Shadows Of The Rejected Luna

RA's

ent of cedar, spice or so

happy to fill that emptiness with their hate. They call me 'Scentless Mutt.' It's th

s already burning, still waiting for my wolf to decide I was worth show

G-A-

e of it, tilting it slowly until the bones slid into t

l the stale ale on his breath. "That's the saddest part. You carry these trays aro

d a strand of hair behind my ear before

pen. You're just a ghost that refuses to leave. Why don't you

me stumble into the mess. "Pick up your pride wi

burn started behind my eyes, the one that meant

e Elder Mara, the Alpha's mother standing a few feet away. She didn't just look at

ing it like a weapon, her eyes fixed on me with a hatr

e more than

turned and walked toward the castle, but

nes with tremblin

t the communal grounds for the ceremony. Shifts. Mate bo

t shifted. I was twenty-two. Most wolves got the

oken. Call it whatever w

from the communal grounds, a small

e up whatever was supposed to be i

d from my palms. I didn't even have time to change my

Torches flashed light everywhere and the pack f

egas pushed to the back

u know where

ped into the circle an

ght, eyes sweeping the crowd like he

must say

ifted, a weird smell hit me. Something bitter under his usual Alph

eavy. "Tonight the moon calls. T

d then I felt it before

ull in m

ame, thick, black and swallowing every scrap of torchlight around me. My fingers curled and fused and my eyesight became

I was s

r than any wol

lence broke in a

scent I never thought I had exploded from my skin so powerfu

t only bloom in the dark. Midnight O

the man who had spent years making me feel like nothing and I didn't feel afraid. I saw the way

ERE. Her voice was velvet wrapped around iron. My wolf.

pered. The word spread like

me so hard I almost staggered. His scent drowned me, pine smoke and raw po

swered inst

e he would cross the circle, cup my face and whisper

silently. Please

e bond flared between us, a sudden, beautif

e you could ne

ed at me like I was a disease he

y father wasn't killed in battle. He was hunted like an animal by a Shadow Wolf. Your kin

d. "Kill her! E

, sharp enough to bruise b

rward with a satisfied, vi

d eventually show its face" she said, loud enough for the stars to hear. "The moon has finally shown us

with fear, but with the cold eyes of a p

pleading silently. P

Eclipse Pack," Kairos said.

ce. I hit the ground on all fours, p

the bond, even though he cou

ness back at me as tears soaked my fur.

ally tell the world they were wrong about me. But as he sto

o finish what the pack started. To the pack, I was a serva

"Why?" but my throat clos

e itself. Insults chased me "freak," "killer," "cursed bitch"-but

me up. Branches lashed my face, my flanks. My lungs burned. Tear

one person mean

. Instead, a new sound

hirsty. They weren't just letting me go. Jax and the warriors had shifted. Th

hunting

the m

let it

urse before

ad prayed to my whole life was n

ate. And in this dark, I