Luna Karma 단편 소설 & 소설

Derrick Caldwell once promised me that on the night of our pack's founding feast, he would announce that we'd been married for eight years. However, on the big day, his childhood friend, Lilith Sterling, takes my place. She sits beside him—the spot reserved for his Luna. The warriors say, "We heard you have a mate with whom you've been married for eight years, Alpha. Is this her?" Derrick smiles without denying it. He silently allows their assumption to stand. I want him to explain this to me, but he merely says, "You may have helped me become the Alpha, but your lowly birth is nothing compared to Lilith's noble status. As my mate, you need to be more tolerant." I don't argue with him. Instead, I turn and leave the pack he and I built together. Later, I start my own pack and turn it into the largest one in the federation. Derrick stands among the crowd during a ceremony where the Alpha King confers a medal of honor to me. He proudly tells anyone who will listen that I'm his wife. I act like I don't see him, and his eyes turn red with desperation.

Because my jealousy endangered his childhood sweetheart, my Alpha mate, Victor, took our son's advice. He sent me to the pack witch to have my memories erased.​ A long winter later, he woke me with the antidote.​ In the eyes of the pack, I became the perfect Luna.​ I organized the pack's winter stores flawlessly. I cataloged every last berry and pound of meat without breaking a sweat. I could even smile while delivering a blanket to Clara, Victor's precious sweetheart.​ But my Alpha and my pup, Rio, knew. I had changed.​ I no longer remembered how to soothe him on full moon nights, combing through his fur as he writhed in pain.​ When Rio fell in the snow and wailed, I calmly called for his nanny.​ Even when Victor returned late from a hunt, I offered only a cool nod. I never once reached for him through our mind-link.​ At first, he thought it was revenge. He didn't care.​ Until the night of the blizzard, when he and Rio followed me to the abandoned church. Through the thin wood of the confessional, they heard my whisper.​ "Moon Goddess, what do I do when the memories are back but the love isn't?"​ "The witch gave me back what happened, but when I look at my Alpha and my pup... they're strangers to me."​ "I feel so tense and awkward just being in the same room. What am I supposed to do?" Outside, the man and the boy just froze. They finally understood. Some things, once broken, can never be fixed.​

When my adopted sister, Alayna Ewing, hears that I'm with pup, she specifically gives me the body oil she's made. I accept it with a smile on my face. But later on, I smear the oil all over the belly of the old lady next door, who's diagnosed with a uterine tumor. After all, I have gotten reborn on this very day. In my past life, Alayna had formed a mate bond with Misael Finch, the Alpha of the Darkspire pack. She desperately needed to bear an heir for Alpha Misael in order to strengthen her position as the Luna. Unfortunately, her being an Omega meant that it'd be very difficult for her to conceive. So, she hatched a scheme against me, a newly pregnant she-wolf. Alayna bribed a dark sorcerer to cast a surrogate pregnancy curse on me. As long as I smelled something that she made, the pup in my womb would be transferred into her womb instantly. I spent entire pregnancies caring for my pup meticulously. I even endured the pain of countless shots in order to keep my pup safe. But whenever I was about to give birth, my pup would still end up disappearing. Alayna, on the other hand, gave birth to three heirs who inherited powerful bloodlines from their father. Thanks to that, her position as the Luna was greatly strengthened, and she got to live a lavish and comfortable life. In the end, Alayna had slandered me by claiming that I was overcome by lust during my pregnancy, so I ended up having passionate moments with Rogues. That was how I lost my pup every single time. With my reputation in tatters, I was exiled from the pack and forced to live the remainder of my days as a Rogue. In the end, I froze to death in winter. Now that I'm reborn, I shall grant Alayna her wish, seeing as she really wants an heir of her own. The healers have mentioned that it's their first time seeing such a huge uterine tumor, after all. Oh, I can't imagine what sort of expression Alayna will wear when she finds out that she's given birth to such a big tumor!

Attending a high school reunion, I rode my motorcycle to the venue. By the time I arrived at the Moon Valley Hotel, most of my former classmates were already there. Everyone seemed to be doing well for themselves. The parking lot was filled with luxury cars belonging to high-ranking pack members. There was even a Rolls Royce that belonged to the son of an Alpha. As I dismounted from my motorcycle, a former male classmate I barely remembered looked at me with disdain. "Well, well, if it isn't our former class president. Still riding a basic bike like an omega, I see." During dinner, everyone was fawning over the Alpha's son while completely ignoring me in the corner. Only Derek, our former class monitor and now a beta, sat beside me with a sympathetic look. "Don't worry about it. Even though you're still just an omega like your parents, I'm sure one day you'll rise up in the pack rankings." I couldn't help but smirk, whispering under my breath: "This isn't just any motorcycle. It's the Royal Guard's official vehicle."

The annual ranking of the most popular Werewolf Academy professors had just been released and, once again, my Alpha mate, Trevor, took the number one spot. In an interview with The Wolf Tribune, he touched the bond ring on his hand and gave a helpless smile. “If my Luna sees this, she’s probably going to get jealous again tonight.” Everyone said that he was hopelessly in love with me. However, in the blink of an eye, rumors about him and one of his students, Rin, were spreading through the entire pack like wildfire. Trevor kissed me, coaxed me in bed, swore that he only admired Rin’s talent and promised to let me decide her fate. Hence, I arranged for Rin to study abroad in a neutral territory. Who would have thought that she would be ambushed at the border by rogue wolves on her second day away from the pack. Her wolf spirit was shattered and she was left a broken shell of herself. The whole pack was rife with rumors that I had set a trap out of jealousy, trying to destroy her because she was close to my Alpha. Even Trevor did not trust me. He rushed off to be by Rin’s side that very night. When he came back, he had already removed his name from our mate registry and instead registered himself with Rin. I uttered the words, one by one, “Trevor, let’s end our bond.”

After taking a poisoned drink at a party for my Alpha mate, Magnus Ironwood, I am poisoned with a rare wolfsbane. Since then, my wolf has grown so weak that I can barely maintain a mind-link with the rest of the pack. Magnus travels from pack to pack and to healing centers, searching for healers and praying they can create an antidote for me. On the eve of Spring Hunt Caravan, I force myself out of bed to simmer a pot of meat stew for Magnus and our pup, Ronan Ironwood, only to collapse onto the couch and never wake up again. Moments later, Magnus walks through the door, followed by his assistant, Tala Brightfield, with Ronan in her arms. When he sees me lying on the couch, he sets down the moonstone necklace he buys for me and sighs helplessly. "Don't stay up waiting for us if you're not feeling well, and don't push yourself to make meat stew either." But Tala bursts into tears, "Your Luna doesn't like me, Alpha Magnus! Just half an hour ago, she texted me and told me to stay away from you. I think it's best if I leave." Magnus calls my name. When I don't respond, his expression turns cold, and the tenderness in his eyes is replaced by anger. "Maeve Nightshade! When will you learn the grace of a Luna? Tala has helped me rule this pack, so could you stop throwing these pointless tantrums? "Your antidote is nearly ready. Stop using your poisoning as an excuse to play the victim!" He stands there criticizing my body in front of Ronan, all for another she-wolf. It isn't until he sees my rotting body that he finally loses his mind.

I died on the day I was supposed to form a mate bond with Alpha Ragnar. Since I did not show up, he went ahead and performed the ceremony with his childhood sweetheart, Nina. “Selena has already been marked by me, yet she still threw caution to the wind and cheated with a rogue. Her betrayal has brought shame upon us. She’s not worthy of being the pack’s Luna!” With just one careless sentence, Ragnar made my family a disgrace of the pack. My father was once a great warrior of the pack. He lost his wolf saving Ragnar, only to be drowned in a river as punishment for supposedly failing to discipline his own daughter. Our blood bond allowed me to feel his pain. However, I had been locked in a sealed, abandoned interrogation room—a silver cage. The mechanism inside was accidentally triggered, and thick poisonous gas filled the space. It killed me slowly and painfully. After my soul left my body, I appeared beside Ragnar and heard him say to Nina, “Thanks for your help today. If Selena hadn’t acted so foolishly, you wouldn’t have had to take her place in the ceremony. Ever since I marked her, she’s been getting bolder, thinking my affection gives her a free pass. How dare she skip such an important ceremony?!” However, the noble Alpha Ragnar seemed to have forgotten something. Just seven days ago, he threw me into a silver cage meant only for the most dangerous criminals to appease Nina. “You hurt Nina, so you must face the consequences. Take these three days to reflect. If you still won't admit your mistake, then don’t even think about ever leaving this place for the rest of your life.” I waited three days and then three more. The poisonous gas and silver ate away at my body, corroding me from the outside in. I endured seven days of unbearable pain before I finally died. When my body was found, it had been so ravaged by the poison that I was unrecognizable. As for the arrogant Alpha? He had completely lost his mind.

My Alpha mate thought I didn't know he had two half-breed Omega pups with his Omega mistress, but I had discovered his secret long ago. I threatened him to break up with his mistress, otherwise I would hide their child and make him regret it forever. But I had done absolutely nothing, their pups disappeared. He locked me in a silver cage and even made me watch my son being abused to interrogate me about the whereabouts of their pups. But when my son really died, I completely gave up and left. The powerful Alpha collapsed.

The scent of pine and damp earth clung to the air as the full moon created long shadows across the Ancient Clearing. Tonight, was supposed to be our marking ceremony, a sacred ritual binding Alpha Anderson and his chosen Luna before the eyes of the Frostmoon Pack. “My heart,” his gaze locked on Leah, who stood under the moonlight “has always belonged to another. My first love, the one whose spirit has been weakened by the venom of wolfsbane, is my Luna.” He drew Leah closer, his hand possessively circling her waist. Under the watchful gaze of the moon, he smiled. “Our traditions are clear,” he continued, “Only the woman who stands with me at this altar, witnessed by all, shall be my Luna. Though I had always thought that Irene was my mate which I mistakenly marked a time ago. But thanks to the goddess for making me see clearly before it was too late.” They exchanged vows beneath the trees, witnessed by the werewolves and the Moon Goddess. The silver crowns were placed, the ceremonial kiss sealed their bond. I stood hidden in the shadows of the surrounding forest. For twelve years, from the moment my wolf recognized his at eighteen until my thirtieth moon cycle, my love for Anderson had never changed. But his heart, it was clear, belonged to Leah. If that was the truth, then I would release him. He had never truly seen me, never truly cared. Yet, the act of my departure seemed to unravel him in ways I couldn’t understand.

Ten years ago, my pup was tortured to death by a mutant wolfsbane strain. Right in the pack hospital's ER. I held her small, rapidly stiffening body. A dead, desperate cold seeped into my very marrow. Her high-and-mighty Alpha father did it. He personally ordered the pack’s only vial of pure antidote away. Just to save his childhood sweetheart's daughter. And that precious little girl? She just brushed against some silverweed in the garden. A mild allergic reaction. That was it. That day, I took a silver dagger. I carved the unforgettable mate mark right out of the flesh on my nape. Then,I plunged into the hellish world of lethal toxicology. Ten years later, I am the top toxicologist in the Northern Territories. The only one who can crack mutant wolfsbane. Today, the High Lycan Council handed me an emergency commission. A royal mandate. They promised me the Council’s highest honor and a massive twenty-million-dollar bounty. But when I skimmed the name on the commission, I gripped my vial hard. That name. That face. A top-tier Alpha in the Council's inner circle, radiating pure, feral dominance. I could never forget him. It was carved into my bones. I ripped off my lab coat. I slammed the file against my partner Marcus’s chest. "I'm not taking this job."

After giving birth to Alpha Wesley Silvermoon's pup, I fell into severe postpartum depression. Whenever the scent he left on me began to fade, I couldn't help but have the urge to hurt myself. It was Wesley who held me tight in his arms, kissing my forehead repeatedly, saying, "Don't be afraid, Maggie. The pup and I will stay with you, always." Every morning, he took me to see a therapist. In the afternoon, he handled the pack's affairs. At night, he fed Brett the pup himself. The dark circles beneath his eyes grew heavier by the day, yet he never once complained. Until one day. Brett was crying for his mother, while I hid in the bathroom, hurting myself. When Wesley saw what happened, he completely lost it. He grabbed me by the throat viciously. "If you don't want a pup, you shouldn't have had one! You gave birth to it, but you can't even take care of it! You don't deserve to be a mother!" He bellowed, "How much longer are you going to torment this family? You want to die so badly? Fine! I'll help you!" The moment he said that, he instantly came back to his senses. He broke his wrist and apologized to me. I didn't say anything, merely staring blankly at the phone that had fallen to the floor. The screen was still lit. 37 missed calls. All from the same name. Rowena Sawthorne. She was someone who had recently returned to the pack. Wesley's first love from his youth. She was healthy, beautiful, confident. She and Wesley were once the celebrity couple that everyone admired. Even Brett, whom I had nearly died giving birth to, would smile when she held him in her arms. Perhaps only she was worthy of being his mate, worthy of being Brett's mother. Maybe, this was for the best. At last, I could die without any worry.

On the night of our engagement party, my fiancé, Alpha Caleb, and my own brother, Finn, gave me a gift. A rare blood monarch chrysalis. They said it was a sacred artifact. That it would nourish the Luna’s inner wolf. But I had it sealed away immediately. Because I’ve been reborn. In my last life, they told me the butterfly would nourish my wolf. So I kept it in my room. I guarded it with the purest moonlight. I even built it a miniature garden, caring for it until it hatched. Its tendrils pierced my skin. Deep. I endured the pain. I naively thought it was just bonding with my inner wolf. But after it hatched, it just grew. Bigger and bigger. It wouldn’t eat anything. It only wanted to drain me. At first, it was a faint sting in my fingertips. Then, deep marks on my wrist, my collarbone, my neck. Every night, I’d wake up with new wounds. My wolf grew weaker. And with every drop of my blood it drank, the patterns on its wings grew more beautiful. I couldn’t take the torture anymore. I tried to throw the greedy thing out of our territory. But Caleb used his Alpha Command. He forced me to my knees. “It’s a gift from me and Finn. It will make you a stronger Luna, Cora. Can't you handle a little pain?” It drained my blood dry. It shattered my inner wolf. I died three months after our engagement. My soul lingered after death. I watched it rise from my cold corpse. A naked woman landed on the carpet. She fell right into my fiancé’s arms. And my dear brother, Finn, hugged her with joy. “Lilith, you're finally back! You are the one true Luna of our Pack!” Seeing that familiar face, I finally understood. The butterfly wasn't a sacred artifact. It was a parasite. It was my sister. My older sister, Lilith, who supposedly died. The hypocritical sister Finn had always favored.

Every bonding ceremony with Alpha Alexander turned into a nightmare. The first time, my ceremonial wine was laced with wolfsbane. I convulsed and coughed up blood in front of the entire Crescent pack. I became a complete laughingstock. The second time, a hidden silver blade pierced right through my stomach. I collapsed on the altar and stayed in a coma for three weeks. The third time, someone pushed me off the top of the tower. After the fall, my inner wolf never woke up again. All these accidents were the doing of Alexander's adopted sister, Ruby. Her mind was supposed to be completely broken. Every time I confronted him in tears, he would pull me into his arms and wipe my tears. "Evie, my sweet girl," he would whisper softly, "Ruby lost her mind to a rare poison when she saved my life. She has the mind of a pup now. Please, do it for me. Just treat her like a child and let it go." This time, at our fourth ceremony, Ruby lured a rogue into our territory. The entire hall was engulfed in flames from the blast. I tackled Alexander to the ground and shielded him from the silver laced flames. My whole body was burned and mangled. While I lay unconscious in the hospital bed, Alexander stayed by my side day and night, begging the Moon Goddess to wake me up. But when I woke up, I overheard him giving orders to the pack healer outside my door. "Increase the dose of the suppressants. Use the cheapest herbs. Do not let her wounds heal too fast." The healer froze for a moment. "But she was severely injured saving you, Alpha." Alexander's tone was incredibly cold and unfamiliar. "Her pain is not even a fraction of what Ruby went through." "I taught Ruby all these tricks. The explosion was no exception. She learns fast." I gripped the bedsheets tightly. My fingertips turned entirely cold. It turned out all the pain I suffered over the years was orchestrated by the Alpha I loved the most. I swore to the Moon Goddess that I would never let him see my face again.

On the day of the Hunt Festival, I have the healer remove my corneas. In my past life, my fiance's adopted sister, Mandy Wells, steals my Crescent Moon Bow and sneaks three Omega wolves into the royal hunting grounds. Mandy spends the day showing off, right up until one of her arrows pierces the chest of the pregnant Luna. The Luna dies on the spot, along with the heir in her womb. Afterward, the three Omegas claim in unison that I was the one holding the bow. When the enforcers show up at my door with the Crescent Arrow, I desperately try to explain that Mandy fired the shot. Mandy cowers in Connor Parker's arms while weeping like a victim. "Aliya, it's fine if you hate me, but you can't frame me for murder." Connor pulls out a memory crystal right then and there. The person drawing the Crescent Bow in the image has my face. "The evidence is right here! How dare you try to frame someone else?" The enraged pack drags me onto the execution stand. They gouge out my eyes, snap my legs, and burn me alive in the sacred fire. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day before the Hunt Festival.

Five years after my death, my ex-husband, Adrian Shaw, came home with his childhood sweetheart, Hannah Reed, on his arm. They were preparing for a new mating ceremony. His only wish before the ceremony was to find me and make me pay for severing our mate bond and betraying him all those years ago. To force me to show myself, he destroyed my family's company, drove my father out of his mind, and burned down the home we had once shared. What he did not know was that I was already dead. Five years earlier, desperate to pay for the treatment he needed after a car accident badly injured his inner wolf, I signed up as a test subject at an underground clinic. It was an illegal clinic that used live subjects to test experimental silver-derived compounds and wolfsbane antidotes. I died in its basement. Later, my grandmother, who had dementia, ran into Adrian in the neighborhood. My grandmother's face lit up with joy. "Adrian, you're back? Grace has missed you so much. Come with me. I'll take you to see Grace."

After being forced to donate the blood from my heart to my Alpha's beloved witch, I die in the cottage that he'd built for me. Before my death, my five-year-old daughter runs to the castle in the forest to beg him thrice. The first time, she runs into the study and tells him I'm coughing up blood. My mate, Alpha Alaric sneers. "Is this one of Clara's new tricks? I can't believe she taught a child to lie!" He orders his attendant to take our daughter away. The second time, she knocks on the door cautiously and tells him I'm trembling all over. Alaric snorts contemptuously. "What's with the act? All I did was take some of her blood, not gouge her heart out. She'll heal on her own soon enough!" Once again, his attendant chases our daughter out. The third time, she kneels by the study door and weeps, saying that I'm already unconscious. She begs Alaric to save me. This time, he gets mad. He grabs her by the arm and throws her out of the castle. "I told you your mother won't die! Lie to me again, and I'll kick her out of the Wolffang Pack. She can die at the hands of those Rogues!" He breaks her arm in the process, and she clutches it. She has no choice but to pass the family heirloom—a ring—that represents her identity as the Wolffang Pack's heiress to a passing merchant. "I can give you everything valuable I have, Mr. Merchant! I don't want to be an heiress—I just want my mother to stay alive!" The merchant accepts the ring and soon brings a herbalist. However, Alaric's beloved witch, Elena has him taken away. "Sorry, but your father is worried that I'll be upset because my darling black cat is sick. He's ordered all of the herbalists in the pack to focus on treating my cat first." She snorts. "Your mother can wait."

When the news of my death on the battlefield, pinned to the pack's watchtower by silver arrows, reached my pack, my Alpha mate, Killian, simply laughed. He thought I was just jealous he was going to claim the Rogue, that I was faking my own death just to get his attention. "I was just trying to bring Valerie into the pack, and this is how she threatens me? With her own death?" "I left her with my most elite warriors. How could she possibly be dead!" "Tell her to get back here. I will claim Valerie, but after that, the title of Luna is still hers." Seven days later, he appeared before my family's home, carrying the ceremonial Luna circlet. He saw me in my white ceremonial dress, resting quietly beneath the white birch tree in the garden, and he breathed a sigh of relief. "I knew it. You were just giving me the silent treatment again." But in the next second, a pack elder's voice thundered: "Prepare the funeral pyre. Let us pay our final respects to our fallen warrior, Sloane!"

Through the bond that tied my wolf to his, I sent ninety-nine screams for help. The hundredth time, he answered—distant, distracted. "Seraphine, I'm occupied. Stop whining like a needy pup." I lay in an ice crevice, our pup suffocating in my womb, while he hunted beneath the full moon with another. Five days later, I woke in a healing den. Through the wall, I heard my mate—my Alpha—speaking of me like livestock. "Keep her under until Lysandra whelps," Leon growled to the shaman. "If she learns I drained our pup for that she-wolf's marrow, I'll have your tongue. And if you fail me—I'll burn your den to ash." I touched the mating mark burning on my throat and reached for the crystal. My voice didn't tremble. "Harris. Prepare the severance scroll. I want his signature before the moon wanes." The she-wolf who loved her Alpha died in that ravine. The one who clawed out will make him howl.

Someone tags me in the werewolf community group chat. She writes, "Why does your daughter need such a huge playground all to herself? Starting tomorrow, open it up for everyone to use! My son is the future heir of the Darkshadow pack. Your daughter should consider it an honor to play with him." I stare at the message, finding the whole thing utterly ridiculous. I am Selena Waldorf, the Luna Queen to Kaiser Sterling, the Alpha King. I only bring my daughter, Mia Sterling, to this community so she can rest and recover because she suffers from asthma. I have three elders carefully select the location for this playground before having it built. It is also the only place where Mia can run freely and practice her hunting skills. Who is this she-wolf to think that she can take Mia's playground away from her? I frown and immediately fire back, "Don't even think about it." To my surprise, two security guards knock on my door the next day. They tell me that someone has reported me for occupying community property and that, for the sake of harmony within the community, I need to hand over the keys to the playground. Someone even looks at me with pity and says, "Grace Redwood's mate has already joined the Werewolf Council. Now that she's offended Grace, she'll probably be kicked out of the community soon." But my mate is the head of the Werewolf Council. Since they want to use their power to bully others, I'll show them what real power looks like.

My Alpha and fated mate Dion took his first love to the Moonlight Forest to enjoy the moonlight and obtain the Moon Goddess's blessing on the day of the Moonlight Festival, a day that he could only spend with his mate. I didn't stop him, and instead prepared his luggage for him. Dion was very satisfied with my performance. "With a pup in your womb, you finally learned to behave. You finally look like a Luna." After they left, I immediately had an abortion. In my last life, I had put a silver knife on my belly to stop him from going on a date with his first love. He was forced to stay for his pup. However, his first love was ravaged before getting killed by other werewolves while on her way to the Moonlight Forest alone. Dion didn't pin the blame on me, as if nothing of the sort had happened. However, the moment I had my pup, he then skinned my pup in front of me. Only then did I understand how much hate he had inside of him. He tortured me, and I died in a horrific manner. When I opened my eyes once more, I had been reborn on the day he and his first love was supposed to go to the Moonlight Forest. I had another chance in life, and I secretly started to plot my revenge. He would pay for everything.