Crown Of Moonfire

SERA'S POINT OF VIEW

I woke up to the cold. It was dark. The room where I lived with the omegas was made of plain stone. The floor was dirt. It smelled bad because a lot of people lived there. I was lying on a blanket that did not keep me warm. My back hurt from the work I did that day. My hands were dry. Cracked from scrubbing the floors. My stomach was empty. It hurt.

I sat up slowly. The other omegas were still sleeping. Some of them were curled up together for warmth. Others were lying on the floor like they were dead. None of them ever talked to me. Look at me. I was the lowest of the low. The one that the other omegas forgot existed.

I put on my dress. It was old and thin. It did not cover my body well. I had stopped caring about how I looked a while ago.

My feet touched the floor. I winced. Every morning was the same. Cold. Hungry. Painful. I got up. I walked to the door.

The main hall was dark and empty when I got there. The fire in the fireplace had burned down to a piece of coal. I picked up a bucket and a rag. Started cleaning. My job was to clean up the blood from the kitchen floor. A warrior had been hurt in a fight. Had bled all over the floor. Now it was my job to make it disappear.

I scrubbed the floor hard. The blood started to fade. My arms and knees ached. I kept scrubbing.

That was when I saw a bowl. It was a clay bowl that someone had dropped and left there. I had to clean it up. Everything was my job.

I picked up the piece of the bowl. The edge was sharp. It cut my hand. I did not see it until it was too late. The cut was deep. It hurt a lot.

I gasped. The pain shot up my arm. I dropped the piece of the bowl. It hit the floor. I looked at my hand. Saw the blood. It was dark and thick. I remembered what my mother told me when she was dying. Never let them see your blood when you bleed. I did not understand why. I obeyed her.

I put my hand under my dress. Pressed the fabric against the cut. I closed my eyes. Prayed to the moon. Please make it stop. Please do not let them see.

I held my breath. Counted to ten. To twenty. To thirty. When I looked at my hand again the cut was gone. No blood. No scar. Just smooth skin. It was like the cut never happened.

I stared at my hand. My heart was beating fast. This was not the time something like this had happened. I had healed before. Too fast. It was not normal.

I did not understand it. I did not like it. I hid it because my mother told me to. Because something inside me said that if they found out they would hurt me worse.

I cleaned up the rest of the blood. Scrubbed the floor until it was clean. I worked until my hands were raw and my back hurt. Then I stopped.

"Still scrubbing, rat?" a voice said.

I did not look up. I knew the voice. It was Lira. She was mean and beautiful. Sharp like a knife.

I kept scrubbing. My hands were shaking. I did not want her to see my fear.

"Look at me when I speak to you " she said. Her voice was like a whip.

I looked up. My face was blank. I had learned to do that a time ago. If I showed her fear she would hurt me more. If I showed her anger she would punish me. So I showed her nothing.

Lira walked closer to me. She looked at my dress and my hands. She smiled. "The ceremony is tonight. Every omega has to be. Even you."

My stomach dropped. The mate ceremony. Every wolf who was eighteen had to go. The Alpha would walk through the crowd. Find his mate. I did not want to be seen. I did not want to be chosen. I wanted to disappear.

Lira leaned down close to me. Her breath smelled like meat. "The Alpha will walk past you. Feel nothing. You are dirty and thin and worthless. Just like everyone says."

She poured water over the floor. "Clean it again, " she said. "Do it this time."

She walked away. Left me sitting in the water. My dress was wet. I was shivering. I did not cry. I had stopped crying a while ago. Tears did not help anything.

I grabbed the rag. Started scrubbing again.

---

Wren found me an hour later. She was standing in the doorway. Her face was sharp. Her eyes were sharper. She was not beautiful like Lira. She was real. She was the wolf in Ashborne who looked at me like I was a person.

"Sera what happened to your dress?" she asked. Her voice was low and urgent.

"Lira happened, " I said. I kept scrubbing. "She spilled water on me. Make me clean it again."

Wren's jaw. Her hands were fists. "That she-wolf. I am going to hurt her one day."

"Please do not " I said. I looked up at her. "She will hurt you worse."

Wren knelt down beside me. Grabbed my hands. She pulled them away from the rag. "Your hands are raw. Stop scrubbing. It is clean enough."

I let her pull me to my feet. Wren looked at my hand. Frowned. "Sera there is blood on your hand. There is no cut. Where is the cut?"

I pulled my hand away. Hide it behind my back. "There was no cut. It is not my blood. It is the warriors blood from earlier. I must have missed a spot."

Wren's eyes narrowed. She did not believe me. I could see it in her face. She could smell the truth. Wren was good at knowing when people were lying.

"Fine, " she said. "Keep your secrets. I know something is different about you. I have known about it for months. Your eyes. Your scent. The wounds just disappear on your skin."

I said nothing. My heart was beating fast. I stared at the floor.

"Sera, " Wren said. She grabbed my chin. Made me look at her. "I am your friend. The only friend you have. You can trust me. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

My throat was tight. I wanted to tell her. I wanted to scream it.. The words would not come. The fear was too heavy.

"I have to go " I whispered. I pulled away from her. "The ceremony. I have to be ready."

Wren watched me go. She did not follow me. I felt her eyes on my back as I walked away.

I wore the clothes I had on before. A clean dress that was a little less damaged than the others. It still hung loose on my body. I ran my fingers through my hair. I tried to make it look nice.. It did not matter. Nothing mattered.

The other omegas left the quarters. Walked to the hall with their heads down and their shoulders bent. They knew their place. They knew they were nothing.

I walked to the back. Kept my eyes on the floor. I tried to make myself small. Invisible. A shadow that no one would see.

The main hall was packed. Warriors lined the walls and ranking wolves sat on benches. The Beta stood near the table and the Alphas chair was empty.

Kael had not shown up yet.

I stood in the corner, the one. I pressed my back against the stone wall. Wrapped my arms around myself hoping no one would notice me.

Lira stood near the front, dressed in her leather clothes. Her hair was braided with silver threads. She smiled at the warriors. She laughed at their jokes waiting and hoping.

She wants to be chosen, I thought. She wants to be the Alphas' mate.

I looked away not caring. I did not want to be chosen. I did not want to be seen. I wanted to be forgotten like I always was.

Then the doors. The room fell silent. Every wolf turned to look.

Kael walked in tall and broad with shoulders that filled the doorway. His jaw was hard. His eyes were cold, like gray iron or a winter sky. He wore a fur cloak and dark leather looking like a wolf who had never been beaten.

He walked to the table. Sat in the Alphas chair looking down at the crowd with a face that gave nothing away.

The ceremony. Wolves stepped forward one by one. The Beta called their names. They walked to the center of the hall. The Alpha looked at them. His wolf sniffed the air, feeling the pull or not.

Most walked away unchosen. Some felt the tug. Were matched with warriors or hunters they barely knew.

The ceremony dragged on. My legs hurt. My heart hurt. I wanted to run, to hide, to be else.

Then the Beta called my name. "Sera Wolfe step forward."

The room fell silent. Every single person looked at me. I was stuck and my feet would not. My throat was closed up. The whole pack stared at me with confusion and disgust and amusement.

They were thinking: why is the omega here? They seemed to say. Look at the state of her clothes. She should not be allowed in this hall.

I made myself move one step at a time. I walked to the center of the hall. My hands were. My heart was racing. I kept my eyes on the floor.

Kael looked down at me. I felt like he was weighing me down with his gaze. His wolf sniffed the air. Then his whole body froze.

His nostrils. His jaw tightened. His eyes went wide. For a moment I saw something in his eyes that looked desperate and familiar.

His wolf had found me and the whole pack saw it. They saw how Kael's body leaned towards me, how his chest moved up and down faster and how his hands gripped the arms of his chair.

People started whispering, low and sharp. The. The omega? No it cannot be.

Kael stood up. Walk towards me one step at a time. He stopped in front of me. I looked at my dirty clothes, my skinny body and my shaking shoulders.

His face changed and his eyes went cold. He looked at me at the pack at Lira smirking and at the warriors waiting to see what he would do.

He said out loud for everyone to hear: I would rather not have a mate than be tied to someone like her. He called me dirty. Threw me away like I was nothing.

His words hurt me like a punch. I felt my chest cave in. My knees gave out. My vision went dark.

He had rejected me in front of everyone calling me dirty and throwing me away. The pack laughed, loud and cruel. They enjoyed my pain. Lira laughed the loudest.

I ran out of the hall through the keep and into the forest. I ran until I could not run anymore. I fell to my knees in the dirt and I screamed until my throat was sore.

I cried until I had no tears. He had looked at me and felt the connection. Chosen to be proud instead of being with me. I was nothing to him. Now I was even less than nothing.

The moon was full and bright in the sky shining down on me with a light. It felt like a mothers touch, like a promise.

I looked up at the sky. My tears dried on my cheeks. My mother had told me: never let them see you bleed when you are hurt.. She had not told me about my heart, about the pain of rejection.

I curled up into a ball holding my chest where it hurt. It was empty and cold like a space.

Under the hurt something else was moving, something old and quiet. It did not make the hurt go away. It kept me alive.

Being alive was enough for now.

I lay in the forest until the moon went down then I got up. I walked back to the keep. I walked through the halls and back to my room in the omega quarters.

I lay down on my blanket staring at the ceiling unable to sleep. The mate ceremony was over. The Alpha had not chosen anyone. The pack was confused. People were whispering.

I had a secret, inside me a secret I did not understand. A secret that had just been hurt by the wolf who was supposed to love me.

I touched my chest. The hurt was still there.. There was also a warm feeling, small and quiet.

I thought: the moon made me. The moon made me something. I do not know what.

I closed my eyes and outside the wind was howling. Inside my blood was humming.

Away in a city called Council Hall, an old wolf named Draven woke up. He smelled something of the Moonfire waking up.

He knew that the heir had appeared. He knew he had to kill her before she remembered who she was.

KAEL'S POINT OF VIEW

I woke up before the sun rose. This is what I always do daily. My eyes are open and my body is still. My mind is already sharp. I do not sleep much. I have not slept well in years. Sleep is something that can make you weak.. I do not want to be weak.

My room is cold. I like it this way. The cold helps me stay alert. It helps me not feel things. Feelings can be bad. They can make you soft. My father was soft. He let his feelings get the best of him.. It killed him.

I got out of bed. I walked to the window. I looked out at the forest. The trees are tall and dark. The moon is going away. The sun is coming up. Another day is starting. Another day of being the leader of my pack. Another day of watching and waiting.

I put on my leather clothes. They are dark and strong. I do not wear anything. I do not need to. I am strong.. Everyone knows it.

My friend Torren came to my door. He is big and strong. He has a neck and arms. His face is like the bark of a tree. He has been my second in command for twelve years. He is the one who can talk to me without being scared.

"The ceremony is tonight, " Torren said. "All the wolves who are old enough will be there. Even the omegas."

I made a sound. I already knew this.

"You do not seem excited, " Torren said.

I do not get excited. I am always calm.

Torrens jaw got tight. He wanted to say more.. He knew better. He kept quiet.

I walked past him. "Is there anything I need to know?"

"Some of our scouts saw people moving around our border, " Torren said. "They might be hunters.. They might be a group of warriors from another pack."

"Then we get ready for a fight."

"We are always ready, " Torren said. He followed me out the door. "But Kael-"

"Do not call me that, " I said.

"Alpha " Torren said. "You cannot keep pushing everyone. The pack needs a leader who cares about them. Not just a cold leader."

I stopped walking. I turned to face him. "My father cared about people.. He was soft. He died on his knees begging for mercy. I will not make the mistake."

Torren looked at me. He did not look away. "Your father was not weak. He was kind.. There is a difference."

"Being kind is being weak, " I said. "Remember that."

I walked away. Torren did not follow me.

---

The big room in our pack house was loud when I got there. Wolves were. Laughing. They stopped when they saw me. They always stop. They bow their heads. Get quiet. I do not know if it is out of respect or fear. I do not care.

I walked to the table at the front of the room. I sat down in my chair. This is the chair my father used to sit in. This is the chair I took when he died.

I looked out at the pack. They are strong and healthy. I made them this way. I pushed them hard. I made them tough.

A wolf named Lira came over to me. She is beautiful. She has dark hair and amber eyes. She smiled at me. It was a smile.

"Alpha, " she said. She sat down beside me. She was too close. "Are you ready for the ceremony tonight?"

"I am always ready, " I said.

Lira talked about the ceremony. She said I would find a mate. Someone strong. Someone who could stand beside me.

I looked at her. I knew what she wanted. She wanted to be my mate. She wanted to be the wolf who stood beside me.. I did not want her. I never wanted her.. I did not say that. There was no point.

"The ceremony will happen, " I said. ". The wolf who is meant for me will be there."

Liras smile went away for a moment. Then it came back. " Course Alpha."

She left. I watched her go. She is a tool. A useful tool.. I would not mate with her. She is too hungry. Too ambitious. She would hurt the pack to make herself stronger.

The day went on. I did my job as leader. I solved problems. Made decisions. The same things I always do. The wolf I always am. The same cold.

Something felt off. I could not say what it was. It was a feeling in my chest. A feeling of restlessness. My wolf was pacing fast inside me. He was not happy at all. He was waiting, hungry and unsettled.

I pushed the feeling down. I always push it down.... Always.

---

Night came faster than I wanted it to.

The big room was full of wolves. They were all waiting for the ceremony to start. The Beta called out names. Wolves stepped forward. I looked at each one. I smelled the air. I waited for a sign. A sign that one of them was my mate.

There was nothing. No sign. No feeling. The same cold I always feel.

Then the Beta called out her name.

"Sera Wolfe. Step forward."

The room got quiet. I looked to the back of the room. A girl stepped out of the shadows. She was thin and small. She was dressed in rags. Her hair was brown and messy. Her eyes were bright and sharp. She looked like a wolf who had been beaten down in her life.

She walked to the front of the room. Her hands were shaking. Her shoulders were hunched. She looked at the floor. She did not look at me.

My wolf howled inside me. He was loud. He was clear. He was saying one thing: mine.

I stood up. I walked towards her. My legs felt funny. I felt like I was not in control. I stopped in front of her. I looked down at her. She was dirty and thin. She was the ranked wolf in the pack. An omega. A servant.

My wolf screamed at me. He wanted me to claim her. To mark her. To make her mine.

My pride was louder. It was saying that she was nothing. That she was not good enough for me. That the pack would laugh at me if I chose her.

I looked at her. I looked at the pack watching us. I looked at Lira smiling at me. I made my choice.

"I would rather not have a mate than be with someone like her, " I said. My words were cold and cruel.

The girls face fell apart. The light in her eyes went away. She looked at me like I had hurt her.. I had. I could feel it.

She. Ran. Out of the room. Out of the house. Into the forest.

The pack laughed. They thought it was funny. They thought I had humiliated her on purpose.

I stood in the room. My chest felt empty. My wolf was quiet. Too quiet. Something inside me was broken. Something I did not understand.

I walked back to my chair. I sat down. I stared at the door she had run through.

The ceremony went on. Wolves stepped forward. Wolves walked away. I did not see any of them. I did not hear any of them. All I could see was her face. All I could feel was the hole in my chest.

Lira came up to me. She smiled. "You did the thing Alpha. She was not good enough for you or our pack."

I looked at her. My face was hard. "Leave me alone " I said.

Lira's smile went away. She left. She was angry. I did not care.

Torren came up to me. He stood beside me. He did not smile. He did not congratulate me. He just looked at me with his wise eyes.

"You made a mistake " he said. His voice was quiet and low.

"I did what I had to do " I said.

"You did what your pride told you to do " Torren said. "That girl was your mate. The wolf the moon chose for you.. You threw her away. For what? So you could feel proud for a moment? So the pack would laugh with you?"

I did not say anything. I just looked at him.

"You are not like your father, " Torren said. "Your father was kind.. He was strong. Stronger than you will ever be if you keep hiding your heart."

He walked away. I was alone.

---

The ceremony ended. The wolves filed out of the hall. It emptied. I sat in my chair. I did not move. I could not move.

My wolf was silent. I had never known my wolf to be silent. My wolf was always there, a presence, a constant voice in my head. Now my wolf was silent. There was nothing.

I touched my chest. I felt a hollow ache spreading. It felt like something inside me was dying. It felt like a sickness, a curse. I did not understand what was happening to me.

I got up from my chair. I walked through the quiet halls. I passed by the omegas quarters. I stopped outside her door. I raised my hand to knock on the door. Then I lowered it.

I could not do it. I could not face the omega. I could not admit that I was wrong.

I walked to my chambers. I lay on my bed. I stared at the ceiling. The silence was really loud.

My wolf did not howl. My wolf did not speak to me. My wolf was. I was alone.

Somewhere, in the dark forest the omega I had rejected was lying on the cold ground crying into her hands. I had hurt the omega.

I had hurt myself too.

SERA'S POINT OF VIEW

I stood in the back of the hall. It was a room with a lot of people. I tried to hide in the corner. I pressed my back against the wall. I did not want anyone to see me.

The other omegas were already there. They stood together near the back wall. They did not look at me. They did not talk to me. I felt like I was not there.

The room was full of warriors. They wore armor. The high-rank wolves sat on benches. They looked important. They knew they were important.

I knew my place too. I was nothing. I had always been nothing. I did not think this night would change that.

Lira was near the front. She looked nice in her leathers. Her hair was braided with silver threads. She smiled like she was happy.. It was a mean smile.

She turned around. She saw me in the corner. Her smile got bigger.

"Sera, " she said. She said my name like it was bad. "Come here."

My legs would not move. My heart was beating fast.

"I said come, " she said again. Her voice was sharp.

I made myself walk to her. My hands were shaking. I hid them in my dress.

She looked at me. She was even prettier up close.. She was mean. She looked at my dress. My skinny body. My dirty hands. She did not like what she saw.

"You look like you are dead, " she said. She said it loud so everyone could hear. "Why do you even show your face?"

I did not say anything. I looked at the floor.

"Look at me, " she said.

I looked up. I tried to show no feelings. I had learned to do that a while ago.

She laughed. It was a sound. "The Alpha will not even look at you, " she said. "You are nothing. You are dirt. You are the wolf in the pack."

I swallowed. My throat was dry. "I know, " I said.

She leaned close to me. Her breath smelled bad. "Remember that, " she said. "Remember your place.. Stay out of my way."

She walked away. Her boots made noise on the floor. I stood there. The other wolves looked at me. Some laughed. Some whispered. Some looked away.

I went back to my corner. I pressed my back against the wall. I put my arms around myself. I tried to stop shaking.

Wren came beside me. She appeared out of nowhere. She always did that.

"Do not listen to Lira, " she said. Her voice was low. "She is bad. She does not matter."

"She is right, " I said. "I am nothing."

Wren grabbed my arm. "You are not nothing, " she said. "You are my friend.. I will not let her hurt you."

I looked at her. She was the wolf who had ever defended me. The only wolf who had ever called me a friend.

The doors opened. The room got quiet. Every wolf turned.

Kael walked in. He was big and strong. His face was hard. His eyes were cold. He wore a fur cloak. He walked like he was the boss.

He sat in the Alpha chair. He looked at the crowd. His face did not show any feelings.

The ceremony started. The Beta talked loud. "Wolves of Ashborne we honor the moon tonight. We find our mates tonight. The moon will show us the way."

The wolves stepped forward one by one. The Beta called their names. They walked to the center of the hall. Kael looked at them. His wolf sniffed the air. Some wolves felt the pull. Some did not.

I watched. My legs hurt. My heart beat fast. I wanted to run. I wanted to hide.

A warrior stepped forward. He was strong. The Alphas wolf stirred. The Beta said they were a match. They walked away together. They touched hands. Their eyes glowed.

Lira stepped forward. The Beta called her name. She walked to the center of the hall. She looked at Kael with eyes.

Kael looked at her. His face did not change. His wolf did not stir. Nothing.

Lira's smile went away. She waited. Kael said nothing.

The Beta said, "Step. Next."

Lira's face got red. She walked away. She was angry. She was humiliated.

The ceremony continued. Wolves stepped forward. Some were matched. Some were not. The night was long.

Then the Beta called my name.

"Sera Wolfe steps forward."

The room got quiet. Every eye turned to me.

I could not move. My feet were frozen. My heart stopped. My throat closed. The wolves stared at me. They looked confused. They looked disgusted. They looked amused.

Wren squeezed my arm. "Go, " she said. "You have to go."

I made myself walk to the center of the hall. My hands shook. My heart beat fast. I looked at the floor.

Kael looked at me. I felt his eyes on me. Heavy. Strong. His wolf sniffed the air.

Then his body went still.

His eyes got wide. His jaw opened. His face showed something. Something hungry. Something that looked like mine.

His wolf had found me.

The pack saw it. They saw Kael lean toward me. They saw his chest move fast. They saw his hands grip the chair.

The wolves whispered. They said, "The Alpha? The omega? No it cannot be."

My heart beat fast. My hands sweated. Something stirred in my chest. A warm feeling. A pull. A voice that said, "He is the one."

Kael stood up. He walked to me. He stopped in front of me. He looked at my dress. My skinny body. My dirty hands. My shaking shoulders.

His face changed. The hunger went away. His eyes got cold. Colder than I had ever seen them.

He looked at me. He looked at the pack. He looked at Lira. He looked at the warriors. He looked at the Beta.

I saw him make a choice. I saw his pride win. I saw him decide that I was not worth it.

He said, "I would rather be alone than be tied to someone like you."

His words hurt me. My chest felt empty. My knees buckled. My vision got dark. Something inside me broke.

He had rejected me. In front of everyone. He had called me bad. He had thrown me away like I was nothing.

The pack laughed. They laughed at me. They laughed at my pain.

Lira laughed the loudest.

I. Ran. I ran out of the hall. I ran through the keep. I ran into the forest.

I ran until my legs gave out. I fell to my knees. I screamed into my hands. I cried until my throat was sore. I cried until I had no tears left.

He had looked at me. He had felt the pull.. He had chosen pride over me.

I was nothing. Now I was less than nothing.

Under the hurt something stirred. Something warm. Something that kept me breathing.

Somewhere far away in the big hall Kael was sitting in his chair. He felt empty inside. His wolf was not making a sound. Kael did not get what was happening to him, this sickness that was already going through his blood.

He had said no to the woman who was meant to be with him.

Now the bad thing that was supposed to happen was already starting to happen to Kael. The curse had already begun to affect Kael.