The Alpha's Regret, The Luna's Rise

Zara POV

There was a silver glow across the Bloodfang grounds from the low moon. It was not fear that made my heart beat fast. Not yet. I thought tonight would be the start of all my dreams coming true.

In the middle of the circle stood the pack leader, elders, warriors, and wolves I had known my whole life. Lucian was tall, strong, and far away from the rest of the people. His face was hard to read, and his aura was cold. He looked like a god carved out of stone.

He was mine, though.

My mate.

Fate had chosen us.

The noise of the crowd stopped when Elder Moren's voice called out, "Alpha Lucian." "Are you ready to accept Zara as your Luna and fated mate before this pack?"

I did not breathe. That was it. The time.

Lucian took a slow step forward. Everyone looked at him. We did not look at each other.

"No."

There was such silence after that that a cold wind could have blown through it. I split my lips in confusion.

"No?" Elder Moren asked again with a frown. It is possible that Alpha Lucian did not hear-

With more force, Lucian said, "I said no." "Zara is not my mate," I said. She does not deserve to be Luna.

The words cut me like a knife to the heart.

People in the crowd gasped. A few whispered. Some people laughed.

I turned my head away. "Lucian, what do you mean?" My voice stopped. "You are my mate."

He turned to face me then, and for the first time, I saw nothing in his eyes. No love. No warmth. Just ice.

"Zara, I do not want you." "I never have," he said in a mean voice. "Shadow Moon did something wrong."

"No," I said in a whisper as I walked towards him. "That is not what you mean." Hey Lucian, please...

I reached out to him because I wanted to hold on to the connection I could feel between us. It was still there. It was there for me. The invisible line that joined my soul to his.

But he stepped back.

"I already have someone else," he said.

The crowd shifted. And that's when I saw her.

Seraphina.

Beautiful. Powerful. Smiling.

She walked forward and slipped her arm through Lucian's like she'd always belonged there.

"You chose her?" I said, my voice trembling. "Over me?"

"She's everything a Luna should be," Lucian said. "You... are nothing."

The pain was too much to bear. It hurt in my chest, and my wolf howled inside me, hurt and lost. Every bone in my body hurt from the rejection as I fell to my knees.

"You're lying," I sobbed. "You said I was yours. You kissed me under the moon-"

Lucian turned his back to me. "That was a mistake."

Then I felt it.

The bond-snapping.

Like a cord inside me had been cut, leaving a hollow space where love used to live.

I screamed.

It wasn't loud. It wasn't fierce. It was broken. Like me.

Laughter came from someone. Looking up, I spotted Seraphina's grin. The audience observed with mixed feelings-pity, disgust, humour.

Elder Moren shook his head. "Then by Bloodfang law, your rejection is final."

I tried to speak, but then I heard it.

"Zara has stolen from the pack!" Seraphina declared.

The crowd gasped again, louder this time.

"What?" I whispered, confused.

"She took gold from the treasury," Seraphina said, holding up a pouch. "This was found in her room."

"That's a lie!" I stood up, hands shaking. "I didn't take anything!"

"Lies from a traitor," Seraphina said with a bitter smile. "I saw her myself."

"No, you didn't! I would never-"

Lucian raised his hand. "Enough."

I turned to him, begging with my eyes.

"Don't do this. Please. You know me, Lucian. You know I'd never betray the pack."

"I know you used your status as my mate to get close to our secrets," he said. "And I know now it was a mistake to trust you."

I was shaking. "You're letting her do this to me."

"I'm protecting my pack," he said coldly. "Guards."

Two warriors stepped forward.

"Take her outside the border," Lucian ordered. "She is no longer one of us."

"No!" I screamed. "Lucian, please! You know this isn't right!"

"She is not to return," Lucian said. "And if she does... kill her on sight."

I stumbled backwards as the guards grabbed my arms. The crowd didn't stop them. No one did. Not even the elders.

I looked around, hoping for someone to help me. To speak for me. but, everyone had already decided I was guilty.

Seraphina smiled like the Queen she thought she'd become.

Lucian didn't look back.

The guards dragged me away from the pack grounds.

I didn't cry. Not anymore.

The pain had turned into numbness.

The rejection.

The false accusation.

The exile.

I had nothing left.

Or so I thought.

As the guards threw me onto the frozen forest floor beyond the border, one of them leaned close and whispered, "Run little wolf. Or we'll end you right here."

I looked up through strands of hair and blood.

And I saw something in the woods.

Eyes watching me.

Glowing.

Not wolf.

Not human.

Waiting.

Watching.

And then-

A growl. Low. Deep. And close.

Too close.