Moonmark: The Alpha's Celestial Mate

In a realm hidden far beyond mortal sight, where age means nothing and they remain ever young, the night was sorrowful and the howls of bitter loss filled the air.

Selvayra had lost its Luna....Their queen , to a mistake that should have never been possible.

A human had crossed into their sacred realm.

"Your highness, the human escaped" a guard announced trembling in fear of what the Trueblood might do but the king wasn't even looking at him.

Kaelen Syrus fell to his knees, shattered by grief. His trembling hands were still stained with her blood.

"She's gone..." he choked tears running down his eyes.

Beside him, his brother-Riven whispered, "It's going to be alright." But even his voice sounded hollow as he stared at the bloodied body of the Luna, lifeless beneath the moonlight.

********

Fifty years later.

The skies were dark again-but this time, not from grief.

It was betrayal and dominance

Above the distant realm of Wisteria, witches raised their staffs in defense, hurling spells into the storm which did nothing to subdue the threat before them.

An Alpha who they had sheltered for years and taught their secrets ,turned against them and stole powers that should have never been tampered with, a power that corrupts whatever it touches.

The air was cold and tainted with evil as he hovered high in the storm, his cloak thrashing in the wind. Dark spells curled at his feet , his burning ember eyes were evident of malice and hatred.

His voice was poisonous.

"Wisteria will crumble." He muttered spells.

With a flick of his hand, darkness poured from the skies. Half the realm was cursed in a blink and he vanished.

But his true destination was elsewhere.

Selvayra.

He stood at its edge now, gazing upon the peaceful land.

They didn't sense the storm at their doorstep.

He walked through the palace with quiet pride, each step steady and unbothered. There was no rush, no fear....just the calm confidence of someone who had finally tasted power. His eyes held a strange stillness, calm... but deadly.

He entered the royal chambers.

"Riven!" Kaelen's face lit up, joy breaking through years of sorrow. "Where have you been? I've searched everywhere for you."

Riven ignores him and looks at a portrait of the late Luna at the far corner of Kaelen's chambers.

Confusion slipped into Kaelen's eyes. "Is there a problem?

Riven turns and stares at him, eyes burning with red embers.

"She's been dead for fifty years," he sneered. "Why not join her?"

Without warning, he lunged.

Kaelen barely dodged, stumbling back. "Riven?! What are you doing?!"

But this wasn't his brother anymore.

The air around Riven twisted with corrupted power. His voice deepened. His magic bled chaos.

Guards stormed in, shifting into their wolves, but they fell like leaves. One wave of Riven's hand, and their life drained away, bodies crumpling instantly.

"I've always hated you," Riven hissed. "From the moment you were born, my joy died. You were the golden child. I was the shadow."

Kaelen's chest tightened. "No... Mother loved you. Father did too-"

"They gave you the throne!" Riven roared. "I was born first! That crown was mine. And I'll take it, even if I have to drown this palace in blood."

Power surged through him as he struck again.

Kaelen fought back, dodging fire-laced spells and wild blasts that shattered the chamber. But he wasn't defenseless.

He grabbed the ancient staff passed down through their bloodline-the one meant only for the true Alpha King.

He slammed it into the ground.

Light exploded.

The wind howled.

The walls trembled as the power of the ancestors awakened.

A deep rumble echoed.

Then ,the floor split open.

A portal tore through the ground beneath Riven, a swirling storm of black and gold. It roared loudly, pulling at him with brutal force.

"No!" Riven screamed, claws scraping stone. "You can't do this! I'll return...I'll kill you! I'll rule them all!"

Kaelen stepped forward, face grim.

"By the bloodline of Selvayra," he declared, "I cast you into Vornyx-the realm of shadow and silence."

Blinding magic wrapped around Riven, binding him like chains. With a final scream, he was yanked into the void. The portal snapped shut.

*******

(Vornyx; the outlands)

In the cursed silence of the Outlands, Riven howled into the emptiness. No one heard. No one answered.

But deep inside, he knew one thing:

He hadn't been defeated.

He had planted his seed in Selvayra and he hadn't gone to Wisteria just for power.

He had gone... for the Moonmark.

The auditorium lights dimmed as Serena Rael stepped onto the stage, holding a velvet-covered case in her arms like it held the answers to every question ever asked.

She cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses. "This artifact was found in a collapsed temple on the edge of the Aksum ruins, in the remote area of Suldan, preserved underground until my team and I dug it up.

Looking at the symbols on the base of the case, it belonged to a forgotten sect of mystics....possibly early shifters," she said confidently and paused to stare at the crowd briefly, expecting them to start cheering and chanting her name, but they were just looking at her.

She proceeded to open the case with a practiced flair. Inside sat a tall vase.... Glowing faintly under the spotlight, marked with symbols and faded patterns.

That was when the reaction she was expecting came.

Gasps fluttered through the crowd and phones came up, their cameras flashing.

Serena smiled proudly and continued.

"This isn't just any relic. Legend says the magical vase of Aeyros reacts to emotional energy...especially longing. It hums, it glows... sometimes, it even levitates."

Whispers spread. Serena's heart pounded, but her smile didn't waver.

She placed the vase on a glass pedestal. "Observe."

She closed her eyes. Slowed her breathing. Thought of her mother's voice. Of her first expedition. Of the sting of being hurt.

She opened her eyes dramatically, whispering the chant she'd practiced and even bit her tongue a dozen times.

But there was silence...

The vase sat there. Motionless and dead.

A beat passed. Then two.

Someone coughed at the wrong timing, which everyone assumed was a mockery cough, inciting the crowd with a reaction Serena hadn't expected.

Laughter followed immediately.

A wave of it. Cold, Sharp and Merciless.

"I thought it was supposed to hum," a voice shouted.

"It's real. I...I swear, they tested it. It-" she tried to explain, but no one was listening.

"6 times a failure, just stick to modeling"

Serena clenched her fist. Yes, this was her sixth failed expedition, and she modeled as a side hustle, but this was her passion, and someone calling it a failure had to hit the wrong nerve.

"She probably bought it off eBay!" someone else said, not backing off from the opportunity placed before them to humiliate her.

Serena's throat burned, but she didn't move. In fact, she couldn't.

A man from the review panel leaned forward, sighing. ''Ms. Rael, is this a circus performance or a serious submission for consideration? Six times this year is a disgrace. You might have been good before, but exposing your curves on camera takes away talent.''

She forced her lips to move. ''How dare you comment on my integrity and my works, you have no right. What I do for my money is nothing for you to talk about. I might have failed this time, but i can...''

"Thank you," he interrupted. "That'll be all."

More laughter filled the air and phones were still recording.

Serena shifted and accidently elbowed the pedestal. The vase wobbled... tipped... then crashed to the floor with a dramatic crack.

"Well, it levitated, alright?"

"Archaeologist of the Year, ladies and gentlemen!"

Then laughter came again, harder this time.

Panicking, she bent down to pick up the fragments....and then she saw them.

Stamped in small block letters inside the rim of a shard:

MADE IN SUBAN POTTERY STUDIO

"A pottery studio. I've been scammed by a fucking pottery studio."

Her breath caught. Her fingers froze.

She'd been duped. She had been made a fool.... In front of everyone.

She fumed internally, swallowing the scream building in her throat.

With trembling hands, she gathered the pieces .

Her feet moved on their own, carrying her offstage before the shame could drown her completely.

"Wasn't she supposed to be brilliant?"

"Poor thing. Even the vase gave up on her."

*********

Serena stormed down the corridor, heels echoing on the marble floor. She shoved the door to the team room open and marched in like a female version of Ares. It was as though she had walked in to declare war.

Without hesitation, she grabbed the collar of the nearest man... Darren, the intern who'd handled the vase and slapped him across the face. Hard.

He staggered back, wide-eyed. "What the hell, Rena?!"

"You dare make a fool of me?!" Her voice cracked with fury.

"I did no such thing!" he snapped, holding his cheek. "We were all there when it was dug up. It worked, Serena! You saw it too!"

"Then explain this," she hissed, holding up the shard with trembling fingers. "It says MADE IN SUBAN PORTTERY STUDIO. It's a goddamn fake!"

Darren stared at it, stunned.

Serena turned away, chest heaving. "Look at me... my career, my passion is in ruins. The last time I made a major find, they turned it into a bloody poster! Now I'm a joke. A meme. A caricature passed around group chats for laughs."

"Okay, okay, you need to cool off. Just...just breathe. Keep calm, Serena-" Maya, her co-team worker, intervened.

"Get the fuck out of my face," she growled. "I need to fix this shit before everything I've worked for burns to ash."

She didn't wait for a reply.

With the broken shard still clenched in her fist, Serena pushed past him and out of the room.

There was only one place left that brought her peace.

And maybe...just maybe, she'd find a way out of this mess.

*******

(Library)

Serena stepped into the largest library in the city. The guards at the entrance barely blinked...everyone knew her face by now. She was practically a fixture here, always buried in some forgotten corner looking for something new.

Night had long crept in, but the library's warm lighting gave her just enough clarity to continue her search. She found her usual spot, settled into a creaky wooden chair, and began flipping through books like she had a hundred times before.

Nothing new came up.

Just the same tired theories, rewritten in fancier language.

Annoyed, she pushed the book aside and stood up. Her heels echoed softly on the marble as she walked deeper into the rows of shelves. She drifted past familiar aisles, further and further into the older sections.

Her steps slowed.

Something felt different.

She glanced around. These shelves... she didn't recognize them. The wood was darker and older, dust coated everything.

> Was this part of the library always here? She wondered.

She reached up and slid out a thick, rolled parchment wedged between two books. The scroll was brittle, its seal broken long ago. She blew off the dust and coughed softly into her sleeve, not wanting the librarian to hear.

She carefully unrolled it on a nearby desk.

"The Hidden Realm."

Her eyes narrowed as she read further.

> In every forest lies secrets... but if you look harder and search long enough, you might find a kingdom of rare jewels, mysterious artifacts, and humans who turn into wolves. Selvayra...

Her heart skipped.

"She turned the parchment, hoping for more. But that was it."

Then she read it again, "Selvayra."

Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. This... this was it. Not some hoax or broken artifact. This sounded real, wild and magical. Everything she needed. If she could trace even a single clue, anything connected to this place, she could salvage her reputation.

No. She could own it and show them she is good at everything she does.

Her name would be printed on banners. Her face on the museum walls again....this time ten times bigger.

She pressed the parchment against her chest, eyes closed, heart racing.

Then quickly, carefully, she rolled it up and slipped it into her bag.

She walked briskly toward the exit.

"Are you leaving?" the librarian called gently.

"Uh... yes," Serena replied.

"Did you find anything?"

She turned, masking the storm swirling inside her. "No. I didn't."

The woman nodded, returning to her work.

Serena pushed open the doors and stepped into the cool night air.

Her decision was made.

She wouldn't tell anyone. Not this time. If they found out, they'd sabotage her again.

This time, she would go alone.

This one was hers.

She was going to find Selvayra.

And she would make the world remember her name.

The next morning, Serena began her search.

She packed a small bag, made sure her phone and camera were fully charged, and hit the road. She drove from one forest to another, chasing rumors and blurry maps, hoping she'd find something...anything, that hinted at Selvayra's existence.

But nothing came up.

By nightfall, she was exhausted. The moon was already out, glowing high in the sky as she made her way back to her car. She slipped into the driver's seat and turned the key.

The engine made noises and stopped.

She tried again, but the car didn't budge.

"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered, slamming the steering wheel.

Her heart sank. She couldn't spend the night out here. She was deep in some backroad forest, and there was no chance of another car driving by.

Annoyed, Serena stepped out of the car with her bag and phone. She kicked the front tire out of frustration.

Big mistake.

"Ahh...dammit!" she groaned, hopping on one foot as pain shot up her leg.

She raised her phone, but of course, there was no signal.

"Fuck!!"

Her breath quickened. She looked around. The woods felt eerie at night, like they were watching her. She didn't want to admit it, but she was scared. Staying in her car seemed like the safest option.

She rushed to open the car door again, but this time it wouldn't open.

"What the hell?" she whispered.

It was as if the car had turned against her. Like it was punishing her for something. She tried again, tugging the handle, yanking it hard, but no luck.

The wind began to howl.

Clouds gathered above, thick and heavy, shifting unnaturally fast.

Then came a light....so bright she had to shield her eyes.

Serena slowly adjusted her glasses and looked up. The moon was glowing...no, burning....brighter than she had ever seen in her life. It was massive, glowing silver and white, casting light like a second sun.

Then she heard it.

A roar.

Low. Deep. Close.

Her eyes widened. "Tiger?"

She grabbed her bag and ran.

The sound of paws crashing through the forest followed her. She didn't dare look back. She dashed through the trees, dodging branches, heart pounding in her ears.

She didn't realize she had crossed a veil.

Everything happened fast.

She collided into someone...hard. A girl was shoved aside, and Serena instinctively took her place. The moonbeam struck her neck. Light erupted around her, surrounding her, blinding her.

And there, right in front of her...stood a man naked , from his chest to his torso.

She froze.

He looked just as shocked as she was.

She blinked, still processing what she was seeing. Then she screamed.

"Where are your clothes!?"

The people around them suddenly snarled. Their bodies shifted. Bones cracked, limbs stretched, fur burst through their skin. They weren't people anymore.

They were creatures... Wolves.

Serena stumbled backward, her entire body trembling. She looked around, horrified. This couldn't be real. But deep down, she already knew.

This was Selvayra.

Somehow... she'd found it.

>"But how? I was just running from..."

The creatures closed in.

She clutched her bag tightly to her chest, panicking.

This wasn't how she imagined discovering them. She was supposed to find the artifact first. She was supposed to film them from afar, not be this close.

And definitely not surrounded.

She screamed, long and loud...until her vision went black.

Her body crumpled to the ground.

They dragged her unconscious form through the dirt and locked her up in a prison cell deep underground.

*********

Selvayra.

A kingdom cloaked in mist , forests and tradition.

The Alpha King- Kaelen Syrus had ruled Selvayra without a Luna. Since the tragic loss of his mate and his brother's betrayal , he never loved again, hardened and distant, his heart was closed off...ruling Selvayra was all that mattered.

But the council had grown restless, worried for their King and his legacy.... He needed a Luna. He needed pups.

Tired of the constant demand, Kaelen gave in.

"Choose anyone you want," he'd said. "Just don't expect me to care."

They had gathered for the sacred mating ritual , surrounding the altar, waiting for the moon to bind the king and the one they had chosen for him.

No one expected a human to crash through the veil.

The sacred moonlight meant for the selected omega had struck the human girl instead. Now, she was bonded to him...irrevocably and the entire kingdom buzzed with the news.

*******

King Kaelen sat on his throne, draped in a dark royal robe, every inch the commanding presence his people feared and admired.

"How did the human find her way into Selvayra?" he asked, voice low and dangerous. "Kill her."

"No, my king," one of the council wolves stepped forward, voice tight. "We can't. She's your second and last chance.The bond is already formed and only she can birth your pups. Killing her means your death."

A tense silence filled the chamber.

"You know I despise humans," he said, voice deceptively calm but laced with steel. "This has never happened. The Moon Goddess would never allow this, it's an error."

Right on cue, a soft gust of air swept into the chamber.

The high Seeress appeared....silent, ethereal, her eyes glowing faintly.

She spoke without emotion. "The sacred mating ritual is complete. The mates must accept each other. The Moon Goddess approves."

She turned and walked away without another word, ignoring the storm of unasked questions left behind.

Kaelen clenched his fists.

"Leave me," he ordered.

The council obeyed without hesitation.

*********

Serena's eyes fluttered open.

Where...?

She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the blur. Her glasses were gone. Panic stirred in her chest.

Flashes of what happened came rushing back...Selvayra, the crash, the wolves, the light.

"Oh fuck... I'm done for," she whispered.

Her fingers fumbled blindly around her. The ground was cold. She could feel metal bars. A jail cell?

"I'm in prison," she muttered, heart pounding. "Where is my bag?!"

She searched every corner with trembling hands, but it was nowhere in sight, she kept fumbling till she found her glasses, she put it on immediately.

Her breath turned shallow, shaky. What would they do to her now?

Before she could think further, the metal doors screeched open.

Two guards entered without a word. They grabbed her roughly by the arms and dragged her out of the cell.

She groaned as the bright sunlight hit her eyes, and she realized it was morning already.

Her feet stumbled over the stone floor, but she didn't resist.

She'd signed up for this. She had no idea what "this" even was, but she'd face it head-on.

They threw her to the ground before the king.

Her palms scraped the floor. She looked up, slowly, and her breath hitched.

It was him.

The man from the night before.

Now fully dressed in his royal robe, he looked... unreal. Regal. Untouchable. His silver eyes gleamed like steel and his long black hair fell over part of his face. He looked like a weapon carved by the gods...divine, dangerous, distant.

"Wow," she whispered, almost involuntarily.

Still, her instincts screamed. This man...this creature...was a wolf. A shifter. No matter how beautiful he looked, he was still a predator.

Kaelen stared down at her with no softness, no warmth. Just cold acceptance of the fate he'd been handed.

He had only one thing to say.

"Mate with me and have my pups."