All Chapters of THE REJECTED WHITE LUNA: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

121 Chapters

Chapter Eleven: The Fifth Day

Lina came late today. She set a cloth bundle on the chair and didn't sit which was unlike her. Aria unwrapped it. A different meal Oat porridge it was still warm and a small pot of honey. "Selene needs me again." Lina said as soon she she dropped the cloth bundle. Aria dipped the spoon. The honey pooled golden. "For what?" "For the preparation, you know the ceremony for the new Luna.” "You've been spending a lot of time with her." "She's going to be Luna, and everyone spends time with her." "I don't." Lina's laugh was short, as she was already at the door. "You're not everyone, Ria." The door clicked shut. Aria's spoon hovered over the porridge. She set it down, the honey cooled and crusted at the edges. The laundry water was cold enough to numb. Aria plunged her hands in anyway. The shock of it sharpened her thoughts. She scrubbed until her fingers turned red, then white, then numb. The rhythm was steady. It asked nothing of her. Mira came in with an armful of linens. Her

Chapter Twelve: The Cracks

On the sixth day, Lina didn't come at all. Aria had waited. The hearth burned low. The porridge from yesterday had been scraped clean. She told herself Lina was busy. The ceremony was tomorrow anyway and everyone was busy. She laced her boots and went to work. The laundry was empty, Mira was not in the kitchen And there was no linen either. The fortress had turned itself inside out for the preparations. Aria scrubbed the same pot three times just to keep her hands moving. By midday, she went looking for Lina. The servants' quarters were quiet. Most of the staff had been pulled to the great hall. Aria walked the narrow corridor, past closed doors and cold torches, and stopped. A voice, not just any voice. It was Lina’s voice, it was low. "I told you not to come here." Aria pressed herself against the wall. The door at the end of the corridor was slightly open. Through the crack, she saw Lina's back. Lina's hands moving as she spoke. Another voice answered. It was deep and unf

Chapter Thirteen: The Market

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE MARKET Marta's voice cut through the laundry room. "Leave those." Aria looked up. Her hands were still in the water. "Mira needs help at the market. Supplies for the celebration tonight. Go straight there and come back with the bundles." "The market?" "Outside the east gate. Mira will show you the way." The market was a strip of packed earth between the outer wall and the tree line. Smell of smoke from roasting meat. Voices layering over each other. A child darted between the stalls, laughing. Aria stopped at the gate. The noise hit her like a wave. She had not heard laughter in weeks. Mira tugged her sleeve. "Root vegetables and dried fish. Come on." They moved through the crowd. Mira bartered with a vendor over carrots. Aria stood beside her holding the basket. The sun was weak but present. The mountains didn't feel so close here. At a stall selling woven cloth, she stopped. A strip of pale blue fabric caught the light. It looks cheap and simple. The

CHAPTER thirteen: EXTRA

The market had been loud and full of life. As Aris remembered it. But her mind was not on the ceremony. It was on the children. She had seen them in the market—two pups chasing each other between the stalls. The boy fell and scraped his knee. Before he could cry, his mother scooped him up. She kissed his forehead. She whispered something that made him laugh through his tears. Aria had stopped in the middle of the crowd, watching, and felt something crack open inside her chest. She had never been that child. Never been scooped up. Never been kissed. Never been told that her tears mattered. She sat on the edge of her mattress and turned the stone over in her fingers. Her mind went back to seven years ago, when she sat beneath an old oak tree, hearing the truth about her birth for the first time. It was winter. The forest was silent, the trees bare and black against a white sky. Lina had found her hiding near the old oak—her usual spot when the taunts grew too loud. "You’

Chapter fourteen: The Ceremony

The great hall blazed with candlelight. The day of the ceremony is finally here. Crimson banners hung from every beam. White roses lined the walls. The pack stood in rows, shoulder to shoulder, warriors and elders and servants alike. The air was thick with incense and the low murmur of hundreds of wolves pressed together. Selene waited at the hall's entrance. Her gown was deep red and a gold clasp gleamed at her throat. Through the open doors, she could see Kael on the dais, tall and still as carved stone. She walked forward and the crowd parted. Every eye followed her. Kael watched her approach. His hands were clasped behind his back. His jaw was tight. She ascended the steps. Her scent reached him, roses and obvious ambition. She lifted her chin and met his eyes. Her smile was soft. Elder Aldric stepped forward. His voice carried across the hall. "Tonight, we come to celebrate the bond between our Alpha and selene of the silvermoon his mate. A pause. The space of a breath.

Chapter Fifteen: The Punishment

Aria came down at dawn. The kitchen was already hot. Steam curled from pots on the hearth. The cooks moved in their usual rhythm, chopping, stirring, calling out orders. Marta was waiting by the door. "You're serving in the great hall this morning. Two girls didn't show. Grab a tray and follow the others." Aria stopped. "I thought I wasn't allowed in the hall." You're a servant." Marta thrust a tray into her hands. "Keep your head down and don’t spill anything. The Luna is dining with the Alpha and some elders so be careful. The great hall was still strung with crimson banners. White roses drooped in their vases. Warriors stood beside the long tables on the, keeping watch. Aria followed two other servants through the side door. She kept her eyes on the floor. At the head table, Selene sat beside Kael. A silk scarf covered the mark on her neck. Her hand rested on his arm. She was laughing at something an elder had said. Aria's tray held a fresh pot of tea. Her cracked fingers a

Chapter Sixteen: Sick

The wounds on her back healed slowly. Lydia changed the bandages every morning. The salve was cold and thick and smelled of herbs Aria couldn't name. After three days, the bleeding stopped. After five days she could lie on her back without biting through her lip. After seven days Marta told her she was expected back at work. "You're not ready," Lydia said. "She doesn't have a choice," Marta replied. Aria swung her legs off the table. The room tilted. She gripped the edge until it steadied. "I'm fine," she said. Neither woman believed her. The cough started on the tenth day. Aria was scrubbing the kitchen floors when a dry, hacking sound that scraped her throat raw seized her . She pressed her sleeve to her mouth and waited for it to pass. It didn't. It crouched in her chest and waited for silence. Mira looked up from the potatoes she was peeling. "Are you sick?" "No." "You sound sick." "I said I'm fine." Mira returned to her potatoes. Her knife moved slower than before.

Chapter Seventeen: The Letter

A letter arrived at dawn. A young messenger from the outer gate brought it a boy no older than twelve, breathless from running. He didn't know who had left it. "Someone at the eastern post," he said, shrugging. "Said it was urgent. Said it was for the servant Lina." Marta took the letter, She turned it over in her rough hands. The seal was plain wax, there was no mark crest to determine which pack sent it. Immediately she touch the wax to tear it open, the boiling pot on fire caught her attention. she handed it to Mira. "Give this to Lina. Don't open or read it." She nodded, but you could still see the curiosity written over her face, before delivering it to the servants' quarters. Lina was alone when the Mira found her. She sat on the edge of her narrow bed, the parchment folded in her lap. Her name was written on the outside in handwriting she knew too well. The letters were sharp and it was slanted. She broke the seal and her eyes moved across the words. Her face lost what

Chapter Eighteen: The Hallow

The days bled together. Aria woke, she worked and went back to her room. The spaces between these things grew thin and meaningless. Food sat untouched on her windowsill. The silver stone went hard. The cheese from the day before grew mould. She didn’t notice any of it. She stopped speaking. Not because she had nothing to say, but because the effort of forming words felt like lifting stones. When Mira asked her a question, she nodded or shook her head. When Marta gave orders, she obeyed without a sound. The other servants stopped mocking her because it was no fun in it anymore. She had become something they didn't recognize. A a pale girl in a servant dress. And her cough had become way worse. It came in fits now, deep, and wrenching things that doubled her over and left her gasping. She tasted copper more often than not. She hid the blood, stained rags beneath her mattress. Marta had watched. She added dried fruit to the evening food bundle. A strip of salted fish, a small pot of

Chapter Nineteen: The Spark

Ethan went to the east wing at midnight. He had told himself it was a routine check. The guards had reported strange sounds to him and as a Beta, he was doing his duty. He almost believed it. Her door was unlocked. That was the first sign. He told her to always bolt her door and he’s sure she listened. He pushed it open. She was on the floor. Curled on her side with her knees drawn up and her face pressed against the cold stone. The hearth was dead and the room was freezing. There was a tray of untouched food on the side chair, some bread and an apple. He crossed the room to her side and knelt beside her. Her skin was hot, too hot. Her breathing was shallow and rough, each exhale catching on something deep in her chest. "Aria." There was no response, he said her name louder but still no response. He lifted her. She weighed less than a child. Her head fell against his shoulder. He carried her through the dark corridor. Past the servants' quarters and the hall he walked Into th

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