Chapter 1: The Sacrificial Lamb

Aria's POV

The thick, cream-colored envelope sat on my small wooden desk, the gold seal of the Lunar Selection Society gleaming under my dim desk lamp. This is when I realized I have been reborn, back to the time I was accepted into the Lunar Selection Society.

To Miss Aria Ashbourne.

We are pleased to inform you that you have qualified for the upcoming season of the Lunar Selection. Your elegance, intellect, and lineage have met the highest standards of the High Council. You are officially invited to enter the gates as Mask Number 27.

My hands shook as I held the paper. My heart hammered against my ribs, a burst of pure, unadulterated hope blooming in my chest, I've gotten the chance to rewrite my destiny. The Lunar Selection Society. The most prestigious matchmaking institution on the continent. Only one hundred ladies were chosen every five years, their identities hidden behind masks to allow the most elite Alphas to judge them strictly on merit and soul compatibility.

I had made it. For the first time in my entire life, I wasn't second choice. I was chosen.

"Aria!"

And just as I expected, the bedroom door slammed open, banging violently against the drywall. The fragile warmth in my chest vanished instantly, replaced by a cold, familiar dread. I had to find a way to mask that I've been reborn and allow everything to play out like it's meant to.

My father stormed in, his face already twisted into a dark, demanding scowl. Right behind him was my mother, her sharp eyes scanning my tiny room until they locked onto the golden-sealed letter in my hands.

And lagging behind them was my sister, Seraphina. She looked devastatingly beautiful, her long blonde hair perfectly styled, but her lower lip was trembling in a practiced, pathetic pout.

"Is that it?" my father barked, pointing a thick, calloused finger at the envelope. "Is that the acceptance letter from the Society?"

"Yes, Father," I whispered, instinctively pulling the paper closer to my chest. "I qualified. I'm going to the.."

"Hand it over," my mother interrupted, her voice flat and entirely devoid of any maternal warmth. She stepped forward, stretching out an expectant, demanding palm. "Give it to Seraphina."

I froze, the blood running cold in my veins. "What?"

"Aria, please don't make this harder than it already is," Seraphina chimed in, taking a step forward. Her voice was soft, laced with a fake, watery sweetness that made my stomach turn. She reached out, gently touching our mother's arm as if trying to play the peacemaker. "I didn't qualify, and you know how much my heart has been set on this season. You've always been so quiet, you wouldn't even know how to talk to an elite Alpha. I’m just trying to save you from embarrassing yourself, sweetie."

"Don't waste your breath explaining things to her, Seraphina," my father hissed, his heavy hand coming down hard on my desk, making the lamp rattle. "Your sister didn't qualify because the High Council rejected her application. She needs that invitation, and she needs your qualification token."

"But it has my name on it," I pleaded, my voice breaking as I looked at my mother’s cold eyes. "The Society invited me. I worked so hard for this, Mother. I studied the packs, the politics, the healing arts.."

"And nobody cares!" my mother spat, stepping closer and forcefully ripping the envelope right out of my hands. The thick paper sliced into my index finger, leaving a stinging paper cut, but I couldn't even feel it. My mother handed the letter to Seraphina, who instantly stopped pouting.

"Aria, I really do love you, and I promise I'll make you proud," Seraphina whispered, looking down at me with a soft, sorrowful expression, though her blue eyes gleamed with pure, malicious satisfaction. "It’s for the good of our family, I swear."

"Look at yourself, Aria," my father sneered, looking down his nose at my plain, simple clothes and my quiet demeanor. "You are unremarkable. You're boring. Even if you wore the finest silk mask in the Society, no high-ranking Alpha would ever choose a plain girl like you. You'd embarrass this family on a continental stage. Your sister is born to be a queen. She will secure a powerful Alpha, and our family will finally have the status we deserve. You are going to sign the transfer papers, surrender your identity token, and let your sister take your place as Mask Number 27."

"No," I whispered, the word slipping out before I could stop it.

The room went dead silent.

Slap.

The force of my father's palm striking my cheek sent me crashing out of my chair. I hit the hardwood floor hard, my knees scraping against the wood. My left cheek burned like liquid fire, and the iron taste of blood instantly filled my mouth.

"You ungrateful little bitch!" my father roared, towering over me, his shadow completely swallowing my crumpled form on the floor. He aimed a brutal kick straight into my ribs.

I gasped, curling into a ball as the white-hot pain exploded in my side.

"Oh my goddess, Father, stop! You're going to hurt her!" Seraphina cried out, covering her mouth in horror, taking a dramatic step back. She looked completely terrified for me, but as my head rolled to the side, I saw the vicious, ugly smirk playing at the corner of her lips. She loved watching me bleed. She loved taking everything that belonged to me.

"We fed you! We clothed you!" my mother yelled, standing over me like a cold warden, not showing a single ounce of pity as I choked on my own tears. "And you want to ruin your sister’s future out of pure jealousy? You will do exactly as you are told, or we will strip you of your pack status and throw you to the rogues!"

For the next two hours, the house became a living hell. They beat me until my body was covered in deep purple bruises just like in my past life. They manipulated me, telling me how worthless I was, how my entire existence was a curse to this family, until my spirit was completely broken. Shaking, bleeding, and entirely hollowed out, I was forced to sign the papers and hand over the golden identity token that bore the number 27.

They took my future and gave it to my sister.

Late that night, the rain poured heavily against my window. I lay on my stomach, my entire body throbbing with agonizing pain. Back then in my past life, the only thing keeping my heart beating, the only lifeline I had left to hold onto, was him.

Alpha Kael Blackwood.

He was the future ruler of our pack. He was my childhood best friend, my first love, and the only person in the entire world who had ever made me feel like I was enough.. until he betrayed and planned my murder.

A soft tap on my window made my eyes snap open. I know it's him.

Biting through the excruciating pain in my ribs, I dragged myself out of bed and pushed the window open. Kael climbed inside, his tall, dangerously broad frame instantly filling my small room. His sandy blonde hair was wet from the rain, and his striking blue eyes were filled with an intense, frantic energy.

"Aria," he breathed, pulling me into his arms.

I winced as his chest pressed against my bruised ribs, but I didn't care. I buried my face in his neck, inhaling his scent of cedarwood and mint. "Kael... they took it. They took my invitation. They beat me until I gave it to Seraphina." playing the innocent girl they knew.

Kael stiffened. He pulled back slightly, his hands gripping my shoulders. But he didn't look angry on my behalf. He looked guilty.

"I know," Kael said, his voice dropping to a strained, quiet whisper.

I blinked through the dark, a cold knot forming in my stomach. "What do you mean you know?"

"Aria, listen to me," Kael said quickly, his goggles tightening. "The pack elders... they forced my hand. Our pack is facing a massive economic crisis, and my father told me I have to participate in the Lunar Selection Society to secure a political alliance. I have to choose the absolute best, highest-status participant this season to save the Blackwood territory.. I know you might not be going.. and I don't need to make selection outside the society"

"But you promised me," I choked out, forcing a fresh wave of tears to scald my eyes, playing the part of the fragile, broken girl perfectly. Just like in my last life. "You told me you wouldn't enter the Society if I don't make it. You said with or without the Society, you knew what you wanted. You said you wanted me."

"And I do! I want you, Aria!" Kael said desperately, his blue eyes begging me to understand. "But I have to play the game. It's just for show, Aria! It's just politics! Listen to the plan. I will enter the Society, I will find the most suitable match to fulfill the elders' demands, and we will secure the political alliance my father needs. But the moment the season ends and the alliance is locked, I will divorce her. I will cast her aside and come back for you. I will make you my real Luna in the shadows. Just wait for me. Let someone else have the status for now. I promise you, my heart belongs to you."

He didn't know

He didn't know that I already knew his filthier secrets. He didn't know I was reborn and had already seen through his acts.

.

Looking into his weak, pleading manipulative eyes, I almost burst out laughing because before I had fallen for this pathetic eyes of his. Kael knew that my parents had already spent thousands of gold coins, bribing and paying off dirty insiders in the Society just to find out exactly what mask he would be wearing throughout the season. He knew that Seraphina was entering the gates specifically to target his hidden identity and claim him.. and that's exactly what he wants too.

He thought he has completely manipulated me with the sick love I used to have for him. In reality, he was walking right into my trap, and he was too blind to see it.

He kissed my forehead, a hurried, desperate kiss, before slipping back out of the window into the rainy night.

I stood frozen in the center of the dark room, the silence crashing down on me like a physical weight.

A divorce after the alliance.

A real Luna in the shadows.

He wanted me to sit quietly, covered in bruises, watching some high-society female wear a mask and live my dream on his arm, all while I waited like a desperate dog for his scraps. He was the future Alpha, but he's too weak.

A piercing, deafening screech echoed in my ears, shattering the last remnants of my innocence.

The love I had carried for Kael Blackwood for five years froze, hardening instantly into a razor-sharp, lethal shard of pure hatred. They thought they had broken me. My parents, my manipulative sister, and my weak, cowardly Alpha. They thought I would stay here and cry.

They were wrong. Not in this life.

Earlier this week at the clinic, I had overheard the pack elders whispering about a terrifying rumor. A rumor that had sent shockwaves through the entire werewolf underworld. After seasons of absolute refusal, Alpha Lucien Storm, the most ruthless, feared, and bloodthirsty Alpha on the continent, was finally being pressured into participating in this season's Lunar Selection.

In my past life I was horrified just like everyone else just at the mention of his name, but not this time around.

I wiped the blood from my lip and looked down at my bruised hands. The identity rules of the Society were absolute, nobody knew who was behind the masks. Seraphina had my token, but she didn't have my mind.

I was going to find a way to forge my identity and infiltrate that elite ballroom. But I wasn't going to look at Kael. I was going to target the beast himself.

Alpha Lucien Storm.

I was going to entice the most powerful man alive, weaponize his ruthlessness, and use him to burn Kael Blackwood and my family's world to absolute ash. I won't give in without retaliation.. I don't know how I'll do it but I'm determined not to let this chance of my rebirth slip out of my hands.