Banished with the Alpha’s Moonstone

SERAPHINA

In every class photo for four years, there was a gap the width of one person around me.

Nobody ever explained it. The wolves just shuffled away, shoulders turned, as if I had a smell they could not name. Their wolves could feel what I did not have. I could only feel the cold space.

"You are glaring at the photographer," my friend Nadia said, snapping a cap onto her curls. "He is only a man with a camera."

"I am not glaring."

"You are doing the face."

"I do not have a face."

"You have a very specific face. It is the face of a girl who has read the whole menu and ordered nothing." She grinned. Nadia was human, warm brown and loud, and she never felt the gap. "Hold still. I am fixing your collar."

"Leave it. It has to be high."

"Why?"

"My mother said so."

"Your mother says a lot of things."

"She does."

"Do you ever say them back?"

"Not out loud."

My phone buzzed on the desk. A message from her.

Alaric will collect you at noon. Wear the cream dress with the high neck. Do not mention your birthmark to anyone tonight.

Nadia read it over my shoulder. "No congratulations?"

"No."

"No 'I am proud of you, Seraphina'?"

"No."

"A birthmark." She frowned. "The little moon under your collarbone? Why would she hide that?"

"She is only careful."

"Of what?"

"Everything."

I packed slowly. Two bags. A box of sketchbooks. A pressed wildflower that had once been a gift from Alaric when I was fifteen and sick. I tucked it into a book and zipped the bag shut.

"You are the only one in this building with nobody to hug," Nadia said softly. "Come outside. One photo. I will stand close enough to touch."

"After I finish."

"You are not finishing. You are vanishing. Text me every day, or I will drive up that mountain myself."

"Maybe I am."

At noon, I carried my bags to the front lawn. Parents were crying and laughing. Packs of wolf families stood in bright clusters, each with its own scent, each with its own pride. I could smell none of it. I smelled only cut grass and cheap perfume.

Then the noise changed. The laughter dropped into whispers.

"Who is that?"

"Alaric Arkwright."

"The Moonridge heir? Here?"

"He is leaning on that black car like he owns the mountain."

"Wait, he is here for the wolfless girl?"

"Lucky girl. She lives in his house."

My heart pulled tight. I did not need to look. Cedarwood and cold rain reached me across the grass, and something low in my chest turned toward it like a plant toward light.

Alaric.

"Lucky?" a girl named Tamsin said behind me. "Please. Does the Alpha house keep her as a pet?"

"Hello, Tamsin."

"Everyone knows she never shifted. A wolf without a wolf is only a dog without a collar."

"Please just leave me alone."

"Or what?" Tamsin laughed. "Is she going to howl for help? She cannot even do that."

"Seraphina."

His low voice made the lawn go silent. Alaric crossed the grass in a dark coat, and the crowd parted for him. His silver eyes were cold. A small scar near his lower lip made him look dangerous.

He did not shout. He only stopped in front of Tamsin and let his eyes go still and bright.

"Tamsin."

"Alpha-heir. I was only joking."

"Lower your eyes."

She did. Then, slowly, helplessly, she tilted her head and bared her throat.

"Say sorry."

"Sorry, Seraphina," Tamsin whispered.

"Louder."

"I said sorry!"

"Better. Go."

She ran. My face burned.

"You did not have to do that."

"I know."

"Isadora's friends will tell her."

"I do not care what they tell her."

"You should care. She is your girlfriend."

"Give me the bags."

"They are heavy."

"I did not ask if they were heavy." He lifted both as if they were paper. "Car."

I slid into the passenger seat. He loaded my things into the boot and got behind the wheel.

"Where is your driver?" I asked.

"I sent him away."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to drive you myself." He started the engine. His nostrils flared. "You did not eat."

"How do you know?"

"Your scent goes thin when you skip meals." He handed me a paper bag. "Warm pie."

"I am not hungry."

"Seraphina."

"Thank you, Alaric."

I took a bite. He drove in silence for a minute.

"Did my mother tell you about tonight?" I asked.

"She said only that you should wear something high-necked." His eyes flicked to my collar. "Why?"

"I do not know."

"You never know."

"I am used to it."

"What will you do after tonight?" he asked.

"Find work."

"Where?"

"I do not know yet. Somewhere far from wolves."

His hands tightened on the wheel. "Far."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because here I am the wolfless girl."

"You are not wolfless."

"Everyone says I am."

"Everyone is wrong." His voice was low. "My wolf does not like it when you say that."

I stared at him. "Your wolf has an opinion?"

"My wolf has many opinions about you." He almost smiled. "He has never shared them before."

At a red light, he reached into his coat. "I have something for you."

"Alaric, you do not have to."

"I know." He placed a small black box in my hand. "Open it."

Inside lay a silver chain. A moonstone the size of a pebble hung from it, milk-white with a thread of blue at its heart.

"Alaric." My voice cracked. "This is your mother's."

"She wore it to every Moon Ball." He lifted it out. "I want you to have it."

"Why me?"

"Because you are the only person I know who deserves it."

"It is a Luna's stone."

"It is a graduation gift." His thumb brushed my cheek as he fastened the clasp at my nape. "Hold still."

The stone settled against my skin, exactly over the small moon-shaped mark below my collarbone. It was warm, as if someone had been holding it for me. For one heartbeat, the pale blue thread flickered.

"Did you see that?" I whispered.

"See what?"

"Nothing."

"Is something wrong?"

"It is only warm."

"It was always warm on her." His voice went rough. "I used to fall asleep on her lap holding it."

My throat tightened. "I will take care of it."

"I know you will." He pulled out into traffic. "My father planned a celebration for you tonight."

"A celebration? For me?"

"Do not look so shocked."

"Nobody has ever celebrated me."

"Then tonight, everyone will." He almost smiled. "I will stay near you all evening."

"Even when Isadora is there?"

"Especially then."

I laughed, and it surprised us both.

The gates of Moonridge Alpha Manor opened ahead of us. Cars lined the long gravel drive. Alaric's phone buzzed. The name on the screen said Isadora.

"I have to meet my father," he said. "Wait for me inside."

"I can manage."

"Seraphina."

"Go."

He went. I carried my bags through the side door and stopped in the cool, dim hall. My fingers rose to the pendant without my asking. The stone was still warm.

"That is a very old jewel, child."

I turned. A thin white-haired man leaned on a carved cane at the foot of the stairs. His eyes were clouded and gray. I could not smell his wolf, but I felt the cold of him.

"Elder Orson."

"I served the Luna who wore that stone." His voice was quiet and cruel. "Lysandra. The light of this house."

"Alaric gave it to me. As a gift."

"I am sure he did." His smile did not reach his eyes. "Moonridge has a saying, Miss Dale. What is given in secret is called stolen in daylight."

My mouth went dry. "What does that mean?"

"Only that you should be careful." He tapped his cane twice on the marble. "Does your mother know you wear it?"

"Not yet."

"Then she will be very surprised." He chuckled, dry as paper. "Remember what I said."