Cerita Pendek & Novel Luna Regret

"Hand over Valerie, or you can watch this little bastard melt in the silver poison." My husband, Alpha Gideon, locked our daughter in a deadly silver cage, his hands choking my neck as he viciously threatened me. All of this was for his lover, the Omega wolf, Valerie. No matter how I explained that I hadn't even touched Valerie, he wouldn't listen. I fell to my knees and begged him, but he still pressed the button to release the poison. Watching our daughter's little face turn purple, he said coldly, "Don't play me for a fool. I saw the DNA report. She's not my daughter. I don't care if she dies." By the time I finally rushed Mia to the hospital, it was too late. I wanted to leave with Mia's belongings, but Valerie threw them into the dumpster. She touched her pregnant belly and raised an eyebrow with a smirk: "Gideon said this house and this pack will belong to my pup. The things of that brat who should've died long ago naturally belong in the trash." At that moment, I finally made my decision. I called my real father, the Alpha King, and asked him to take me away. On the other end of the line, he made a solemn vow: "I will come for you in seven days." "When the time comes, I will make everyone who hurt my precious girl pay in blood."

When the Blackmoor Alpha heir returned to the capital territory, everyone said he was dying. They said he had caught a vile infection, his wolf was already failing, and he had less than half a month left. The mate had originally been mine. But when the Moon Registry chose my name, Sylvie cried for days until Father altered the record and gave the Blackmoor contract to her. Now that the Blackmoor Alpha heir was rumored to be dying, she cried again, threatened to kill herself again, and begged everyone to make me take back the match she had stolen. My father agreed. My fiancé, Cedric, held her in his arms and said coldly, “The ceremony hasn’t started. There’s no mark yet. It doesn’t count.” Then he looked at me. “You’re the elder sister. Taking her place is the least you can do.” They all thought they were sending me into a grave. So I smiled and picked up the Blackmoor contract. “Fine. Let it be exactly as you wish.” Only later would they learn one thing. The Alpha heir they feared was not the one dying. And the mate they threw away was the one Blackmoor had been waiting for.

It's the Werewolves' Hunting Festival today. It's been three months since I found my mate. During the festival, male werewolves will give the prey they've hunted to their mates. It's a way to show their strength and love for their mates. However, my mate, Chris Ashwood, tells me to give up on him and pick another mate, seeing as there are so many other outstanding Alphas around. I nod calmly and agree. In my past life, I disagreed and insisted on marrying him. However, he didn't mark me after we got married. In fact, he was stargazing in the desert with his true love when I was shot by a bounty hunter and gravely injured. Perhaps this is just a game of heart-hunting that should never have begun.

Five months pregnant, I watched my fated mate’s foster sister pour oil on our sacred threshold and strike the spark. I didn’t reach for the pack-link. Last life, I screamed through our bond. Cassian—my Alpha, the wolf I’d followed since I was six—came for me. Pulled me from the flames while his foster sister burned to charcoal behind us. He said nothing against me, even arranged the best care for my pregnancy. But on the fourth night after our daughter was born, he dragged us to the Blood Moon altar. He stood upon the High Rock, silver fur gleaming in the dark, and gave the order. His enforcers pinned me to the stone. He watched, silent and still, as they lit the pyre beneath our daughter’s body first—then mine. "You let Eira burn," he said, while the flames devoured us. "So you burn with what you loved." When I opened my eyes, I was back on the floor of our burning den.

I suffered miscarriage when I protected my mate Blake, Alpha of the Storm Pack, from the rogue wolf attack. But I accidentally overheard Blake speaking to our pack healer: "When you heal Luna, find an opportunity to remove her uterus. Make sure she can never get pregnant again." Then a she-wolf took a three-year-old boy into the room and Blake lifted the boy up with pride, instructing the healer: "Create the best training and nutrition plan for my son. I want him to be strong enough to become the heir to the Storm Pack." I recognized this woman. She was Chloe, an Omega who had joined our pack four years ago. And that child—with Blake's eyes and Chloe's smile—was unmistakably their son. I listened as Blake continued to firmly remind the healer: "Also, use the best healing herb——Moonbloom herb to treat Luna. Make sure Luna recovers properly. Don't worry about the treatment costs, I will pay for it personally." The healer looked at Blake in surprise. There is only one Moonbloom herb in the whole pack, and it will cost at least 10 million US dollars. My heart trembled. I never imagined the man who claimed to love me more than life itself would betray me like this. But when I severed our mate bond make way for their love story, the Alpha went crazy.

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!"

I was the greatest healer in the pack. There wasn't a single poisoning in the world I couldn't cure. My mate, Liam, was an Alpha suffering from wolfsbane poisoning, and his life hung by a thread. To rid himself of the toxin, he chose me as his mate. On the very night of our marking ceremony, the shewolf he truly loved, Camilla, who was also the witch who claimed her potions could save him, threw herself off a cliff. The moment I finished purging the toxin from his body, Liam turned around and plunged a dagger coated in wolfsbane straight through my heart. "You killed Camilla. You can be buried with her." His gaze was cold and devoid of even a trace of tenderness. The fur blanket we had lain on moments before became my shroud. After I died, my body was dumped in the wasteland and left for vultures to devour completely. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day the old Alpha of Silver Moon Pack personally came to my cabin to ask for my hand on Liam's behalf. Looking at Liam, who sat rigidly with clear reluctance on his face, I smiled. "I may not be able to purge the toxin in Liam's body, and I have no desire to become his mate." The moment I said that, the eyes of a concerned-looking shewolf nearby lit up. "Evelyn, if you don't wish to become Liam's mate, will you consider my son instead?"

The Moon Goddess Festival had turned the area around Holy Spring into a sea of celebration. A moonstone blessed by the Moon Goddess rolled through the gathered werewolves. One werewolf after another lunged for it and missed. Finally, it came to a stop at my feet. For a brief moment, the entire place fell silent. I bent down and picked it up. Soon, laughter and cheers erupted all at once. "Give it to Adrian and have him make it into your ring." "It's been five years. This is the Moon Goddess' will." "Hurry and hold your marking ceremony before the blessing fades! You'll be blessed by the Moon Goddess for life." Everyone exchanged knowing looks before turning to Adrian. I lowered my gaze to the moonstone glowing with a soft silver light. I could still feel its lingering warmth against my fingertips as I quietly waited for him to say something. As long as he said 'give it to me,' I would place it in his hand. Instead, Adrian simply took the moonstone from my palm. I felt relieved. The next second, he turned around and handed it to his assistant, Emily. "She saw it first." He ruffled my hair. His voice was as gentle as ever. "She's in poor health. She needs the moonstone more than you do. "We'll wait for the next one." The werewolves' attention shifted away with the moonstone. Watching the surprise and nervous excitement on Emily's face as she cradled it in her hands, I chuckled. What Adrian didn't know was that I couldn't wait for another chance. My marking ceremony was next week.

After my pack fell, my father and I joined the Black Moon Pack. Alpha Victor admired my gift for runes and promised to make me his Luna. I was so full of hope, I didn’t even mind that he was using my gift to shield his entire pack. But he kept delaying our marking ceremony, leaving me to endure the pack’s scorn for my fallen bloodline. On the eve of my father’s death, he even temporarily marked Seraphina, the daughter of another Alpha. He claimed it was to secure an alliance. I cried myself dry in the endless wait, only to hold my father as he died in my arms. Victor, however, continued to use my gift, commissioning runes from me only to give them to Seraphina. The final straw was when Seraphina destroyed my rune sanctum and flaunted the very pendant I’d crafted for my own bonding ceremony. That’s when my heart finally shattered. I no longer cared about being his Luna. I simply walked away. But after I left, Victor’s desperate plea echoed from the Moon Goddess altar. “Come back and be my Luna. Please.”

After forgiving Lucas for the tenth time, I stopped paying attention to his smell and whereabouts every day. The Pack Council had unanimously voted for me as the Chief Healer. However, Lucas used his Alpha authority to secretly give the position to his first love Sarah, a rogue wolf who had just returned to the pack. He noticed my silence but felt no guilt. Before leaving to answer Sarah’s mind link plea again, he held me. "Elena, this job is Sarah's only lifeline to stay in the pack. She’s been a rogue for too long. She needs an official rank for protection." "You’re different. Your healing gift is a blessing from the Moon Goddess. You shine anywhere." "She only gets a title. You have my complete love. Isn’t that enough? Don't be mad." My wolf, usually scratching to get out due to his neglect, was unusually quiet. "Okay." I didn't plan on keeping him or the job anyway.

I gave him three years of my life, only to be treated as nothing more than a substitute—worse than a dog. When his so-called white moonlight returned, he kicked me aside without hesitation. Fine. I agreed to the family alliance and married the most powerful Alpha of the North. Now he regrets it, begging me to return? Too late. They plotted against me with wolfsbane, wanting me to die in a filthy wine cellar. But my Mate—the true King of the North—tore the entire estate apart just to save me. They tried to steal my Alpha bloodline with dark sorcery. I made them taste exile, cast out as Rogues, despised by all. And him? He knelt before me, begging for forgiveness. I leaned safely in my Mate’s arms and watched him be banished forever. “Ansel,” I told him coldly, “open your eyes. I am the one and only Luna of the North.”

The Beta’s widow, Monica, called for the ninth time, asking if she could “borrow” my husband, Alpha Edward, for a day. Her son had a family interview coming up, and she didn’t want him to be mocked by the other children for not having a father. Edward glanced at me once before grabbing his coat and hurrying out. As usual, he left me with the same remark. “She’s raising a child on her own. It’s not easy. Don’t be so petty.” But that day was also our daughter’s Family Day, an event she had been looking forward to for three whole months. She waited alone all day, but her father never showed up. When we got home, though, we saw Edward on TV. He was wearing matching light blue outfits with Monica and her son, letting her cling affectionately to his arm. When the host asked how long they’d been together, Edward didn’t bother to explain. He simply reached out and affectionately ruffled Monica’s son’s hair, his eyes filled with tenderness. Monica’s son wrapped his arms around Edward’s waist and loudly called him Dad. The camera swept across the audience, where applause and excited cheers erupted one after another. Our daughter watched in silence for a long time. Then, without warning, she tore the picture of our family of three in her arms in half. “Mommy, Daddy is always being borrowed by other people.” “Can we stop waiting for him from now on?” I looked into her reddened eyes, and the last flicker of hope in my heart finally went out. I took out my phone and messaged my father. “I’ve made up my mind to return to the Radiant Pack with Angela. Please prepare the paperwork to dissolve my mate bond.”

It's my seventh year of secretly dating Liam Ferguson, my brother's friend. We're about to have our marking ceremony soon. I happily prepare for it, wanting to surprise him. However, during a gathering with friends, I accidentally overhear something. "If you ask me, there's no denying Alpha Liam's good looks and charm. To think he managed to make the Silver Snow pack's Alpha's sister his stand-in lover and bed partner!" "What are you going to do with Maya now that Nina's back, Liam? Andrew won't let you off the hook if he finds out you've been fooling around with his sister…" The following day, Liam takes me to Nina White's welcome-back party. He's gentle, considerate, and affectionate with me. His love for me seems so deep that I wonder whether I'm imagining things. Then, Nina "accidentally" spills scalding soup on my arm and runs out in tears. I'm the injured one, but she feels wronged. However, Liam shoves me aside and runs after her in a panic. I return home with a burned arm and open the door to the basement—Liam has never allowed me in there. I see Nina's photos plastered on the walls. There are even photos of them doing the deed in various positions. He looks so wild. I call Andrew with a heart full of despair. "I've made up my mind about the marriage with the Alpha heir of the Storm Tribe. I'll do it!"

I did three things when I had made a decision to leave Alpha James. The first thing I did was throw all the precious gifts he had given to me. The second thing I did was secretly donate the wooden house he had built for our future and tear up the ceremonial dress that was custom-made for me on our marking day. The third thing I did was go to the Northern Territory to guard our pack, so I cast all ties with the entire pack and disappeared into the tribe. What he didn’t know was that I had quietly planned my departure while he was out hunting and spending countless nights at the Moon River with Doris, his childhood sweetheart. I became the ideal Luna he was hoping for, considerate and tolerant. Later, he lost control and asked me: “Why aren’t you angry? Don’t you love me anymore?” I lowered my head in silence and announced my decision to leave after seeing the ambiguous messages Doris, James's sweetheart, had sent to me.

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 night before the marking ceremony, Joanna Grant kills my father by running him down with her car. At the same time, my fiance, Samuel West, breaks the pack's betrothal agreement and asks to end our engagement. The next day, Samuel and Joanna show up at the marking ceremony that was meant for me. With the entire pack as their witnesses, they pray to the Moon Goddess for her blessing. Just then, I arrive at the ceremony with the surveillance footage from the crash, demanding that Joanna pay with her life for what she's done to my father. Joanna is arrested by the Alliance guards, yet I am exiled from the pack and cast out as a Rogue. Out on my own, hunted and mauled by wild beasts, I am rescued by the Alpha of the Redmoon pack, Alexander Rowe. He saves me when I'm on the brink of death and then proposes to me, pulling me out of hell itself. But after two years of marriage, I overhear a conversation between Alexander and his Beta, Marcus Hale. "Alpha, you forgave Joanna in the Luna's family's name and helped secure her release. If this ever comes to light, the Alliance will arrest you, too." "She'll never know," Alexander says. "Joanna has served a year in prison. That's enough. She deserves the chance to move on and find happiness." So, the marriage I think saves me turns out to be Alexander's carefully planned trap all along. I decide it's time for them to pay the price.

My mate, Charles, commander of the fire brigade, left me alone in the den with our unborn pup after I refused his request to bring his first love, Lisa, and her pup into our home so he could take care of them. Five days later, Charles reached out—claiming he wanted to ease the tension between us. He asked me to deliver the herbs that help with his insomnia to the fire brigade. On the way there, I was in an accident. I mind-linked him, begging for help, but to my shock, he refused. I believed he was training the new werewolf firemen—but the truth? He was in the infirmary, not for duty, but with Lisa and her pup. After losing my pup, I walked away—shattered, betrayed, and done.

I am the only sister of the Alpha of the White River Pack. For as long as I can remember, Dorian Blackwood, Kieran Holloway, and Ronan Sinclair have always been by my side. Their names serve as my protective charms. When I tell them I crave the sour berries from the southern forest, a plate of fresh, dew-kissed berries will show up on my windowsill the next day. When I'm 16, I accidentally fall off a cliff because I'm too busy having fun to watch where I'm going. Kieran's the one who jumps down and breaks my fall with his body. He ends up with four broken ribs, yet the first thing he does when he comes to is ask if I'm hurt. For 18 years, they protect me and spoil me like a princess. I view each and every one of them as my personal possession. I assume that when it comes time for me to get married, I won't even have to choose. Whichever one of them I end up with, I feel completely confident I'll live a good life. It all changes when Maeve Greystone joins the pack with her pup. She rarely smiles and tends to keep to herself. She's half a head taller than me and an excellent hunter. On her second day in the pack, everyone goes out hunting together, and she practically outshines all the pack's warriors. Dorian's the first one who changes. He calls me useless because I can't even aim my gun properly when we hunt, and he thinks that I'm too spoiled. That night, I sprain my ankle while I'm alone at the hunting grounds. I call Dorian and ask him to come get me. He answers the phone, but he tells me he's too busy. In the end, Kieran and Ronan come to take me home. They also berate Dorian on my behalf. Yet, it isn't long before Kieran has a change of heart too. He gives Maeve the horse he promised to give me. Then, he tells me, "She goes hunting in the forest a lot these days. She needs it more than you do." … At the graduation party, the whole pack gathers around the bonfire and dances. I look at Ronan, the only one who is still by my side, and ask him, "Do they all think I'm the problem?" He pats me on the head and smiles. "You've done nothing wrong. The problem lies entirely with them." That night, Ronan personally fastens the moonstone necklace he promised to give me as my graduation gift around Maeve's neck. He even tells her that it looks better on her than it does on me. I mull it over for a long time before knocking on my older brother Sten White's door. "I'll go to the Moon Guard Pack to fulfill the marriage alliance."

This year marked the sixth Unclaimed Moon Damian and I had shared together. As the future Alpha of Moonridge Pack, Damian always believed this tradition would make our bond stronger. Every year, for one month after our anniversary, we suppressed our mate bond through an old pack ritual, stayed out of each other's lives, and gave each other complete freedom. If either of us found someone better, we were supposed to wish them happiness. If not, he would reclaim me when the month ended. Champagne sprayed through the hall as wolves laughed and cheered around the betting table. "Here's to our Alpha being unclaimed again. Another year of freedom." "The betting is open. Put your chips on the left if you think he'll reclaim her. Put them on the right if you think this is finally over." Through the haze of cigar smoke, I sat alone on a leather sofa, watching everything unfold as if none of it had anything to do with me. Damian slipped an arm around Vivian's waist. As he passed me, he lowered his voice and said, "Don't overthink it. You'll always be my only Luna." "When Unclaimed Moon ends, I'll come back to you." I rested a cold hand against the slight curve of my stomach, my expression unchanged. Damian, this year, I placed my bet on the end. I would disappear from your world completely. The claim you were always so sure I would never reject would be the one thing I walked away from tonight.

Lawson and I had arranged to take photos for our upcoming marking ceremony. Dressed in my ceremonial gown, I waited for him in the forest all afternoon until my legs went numb and exhaustion seeped into every part of me. The werewolves accompanying me asked whether we should reschedule. I forced a smile and made an excuse for Lawson. "He's on his way. He'll be here soon." I had no idea where he was. I kept calling him over and over until my phone nearly ran out of battery. Only then did he finally arrive, but he wasn't alone. A shewolf followed behind him. She was draped in Lawson's suit jacket. When they descended the steps, Lawson turned back and offered her his hand. I recognized her immediately. It was Judy, Lawson's childhood friend. The moment she saw me, she looked startled and held onto Lawson's arm. "I'm so sorry. Lawson went to pick me up, so we ended up delaying your photo shoot." Lawson fastened his suit jacket around her shoulders before turning to me. "Let's get this over with. There are still matters in the pack that need my attention." Without a word, I walked toward the shooting location. Then Lawson frowned. "Your makeup's smudged. Let Judy test the moonlight first." Judy walked past me and stood beneath the ancient tree where Lawson and I had first met. I remained silent. Then I overheard two nearby werewolves whisper. "Honestly, Judy looks like a much better match for Alpha Lawson." Lawson didn't deny it. Instead, he glanced at me and reached over to smooth my hair. "If you keep making that face, you'll ruin everyone's mood. We're all exhausted today." I bit my lip as a lump formed in my throat. I couldn't help recalling the day we'd met beneath that tree. He had promised to take me around the world back then. Only seven years had passed, but those promises had already been long forgotten. Suddenly, I realized the person he wanted to make those promises to had never been me.