Scarlet Moon: The Marked Heir.

Aria’s Pov

The moon was silver and full that night, and my life was broken. Tonight was supposed to be the night I became Luna; my mate, Kael Draven, Alpha of the Silverfang Pack, was meant to brand me as his. Every girl dreams of this one moment. That one promise I had clung to for years as an omega, despite being ignored, doubted, and discarded, should have changed everything tonight.

It did, but not in the "tomorrow" that was hoped for.

Earlier, laughing filled the packhouse as my brother Darius and childhood friend Lyra threw me a small pre-ceremony celebration. Music thudded through the speakers, glasses clinked, and our voices drifted into the darkness like warm milk.

Lyra hugged me. "Tomorrow, you will be the queen of everyone." I chuckled and turned to face Darius, who grinned as if he was proud of me. For a brief period, I believed it.

Then everything twisted.

I awoke to the harsh sting of moonlight penetrating my curtains. My head hammered heavily and strangely. My skin was bare, and my dress, the one Kael had picked for me, was gone. My body hurt as if I'd been drugged. There was someone beside me.

A man, half naked, sprawled across his sheets, his scent all over the room.

Panic jolted me awake; I sprang upright, clutching the blanket to my chest, my heart pounding against my ribs. "No, no, no…" My voice shook; this couldn't be genuine. Before I could process it, the door banged open.

Kael.

The alpha's golden gaze focused on me. My world came to a halt in that instant. His wolf was there, just beneath his skin, claws straining to the surface, rage rippling through the air. Behind him, his guards entered, their expressions stern and vicious.

"Kael, it's not—"

"Don't." His voice was as harsh as a sword.

Two soldiers dragged me from the bed; I shouted and fought with them, grasping the blanket as if it were life support. The man on the bed remained still; his very presence was enough to condemn him.

The crowd was waiting outside. The pack; my pack.

Hundreds of eyes cut into me as I was hauled into the courtyard, half-naked under the silver moon. Whispers arose like a storm. Gasps, snarls, and howls of disgust. Someone thrust a phone into Kael's hands. A photo of me unconscious in bed with the stranger glowed brightly than the moon on the screen.

Kael's jaw clenched, and his eyes were colder than I had ever seen them.

"She's shameless," someone said.

"A disgrace to the pack," another growled. "Slut!" The word resonated with a forceful sound.

I searched for my parents, and my mother's fingers trembled as she gripped my father's arm. My father averted his gaze. Darius' expression was stone as he stood behind Kael.

Then Lyra emerged, twisting the knife even more. She was wearing my dress, and my jewelry, including my necklace and crown, glinted against the skin. She walked straight to Kael, taking determined steps, and cuddled up against his side as if she belonged there. Her hand slipped to his chest. Then, in front of everyone, she kissed him.

"No…" My voice cracked, tearing through the air, but Kael did not stop her; instead, he returned the kiss.

"Kael!" my heart broke.

Lyra's smirk was venom. "It's Alpha Kael," she said loudly enough for everyone to hear. "And you were never worthy of him."

The crowd exploded; wolves howled, growled, and spat insults. Some looked appalled, some pleased, but none defended me.

My chest heaved, and wrath clawed at my throat. No, I would not let Lyra, Kal, or anybody else see me broken.

I straightened my spine, my voice harsh and forceful, cutting through the din.

"You think you can deprive me of my worth? My bond? My future, I reject you, Alpha Kael Draven.”

Gasps echoed around the courtyard; no one dared challenge an alpha like him. No one else does, but he does, and he felt like I had broken the law.

Kael's eyes flashed, and his wolf snapped behind them. The bond between us strained painfully, but I refused to look away.

The crowd roared louder. "Slut! Filth!" The words bounced off me like stones, but I stood tall, breathing fire.

Then Lyra lifted her voice, lovely, fake, and triumphant. "She's not even one of us."

"She's not an omega, she's not wolf-less, she's… human." The pack came to a halt, and the word detonated with the intensity of a bomb.

"No," my voice shook, "that's not true, that's not possible—"

But Lyra's sneer revealed all. Kael's eyes shifted to my father.

"Is this true? His alpha voice was uncompromising. My father's quiet sufficed as an explanation, and he eventually bowed.

"Yes, Alpha."

The world shifted; the council charged forward, their voices sharp. "Humans have no place in our world!"

"The law is clear!"

"She must die!"

The pack howled in approval, and as bloodlust swelled in the air, my gut knotted while bile threatened to suffocate me.

Kael gazed at me with golden eyes. They used to gaze at me softly, but now they sparkled with disappointment and hatred, almost breaking me, yet the fire inside me flared even hotter.

"I reject being your luna," I yelled, my voice steely. "Choosing me was a mistake, and I promise you that. I shall exact revenge. For every lie, every betrayal, and everything you've done to me."

The pack reeled, and the wolves shifted uncomfortably. No one had ever talked to Kael Draven in that way.

Kael's snarl shook the courtyard, and his might slammed against me, squeezing and strangling.

"Enough!"

The council yelled for my death again, and my father fell to his knees, pleading for mercy. Part of me wanted to yell at him to never do that again.

"Please… "She is my daughter; spare her, exile her if necessary, but do not kill her!"

Kael's eyes locked with mine for the last time, and he thundered with his unbreakable and raw Alpha command.

"She gets expelled immediately. "Throw her out," he said, his voice lowering slightly. "And make sure she never crosses our territory again."

His guards grabbed my wrists and dragged me across the courtyard while the pack jeered, howled, and laughed. Lyra's triumphant smirk was the last thing I saw as the gates closed behind me.

The relationship snapped, and I felt so much pain that I considered killing myself. And behind me, Kael's mark slid into Lyra's neck. The pack rejoiced as he crowned her Luna.

"You'll regret this, Kael," I snarled, tears blurring my vision. "You'll regret this."

The night consumed me. Cold air pierced my flesh, and my bare feet stumbled over stones as the guards took me to the boundary. The gates slammed shut, and they abandoned me in the forest, where death awaited.

I believed I was alone and feared I would die. But then, a shadow emerged from the trees.

My father.

He didn’t speak, and neither did I. He silently untied the chains and led me into the jungle. His jaw was stiff, his eyes hollow, but his hand clasped mine with steel. We went through the night in quiet, with only the crunch of leaves and the howl of distant wolves to accompany us.

The Silverfang boundary slipped away behind us, and the forest sprawled out in front of us. It was endless and gloomy. He eventually came to a halt at the territory's edge. The moonlight caught his face, piercing with anguish and secrets that I didn't grasp.

And in that silence, something changed in the shadows: someone else was watching me, with golden eyes that weren't Kael's.