Cerita Pendek Independence Werewolf & Novel Awakening

In the Moonstone Pack, every daughter received two moonstones after her first shift. When she found her mate, they were set into matching bonding bracelets. Two weeks before my twin sister Selena and I were supposed to hold our mate ceremonies, my brother came home carrying one black velvet box. Inside lay a pair of platinum bracelets set with four moonstones. All four belonged to Selena now. She burst into tears. Mom pulled her into a hug, while Dad warned Tyler that the entire Grey family would come for him if he ever hurt their precious girl. No one saw a problem. I looked at my brother’s empty hand. “Where are mine?” Noah blinked. “Selena’s design needed four stones, so I used yours. You don’t care about traditions anyway.” Mom cut me off before I could answer. “They’re only bracelets. You make good money, so buy another pair. Don’t ruin your sister’s moment.” As they closed around Selena, I finally understood. Whenever they said their daughter, they had never meant me. Fine. They could keep the family they had chosen. I was done begging to belong to it.

As a healer, I keep taking in emergency patients around the clock just so I can save up enough money for a luxurious family trip. But after transferring the money into the family account, my mate, Leonard Cross, announces that he will be taking the entire family on the trip, whereas I'm required to stay at home. Everyone supports his decision. "Don't you always take overtime shifts on your day off? That's why I never considered the fact that you can go on this trip with us." I'm pissed, to say the least. "So, the four of you will be going, eh?" My sister-in-law, Rita Cross, pipes up, "Cassandra and Hannah will be joining us too." Cassandra Davis is Leonard's childhood sweetheart, whereas Hannah is the family's pet dog. It seems that everyone has received an invitation but me. After staying quiet for another beat, I nod. "Fine." Soon, I accept the three-year dispatch request to another place that's offered to me by my workplace. I also take the liberty to put the house—which I own the deed to—on sale. Since my family supports my career this much, I'm sure they will do the same when I decide to buy myself a new place to live for the sake of my business trip, right?

When I was one month pregnant, my fated mate Caleb’s childhood best friend turned out to be three months along. Caleb decided to hold a bonding ceremony with her. When I broke down and asked what would happen to me and our pup, he said calmly, "Stella is different from you. I’m the only friend she has left in the pack. If people find out she’s pregnant out of wedlock, the gossip will destroy her!" But he seemed to forget that he was my only support in the pack, too. Later, he allowed our baby to be called a bastard pup. He let his parents drag me into a healing room to force an abortion on me. My inner wolf went completely dead. I didn't want this man anymore. What Caleb didn't know was that I wasn't the worthless orphan he thought I was. I was the Alpha King's little sister. Clutching my stomach, I calmly dialed my brother's number. "Brother, come take me home." This time, I would grant Caleb's wish. I would take our pup and vanish from his sight forever.

My mate, Alpha Kade, loved testing my limits using his childhood friend. The more I pushed back, the more he enjoyed it. For the pack retreat, I suggested heading north to see the Northern Lights. He took Ruby to a southern island instead. I spent six months growing rare herbs in the greenhouse. Right before they bloomed, he ordered them torn out. He replaced them with Ruby's favorite roses. I confronted him about it once. He didn't care. "You know I respond better when you're sweet. The more you push, the more I push back. Just be a good girl and listen to me." After that, I learned to compromise. He demanded to bring Ruby as his date to the pack's inner circle dinner. I just nodded. Over the weekend, Ruby wanted to visit the former Luna at the main estate. I stayed calm. "No problem. Do what you want." Kade slammed me against the wall the second the words left my mouth. "Cora, what kind of attitude is that? You're okay with another woman visiting my mother?" I pulled free from his grip. "I'm just following your rules so I don't upset you." Kade froze, completely speechless. Ruby played innocent. "Cora is just acting out. Don't take it to heart." Then came tonight's private pack party. Everyone played Truth or Dare to celebrate the end of his bachelor days before our mating ceremony. The Dare Roulette was the main event. The spinner landed right on Kade and Ruby. They had to do a series of couple's dares together. The Beta running the game tried to smooth things over. "This challenge gets pretty physical. You can still use an immunity card to skip it." Kade didn't care. He pulled Ruby into his chest and looked at me. "It's just a game. She's my partner for tonight. I'll be yours tomorrow." The pack elites whistled and cheered. I kept my posture straight and gave him a blank look. "Fine by me." I had already accepted a transfer to the United Pack Medical Center. I didn't want this mate bond anymore.

It's the final round of this year's Pack Pup Tournament. I can't take my eyes off my pup, Patrick Grant, as he wins the title. When the host calls Patrick's parents onstage to celebrate, I leap up, thrilled. But then I see Nicholas Grant, my Alpha mate, walk up with his secretary, Natalia Lawson. They stand side by side under the spotlight, kissing Patrick on both cheeks. It's as if Natalia is the mother, as if she's the Luna of our pack, as if they're the perfect family. I can only stand there in the audience, feeling the weight of countless startled stares, too ashamed to lift my head. Later, Nicholas brushes the incident off. "You were seated farther back. It was easier to bring Natalia up on stage," he explains. Easier? I swallow the humiliation and force myself to believe it was just an unfortunate coincidence—until today, that is. I sense through our blood bond that something's wrong with Patrick, so I drop everything and race to the pack hospital. But when I arrive, Patrick is lying in Natalia's lap, whining to her in a soft voice. I step forward to introduce myself, but the healer only looks surprised. "The emergency contact form lists Natalia as his mom, though." It turns out Patrick himself had stripped me of my role as his mother. And Nicholas didn't stop him. I finally understand. I don't belong in this family anymore. That night, I tell Nicholas I want to dissolve the mate bond between us. He doesn't even look up as he says, "Don't be dramatic. You'd dissolve our bond over a single name on a form?" "Yes."

I was not a competent Luna. Despite being marked for years, I never managed to bear an heir for Raymond Miller. According to pack tradition, a Luna who could not continue the Alpha bloodline was expected to step down voluntarily, or at least permit other she-wolves to approach the Alpha. But I stubbornly refused. On his deathbed, he held my hand and let out a low, teasing laugh. "Your possessiveness is simply too fierce, Chloe. If there is a next life, I certainly won't choose you as my mate again." I thought he was merely joking, so I deliberately snapped back, "Fine by me. Then I won't bond with you either." Yet, when I opened my eyes again, I had actually returned to the exact day he was choosing a mate for our political alliance. Inside the magnificently decorated hall, eligible she-wolves from all the allied packs held their breath, desperately hoping to be chosen. The Pack Elder smiled warmly at Raymond. "Alpha heir, please take this moonstone necklace that belongs to the future Luna and place it around the neck of the she-wolf you have chosen." Raymond walked directly toward me. I couldn't help but curl my lips into a small smile, thinking that he was playing coy as usual. Even in another life, he would still choose me. But in the next split second, he brushed right past my shoulder. A sharp gasp echoed from behind me. He placed the necklace around the neck of another she-wolf.

My best friend Ada felt sorry for my eight-year crush on Theo. So when our wolves recognize each other as mate, Ada simply gave me a pheromone-enhancing herb and sent me to Theo’s bed. Intoxicated by my scent, Theo claimed me like crazy. When I woke up, he coldly agreed to hold the marking ceremony. But shortly after the marking, Theo frequently visited European packs, and stayed away for five years. I raised our son Alex alone, waiting for him at the pack. But he never came come and just told me he didn’t like puppies. Until Alex's birthday party, I saw a video where someone asked him: "Theo, what's your happiest moment?" He replied carelessly: "Last week in Europe, after putting Marcus to sleep, I took Claire to the dining table in the living room." Amidst the whistles and cheers, my hands and feet turned ice cold. Claire was his ex-girlfriend, Marcus was his ex-girlfriend's son. They say he'd been living with them these five years in Europe, so it was all true. I was completely heartbroken, submitted the mate bond dissolution to the Alpha Council, and left North America with my son, erasing our pack registration.

When Lilith Sterling showed up, I realized the years I'd spent being coddled by my three childhood friends had been nothing but a lie. My Alpha King father, though, still had no idea. He honestly believed I'd end up choosing one of the three. That's why, at the Pack gathering, he announced in front of everyone: "Aurora, whoever you want to bond with—your father will make it happen." Every pair of eyes turned to the three boys who'd once loved and protected me—Kael Blackwood, Orion Whitethorn, and Zephyr Stormrider. We were perfectly matched in status, had grown up together, shared years of deep affection. But when my father threw out that hint, the three of them acted like they hadn't heard a thing. Kael was draping his coat over Lilith's shoulders. Orion was massaging her feet. Zephyr was busy fighting through the crowd to snatch a gift for her. The silence was suffocating. My father's face went rigid with humiliation. I quickly spoke up: "Father, my future mate hasn't made it back yet. Once he returns, I'll bring him straight to you." The three of them scoffed at that, smirking like they'd just heard the best joke of the night. They thought I was lying. Everyone there assumed I'd have to pick one of the three. But the one I'd already chosen had nothing to do with any of them.

I'm a Bond Breaker. I use magic to sever werewolves' mate bonds without pain, helping them get out of relationships that have gone bad. Three years into my practice, a young she-wolf walked into my consulting room and laid a signed check over my appointment form. "I need you to break a Luna's bond. She's been holding on to that position long enough." The signature on the check looked strangely familiar. I kept my expression polite. "Does she want to end her bond?" "She will once she sees what her Alpha gets up to in my bed." The girl swept her hair aside, revealing a bite on her neck that hadn't healed. "He told me I make him feel young again." She pushed a video across the desk. In it, Lucas Hale bent to kiss her, the sports watch I'd given him still strapped to his left wrist. Three hours earlier, he'd used that same hand to braid our daughter's hair, then pulled me into his arms and told me nothing in the whole Grayridge Pack mattered more than the two of us. The girl smiled. "Will seven days be enough?" I glanced at my own mating mark. "That'll do." Apparently, even a Bond Breaker could end up taking her own kind of order.

I'm about to get married under the witness of the Goddess of the Moon. However, Carl Erickson, my partner of ten years, doesn't know it yet. Carl has recently hired a new assistant—Ivy Keating. Everyone in the wolf pack knows something amorous is going on between them; they frequently "discuss work" until the wee hours of the night. A celebration that's supposed to be for our anniversary turns into Ivy's birthday celebration. Carl orders a ten-layer mango cream cake for the celebration—it's Ivy's favorite. They get cream everywhere, but they've forgotten I'm seriously allergic to mangoes. A regular mango is as lethal to me as wolf venom is. I'm taken away by an ambulance to be rescued, and I'm alone when I wake up. Carl is still at the party, celebrating Ivy's birthday. My wolf growls unhappily, and my love for Carl dies. It's then that I agree to the marriage my family has arranged for me. I'm going to marry a true Alpha.

Damian, my destined partner, is the alpha that all wolf girls dream of. For him, I went alone to the North, his pack. But for three years after we signed the contract, he remained chaste, staying at least three feet away from me, refusing to mate with me. I thought he was just busy with the affairs of the wolf pack and had no time to care about me. Until I stumbled upon Damian pinning Lyra, his sister, against a rough tree trunk, his mouth savagely devouring her lips like a wild beast. "You know I long for you, Lyra!" he roared. "Why did you force that boring Selena on me?!" At last I understood. The only person he truly loved was Lyra. He hurt me again and again for Lyra, and even when we were trapped in the forest and almost swallowed by the shadow plague, he ran away with Lyra in his arms without looking back. "Whether Selena can escape or not has nothing to do with me. You are the most important person in my world!" I was heartbroken, but he wanted to complete the final mark with me because of guilt. He didn't know that I had already dripped my heart's blood on the moonstone the day I found out about his affair with Lyra. Our mate bond had been completely broken long ago.

There was a strict rule in my pack. Any female werewolf at the age of twenty‑nine who had not gone through a mate bond had to return to the pack for the Moonpick Ceremony, where the Alpha would personally choose her mate. When I showed the chairman of the Werewolf Council, Jonah Gregot, my pack’s notice to return, he gave a low laugh. “Is Sovereign Moon Pack still stuck in the olden days, Jade?” He leaned back in his leather chair and spoke in a casual tone. “I told you we would have our mate bond ceremony, and I promise it will happen. Do not try to use your pack’s law to force me into anything.” He took a ring box from the pocket of his suit and tossed it to his secretary, who stood beside him. The young woman caught it in a panic, and the tips of her ears turned red. “I planned to make our relationship official tonight, but it is clear that you care more about legitimacy than us. Maybe we need some space.” Jonah shrugged and walked out of the office. Silence filled the room. I stared at the ring box and did not know how to react. I could not believe he had thrown our mate bond ring to another woman so easily. Sapphire Kane hesitated as she held the ring box out to me. “You should take this, Jade. Jonah bought it for you.” I did not reach for it. “You should keep it now that he gave it to you.” Sapphire’s eyes widened. I stood and left the office with my pack’s notice. “Tell Jonah that I will not wait for him anymore on the day of the Moonpick Ceremony.”

In my previous life, I was adopted by an ordinary werewolf family, while my sister, Evelyn, was taken in by the Alpha family. But less than three years after joining the Alpha household, Evelyn broke their rules, was banished from the pack, and died alone in the wilderness. Meanwhile, my adoptive brother Evan and I built a successful business through our own hard work. With the blessing of our pack, we completed our mate-bonding ceremony and had three litters of pups. It was a happy and fulfilling life. When fate gave us a second chance, Evelyn made the exact opposite choice. She ran over, threw herself into Evan's arms, and called his name sweetly. Looking at me with smug satisfaction, she said, "Natalie, you can go to the Alpha family this time. I've had enough of all their rules. I don't even want to set foot in their territory." I turned to look at the man who had been my mate in my previous life. I was hoping he would say something. Instead, he lowered his head and smelled the back of Evelyn's neck. He looked at me coldly. "Don't come any closer. I'll kill you." In the end, under Evelyn's triumphant gaze, I walked toward the Alpha family's car.

When the bells for our bonding ceremony tolled, my mate, Alpha Killian, was nowhere to be found. Before I could question his absence, a video from my mother appeared in the family group chat. In the video, Killian was on one knee in the banquet hall next door, slipping the Celestine Ring, the ultimate symbol of a Luna's status, onto my twin sister Daisy's finger. The Pack cheered, and my father stood beside them with a proud expression. Daisy leaned on Killian's shoulder, sobbing, while he gently patted her back as if she were his bride. I gathered the hem of my gown, about to rush over and demand an explanation, but my mother's Mind-link slammed into my thoughts. "Freya, Daisy is your sister. She's always been frail; she could never keep up with you. Just give her your place this time." With a trembling voice, I demanded, "Why did you all hide this from me?" "Because you've always fought with Daisy. If we had told you, you would have made a scene. What if her wolfsbane poisoning flared up again?" "Your wolf is strong. You can always have another ceremony." "We're all family. Don't make this ugly over something so trivial." My head spun, and I could not utter a single word. It turned out my mate and the Luna title were not the only things they could casually give away. They could just as easily discard me without a second thought. If that was how it was going to be, then so be it. From this moment on, I was done with this pack.

The night I accidentally ended up in bed with my adoptive brother, Adrian, he had just broken his engagement to his childhood sweetheart, Ivy. Adrian was the Alpha of Blackwood Pack. Ivy was the late Beta's daughter, and the woman he had always intended to make his Luna. To protect my reputation and preserve his authority as Alpha, he was forced to complete a mate bond with me. Everyone said he treated me well. But every year on Ivy's birthday, he sat alone in his study until dawn. In the third year of our marriage, Ivy died of wolf-spirit failure. Only then did Adrian learn from the letter she left behind that she had seen us together that morning. The sight had haunted her for the rest of her life. He decided I had destroyed her. He severed our mate bond, drove me from the pack, and used his influence to close every road that might have kept me alive. Before I died, he sent me only four words. "You deserve to die." When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the night his wolf lost control. This time, I tore myself out of his arms, knocked on Ivy's door, and placed him in her hands myself. I smiled at the shock on his face. “Adrian, I won’t love you anymore.”

Caine Black and I were in love for seven years. From our first meeting at the Imperial Academy to being officially recognized by both packs as promised mates, I thought we would be together forever. That certainty lasted until the day before our marking ceremony, when I canceled it. The priest stared at me in shock. "Eileen, the marking ceremony is in twelve hours. Are you sure you don't want to wait for Caine to come back?" I gently unclasped the pendant from my neck, the one that symbolized the Luna's status, and shook my head. "No. "He's under the northern lights on the Ice Plains right now, completing a marking ceremony with his first love."

"Are you sure you want to do this? If you go through it, you’ll no longer be Luna and might become a rogue." "I'm sure." I removed our wedding ring, which he slipped into my fingers three years back on the desk as payment. "Alright, when your werewolf Valentine’s Day arrives, I’ll help you break the mate bond with Alpha Owen." The witch used a dagger to cut my palm and let the blood pour into a test tube. Ten days later, I endured the unbearable pain of severing the mate bond. I changed the surname I had followed for three years, obtained a new identity, and drove away from the Starry Pack in a second-hand car bought from the black market. Owen, you will never find me again. You should have known it would end like this from the day you betrayed me. One month later, a question exploded on social media, spiraling out of control. #Where did Luna Kya go?#