Chapter 1: The Night He Rejected Me

The moon was supposed to witness my coronation.

Instead, it witnessed my destruction.

I stood beneath the enormous crystal chandelier of the Blackthorn Pack’s ceremonial hall, surrounded by hundreds of wolves who had known me since childhood.

Every face was familiar.

Every voice was familiar.

Yet that night, every person in the room would become a stranger.

My fingers trembled beneath the folds of my white gown.

“Stop shaking.”

My best friend, Mira, whispered beside me.

I forced a smile.

“I’m not shaking.”

She glanced at my hands.

“You are.”

I laughed softly.

“Maybe I’m nervous.”

“You’ve been waiting six years for this night. Of course you’re nervous.”

Six years.

Six years of loving one man.

Six years of believing that one day I would stand beside him as his Luna.

Alpha Damon Blackthorn.

The strongest Alpha in the eastern territories.

The man every unmated wolf feared.

The man every young she-wolf dreamed about.

And, according to the bond I had felt since I was seventeen…

My mate.

At least, that was what I had believed.

I looked toward the enormous doors at the end of the hall.

Any moment now, Damon would enter.

My heart beat faster.

Mira squeezed my hand.

“You’re going to be Luna tonight.”

I smiled.

“I hope so.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“I don’t know.”

Something had felt wrong all day.

Not obviously wrong.

There had been no warning.

No argument.

No strange message.

But Damon had avoided me for the entire week.

Whenever I tried to speak to him, he was suddenly busy.

Whenever I approached him, someone called him away.

Even his wolf, Black, had been strangely silent.

And that frightened me more than anything.

A mate bond was supposed to be impossible to ignore.

Unless something was wrong.

Very wrong.

The doors suddenly opened.

My breath caught.

Damon entered.

The entire hall fell silent.

He wore the ceremonial black uniform of the Blackthorn Alpha, silver markings embroidered across his shoulders.

His dark hair was slightly disheveled.

His jaw was tense.

His eyes…

His eyes weren’t looking at me.

They were looking at the woman walking beside him.

My smile disappeared.

I knew her.

Everyone knew her.

Seraphina Vale.

The daughter of Alpha Victor Vale of the Silver Ridge Pack.

She was beautiful.

Perfect golden hair.

Pale skin.

Blue eyes.

And a reputation for getting whatever she wanted.

But none of that mattered.

What mattered was the way Damon was holding her hand.

My heart stopped.

Mira whispered my name.

“Elara…”

I couldn’t answer.

Damon walked directly toward the center of the hall.

Everyone bowed.

Except me.

I couldn’t move.

My eyes remained fixed on his hand.

His fingers were intertwined with hers.

Then Damon stopped.

He looked at me.

For one brief second, something flashed in his eyes.

Guilt.

Then it disappeared.

“Elara.”

My name sounded strangely cold coming from his mouth.

I swallowed.

“Damon.”

He didn’t come closer.

Instead, he turned toward the assembled pack.

“I have an announcement.”

Whispers spread through the hall.

I felt my stomach tighten.

Damon raised his voice.

“Tonight was supposed to be the night I announced my Luna.”

My heart started pounding.

Then he looked at Seraphina.

“But fate has made another choice.”

No.

My wolf suddenly screamed inside my mind.

No.

I took one step backward.

Damon reached for Seraphina’s hand.

“This is Seraphina Vale.”

Silence.

“She is my true mate.”

The world stopped.

I stared at him.

I couldn’t breathe.

Someone laughed nervously.

Someone else whispered.

But I heard nothing.

Only my wolf.

Mate.

Mate.

Mate.

The word echoed inside my skull.

“But…”

My voice barely existed.

Damon looked at me.

His expression was unreadable.

I forced myself to speak.

“You said…”

He didn’t answer.

“You said I was your mate.”

His jaw tightened.

“I was wrong.”

Four words.

Four words destroyed six years of my life.

I shook my head.

“No.”

Damon stepped closer.

“There is a bond between us, Elara.”

“Then why are you saying this?”

“Because the bond was never complete.”

“That’s not possible.”

“It is.”

I looked at Seraphina.

She was watching me.

And she was smiling.

Not sadly.

Not apologetically.

She was smiling as though she had just won a competition.

Something inside me broke.

I looked back at Damon.

“Did you know?”

He remained silent.

“Did you know about her?”

His silence was enough.

Tears burned my eyes.

“You knew.”

“Elara—”

“You knew.”

My voice became louder.

“You knew she was your mate and you still let me believe that I would become your Luna?”

His expression hardened.

“I didn’t want to hurt you.”

I laughed.

The sound was broken.

“You didn’t want to hurt me?”

I wiped away a tear.

“You brought her here tonight.”

“I had to.”

“Had to?”

Damon looked toward the elders.

Then back at me.

“I, Damon Blackthorn, reject you, Elara Vale, as my mate.”

The pain hit instantly.

It wasn’t emotional.

It was physical.

My entire body convulsed.

I collapsed onto my knees.

Someone screamed.

Mira rushed toward me.

“Elara!”

I couldn’t hear her.

My wolf was howling.

Not metaphorically.

She was screaming inside me.

Why?

Why did he reject us?

My fingers dug into the marble floor.

Blood appeared beneath my nails.

Damon stood above me.

I looked up at him through blurred eyes.

I had imagined this man placing a crown on my head.

Instead, he had just ripped my soul apart.

But then Damon said something that made the entire hall go silent.

“There is another reason.”

I stared at him.

“What?”

His eyes became cold.

“Your family.”

My breathing stopped.

“My family?”

Damon nodded.

“Your father was responsible for the murder of the previous Blackthorn Alpha.”

The hall erupted in whispers.

I stared at him in disbelief.

“No.”

“There’s proof.”

“No.”

“My father died twelve years ago.”

“And he left behind evidence.”

“You’re lying.”

Damon’s face hardened.

“I wish I were.”

I slowly stood.

My legs barely held me.

“My father was not a murderer.”

“The council has already investigated.”

“You mean your council.”

“Elara.”

“You’ve been planning this.”

His eyes flickered.

I knew then.

This wasn’t about Seraphina.

This wasn’t about fate.

It had been planned.

My rejection.

My father’s accusation.

My exile.

Everything.

I looked around the hall.

The elders avoided my eyes.

People I had grown up with stepped away from me.

The same people who had celebrated my birthday.

The same people who had called me future Luna.

Now they looked at me like I was a disease.

Mira pushed through the crowd.

“This is insane!”

An elder raised his hand.

“Silence.”

Mira glared at him.

“She deserves a trial!”

“She is the daughter of a traitor.”

“My father was innocent!”

My voice echoed through the hall.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Damon looked at the guards.

“Take her.”

Mira grabbed my arm.

“No!”

Three guards approached.

I fought.

Not because I believed I could win.

Because I couldn’t accept that this was happening.

“Damon!”

He looked at me.

I searched his face for the man I had loved.

The boy who had once carried me home when I injured my ankle.

The man who had stayed beside me during my first heat.

The Alpha who had promised me that nobody would ever hurt me.

He was gone.

Or maybe…

Maybe he had never existed.

“Look at me,” I whispered.

He did.

“Tell me you never loved me.”

His lips parted.

For the first time that night, I saw pain in his eyes.

But he said nothing.

That silence destroyed me more than the rejection.

I stopped fighting.

The guards grabbed my arms.

Mira screamed.

“Elara!”

I looked at her.

“Don’t come after me.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“I won’t let them do this!”

“You can’t.”

I looked back at Damon.

He stood beside Seraphina.

She had her hand wrapped around his arm.

I memorized that image.

Not because I wanted to remember it.

Because I needed to.

One day…

I would look back at this moment.

And I would remember exactly who they were.

The gates opened.

Cold night air hit my face.

The guards dragged me outside.

I walked through the same gates I had entered through as a child.

Except this time…

I was no longer welcome.

My pack had rejected me.

My mate had rejected me.

My father’s name had been destroyed.

And I had nowhere to go.

The guards stopped at the border.

One of them threw my belongings onto the ground.

“You are no longer Blackthorn.”

I looked back at the distant lights of the pack.

My home.

Everything I had ever known.

Gone.

The guard pointed toward the forest.

“Leave.”

I picked up the small bag containing the few things they had allowed me to keep.

Then I stepped beyond the boundary.

The moment my foot crossed the line…

Something happened.

A sharp burning sensation spread across my wrist.

I gasped.

I dropped the bag.

Black lines appeared beneath my skin.

They twisted into the shape of a crescent moon surrounded by flames.

I stared at it.

“What…”

The forest suddenly went silent.

No insects.

No birds.

No wind.

Nothing.

Then a voice came from somewhere behind me.

“You’re finally awake.”

I turned.

An old woman stood between the trees.

Her silver hair moved gently in the wind.

Her eyes were glowing.

I stepped backward.

“Who are you?”

She smiled.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

“For me?”

She nodded.

“For the last surviving heir of the Black Moon.”

My heart stopped.

“What did you call me?”

She stepped closer.

“Your father wasn’t a traitor, Elara.”

I couldn’t breathe.

“He was protecting you.”

My hands began to tremble.

“Protecting me from what?”

The old woman looked toward the moon.

“From the wolves who have been hunting your bloodline for centuries.”

A howl echoed across the mountains.

The old woman’s expression changed.

“They’ve found you.”

“Who?”

She grabbed my wrist.

“The people who destroyed your family.”

Her eyes met mine.

“And if you want to survive…”

She pointed toward the mountains.

“You must find the last Black Moon Alpha.”

I looked at the dark mountains in the distance.

“Who is he?”

The old woman whispered one name.

“Kael Draven.”

Then the forest exploded with howls.

Hundreds of them.

Coming closer.

The old woman released my wrist.

“Run, Elara.”

“Where?”

“North.”

“And if I don’t?”

She looked at the mark burning on my skin.

“Then the world will never know that its most powerful Luna was born tonight.”

I picked up my bag.

For the first time since Damon rejected me…

I stopped crying.

I looked back toward the Blackthorn territory.

My home.

My former mate.

My enemies.

Then I turned toward the mountains.

I didn’t know who Kael Draven was.

I didn’t know what the Black Moon meant.

And I didn’t know why everyone had lied to me about my family.

But I knew one thing.

I would survive.

And someday…

I would return.

Not as the rejected girl they had thrown into the darkness.

I would return as the woman they should have feared from the beginning.