Scarlet Moon: His to Claim

I always thought the mate ceremony would become the happiest moment of my life.

I imagined glowing lights, thunder in my chest, and my wolf howling in joy the second my fated mate touched me and I imagined being chosen and being wanted.

I never imagined humiliation.

I never imagined that when I stepped forward, heart pounding, trembling under the moon's light, that I'd be shattered in front of the entire academy.

But that's exactly what Alpha Dante Thorne did; he didn't dare to hesitate, and he didn't even flinch either.

He just rejected me in front of the whole academy, like I was nothing.

His words were so cold and brutal, loud enough for the entire crowd to hear and for my soul to break.

"You?" he said, disgust coating every syllable. "You're my mate?" he scoffed.

I couldn't move; I couldn't speak but instead I just stood there frozen, trapped in the firestorm of the bond rushing through my veins. My wolf whimpered, clawing inside me, desperate to reach for him.

But Dante didn't move toward me; he didn't even touch me.

He stepped back.

The entire crowd went still; even the breeze stopped.

Dante tilted his head, his silver eyes glinting like sharpened knives beneath the moonlight.

"This has to be a mistake," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "The Moon Goddess doesn't pair Alphas with... with that."

Laughter broke out from somewhere behind me-sharp, mocking, and vicious. I didn't turn to see who it was. I couldn't. My spine locked in place, and my pulse hammered like a warning drum.

"That girl's unshifted," someone whispered.

"She hasn't even unlocked her wolf yet."

"She's not even worthy of Omega status, let alone Luna."

"She's an embarrassment."

"She's weak."

I heard every word and Dante didn't dare to stop them.

He stared at me like I'd crawled out of the mud, like I didn't belong in the same air as him, as if the bond between us was a joke.

And then he spoke again his words sliced me in half.

"I, Dante Thorne of the Black Fang Pack, reject you, Eva Monroe, as my mate."

The gasp that echoed around the clearing felt like a bomb detonating in my chest. My vision blurred.

Rejected.

The sacred bond-severed.

In front of everyone.

My knees buckled slightly, but I didn't fall. I give him that. I wouldn't give any of them that.

My wolf howled in agony inside me. She wasn't just hurt; she was gutted. I could feel her collapsing, curling in on herself, broken and raw.

"I never wanted a weak mate," he continued. "Let alone a charity case with no wolf, no status and no strength. You were born to serve, not to stand beside an Alpha."

The words hit harder than any fist. They were designed to humiliate, to crush me completely.

Tears burned in my eyes, but I blinked them back with every ounce of pride I had left.

He wanted me to break.

But I'd broken before, the night my parents were slaughtered, the night I'd been left with nothing but scars and silence. I survived that and would survive this too.

Barely.

I straightened my spine, lifted my chin, and met his gaze dead-on.

"If rejecting me makes you feel powerful," I said, voice low and shaking, "then maybe you're weaker than I thought."

Dante's smirk twitched. For a second, something flashed in his eyes, something unreadable. But it vanished just as quickly.

"Run back to your little dorm, mutt," he said, turning away. "And pray the next Alpha you smell isn't as honest as I am."

I stood there for one more moment.

Frozen.

Shattered.

Alone.

Then I turned and walked away.

No one stopped me. No one spoke to me either, just whispers that followed like ghosts, curling around my feet and slicing into my back.

"Did you see her face?"

"She actually thought he'd accept her."

"Pathetic."

I kept walking.

Faster, faster, until I reached the treeline, until the academy grounds blurred behind me.

And then I ran.

The moment I was out of sight, I collapsed to my knees in the woods behind the ceremonial platform, fists clenched in the dirt, my chest heaving with silent screams.

The pain of the severed bond throbbed through my ribs like a dying heartbeat. My soul felt like it had been ripped open, exposed to every cruel whisper, every mocking stare, every judgment.

My wolf was silent now.

She hadn't spoken since he rejected us.

And part of me wished I could disappear into the earth and never be seen again.

I was nothing. I'd always been nothing. And now the whole world knew it.

I curled into myself, arms wrapped around my knees, and let the tears fall - hot and angry, streaking down my face like blood.

I don't know how long I stayed there. Minutes? Hours?

But eventually, something shifted.

Not around me.

Inside me.

A low hum began to rise in my chest. At first, I thought it was the wind.

But it wasn't.

It was me.

The pain didn't fade - it sharpened. Hardened. Morphed into something colder, darker, and more dangerous.

I wasn't crying anymore.

I was shaking.

From rage.

From betrayal.

From the flicker of something powerful and ancient waking up inside me.

How dare he?

How dare he reject me like I was trash, like I wasn't even a person, let alone a mate?

How dare he throw me away without even looking beneath the surface?

He hadn't seen me. Not really.

But he would.

They all would.

I stood slowly, fists clenched at my sides, the hum in my veins intensifying into something electric. The wind shifted around me, brushing against my skin like it recognized something was changing.

"I may not have a wolf yet," I whispered to the trees, to the stars, and to the moon, "but I am not weak."

The words felt like a promise.

A vow.

A curse.

I wiped the dirt and blood from my palms and looked up at the sky.

The full moon shone bright-pale, perfect, and watching.

A scarlet ring shimmered faintly around its edges.

An omen.

A warning.

And suddenly... I wasn't afraid.

I wasn't broken.

I was becoming.

And when I returned, I wouldn't be the girl who got rejected in front of the entire academy.

I'd be the girl they'd never forget.

The girl who rose from the ashes.

The girl who made the Alpha who threw her away...

Beg.

The worst part wasn't the rejection.

It was waking up the next morning knowing I still had to walk through the doors of Blackthorn Academy with everyone staring at me like I was something to laugh at.

Or worse, pity.

I stood in front of the full-length mirror in my dorm room, trying to find a version of myself that didn't look shattered. But all I saw was a girl with swollen eyes, clenched fists, and bruises no one could see.

I hadn't slept.

The echo of Dante's voice still haunted me-cruel, sharp, and final.

"You're weak."

I could still feel the rejection humming under my skin like a dull burn, the mate bond ripped apart and left to bleed. My wolf hadn't made a sound all night. The silence in my soul was suffocating.

I had every reason to hide.

But I didn't.

Instead, I pulled on my uniform, tied my curls into a high ponytail, and walked straight out the door-head high, heart screaming.

The moment I stepped into the courtyard, the whispers started.

"There she is..."

"She really came back?"

"After that?"

I didn't look at them. I didn't flinch. But every step felt like walking across broken glass.

A group of Betas from House Vortex passed by me, openly staring. One of the girls let out a fake gasp and clutched her chest.

"Oh no! my fated mate rejected me! What will I do now?" she mocked, dramatically collapsing into her friend's arms.

They howled with laughter.

I kept walking.

Two male Alphas leaned against the brick archway near the training grounds, their eyes dragging over me slowly.

"Didn't think she'd have the guts to show her face," one muttered.

"She must be desperate for attention. Rejected sluts always are."

Heat flushed my cheeks, but I didn't stop. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

Every hallway, every classroom and every corner of campus was filled with eyes that followed me like shadows. Some were smug. Some pitiful. Some are curious. But none of them are kind.

Even the professors glanced at me differently now. Like I was fragile.

The Luna Ceremony was sacred a celestial match. To be rejected during the bond was more than just personal heartbreak.

It was social suicide.

And I'd been killed in front of an audience.

Lunch was worse.

The dining hall buzzed with chatter and clinking cutlery, but the moment I stepped in, silence swept through the room like a plague.

I felt every stare like a knife to the spine.

Normally, I sat with Mira, my only real friend but her seat was already taken. She looked up at me, eyes wide, lips parted, guilt written all over her face.

"Eva," she started to stand.

But the girl next to her tugged her arm, whispering something in her ear. Mira hesitated... then slowly sat back down, avoiding my eyes.

My heart cracked again.

I turned away and walked to the far end of the room, grabbing an empty tray and choosing the only isolated table in the corner right next to the exit.

Half the room pretended not to watch me.

The other half didn't bother hiding it.

They whispered and they laughed, some even took photos.

Like I was some fallen queen now crawling among the dirt.

My hands trembled around my glass. I gritted my teeth until my jaw ached.

How could people be so cruel?

I'd done nothing to them.

Except to exist, except to be born without a shifted wolf.

Except being chosen for someone who didn't want me.

I looked down at my food but couldn't bring myself to eat.

The shame tasted worse.

Then I heard it.

His voice.

"She's lucky I even looked at her."

I stiffened instantly.

He stood by the Alpha table, laughing with his crew - all of them powerful, arrogant, and dripping in status and ego. He wore his uniform like armor, his sleeves rolled to reveal his veins, his smile sharper than the knives they trained with.

He hadn't even looked in my direction once.

But I knew he saw me.

He wanted me to hear.

"She didn't deserve the bond," he said, his voice calm but loud. "The Goddess made a mistake. I fixed it."

A few girls nearby giggled, fawning over him like he hadn't just humiliated a mate the day before.

"She's nothing," he added, stabbing into his steak. "No wolf, no power and place here."

He didn't know I could hear him.

Or maybe he did.

Maybe that was the point.

I stood up, my chair scraping harshly against the floor.

For a moment, all eyes turned to me.

I held my head high.

And walked out without looking back.

******

Back in my room, I let myself collapse on the bed and buried my face in the pillow and screamed-raw, muffled, and violent. Not from pain this time.

But from rage.

I hated him.

I hated the way his voice still echoed in my head. I hated the way my body still ached from the bond. I hated the way I wanted to cry every time someone looked at me.

But most of all, I hated how much I wanted to prove him wrong.

That fire I felt in the woods last night - it hadn't died. It flickered now, faint but steady, burning low beneath the surface.

I wasn't going to be the pathetic little girl he threw away.

I wasn't going to be the academy's punching bag.

Let them laugh; I would survive this.

And when the day came that I rose - fully shifted, fully awakened, fully me-I'd make every single one of them regret the day they ever doubted me.

Especially him.

Especially Dante Thorne.

That night, I stood by the tall windows of the library, staring up at the moon through glass streaked with rain.

A storm was coming.

I could feel it in my bones.

Something inside me was changing.

The whispers in the back of my mind were growing louder. The heat in my blood no longer felt like pain.

It felt like power.

Suddenly, a sharp jolt of heat shot down my spine. I gasped, clutching the windowsill, heart hammering.

My vision blurred.

A flash of silver - a shadow in the mirror - glowing eyes that weren't mine.

Then...

Silence.

The feeling vanished.

I stood there, panting, shaken.

What the hell was that?

Was it my wolf?

Was something... awakening?

Before I could gather myself, the library doors creaked open behind me.

Footsteps echoed across the marble floor slow and confident.

I turned, heart racing but it wasn't a professor.

It wasn't a student.

It wasn't Dante.

It was someone I'd never seen before and his eyes were glowing.

If the Moon Goddess was testing me, she wasn't being subtle about it.

After the public rejection, the shame, and the suffocating stares, I thought maybe, just maybe, I could fade into the background. Keep my head down. Survive the week.

But Dante Thorne wasn't done with me.

He wanted me crushed.

And he wasn't going to stop until I bled.

"Everyone, settle down. Take your seats. Today we'll be discussing wolf hierarchy, power dominance, and the Alpha Command," Professor Halford said as we filed into Advanced Pack Dynamics.

It was one of the only classes required for all senior Alphas and top-tier candidates. I wasn't supposed to be here. Not without a shifted wolf. But the headmaster had allowed my enrollment due to "academic merit," which only made the Alphas hate me more.

I walked in last, as usual, taking the empty seat in the back.

Two rows ahead of me, Dante sat sideways in his chair, legs stretched, lounging like a predator with no cage. His black shirt strained against his chest, jaw shadowed with the kind of effortless arrogance that made girls weak in the knees and made me want to punch something.

He hadn't even looked at me yet, but I could feel him, like gravity.

A dangerous pull I wanted to rip from my body.

"Today we'll be doing something different," Halford said. "We'll be practicing command projection; pair up and Alphas will issue a command. Submissives will resist."

My stomach twisted.

Pairing up meant exposure and resistance meant vulnerability.

My wolf still hadn't surfaced. I didn't know how to shield myself from an Alpha Command, let alone stand up to one.

"Eva Monroe," Halford called, his eyes flicking to the back. "Since you are, by default, unshifted, you'll be used to demonstrate up front." I froze.

The room went deathly quiet.

Dante's head turned.

And for the first time today, his eyes met mine, cold and sharp.

I stood slowly, every step toward the front of the room like dragging chains. Whispers followed me like a second skin.

"She's going to get wrecked."

"She shouldn't even be in this class."

"This is going to be hilarious."

I stood in front of the class, spine stiff, with my heart hammering.

Professor Halford gestured. "Alpha Dante, since you are the highest-ranking male here, you'll demonstrate the command."

My breath caught, of course, of course it had to be fucking Dante. Why did the Moon Goddess put me into these trials?

Dante rose smoothly from his seat, steps confident and slow as he walked to the center. He stopped in front of me, his scent hitting me like a punch-earth and ice something darker beneath it.

"Try not to cry this time, little mutt," he whispered.

I clenched my fists.

Halford stepped back. "Begin when ready."

Dante smiled.

But there was no kindness in it.

Only destruction.

He stepped closer, too close. His voice dropped to a smooth, lethal tone.

"Kneel."

The word hit me like a physical force.

It slammed into my skull, my chest, and my knees. My vision swam. The room blurred. My body screamed to obey.

My wolf-silent for days-let out a faint whimper in the back of my mind.

He's your Alpha; obey him.

No, I wouldn't.

I forced my legs to lock, grinding my teeth, every muscle trembling under the weight of the command.

I would not kneel; I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

Seconds passed then more and my knees were buckled-but I didn't fall.

I stood tall, sweat running down my spine, heart breaking through my ribs.

"Interesting," Halford murmured. "She's resisting."

Dante's jaw tensed.

He stepped even closer, now only inches from me. His voice dropped to a growl.

"Kneel, Eva."

My body shook violently, my hands trembled, and my knees screamed, but still-I did not fall.

The pain was unbearable. The command was laced with raw Alpha power, crushing and dark.

Tears burned in the corners of my eyes.

But I kept my head up.

I looked him straight in the eyes and whispered, "You already broke the bond. What makes you think you can break me?"

A flicker of something passed over his face.

Surprise?

Frustration maybe?

He masked it quickly with a smirk. "You call this strength? You look like you're about to collapse."

"Better than crawling."

Gasps echoed behind me.

Halford cleared his throat. "That's enough, Thorne."

Dante stepped back, slow and deliberate, his gaze never leaving mine. But the smirk was gone.

I stood there, body aching, muscles trembling-but I stood.

"I didn't think you had a spine," he said quietly, just enough for me to hear.

I didn't answer.

I just turned and walked back to my seat.

And for the first time since the rejection-I saw something new in the room.

Not just disgust or laughter, but doubt.

Maybe even fear.

After class, I made it halfway down the hall before the footsteps came behind me fast and heavy.

Dante grabbed my wrist and yanked me into the empty stairwell, slamming the door shut behind us.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?" he growled, eyes blazing.

I yanked my wrist free. "Existing."

"You don't get to play the victim."

"I'm not playing anything. You're the one who dragged me in here like a psycho."

His jaw clenched. "You humiliated me."

I barked a laugh. "You rejected me in front of the entire school-and I humiliated you?"

"You don't get to talk back to me."

I stepped in, toe-to-toe with him.

"I don't belong to you anymore, remember? You made damn sure of that."

His nostrils flared. He looked like he wanted to tear something apart.

"Why didn't you kneel?" he asked.

"Because you're not my Alpha."

His eyes darkened.

And for a brief second, I saw it, not anger but confusion.

Like he didn't understand why I wasn't broken.

Why I wasn't chasing him, why I didn't still want him. I turned away and pushed open the door.

"I may not have a wolf," I said, not looking back, "but whatever's growing inside me? It won't kneel for you."

I left him there-fuming with anger, speechless. And for the first time... I felt powerful, but I also knew one thing with certainty: Dante Thorne wasn't done with me and next time, he wouldn't just try to break me.

He'd try to destroy me.