Semua Bab THE REJECTED LUNA: FROM OUTCAST TO MOON QUEEN : Bab 41 - Bab 50

The crowd was already screaming before I even stepped into the cage, their voices rising into a deafening chant that echoed through the arena.“GHOST! GHOST! GHOST!”The name rolled through the space like thunder, fueled by adrenaline, anticipation, and the promise of violence.I had built that reputation myself.Fifteen fights. Fifteen wins. No losses.Every victory had carved the name deeper into the underground, turning me into something more myth than wolf in their eyes.Tonight’s opponent was supposed to change that.A Delta named Blade from the Ironhide territory, brought in specifically to break my streak and remind everyone that no one stayed undefeated forever.They always sent Deltas. They always underestimated me.I rolled my shoulders slowly, letting the familiar hum of adrenaline settle into my veins, grounding me instead of overwhelming me.The cage lights burned overhead, bright and unforgiving, while the air hung thick with sweat, heat, and the restless energy of a crow

Three days after Darian crawled back to Silvermere with his tail between his legs, life returned to normal.Or as normal as it gets when you're a dual-bloodline Prime Alpha running an underground pack of outcasts.The morning started like every other.Six AM wake-up. Compound perimeter check with Shane.Breakfast in the mess hall. Lindsey's scrambled eggs and toast, the smell of fresh coffee filling the converted warehouse.Zoe running through the day's schedule while I ate.Tina restocking the med bay.Finn and Marcus arguing over who got the last strip of bacon.My pack. My family."Valtherion's bringing four of his Deltas today," Zoe said, tapping her clipboard. "Joint combat drill. He said they'd be here by ten."I nodded.We'd been doing these joint sessions since week five of training.Crimson Fang's warriors were the best sparring partners money couldn't buy.Valtherion insisted they volunteer, after the exhibition match where five of my wolves took down ten of his, they'd star

The door cracked open twenty minutes later.Ariana stood in the doorway.Whole. Healthy. Not a scratch on her.She was wearing clean training gear, her dark hair pulled back in a tight braid, she looked...She looked terrified.Not of me. For me.The moment she saw I was awake, her composure shattered.She crossed the room in three strides, dropped to her knees beside the bed, pressed her forehead to the mattress."Alpha."Her voice was thick."You saved my life. I felt myself dying, I was gone, you brought me back.""Ariana.""I owe you everything."She looked up. Tears streaming.This was Ariana, fierce, snarling, fights-Deltas-for-fun Ariana, weeping at my bedside."My life is yours. From this moment until my last breath. I swear it."I reached out, gripped her hand."You're my pack. Protecting you is what I do."She squeezed back. Couldn't speak.The door opened wider, they all came in.Shane. Lindsey. James. Zoe. Finn. Marcus. Tina.All eight of them, filing into the room with re

Mira arrived at sunset.No entourage this time. No Silvermere colors.Just a woman in jeans, a wrinkled jacket, standing at the compound gate with dark circles under her eyes that matched her sister's.Shane called it in. "Alpha. Mira Veythorne is at the gate. Alone."I was in the training yard, watching Ariana run drills.She'd been pushing herself harder than ever since the accident, as if the near-death experience had lit a fire under her instead of making her cautious. I admired that. I also worried about it."Let her in," I said.Shane raised an eyebrow, the same way he'd done when I'd let the envoys in.He'd learned not to question me on these things.I met Mira in the courtyard.Alone.Valtherion offered to come, I shook my head.This was a conversation between sisters.Or whatever we were.She looked terrible.Not the polished Mira I remembered, the golden girl of Silvermere, the favored daughter, the one who'd never had to wonder if she belonged.This Mira was thin. Pale. He

The ceremony was set for the following night.Full moon.The sacred clearing at Moonfall, a waterfall thirty minutes outside New Haven where the water ran silver under moonlight, the old wolves said the Moon Goddess herself once walked.Valtherion handled logistics.I handled panic."Stop fidgeting," Ariana said, swatting my hand away from the neckline of my dress for the fourth time. "You look perfect."We were in the compound's largest room, which Lindsey and Zoe had transformed into a makeshift dressing suite.Flowers. Candles.A full-length mirror that I was actively avoiding.The dress was silver-white.Floor-length silk that caught light like water, cut close to the body, flowing loose from the hips.It left my shoulders bare, my mating mark visible, the one Valtherion and I already shared, the preliminary bite from weeks ago that would deepen tonight into something unbreakable.My hair was braided in an intricate crown, woven with tiny moonstone chips that caught the candleligh