Luna Of the Broken Oath

Aria's POVShe saw a man materialize from the darkness at the forest edge, moving with fluid grace that marked him as something more than simply human. He was tall and powerfully built, with dark hair that fell past his shoulders and eyes that caught the moonlight like a predator's. He wore simple clothes, dark pants and a shirt that had seen better days… but carried himself with the unconscious authority of someone accustomed to command and instant obedience. The wolves parted for him without being asked, creating a path through their circle as he walked toward Aria's house with steady, purposeful strides.Terror finally broke through Aria's paralysis. She stumbled backward from the window, her hand going to her throat in an instinctive protective gesture. The threads of light vanished instantly, snuffed out as though they had never existed. But the warmth in her chest remained, pulsing insistently, and somehow she knew with absolute certainty that the approaching man could feel it t

Three days passed in a haze of anxiety and restless anticipation. Aria tried to maintain her normal routines… but everything felt hollow and performative, as though she was acting out a role in a play whose script she no longer believed. The mark on her hand remained invisible most of the time, visible only in certain lights or when emotions ran particularly high. But she could always feel it, a constant reminder of that moonlit night and the man who had appeared at her window like something out of dreams or nightmares.Her mother had tried to explain more about the Oath and what it meant to be marked as Luna, but the information came in fragments and warnings rather than clear explanations. There were rules, apparently, ancient protocols that governed how Alphas and Lunas interacted, how power was claimed and challenged, how the shards were sought and won. But those rules felt distant and academic compared to the visceral reality of the mark burning against her skin whenever her thou

A sound from outside Aria's window made them both tense. Kieran moved with inhuman speed, positioning himself between Aria and the potential threat, his entire demeanor shifting to something predatory and dangerous. Aria felt her mark pulse with warning, and through that pulse, she sensed what he sensed… a presence in the yard below, watching the house with intent that felt malevolent even at this distance."They have found you already," Kieran said, his voice dropping to a growl that raised every hair on Aria's neck. "Faster than I anticipated. We need to leave, now, before they decide to act rather than simply observe.""Leave?" Aria repeated, alarm spiking through her. "I am not going anywhere with you, especially not in the middle of the night when my parents do not even know you exist."Kieran turned to look at her, and in his eyes she saw genuine fear warring with fierce determination. "Your parents cannot protect you from what is coming. Neither can mundane locks nor ordinary w

Kieran's smile was sad and small. "Partnership. Understanding. Someone who sees me clearly and does not flinch away from what she finds. I am not expecting you to provide those things, Aria. I am simply admitting that I want them, that the bond between us makes me hope for possibilities I had thought long dead. Sleep well, Luna. May your dreams be gentler than your reality has been these past days."Then he was gone, the door closing softly behind him, leaving Aria alone with her racing thoughts and the dying fire and the strange, persistent warmth in her chest that pulsed in time with the mark on her hand.She moved to the window and looked out over the moonlit forest, so different from the view from her bedroom back home but somehow more right, more fitting for what she was becoming. Somewhere out there, threats gathered in shadow, enemies she did not know pursuing goals she did not understand. The Echo Queen watched from beyond death, and rival Alphas schemed and pl

"That is a shard," Kieran said, and there was hunger in his voice now, barely restrained desire that made the Alpha in him surface more prominently. "A fragment of the original Oath, scattered when the promise broke and the first Luna died. Each one contains power proportional to its size and purity. That one is relatively small, suitable for teaching purposes but not substantial enough to fundamentally alter the balance of power."The shard drifted closer, drawn by Aria's presence and the mark that branded her as Luna. She felt it calling to her with voices that were not quite sound, promising understanding and capability and strength beyond mortal limitations. Her hand lifted without conscious volition, reaching toward the crystal even as part of her screamed warnings about things too powerful to safely touch."Do not fight the call," Kieran instructed, his hand on her shoulder providing a steady anchor. "Let the shard come to you, let it test your worthiness and det