Chapter 1: The Trial of the Fallen Moon

The air smelled of incense and blood. The main hall of the Moonfang pack, which had once been my home, now felt like a prison.

Silver chains burned against my wrists as I knelt in the center of the room, my gaze lowered and my heart pounding with fury. Not out of fear, but out of helplessness.

The Alphas’ conference had been an event of honor, a time when the leaders of the most powerful packs gathered to discuss alliances and disputes.

However, what should have been a diplomatic event had turned into a public trial against me, the daughter of the slain Alpha and the mate of the newly appointed Alpha Rowan.

I was on my knees in the center of the room, my hair falling messily across my face, while my shaky breathing was the only thing breaking the silence before the verdict.

“I reject Luna Lyra as my mate,” Rowan’s voice rang out coldly, echoing through the room.

Rowan’s words were a cold knife plunging into my chest. My head snapped up, my lips trembled, but I couldn’t speak.

No, this couldn’t be happening.

“She was found in bed with a stranger,” he continued in a harsh voice, with no trace of the man who once promised me eternal love. “Which means she would betray the pack.” The punishment for betrayal is death.

The murmurs turned into shouts of fury. They were accusing me. They were condemning me.

“That’s a lie!” My voice sounded torn, like an echo lost in the crowd.

“Liar!” Calista stepped forward with her head held high, her perfect face lit by a malicious smile. “Everyone knows you’re not worthy of being our Moon. And now we know you’re unfaithful, too. You only wanted the title of Moon and took advantage of Rowan’s kindness.”

The betrayal hit me harder than any death sentence. My own stepsister. The girl my father adopted, the one who shared my home and my family…

“She’s behind it all”

My eyes searched for Rowan, begging to find a glimmer of doubt, of love, of anything. But I saw only his contempt.

His lips curled as if even my gaze disgusted him.

“I saw you with my own eyes, Lyra,” he said, with a coldness that tore me in two. “There’s nothing more to say.”

He didn’t believe me.

“Rowan, I didn’t…”

“Just accept the rejection already and spare me the trouble of having to keep looking at your face,” he declared in a cold, impersonal voice.

My chest tightened, suffocated by despair. The truth had turned to ashes, and no one was trying to gather them up.

“I… Lyra Blackthorne… accept your rejection… Alpha Rowan,” my voice was a broken whisper.

He brought a hand to his chest, and the cold expression on his face barely shifted. That was what hurt me the most.

All the love he had professed to me and his words of protection went down the drain. He had chosen not to trust me, even though I was his mate, his partner destined by the moon goddess.

“The Ex-Luna deserves to be exiled!”

The pack members began to shout, some demanding my immediate execution. The visiting Alphas watched with interest, but none of them intervened.

No one would stand up in defense of a she-wolf branded a traitor.

The commotion grew as a dark presence made itself known. A chill ran down my spine.

The room, which had been buzzing with cries of condemnation, fell into a deathly silence.

“Alpha Mikail,” a disbelieving voice broke the silence.

The most feared man among the Alphas. His mere presence drained the air from the room.

His eyes, deep and dark as an abyss, scanned the scene with utter disinterest. His gaze settled on me, and a chill ran up my spine.

My wolf awoke.

Not from fear, but from something deeper. Recognition.

My heart pounded, a golden thread began to weave between us.

It was faint, barely a breeze compared to the gale I’d felt with Rowan, but it was there. Alive.

My lips parted in a silent gasp. Mikail was my second chance.

For a moment, something in his gaze wavered. A flicker of doubt crossed his eyes, as if he hadn’t expected this, as if… he didn’t want this to be real.

My soul cried out in silent supplication.

But the spark died out.

His face hardened again.

“I, Alpha Mikail of the Silverbane pack, reject Lyra Blackthorne as my mate.”

The world shattered around me.

No. No, no, no.

The pain of rejection was a fire that pierced my chest, but this time… it was worse. I felt my wolf howl inside me. Her lament was heart-wrenching, and then… silence.

Emptiness.

My wolf died inside me.

A heart-wrenching scream escaped my lips and I collapsed to the ground, unable to stand. The bond broken twice… was a fate worse than death.

The voices around me became a distant murmur.

“If she has lost her wolf, she is no longer a Moon.

“Then she has no purpose.

“She will be executed at dawn.”

Everything faded into shadows. I was falling… falling…

Until his voice stopped me.

“Stop!”

It was Mikail.

The voices died away.

I forced my eyes open and saw him. Standing there, like a cruel god looking down on a mere insect.

“The traitorous daughter of a deceased Alpha must not die so quickly. More suffering still awaits her.”

My heart sank at the sight of his dark, merciless gaze.

The trial was over. But my true torment was just beginning.

The abyss closed in on me. And I fell into the darkness.