Semua Bab The Outcast Luna’s Reckoning: Bab 1 - Bab 10

Elara's POVThe morning sun streamed through the high windows of the Silver Ridge training hall, turning dust motes into dancing flecks of gold.It was a beautiful morning, the kind that promised hope and strength.In the center of the hall, the air was thick with the scent of pine, sweat, and raw power. The sound of wood striking wood echoed like gunshots.“Again!” my father’s voice boomed, filled with a pride he never used for me.I watched from the periphery, my knees stinging against the cold stone floor. My adopted sister, Kaelith, was a blur of lethal grace. Her silver-blonde hair was pulled back in a tight braid as she sparred with three warriors at once. She moved like a storm, her Alpha-born instincts guiding every strike. When she landed a spinning kick that sent a grown man stumbling back, the hall erupted in cheers.They looked like gods. I looked like a smudge of dirt on their polished floor.I dipped my brush back into the bucket of gray, soapy water and began to sc

Elara's POVI snapped awake, my eyes flying open in the pitch-black darkness of the cellar.For a moment, I lay perfectly still, my heart thundering against my ribs like a trapped bird desperate to escape its cage.Thump.Thump.Thump-thump.The rhythm was frantic, but for the first time in years, it wasn’t driven by fear. It was fueled by a wild, intoxicating adrenaline.I reached up, my fingers brushing my cheeks, and realized I was smiling so hard it actually ached.The two weeks were over.I sat up on my thin cot, ignoring the familiar damp chill of the stone walls.Today was the Blood Moon.Today, I was eighteen.“Finally,” I whispered, the word tasting like a prayer on my tongue.The misery of the last fourteen days, the extra beatings, the endless mountains of laundry, the sting of boiling water on my hand, felt like a lifetime ago. Today, the cosmic tether would snap into place. Today, the Moon Goddess would reveal the soul bound to mine.I closed my eyes, pressing my palms

Elara's POVI couldn’t breathe.The air in the clearing felt like liquid lead, heavy, toxic, filling my lungs until I was certain I would suffocate. The pack’s laughter echoed in my ears, a cruel, rhythmic chant that pulsed with every beat of my shattering heart.I stared at the mud streaking the hem of my dress. The deep green fabric was ruined now. Just like me.I can’t stay here.The thought took root, cold and sharp. I have to go. Anywhere but here.Hot tears blurred my vision as I scrambled to my feet and turned toward the treeline.A hand clamped onto my shoulder and spun me around.For one foolish heartbeat, I hoped it was Orest, my eldest brother, come to pull me away.Instead, I faced Kaelith.Her face shimmered in the moonlight, beautiful and serene. To anyone watching, she might have looked almost kind. But I saw the truth in her eyes, the sleek, predatory satisfaction of a wolf who’d won a hunt without ever lifting a claw.“Oh, Elara,” she cooed, her voice pitched just

Elara’s PovI scrambled backward, hands tangling frantically in the expensive silk sheets. I didn't even know what I was apologizing for… for being alive, for breathing his air, for marring the bed, but the words tumbled out in a broken, desperate stream."I didn't mean to stay asleep! I'll clean it, I'll scrub the floors, I promise, just please—"The mattress gave way beneath me as I reached the edge, but in my blind panic, there was no stopping. A tangle of a heavy duvet snared my legs like a trap, dragging me over the side. The floor met me with a dull, jarring thump, and a small cry escaped my lips as the impact jolted through my bruised hip.Movement felt impossible, so I didn't even try to get up. Instead, I stayed exactly where I fell, curled into a ball on the rug, my forehead pressed to the floor in the submissive posture of a lowly Omega. With eyes squeezed shut, I braced myself for the inevitable. I waited for the roar of anger, the whistle of a belt, or the familiar

Elara’s PovA week had passed since I woke in this room, and a week since Alpha Varick had uttered the word that still made my heart stop.Mate.The first few days had been a blur of heavy sleep and the grounding presence of the man who claimed my soul. Every morning, I didn’t wake to the stinging crack of a whip or the icy splash of water meant to rouse me for the kitchens. Instead, I woke to the soft clink of dishes and the intoxicating aroma of fresh bread, smoked meats, and honeyed tea.Varick brought it himself. Every single time.He would sit on the edge of the bed, that massive, terrifying Alpha, and watch me eat with an intensity I was slowly realizing wasn't hunger for my flesh, but a fierce, silent protection. When he handed me my medicine, his large fingers brushing against mine, the hole Ryker had left in my chest felt a little less hollow.Then Sora would arrive. She’d check my bandages, her touch always kind, before encouraging me to move."Just to the window and bac