THE BURNT FACE LUNA

"Hi, Mom," Kyla said as she sat in the grass with her legs crossed beneath her butt. She looked at the wedding announcement in her hands, and a lone tear slipped from her eye. "Tormund Moonveil, son of Morgan and Tabitha Moonveil and also the future Alpha of the Moonveil pack, is to be wedded to Vivica Eclipse, daughter of Beta Albert and Claudia Eclipse of the Moonveil pack," Kyla read out loud.

She lifted her head to the sky and let out a bitter laugh, then crushed the paper in her hands and threw it behind her.

"This is so unfair!" she sniffled. "I am the rightful daughter of the Beta! Why is his adoptive daughter treated better than me while I'm treated as the servant?" she asked as tears wet her knees. "Mom! I wish you were here." She ran her palm over the stone marker of her mother's grave.

She was about to say something else when she heard the whispers of some of the more mischievous pack children.

"Look, it's the monster girl," one of them giggled. "I dare you to go kiss her," his little voice said.

"No! I don't want to catch her cooties," the other answered.

"I can hear you," Kyla said, growling beneath her breath.

"Maybe we should go before she kills us."

"Don't be a coward," the bolder boy snickered, and threw a rock.

The small pebble bounced off Kyla's shoulder. She ignored it, brushing her fingers across her mother's name carved into the stone.

They threw another rock. Harder this time. It cracked against the back of her head, making her wince.

"Quit it, you little buggers," Kyla snapped, spinning around as she growled at them. She saw them cowering behind the bushes. Her canines were sharp and pointed as they dripped with werewolf venom.

The children screamed in mock terror and scattered, shrieking into the trees. "Ahhhh! The monster's gonna eat us!"

She sighed, her heart sinking. This was normal now. The endless taunting and bullying because of her appearance. Kyla was only fifteen when an accident left her face burnt. She didn't know how the fire started, but her wolf had warned her and woke her before she could die in her sleep from the flames.

A thumping sound startled her, and she turned back to the headstone and froze.

A black bird had crashed into the stone, tumbling to the ground in a flurry of feathers. Its wing bent at a sick angle.

Kyla scooped the trembling creature into her palms.

"Oh dear... Don't worry, little birdie. I'll fix you."

Her eyes darted around, making sure no one was watching. Then she whispered the words of a forbidden spell and blew softly over the bird's wing.

A faint blue glow rippled from her lips, sinking into the feathers.

The bird gave a sharp cry and flapped up, strong again. It soared into the sky as if nothing had happened.

Kyla smiled faintly, her heart aching with the memory of Wynona's voice. 'This magic must remain your secret.'

A loud chime rang out from the village square clock. Her stomach dropped.

"Shit."

She was late. Vivica's engagement dinner needed preparing, and she was the one meant to oversee the stew.

Kyla hated that she had to always be serving her spoiled brat of a stepsister, and what made it worse was that Vivica and her pack of she-devils made Kyla's life a living hell. They nicknamed her the Burnt Face Monster, and that name had been stuck with her for three years now.

******

Claudia's voice was filled with annoyance the moment Kyla stepped into the kitchen.

"You're late. The Alpha and Luna will be here any moment, and this dinner must be perfect."

"Yes, Claudia," Kyla gulped, bowing her head as she joined the omega servants at the long table, chopping and stirring in silence.

The dinner was ready on time.

Beta Albert and Claudia sat at the head of the table with Vivica gleaming at her stepfather's right side like a prized jewel. Across from them sat Alpha Morgan Moonveil and his Luna, Tabitha. They looked so regal in their silks, sipping wine and making small talk amongst themselves.

Tormund was beside Vivica, his hand never leaving her. He kissed her cheek while he whispered in her ear. He touched her with the entitlement of a man who had claimed something that was his by fate and not by arrangement.

Kyla stood behind them with the other servants in silence. She kept invisible as she watched Tormund with a heart that bled.

When Vivica blushed at Tormund's touch, Kyla's fists clenched. Not out of jealousy, though it burned in her veins, but because Tormund had never once looked at her with kindness. Only with disdain and disgust.

The young Alpha-to-be was the golden prize of Moonveil, with curls like spun sunlight and a smile that made the she-wolves swoon.

She remembered the first time he had humiliated her in front of everyone. He was sitting at the dinner table when he sneered at her scarred face and called her a kitchen wench.

Kyla, trying to hold on to some fragment of her dignity, had lifted her chin in pride. "I am the true-born daughter of Beta Albert and the late Gloria Eclipse."

"Oh!" Tormund had smirked, his voice dripping with venom. "You're the jealous wench then." Of course, Vivica had filled his head with lies about her.

Laughter roared through the hall, except from her father, who only scowled at his ruined daughter.

Beta Albert was once her hero, but now he barely looked her way anymore. Not since she was lost in the woods for years and came back. When Kyla returned, someone else had taken her place and her father's heart. Plus, her face was badly burnt now, so it was easier for him to look at Vivica...the daughter he claimed as his own, the one who smiled and sparkled, the one who reminded him of everything Kyla was not.

That night she had cried alone, whispering into the darkness how much she missed Wynona, the witch who had raised her for ten years when she was lost in the woods. Life with her had been hard, but it had been hers. She had someone who loved her. Someone who saw her. Now, she had nothing but sorrow.

The voice of the Luna took her from her haze.

"Even though Tormund and the lovely Vivica are not mates," Luna Tabitha said warmly, raising her glass, "they have a love that—ah, a beautiful love that must be cherished." She turned to the kissing couple and scolded them. "Save the lovey-dovey for the wedding night, you two."

Laughter rippled through the hall. Kyla rolled her eyes, dreading for this dinner to be over so she could go to her room.

Then the Luna stood and declared the announcement that silenced the room.

"The marriage will be held in four days, on Vivica's eighteenth birthday!"