Chapter 10: Marcus's Awakening

The moonlight filtered through the canopy as I crouched on a high branch, watching the clearing below with careful silence. Marcus stood in the center, pacing like a caged animal. His usually pristine posture was gone, replaced by ragged shoulders and a distant look in his eyes. Something in him was unraveling, and I needed to see it for myself.

For nights now, I had felt the bond pull, no longer a rope but a whisper in the back of my mind. Even after he had rejected me, some invisible thread remained, tethered by blood and fate. I should have severed it entirely, but a part of me wanted to understand why it was still there. And now, watching him beneath the moon, I began to see the cracks.

He groaned and sank to his knees, hands fisting in his hair. I saw the sweat glisten on his brow even from my perch. His wolf was agitated. I could feel it in the air tension, fury, confusion. It pulsed off him like heat.

I heard him mutter, voice too low for human ears, but my senses were sharper now. “Luna... why now?”

My name on his lips felt like poison. I should have left. But something in me demanded I witness what was coming.

Marcus was dreaming of me. He'd see flashes, memories my laughter, my touch, the way I used to calm his wolf with a single glance. Those images weren’t just memories now. They were torment.

From behind the trees, Victoria emerged. Her scent hit me like a rotten breeze. I tensed, claws itching to extend.

“You’re distracted again,” she said sharply, arms crossed.

Marcus didn’t respond.

“Still dreaming about her?” Victoria’s voice was clipped with irritation.

“She’s dead,” Marcus said, but there was no conviction. “It shouldn’t matter.”

Victoria walked closer and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Then stop acting like it does.”

He shrugged her off.

I smirked to myself. The perfect couple was fracturing.

“You told me this would pass,” he growled. “But it’s getting worse. Every night, I feel her. I hear her. Sometimes I wake up thinking she’s near.”

She clenched her jaw. “That’s impossible. You rejected her. The bond is broken.”

“No,” he said softly. “Something’s still there.”

Good. Let it haunt you.

I slipped down from the tree, moving silently through the shadows. I wouldn’t let them see me not yet. But I had to know how deep the madness went.

Victoria’s expression darkened. “You need to get a grip, Marcus. You're  an Alpha. Your pack is watching you fall apart.”

He laughed bitterly. “My pack is already lost. And I’m starting to think it was never mine to begin with.”

He turned away from her and walked toward the edge of the clearing. That’s when he froze.

I held my breath.

He sniffed the air. His gaze swept the trees, narrowing. “i can feel something, i think she.s alive.....i think she is close" i......think.....i dont know.

Victoria stiffened. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“No,” he said, eyes glowing faintly gold. “I can feel her strongly. Right now.”

I backed away, retreating deeper into the woods. It wasn’t time yet. Let him doubt. Let him ache.

The next day, I returned again still cloaked by the shadows. I watched as Marcus argued with his Beta. His temper was shorter now. His wolves questioned his decisions. A few even dared to say what I never thought I’d hear:

"Things were better when Luna was here."

He didn’t lash out. He didn’t deny it.

He just walked away.

I saw him alone again that night, standing at the place where we’d first trained together. A flicker of something passed through his expression regret.

Good. Let it fester.

He sat by the river, staring into the water. His reflection looked nothing like the Alpha who rejected me. His shoulders sagged. His eyes were hollow. The powerful wolf was unraveling, undone not by war but by memory.

I stepped closer, still unseen. I wanted to see the exact moment his world began to collapse.

He whispered, “What if I was wrong?”

Victoria had fed him lies. Manipulated his pride, stoked his ambition. And I had been the sacrifice.

But now, the spell is begining to  break, i can feel it.

He stood slowly and looked up at the moon. “If you’re out there... if you’re still alive... I’m sorry.”

The words struck me like a blow. I clenched my fists, swallowing down the storm rising in my chest.

You don’t get to be sorry now. no. you hurt me, i cant forgive that easily, i said that in my heart. 

And yet... the pain in his voice was real.

I turned away and disappeared, my thoughts, a tangle of satisfaction and sorrow. He was beginning to see. But it was too late for apologies.

I am no longer the Luna he rejected.

I am now the Luna he’d never be worthy of ever again.

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