From Exile to Rise: the Legend of the Exiled Luna

The oracle had once prophesied that the child in our mother's belly would be the fated Luna of the next Alpha King of the entire werewolf kingdom.

For eighteen years, everyone believed that it was me, Serena Mills.

Until at my coming-of-age ceremony, the Moonlight Stone found no wolf within me.

In an instant, I went from the fated Luna in the prophecy to the pack's greatest disgrace. And my sister, Elena Mills, became the fated Luna.

I was facing the mockery of my packmates and the cold indifference of our parents.

Even my intended mate, Augusta Hayes, the Crown Prince of the kingdom, took Elena's hand in front of everyone and declared, "Only the fated Luna in the prophecy can be my Luna."

I lost all my hope.

But just as Elena was about to put on the diadem that the Fated Luna was meant to wear at the coming-of-age ceremony, the wolf that had lain dormant inside me for eighteen years suddenly opened its eyes.

...

An ancient, deep howl erupted from the depths of my mind.

Immediately after, a surge of immense power burst from my body and swept across the altar.

The flames around us dimmed all at once. The nearest guards stumbled backward on instinct, and the pack members below the platform went pale.

Someone shouted, "A powerful wolf has awakened! Right there on the altar!"

Every pair of eyes in the pack turned toward Elena and me.

My heart jolted with shock, and then ecstasy shot through me.

I thought maybe the Moonlight Stone had been wrong. I did have a wolf.

But the power only lasted for a fleeting moment and dispersed.

Then a chill went down my spine.

I pressed my hand to my chest on instinct and suddenly remembered the glass of wine Elena had handed me herself before the ceremony began.

When I had taken a sip, it tasted just a little more bitter than usual.

I was about to speak when a sharp gasp came from beside me.

Elena's body went limp, and she collapsed.

"Elena!" My mother rushed up onto the altar, brushing past me, and pulled her tightly into her arms.

Elena's face was deathly pale, her forehead covered in cold sweat. "Mother, it hurts so much..."

My mother looked out at the crowd, her eyes red. "It was Elena. It was her wolf that just awakened. She has been frail since childhood, so she simply could not handle it."

The crowd below the altar, who were shocked and suspicious, quickly seemed like they had understood something.

"The Moonlight Stone chose Elena all along."

"Of course it was her."

"Her wolf is so powerful. No wonder it drained her."

I lifted my head and hurriedly protested, "It was not her. That was my wolf."

My mother whipped her head around, her expression darkening in an instant. "Enough, Serena. The Moonlight Stone found no wolf in you. Even now, you still want to deceive everyone?"

I tried to say, "I did not..."

My mother acted as though she had not heard me, with nothing but a look of reproach in her eyes. "Elena has only just awakened, and she is weak. Yet you show no concern for her, and instead you rush to claim her wolf as your own! Serena, how come I never know how selfish you truly are?"

I stared blankly at our mother.

This had been happening ever since I was a child.

If I beat Elena in training, our mother would only scold me for running too fast and making Elena unhappy.

Even when I got injured, she simply told me to clean my wounds, so Elena would not be frightened by them.

Just because I was the older sister, the moment Elena cried, I had to be the one to give in.

"Mother, please do not blame Serena." Elena gently tugged at our mother's sleeve. "She simply wanted too badly to be Crown Prince Augusta's Luna, and she cannot accept it yet."

Laughter rippled through the crowd below.

"So she just cannot bear to let go of the crown prince."

"Being the Fated Luna for eighteen years and then suddenly becoming someone with no wolf within her, of course she is bitter about it."

"But passing off her sister's wolf as her own was truly shameless."

I clenched my fists tightly.

I had never once called myself the Fated Luna.

It was these people who found that Elena was frail since childhood and fit only to be a fragile Omega, and me strong-bodied and faster than many of the male werewolves, and decided that I would become Luna one day.

Now that they had guessed wrong, they claimed I was the one who had deceived them.

"If you do not believe me, then let me touch the stone again to see if I have a wolf or not." I looked toward the oracle.

"One more try, and we will know whose wolf that was."

"There is no need." Our father's commanding voice rose from below the platform.

He walked up onto the altar step by step and stopped in front of me. "The stone has already told us. Such a test at the coming-of-age ceremony is only ever performed once. To touch the Moonlight Stone again would be to question the judgment of the oracle and the Moon Goddess."

When he finished speaking, his gaze swept past me and briefly flicked toward the seats for the royal family.

Augusta and several royal elders sat there, and the murmuring below the altar was growing louder and louder.

I hurriedly spoke up. "Father, that surge of wolf power just now..."

"Enough." He unleashed the power of an Alpha, and the power crashed down on me.

My knees buckled, and I nearly collapsed to the ground.

Our father looked down at me condescendingly. There was nothing in his eyes but the cold of a man who had already weighed all pros and cons. "Today is the day Elena has been confirmed as the fated Luna. You have already enjoyed eighteen years of glory that should have belonged to her. Do not ruin her coming-of-age ceremony."

My eyes were stung by tears, and I could not stop myself from retorting. "I entered the forest to hunt at thirteen and joined the most brutal training at fifteen. I broke three ribs during the training and still did not quit. All because you told me the future Luna could not be someone weak. And now, you're telling me I've been living her life?"

Not a single flicker of emotion crossed our father's face. "Those were all things you were meant to endure as the daughter of the Alpha of the Nightveil Pack."

With one sentence, he dismissed all my efforts in the past years.

He turned his head and ordered the guards. "Take her away."

Two guards gripped my shoulders tightly.

And despair gripped me.

And just then, a deep voice came over from the seats of the royal family. "Wait."

I looked up.

It was Augusta.

For the past eighteen years, he had always believed that I would be his Luna.

When I was hurt, he bandaged my wounds himself.

When I came back from my first hunt, he hung a wolf fang necklace around my neck and told me he would always stand by my side.

So here and now, I still couldn't help but feel a flicker of hope when I looked at him.

Augusta walked up to me and raised his hand, signaling the guards to let go. "Let me see for myself."

The moment the words left his mouth, I seized his hand.

The instant our hands touched, Augusta's entire body went rigid.

His eyes blew wide, veins bulging along the backs of his hands, and his aura of a high-ranking Alpha surged outward uncontrollably, crushing down on everyone around us.

The pack members below the platform stumbled backward.

"His Highness's wolf is responding!"

"How is that possible?"

"Could Serena really be his mate?"

Augusta's gaze locked onto my face. His breathing had grown much heavier than before.

I could even feel the wolf inside him trying to get close to me.

This was the bond between wolves answering.

I hurriedly said, as if I had found my last hope. "You felt that, didn't you? Your wolf recognized me. If I truly had no wolf, why would he respond to me?"

Augusta's eyes flickered. He was wavering.

Just then, Elena gave a soft cough.

"Serena is right." She straightened up in our mother's arms. "Since His Highness's wolf responded to Serena, maybe the test earlier really did go wrong."

All eyes turned to her.

Elena bit her lip slightly. "Serena doesn't have to touch the Moonlight Stone again. If she can just turn into her wolf form in front of everyone, everything will be clear."

The crowd murmured in agreement, and their murmurs came from all sides.

I had no choice but to close my eyes and desperately call out to the wolf deep within my mind.

I begged her. "Come out. Please."

If she would just appear one more time, it would prove I wasn't lying.

But my wolf felt locked away somewhere impossibly deep within my mind.

No matter how hard I called, she didn't answer.

I clenched my jaw. My nails began to grow and sharpen, but they only held for a split second before snapping back to normal.

The crowd erupted in laughter.

"I knew she couldn't do it."

"His Highness was probably just protecting her out of habit."

I opened my eyes.

Elena was watching me.

Tears still glistened on her cheeks, but there was not a shred of surprise in her gaze, as if she had known from the very start that I would never be able to turn into my wolf form.

I knew she had done something to me.

I turned to the oracle. "Please give me a little more time. Before the ceremony, Elena gave me a glass of wine that tasted strange, and my body felt off ever since. Please examine my blood. If you find nothing, I will confess."

Elena's face went pale for a heartbeat, then her eyes welled up again. "Serena, that wine was prepared by Mother. I drank some too. Are you really willing to drag Mother into this just to save yourself?"

For a brief moment, a look of hesitation flickered across my mother's face.

But Elena only tugged gently on her sleeve, and my mother immediately said to defend her, "There is no need to put your sister through another humiliation over your speculation."

I stared at her. "So even if that wine really was spiked, it doesn't matter?"

My mother avoided my gaze. "You can't turn into wolf form, so you resort to slandering Elena. Serena, how much longer are you going to keep this up?"

I clenched my fists and looked up at Augusta.

I pinned my last shred of hope on him.

But he simply withdrew his hand, slowly, and his eyes turned cold. "What I need is a Luna chosen by the Moon Goddess."

I lowered my gaze to the wolf fang necklace hanging at my chest.

It was the token he had given me.

I asked in despair, "What about our betrothal?"

Augusta did not answer. He simply reached up and tore the necklace from my neck.

A deep gash opened across my throat, but he only looked down and gently wiped the blood from the fang of the necklace. "There is no betrothal between us anymore. I cannot risk my throne on someone with no wolf."

He turned to the pack members below the altar, his voice hardened and cold. "Serena questioned the judgment of the Moon Goddess's sacred relic, falsely claimed to be the fated Luna in the prophecy, and slandered her own sister at the coming-of-age ceremony. Under the law of the pack, anyone who desecrates the coming-of-age rite or falsely claims to be the future Luna prophesied by the Moon Goddess shall be exiled. Effective immediately."

No matter how fiercely I resisted, the chain was still fastened around my wrists.

The cheers on the altar had not stopped. Elena was about to take my place and receive the pack's blessing.

And all I could do was let two guards march me down the long street that had once been lined with flowers for me.

The rough edges of the chain scraped across the skin of my wrists, and I felt a sharp, burning pain.

The guard behind me gave me a hard shove. "Move faster!"

I barely kept my footing and couldn't help glancing back. "I'm not going to run. There's no need to shove me like that."

But the moment the words left my mouth, I froze.

At some point, the one holding the chain had been replaced by Ryan Lambert, someone whom I had once risked being surrounded by beasts to save.

I thought perhaps he might be my chance.

I felt slightly relieved.

"Ryan, the chain is too tight," I said, raising my hands to show him my wrists.

The chain had already rubbed my wrists raw.

I added, "Could you loosen it a little? I won't run, and I won't make things hard for you."

If he had only loosened the chain a little, my wounds wouldn't have been chafed open again with every step.

But Ryan only glanced down at my wrists. "Deal with it."

I figured he was worried about the other guard overhearing, so I dropped my voice. "You just need to loosen it a tiny bit. No one will notice."

"I said, deal with it." He said, his voice even colder.

I said, lowering my voice. "Ryan. Have you forgotten the stampede of wild animals three years ago? Everyone else was running away. I was the one who went back for you. If it hadn't been for me, you would be dead."

Ryan's lips curled into a sneer. "Ms. Mills, you don't actually think I should be grateful to you for the rest of my life over that, do you? You saved me once, and you expect me to betray the Alpha of our pack and the future Luna for you?"

I was stunned.

Ryan let out a scornful snort.

The other guard shoved me onto the prisoner's cart.

The cart slowly pulled away from the pack, and the trees around us grew thinner and thinner.

The air was thick with the stench of rotting leaves and blood.

I grabbed the wooden bars. "This isn't the road to the border. Where did my father order you to take me?"

No one answered.

Then the cart rolled into a desolate valley.

Animal bones were scattered across the ground, and the tree trunks were covered in deep claw marks.

This was the barren land, the territory of wild wolves.

I shot to my feet, and the chain on my wrists clattered wildly against the wooden bars. Ryan suddenly called out, "Stop!"

The cart came to a halt.

The other guard unlatched the door of the cart and dragged me out by the chain.

Ryan swung down from his horse as well.

That was when I noticed a brand-new silver badge on his chest.

On it was the insignia of a royal guard.

With his background, no amount of years spent grinding away could have made him a royal guard.

I couldn't help asking, "Elena gave you that?"

Ryan's hand went instinctively to the badge, and a look of smugness flickered across his eyes. "Ms. Elena Mills understands reward and punishment far better than you ever did. She knows who truly deserves to be promoted."

I stared at him. "So you traded my life for this position?"

"You don't have to put it like that." Ryan frowned, as though he were the one who had been insulted. "You're not the future Luna anymore. Someone without a wolf was never meant to stay in the pack and waste our food."

I felt my blood run cold. "I saved your life."

"Enough." He cut me off impatiently. "Even without you, the other guards would have come back for me. You insisted on playing the hero. And now you're using that to guilt-trip me into doing something for you to repay you? Don't you find that ridiculous?"

I looked down at the chain on my wrists.

Without the chain, my odds of survival would go up a bit.

I kept trying to reason with Ryan. "For the fact that I truly did save your life, at least take the chain off."

Ryan jingled the keys in his hand, a mocking smile on his face. "Haven't you insisted that you have a wolf? If you're so capable, then survive on your own."

I stared at him. "Aren't you afraid that one day, I'll actually make it back?"

Ryan laughed.

"You?" He swung up onto his horse, looking down at me condescendingly. "What makes you think a worthless waste who can't even turn into wolf form like you ever make it back? Even if you somehow don't get eaten by wild wolves, you'll just end up as a rogue werewolf on this barren land."

I stood in the desolate valley, watching them disappear into the darkness of the night.

Only then did I understand that once I lost the identity of the future Luna, everything I had ever been given became worthless.

The wind swept through the valley.

A rustling came from the bushes.

I whipped around, but all I saw were pairs of green eyes opening in the darkness.

Wild wolves emerged from around the valley, closing in on me from every side.

I looked down and picked up the length of chain trailing on the ground, winding it around my palms in loops.

The lead gray wolf bared its fangs, saliva dripping from the corners of its mouth.

Then it lunged at me.