Rise of the fallen luna

Elena pov.

I stood frozen, my heart pounding in disbelief at what was unfolding before me on the Silver Park grounds. Bathed in an eerie glow from the full moon above, the entire place shimmered with a surreal light - beautiful, yet haunting. Tonight was supposed to be the most important night of my life. The strongest Alpha in the region, Alpha David, was meant to claim me as his Luna. But I was so very wrong. Horribly, devastatingly wrong.

I struggled to stay calm, my breaths shallow and uneven, as I felt the weight of countless eyes burning into me. Every werewolf in attendance seemed to be watching-waiting. Their gazes were filled with curiosity, hope, and wild expectation. But mine... mine were fixed only on him-on David. The one who was supposed to choose me. The one who was supposed to make me his.

He stood in the center like a king among wolves,his perfect, commanding body radiating dominance and power. Surrounded by his friends, he still managed to steal all the attention, especially mine. I felt a jolt the moment our eyes met-a flicker of warmth glimmered in his gaze, and then... he smiled. That one smile shattered every wall I'd built. My heart thundered in my chest, loud and erratic, drowning out everything else around me.

In that moment, my heart stopped. I stood there, motionless, breathless, as if the world itself had turned to stone around me. Murmurs rippled through the crowd, but I couldn't care less. None of it mattered. Inside me, my wolf, Sofie, howled in agony-her screams echoing through my mind, raw and unbearable. But I felt nothing. I was numb. Still, I lifted my chin and forced myself to meet Alpha David's cold, unflinching gaze. Face to face. Heart to heart. As if daring him to feel the pain he had just carved into me.

But David wasn't done. His next words sliced deeper than any blade, tearing through what little strength I had left.

"I reject you, Elena. You are too weak to be my Luna."

Silence followed-heavy, suffocating silence. It fell over the crowd like a blanket of snow, freezing everything in its path. No one moved. No one spoke. And in that stillness, I finally remembered to breathe-each inhale a struggle, each exhale laced with pain.

But David wasn't done. His next words sliced deeper than any blade, tearing through what little strength I had left.

"I reject you, Elena. You are too weak to be my Luna."

Silence followed-heavy, suffocating silence. It fell over the crowd like a blanket of snow, freezing everything in its path. No one moved. No one spoke. And in that stillness, I finally remembered to breathe-each inhale a struggle, each exhale laced with pain.

Too weak?

The words echoed in my skull, over and over, like a cruel chant.

I had been trained my entire life to be a Luna-groomed, tested, forged in fire. Not because I was fragile, but because I was powerful. Strong. Worthy. And now here he was-David-standing before the entire pack, tearing me down with nothing more than a few careless words.

Criticizing me.

Dismissing me.

Tears were already stinging my eyes, blurring the faces around me. Sofie was screaming in my head, her anguish merging with mine, the pain in my chest tightening like a vice. But I refused to let them see me break-especially David.

I clenched my fists, holding back the sob rising in my throat.

"You can't just push me away, David!" I shouted, my voice trembling with heartbreak and fury. "We're friends! I'm meant to be by your side!"

The words tore from me like a final plea, raw and desperate. I wasn't just fighting for a title-I was fighting for everything we'd shared... everything I thought we were.

David let out a cold, heartless laugh-a sound that made my blood run cold.

"Elena," he said, his voice laced with disdain, "I need a Luna who can lead the pack... not someone who crumbles under pressure."

Each word felt like a dagger, sharp and deliberate, designed to humiliate me in front of everyone. And he succeeded.

His words hit me like a slap across the face-sharp, stinging, and cruel. I felt as though the ground beneath me had vanished, like I could collapse and disappear right then and there. A part of me wanted to.

The crowd around us stood in stunned silence. Some faces showed sympathy, others confusion, concern... maybe even pity.

Then the atmosphere shifted, the tension thickening like a storm cloud.

And that's when I heard her-Anne. The female Beta.

Anne, who had always envied me, always watched me with narrowed eyes and a twisted smile. Her voice rang out like poison in the silence.

"Elena," she sneered, laughing, "you're too soft to be our Luna. You were never meant to stand beside our Alpha."

Her laughter echoed like nails against glass, cruel and mocking. And suddenly, I wasn't just heartbroken.

I was furious.

My legs refused to move, rooted to the spot even as my mind screamed one word over and over: Run.

Sofie, my wolf, was howling inside me, desperate and broken. "Elena, run!" she pleaded again and again. But I couldn't.

It was as if the invisible mate bond had shackled me in place, chaining my heart to the very person who had just destroyed it. I wanted to run-from the stares, from the cruel words, from the pain clawing at my chest-but my body betrayed me.

And then, like a death sentence, his voice came again.

"Throw her out," David ordered, his tone flat, devoid of any emotion. "She's no longer welcome here."

Silence fell like a curtain. No one dared to speak. No one moved.

My lips trembled, my chest ached, but no tears came. I wanted to cry. Goddess, I needed to cry. But even my tears had abandoned me.

Suddenly, something snapped. I came back to my senses, gasping as if I'd been pulled from deep water. I didn't know where the strength came from, but I felt it-power surging through me like fire in my veins.

"Sofie?" I linked my wolf. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she replied softly, but her voice was strained, wounded. I could feel her pain... but also her simmering rage.

I turned my eyes back to David. And then-I smirked.

For the first time, I saw him clearly. Not as the boy I grew up with. Not as the Alpha I was promised to. But as the coward who chose pride over loyalty.

David had never truly loved me. He had never even liked me.

So why should his rejection break me?

"It shouldn't," I whispered to myself, standing a little taller. "And it won't."