CHAPTER 1: THE REJECTION

Selene's POV

The night air smelled of moonlight and roses. The pack’s grand hall shimmered with gold and silver, draped in silks that whispered in the wind. Outside, the Blood Moon rose—our Moon Goddess’s rarest blessing. It should’ve been the most sacred night of my life. My union with the Alpha. My mate. My forever.

But the man standing in front of me looked like a stranger.

Arden’s face was unreadable. The sharp lines of his jaw were as cold as the silver armor on his shoulders. His eyes—those eyes that used to soften when they found mine—were now hollow, fixed on the papers in his hand. The crowd around us quieted, the air thick with confusion. I felt every gaze sink into my skin like needles.

“Selene,” he said my name softly, as though it hurt him to speak it. “We need to talk.”

My heart tripped inside my chest. The ceremony was about to begin—the vows, the oath, the marking. Everything we’d prepared for weeks. The entire pack waited.

I tried to smile, even though my lips trembled. “Now? Can it wait until after the ritual?”

His eyes finally lifted to mine. I wish they hadn’t. They were cold. Detached. Almost pitying.

“Please,” he said, voice rough. “Let’s talk in private.”

Something inside me cracked. Still, I followed him out of the hall and into the garden, where moonlight spilled over white petals and the sound of drums faded behind us. I could smell the storm coming—sharp, metallic, the same scent that filled the air before everything broke apart.

He stopped near the fountain, his back turned to me. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides.

“Arden,” I whispered, “you’re scaring me.”

He didn’t turn around. The wind stirred the loose strands of my hair. For a long moment, all I could hear was the trickle of water and the pounding of my heart.

Then he spoke.

“I can’t do this.”

The words hung between us, fragile and final.

I frowned. “What do you mean? You can’t—”

He turned then, and whatever I was about to say died in my throat. His eyes, usually filled with quiet fire, were empty now.

“You were never meant to be my Luna.”

The words hit me like claws to the chest. I blinked, once, twice, waiting for him to take it back. Waiting for the cruel joke to end.

“What are you saying?” My voice cracked. “You’re my mate. The Moon Goddess chose—”

He shook his head, jaw tight. “She didn’t choose. She made a mistake.”

“A mistake?” I repeated, laughing softly even as my heart fractured. “Arden, the Goddess doesn’t make mistakes.”

“She does,” he said, bitterness thick in his tone. “Because my real mate—the one who holds my heart—she’s back.”

The world tilted. For a second, everything went quiet. Then I heard it—the faint, almost imperceptible click of heels on stone.

I turned.

She was there. Standing under the archway, bathed in the red glow of the Blood Moon. lyra. The woman he once loved. The one who vanished five years ago, leaving him hollow and unreachable.

Her beauty was still sharp enough to wound. Golden hair cascading like sunlight, eyes that mirrored Arden’s fire. She didn’t speak, didn’t move. She didn’t have to.

My breath hitched. So this was it. The reason for his distance, his silences, the way he’d started avoiding my touch. I thought it was the stress of leadership. I thought he just needed time.

Foolish, faithful me.

“She’s your mate?” I asked quietly.

He nodded once. “My true one.”

The words tore something vital from me. I tried to speak, but the sob caught in my throat. Every memory we had—the nights he carried me home after training, the mornings he made sure my tea was warm, the smiles we shared when no one else was watching—they all turned to dust.

“Everything between us…” I whispered. “Was that all a lie?”

His eyes softened, guilt flickering in them for the first time. “No, Selene. It wasn’t a lie. But it wasn’t supposed to happen, either. I cared for you… maybe too much. But I can’t deny her.”

I laughed, bitter and broken. “You cared for me?” My voice trembled. “You made me believe I was your home. You marked me with your scent, your promise, your loyalty. You let me dream, Arden. And now you tell me it was all a mistake?”

The silence that followed was deafening.

He looked away. “I’m sorry.”

Sorry.

That one word felt like mockery.

My hands shook as I pulled the pendant from my neck—the small silver moon he’d given me the night he first said he’d protect me. I dropped it on the marble beside his boots. The sound echoed, small but sharp.

“The Moon Goddess never makes mistakes,” I said, my voice low, trembling but steady. “She just reveals what we refuse to see.”

“Selene—”

“No.” I met his gaze, eyes burning. “You’ve made your choice. And I’ll make mine.”

I turned away before he could see my tears, before my knees could give out. The moment I walked back into the hall, every eye turned toward me again. But this time, I didn’t care.

The whispers started. Where’s the Alpha? Why is she crying?

I ignored them all. I walked straight through the golden doors, past the tables, past the thrones, past the crown that no longer meant anything.

The cold night swallowed me whole.

Outside, the sky bled red under the Moon. I took one last look at the grand hall—the place where I thought I’d finally belong—and let it fade behind me.

My heart ached, but I refused to break in front of them. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing the Luna fall apart.

As I stepped into the forest, the wind howled through the trees, carrying the scent of rain and regret. I didn’t look back, not even when I felt his gaze on my back, heavy and lingering.

Maybe he was watching me leave.

Maybe he wanted to call me back.

But he didn’t.

And that silence… that silence said everything.

Somewhere deep inside, something in me shifted.

The woman who walked into that ceremony was gone. The Luna he let go died under the Blood Moon.

What remained was something colder, quieter, and infinitely stronger.

I would bleed, I would heal, and one day—

when the Goddess decided it was time—

he would learn exactly what kind of mistake he made.

The night swallowed my footsteps, and the world went still.

Behind me, the Alpha of the Blackridge Pack stood alone in a garden of dying roses—

and for the first time in his life,

he looked like the one who had been left behind.