
My stomach dropped.
Yes, I had selected the ceremonial threads, and overseen the final fitting. But I hadn’t touched the gown since Jasmine tried it on. I stepped back, trying to explain.
“There must be a mistake. I stored it safely. I—”
Before I could finish, Alpha Lucas shoved me — hard.
“What did you do?! Jealous of the wedding, are you? You’ve sunk so low you’re sabotaging the new bond!”
I stumbled back, my spine slamming into the stone pillar. Pain cracked up my back like lightning. The world swam around me.
Neighbors began to gather outside the open door — wolves from other families, curious eyes glowing yellow and green in the hallway shadows.
“I didn’t do it,” I gasped, rage and shame mixing in my throat. “I would never—”
Alpha Lucas sneered down at me. “You dare deny it? You had one job. And now you’ve humiliated the whole pack!”
Heidy placed a gentle hand on Lucas’s arm, her voice sickeningly sweet. “Let it go, darling. She didn’t mean it. Maybe she’s just too old now… her hands don’t work like they used to.”
A knock came from the doorway.
A young shop attendant bowed deeply. “I-I’m terribly sorry! There was a mix-up. We accidentally delivered the defective dress— The stitching was faulty from our end. Please forgive us. It wasn’t her fault.”
I looked up from the floor, pain blooming in my chest.
Lucas didn’t apologize. He didn’t even look guilty.
Instead, he smirked.
“Didn’t you study design in college?” he said, his voice like a dagger dipped in poison. “Didn’t you use to craft dresses worthy of Luna courts? Now you can’t even tell when a seam is cursed. You’re pathetic.”
Heidy swept past me, linking arms with Alpha Lucas, with my husband. My daughter-in-law changed dresses swiftly and followed after them.
As the door slammed shut, I remained slumped against the stone floor.
Alone.
Outside, the Pack House, cars rolled away. Inside, the silence roared louder than a thousand howls.
I couldn’t move.
My coccyx throbbed. My pride bled.
I couldn’t get up, I couldn't move…
The house felt like a prison, the walls crowding in as I lay on the cold stone floor. All I could hear was my own heartbeat, the slow, steady pounding echoing like distant war drums across the territory. And the truth clawed its way through at last—I was nothing.
Just a broken she-wolf, cast out and forgotten by her own pack. The same pack my wolf once ruled with pride and strength.
