THE RISE OF THE REBORN LUNA

Serena's POV

The scent hit me before I saw them.

Cedarwood and smoke. My mate's scent. I'd know it anywhere even though we'd never met because the Moon Goddess herself had woven it into my soul the moment I turned eighteen three hours ago.

But it was twisted. Contaminated with cheap rose perfume and something else... something that made my stomach turn.

Sex.

Mate. Mate. MATE.

My wolf slammed against my consciousness so hard I stumbled into the wall. She'd been silent my whole life... dormant, weak, barely there. And now she was screaming.

The Grand Moon Night was supposed to be magical. The night unmated wolves found their destined partners under the full moon's blessing. I'd spent hours getting ready, wearing my mother's silver dress, braiding wildflowers into my hair like she used to do.

Instead, I was following the scent of betrayal through the East Pack manor's back corridors with my heart in my throat.

I pushed open the garden door.

Moonlight painted everything in shades of silver and shadow

And there, beside the fountain, they were destroying everything.

Alpha Dominic had Vivian bent over the stone wall.

My step-sister's expensive red dress was hiked up around her waist. His hands gripped her hips, fingers digging into pale skin as he drove into her from behind. Hard. Brutal. Each thrust made her cry out.

"Yes... oh Goddess, yes... Dominic... don't stop..."

His head was thrown back, eyes closed in pleasure.

"Fuck... you feel so good..."

The mate bond snapped into place.

It wasn't gentle. It wasn't beautiful. It was a lightning strike straight through my chest, burning and brutal and undeniable. Golden threads wrapped around my heart and reached toward him.

Mine. He was mine.

And he was buried inside her.

My wolf howled in agony.

"Dominic."

My voice came out stronger than I felt. Both of them froze like I'd fired a gun.

He pulled out fast, scrambling for his pants. Vivian turned slowly, deliberately, and when she met my eyes... she smiled.

She actually smiled.

"Oh." She didn't even bother fixing her dress. Just stood there half-naked with his cum dripping down her thighs. "Serena. What perfect timing."

"What is this?" My hands clenched into fists.

Dominic yanked up his pants, still not looking at me.

"It's not... look, Serena..."

"Not what it looks like?" I laughed and it came out broken. "Because it looks like you're fucking my step-sister on the night I'm supposed to meet my mate."

"She is looking at her mate," Vivian purred, finally pulling her dress down. "Just not the way she imagined."

The bond pulsed between Dominic and me. Golden. Undeniable. Screaming that he belonged to me.

"We're mates," I whispered. "The Moon Goddess chose us."

Dominic finally met my eyes and they were cold. Empty.

"The Moon Goddess made a mistake."

Each word was a knife between my ribs.

"What?"

"Look at you." He stepped closer and I saw it then... the disgust. "Your father's a low-ranking warrior. You have no title. No connections. No power. What could you possibly offer me as Luna?"

"Love," I choked out. "The bond..."

"I don't want the bond." He towered over me now. "I don't want you."

My wolf whimpered.

"Dominic, please..."

"I, Alpha Dominic of the East Pack," his voice rang out clear and formal, "reject you, Serena, as my mate and Luna."

The bond shattered.

Pain exploded through every nerve in my body. I collapsed onto the stone pathway, gasping, clawing at my chest because it felt like my heart was being ripped out through my ribs.

My wolf thrashed inside me, dying, screaming in agony I couldn't voice.

"No... no, please... I don't accept..."

"Oh, sweetie." Vivian's heels clicked against the stone as she circled me like a predator. "You don't get a choice."

Through the haze of pain, I saw her shift. Not fully... just enough for her claws to extend from perfectly manicured fingers. Her grey wolf's eyes gleamed in the moonlight.

"Accept it," she growled.

"No." I tried to stand but my legs wouldn't hold me. "I won't..."

Her claws slashed across my face.

Blood filled my mouth. The copper taste mixed with tears and I stumbled backward.

"ACCEPT IT!" She hit me again, this time across the ribs. Something cracked. Air left my lungs.

"Vivian, stop..." I gasped.

"Why?" She grabbed my hair, yanking my head back. "You think you can refuse? You think you have any power here?"

I tried to shift. Tried to fight back. But my wolf was too weak... she'd always been too weak. Barely there even before the rejection broke her.

Vivian's wolf was stronger. So much stronger.

"Did you really think he'd choose you over me?" Her breath was hot against my ear. "We've been fucking for months, Serena. Every night he had special meetings?" She laughed. "He was with me. In his bed. In his office. In every position you'll never experience."

My stomach lurched.

I looked at Dominic, desperate for him to deny it. To say something. Anything.

He just stood there. Silent. Confirming every word.

"Now," Vivian's claws pressed against my throat, "say it. Accept the rejection or I'll make this so much worse."

"Please..."

She slashed across my stomach. Blood soaked through my mother's silver dress.

"SAY IT!"

"I..." I could barely breathe. "I accept..."

"Louder!" Her claws dug deeper.

"I ACCEPT YOUR REJECTION!" I screamed.

The bond severed completely.

If the first break was agony, this was death. My wolf shattered inside me, pieces of her scattering into darkness. I felt her die. Felt the emptiness where she used to be.

Vivian released me and I fell forward, coughing blood onto the stones.

"Good girl." She crouched beside me. "Now here's what's going to happen. You're going to leave this pack. Tonight. And if you ever come back, if you ever tell anyone what happened here, I'll kill your father. Slowly."

"You can't..."

"Can't I?" She smiled. "I'm about to be Luna. And you? You're nothing. A wolfless reject that not even the Moon Goddess wanted."

"Get her out of my sight," Dominic said. His voice was bored now. Like I was trash he'd tired of looking at.

I forced myself to stand. Every movement sent fresh waves of pain through my broken body.

"You'll regret this," I whispered.

Vivian's eyes flashed.

"What did you just say?"

"Both of you. You'll regret this."

"Bitch!"

She shifted fully this time. Her grey wolf was massive, easily twice my size, with foam dripping from snarling jaws. I stumbled backward.

My legs hit the railing.

The cliff's edge. I'd forgotten how close we were to the drop.

"Vivian, wait..."

She didn't wait. She charged.

I tried to dodge but my body wouldn't respond fast enough. Her massive form slammed into me like a freight train.

And then there was nothing but air.

I flew backward over the railing. Wind screamed past my ears. The ground rushed up to meet me... jagged rocks and churning water far, far below.

In that split second of falling, I looked up.

Dominic and Vivian stood at the cliff's edge. Watching. She'd shifted back to human form and he had his arm around her waist.

Neither of them tried to save me.

Neither of them even looked sorry.

Moon Goddess, I prayed as the rocks grew closer. If you're real... if you ever cared about me at all... give me another chance. Let me come back. Stronger. Let me destroy them both.

My body hit the rocks.

Pain.

Darkness.

But then... something else. A surge of power, ancient and wild, wrapping around my broken bones. Heat flooded through me, electric and alive.

A voice whispered through the void, feminine and eternal:

Your prayer is heard, daughter of the moon. You were never weak. You were never broken. You were dormant, waiting. Rise again. Awaken your true self. And take everything they tried to steal.

Then everything went black...