The Enigma's Nymph Luna

Zephyra

The clatter of a food bowl hitting the dirt floor was my only morning call. "Eat up, 'luck'!" a guard snickered, his voice dripping with false pity.

"Wouldn't want our Moonstone's great prophecy-breaker to waste away, now would we?" Spit landed near my hand, but I didn't flinch-I've gotten used to people treating me like dirt ever since she came along.

I was once the cherished 'luck,' destined to be the Luna to Emerson Hawkes. Then, my 18th birthday arrived-with a curse of the prophecy appearing and saying that it wasn't I, but my newly adopted sister, Lyra, who would truly bring fortune to our pack.

"Then we should act upon it immediately." I can still remember the coldness in Emerson's voice when he spoke, shushing the whispers of the crowd. "We will proceed with crowning the new 'luck.'"

"Emer...son?" I can still feel the same shivers that made me stiffen right on the spot, overwhelmed by how quickly people cast me aside.

"No...it can't be," My voice back then was shaky and full of pain, but no one paid attention to it.

No one. My pack, my family, my mate-all gone in a single breath.

"Mother? Father?" My inner child looked for the people I wholeheartedly believed would never leave my side, but no.

It was so clear how they averted their gaze and hid Lyra behind their back.

While I was still a pathetic fool who processed what was happening, I heard his voice again. "I, Emerson Hawkes, son of Alpha Fredrinn Hawkes of the Moonstone Pack, hereby re-"

"NO!"

Days blurred into weeks. After I shouted that at the top of my lungs, shattering the silence of their betrayal, I've been rotting in this damp, reeking cell. It's a public spectacle for people to freely torment-a punishment for the rebel who refuses to submit to the rejection to hail a new future Luna.

"Oh, Zephyra," a voice chimed, soft and lilting, dripping with saccharine concern. There she is, standing outside the bars, her usually bright eyes dimmed just enough to convey sorrow, her hands clasped delicately in front of her. "I came to check on you. Are you...comfortable?"

Beside her, Emerson watched, stoic and rigid as if he's guarding a fragile princess against a beast on the other side of the bars.

A bitter laugh choked in my throat. Comfortable? I was bound, bruised, and starved, living in my filth. But I held her gaze. "As comfortable as a prisoner can be," I rasped, my voice hoarse from disuse.

"It pains me so, seeing you like this," she continued, a faint tremor in her voice, perfectly pitched for the guards listening nearby. "I know it hurts you, Zephyra, we all know. But please," she wiped a stray tear away, gently stepping closer before placing a hand on one bar.

"The pack needs you to let go." She sounded genuinely desperate, pitying me at a certain level.

Then, her eyes, for just a flicker, met mine. Not for the guards. Not for Emerson. Just for me. And in that fleeting moment, her 'sorrow' vanished, replaced by a glint of pure, unadulterated mockery, a cold, triumphant gleam that said, 'You are nothing. I won.'

"Go ahead. Cling to that prophecy of yours." My anger flared, hot and sharp, cutting through the pain. "What can that future do if I, right now, am unwilling to give up myself for you?" I whispered, just loud enough for her to hear.

Emerson stepped forward, his jaw tight. "Zephyra, don't speak like that. Lyra is trying to help." He looked at Lyra, then back at me, his gaze pleading. "Just say it. Please. After everything we've been through, I know you care for the pack as much as I do."

"We've been through everything together, yet look who's standing beside you now." I held his gaze, then shifted my eyes to Lyra, whose 'concerned' expression had resettled perfectly.

"Make her the new 'luck' for all I care. But make her the Luna and your mate?" I smiled, feeling my cracked lips stinging from the tearing of my dried skin. "I'd rather keep it to my grave."

"Zephyra..." For a second, he sounded sorry. But his gaze hardened once more, making me laugh.

"You didn't love me at all, didn't you?"

When he didn't answer, I felt bile rising up my throat even after eating nothing for days. That's it. "NO ONE will make me d*e a loser. Not even you. The bond will stay with me and forever make Lyra a mistress in name."

"But Zephyra-"

"Let's go, Lyra."

The heavy door slammed shut behind them, leaving me in the chilling silence once more. The cold seeped into my very marrow, but beneath my skin, a strange warmth of defiance hummed.

I am Zephyra Tempest. And I would not break.

***

Hours later, the dungeon's oppressive silence was shattered by the loud blaring of alarms-its volume depends on how intense the problem is, and this is the most deafening alarm I've ever heard.

"Hurry! Deploy more guards!"

"Put more men in the back gates!"

Distant shouts and snarls began to filter through the thick stone, growing louder, closer. The ground trembled beneath me, a low thrum turning into violent shudders.

"What is happening?" I muttered under my breath, but is unable to move after exhaustion and starvation finally took its time in sapping my strength away.

Panic flared from the guards above, their hurried footsteps echoing the increasing chaos. With how much destruction was sounding and vibrating on the ground, I pushed myself up to crawl towards my cell bars, hoping one could lend me a hand to escape.

"I can't...die here."

Soon, a guttural roar, deeper and more terrifying than any Alpha I'd ever heard, ripped through the very foundations of the prison.

Then, with a deafening CRUMP! that vibrated through my bones, the heavy, reinforced dungeon doors exploded inward, showering the corridor with dust and splintered wood.

Through the settling debris, a towering, shadowed figure emerged from the smoke, outlined by the inferno raging outside. He moved with a predatory grace, his eyes gleaming like embers in the gloom. He scanned the cells, his gaze falling directly on mine. A slow, chilling smile spread across his lips, revealing sharp fangs.

"Who are...?" Slowly, the smoke from the explosion and the continuous throb of my head made my vision blur by the second.

"Oh?" his voice rumbled, a low growl that resonated with ancient power. "What's this little thing doing around here?"

...just like that, everything turned black.