The Rejected Luna: Savage Awakening

Lyra’s POV

I froze mid-step as a sharp smell but me hut of nowhere, the three trays balanced in my hands swaying dangerously as I wrinkled my nose and glanced around the hall.

The scent was unmistakable even though it was buried beneath the usual smells of roasted meats, polished wood, perfume,but this one was different, it was stronger and wilder.

“Mira,” I whispered, barely turning my head as I adjusted the top tray with my shoulder, “do you smell that?”

She blinked at me looking confused, her arms full of folded linens. “Smell what?”

I inhaled again, slower this time, trying to find it but it was gone. Or maybe it was never there. Maybe I was just tired. Or going mad.

Either was possible.

“Nothing,” I muttered, shaking it off as I forced myself forward again. “Forget it.”

I walked through the crowd trying not to look like a total disaster with three trays stacked high.

“Careful,” Mira warned from behind me

“I got it.” I said.

I made it two more steps before my foot caught on something and the trays fell forward in slow motion. I tried to recover, arms flailing, but it was too late.

The bottom tray slammed into the floor first, sending the top two flying and I landed on my knees right in the middle of the mess.

I was dumb enough to think I could balance three trays at the same time and then before I could see it coming, the tray slipped.

I was going to be in so much trouble.

One second, I was balancing a tray of wine glasses in my hands and the next, I was staring at a puddle of shattered glass and sticky golden liquid pooling at my feet.

Everyone gasped and a goblet rolled to a stop near a high ranking pack member's boot while my cheeks burned red with shame and embarrassment.

Mira tried to help me up when a sharp voice made her stop.

“Pathetic, what a useless, clumsy omega—do you ever do anything right?”

I didn’t have to look to know who it was. Head Maid Bruna, with her ever condescending look and permanently wrinkled brow, she was towering above me like freaking judgment itself.

She gave Mira a stern look that made her run away.

“Clean it up now, before you embarrass this pack any more than you already have,” she hissed in a low but venomous voice. “If you ruin this night for Lady Selene, you will be scrubbing kennels until the next full moon.”

I bit my tongue as I dropped to my knees, as my heart was hammering loud in my chest.

My hands were stinging from glass shards I was trying to lick up as everyone was whispering.

Of course it had to be me. It was always me.

But the head maid wasn't done screaming at me, I had zoned out because frankly I didn't give two shits about what she was saying anymore.

I couldn't comprehend why she always made my life a living hell, after all she was an omega just like I was.

The lowly ones always barked the loudest, lashing out at someone further down the ladder just to feel taller. But I said nothing. No point to prove because my voice didn’t carry any weight or meaning here.

I gathered the broken pieces with trembling fingers, I inhaled deeply, forcing air into my lungs even though it hurt to breathe.

Get up… I told myself.

Get up, Lyra, you have messed up a hundred times, but you won’t mess this one up. Not tonight. Not again.

Tonight was too important, for the pack, for Selene… maybe even for me.

I stood up and even though my whole body was shaky I felt better because I knew I would soon disappear into the darkness again, I would fade back into the background like usual

But next time, I would make it through the night without dropping anything else.

Even if I had to carry it all with trembling hands.

Today was a very important day to the Crescent Moon Pack, it was to celebrate our Alpha, everyone that mattered was in the grand hall celebrating while I moved through them like a ghost.

My red hair was a mess of curls I hadn’t had time to tame, and they freaking kept falling into my eyes, the worn ribbon holding it back doing little more than nothing.

I huffed and brushed it away with the back of my hand, careful not to drop the tray again

“Chin up,” Mira whispered beside me, nudging me gently with her elbow. Her curvy figure filled out her sun-yellow dress beautifully, and her brown skin made her look beautiful.

Sometimes I wondered why she was an omega.

But she looked happy to serve, her curls bounced as she moved, as if joy lived in her hair. She always looked like she belonged in a celebration, even when she was working.

“That warrior over there nearly dropped his drink looking at you.”

I gave her a flat look, the corners of my mouth twitching up in a weak, disbelieving smile. “He probably thought I was about to drop his drink on him after all I do have a reputation as the incompetent Omega.”

She rolled her eyes as if I was being unreasonable. “You are too hard on yourself.”

I didn’t answer. Instead my gaze went to the frayed hem of my uniform, it was gray, shapeless, and stiff from too many washes.

It hung on my petite frame like it didn’t quite know where to settle. I shifted the tray in my hands, trying to ignore how odd I was feeling.

At twenty-two, I was the pack’s ghost girl, seen only when needed, heard only when spoken to. An omega who hadn’t even shifted.

At least Mira had shifted.

While others ran with their wolves before they were sixteen, I remained hollow. No howl. No wolf. Just...me.

A servant. A nobody.

The whole celebration was captivating but somehow the only thing I could sense was the sharlt scent of pine, leather and slice that filled the room.

And there, at the heart of it all, stood my sister.

Selene.

She was radiant, so beautiful that it was hard to believe that we are related or even sisters, her golden hair was braided into a crown that glowed even the dark and then icy blue eyes framed her face perfectly, her cheekbones were sharp enough to cut glass but she still managed to look more feminine than I could ever be.

Even in stillness, she moved like a wolf, graceful, lethal, elegant. Her ceremonial dress hugged her statuesque frame, embroidered with silver thread that mimicked moonlight. She looked like a queen. Or a goddess. And tonight, she might as well be.

Tonight she was with Alpha Kael.

Everyone knew Alpha Kael and Selene were made for eachother, the perfect couple.

His name sent a chill down my spine, not from fear because Kael wasn’t cruel, but from awe.

He was towering, with shoulders broad enough to block out the moonlight and eyes that gleamed silver like a wolf mid-hunt.

His long dark hair was tied back, and jagged scars traced his knuckles, proof of every battle he had walked away from.

He was standing beside my sister, the two of them looked like they belonged in ancient paintings.

They looked strong, noble and unshakeable.

And then there was me. The sister hidden in the kitchen smoke.

I poured a goblet of mead for a group of warriors, my fingers went stiff. One of them chuckled, and I froze.

“Still no wolf?” His voice was light and teasing—but it hurt.

Another joined in. “Maybe it’s hibernating.”

Their laughter was loud and annoying but I kept my eyes down and tray steady.

Don’t react.

Don’t flinch.

That was the rule.

Mira appeared beside me, placing a gentle hand on my back. “Forget them,” she whispered. “They will choke on their own words one day.”

I smiled faintly and nodded even though the smile was obviously fake.

Hours passed and all I could think of was my aching feet. Every time I passed Selene, she glanced at me, checking in, offering that calm, reassuring smile she always wore.

She was trying. She always had. Even when I felt like a burden she carried, she never let me feel it.

But I did feel it. I felt it in every ache of my back, every echo of laughter, every look of disgust I saw when I walked past people.

“Lyra,” Mira said softly, taking the empty tray from my arms. “You’re pale. Take a breather. I got this.”

“I shouldn’t—”

“I will tell the kitchen you are relieving yourself or something. Just go. Now.”

I didn’t argue. I slipped out the side door and practically ran outside.

The moon was beautiful and the breeze was cool but all I could think of was how it would feel on my fur if I had my wolf.

I leaned against the cold wall and I finally let myself breathe, finally I was alone.

I could be what I truly was, lost. forgotten. Waiting for something that may never come.

My wolf should have come by now. Everyone said so. But she hadn’t. And maybe she never would.

I closed my eyes. A single tear slid down my cheeks. Maybe I truly was Pathetic.

But then I sensed the distinct smell again, it hit me like a tidal wave, knocking the air from my lungs.

My knees wobbled, my hands went instinctively at my knee as my senses exploded.

That scent—gods, it wrapped around me, inside me. It felt like coming alive. Like being seen and claimed.

My lips parted, and the word slipped out before I could stop it.

“Mate.”

I stumbled forward, drawn like a string had been tied around my chest and yanked tight. The scent grew stronger, every step pulling me toward the trees beyond the courtyard wall

The word mate felt forbidden but somehow I felt I was getting closer to something or someone I wasn't ready to face.