The Alpha's Forgotten Luna

Ava's POV

Blackvale hadn't changed.

Not the twisted trees, nor the suffocating silence pressing down on the land like it held its breath. And not the eyes staring at me.

The eyes that once watched me burn now followed me as if they had just seen a ghost step through the borders.

Maybe they had.

It's been ten years.

Ten years since I had set foot in Blackvale, since my boots last touched the cursed soul of the Blackvale Pack. Ten years since my sister drowned... and I was blamed for it.

Seraphina.

The last memory I ever had of her was that miserable day in the forest. It changed my fate for good. "Why did she die but not you?" Those bitter words had been a slap, it wasn't the first my drunken father had muttered to me.

But it was the worst thing he could ever say to me that day on Seraphina's grave, rain pouring down his face like tears he could no longer shed.

"The moon Goddess made a mistake. She should've taken you instead!!!."

Me.

I was just eight years old then, and I believed him, every word of it. She died because of me. I tightened the cloak around my shoulders, as if that would shield me from their judgment. It couldn't. Nothing could.

The note I had received still rested in my pocket, wet from the sweat in my palm. The Alpha's seal was stamped in deep crimson wax.

"Return to Blackvale. Your presence is required at the Luna ceremony... my Beloved mate-A.V.

Alpha Caden. Varkas.

That name sent a chill down me. Everyone in the rogue land whispered about him. He was ruthless, commanding. Cold.

The kind of Alpha who didn't tolerate weakness. But my wolf...she didn't care. She stirred the moment I saw his name on that note, as if his very existence called to her.

"You're meant to be with him," she whispered. The moment the bond had snapped into place on the morning of my eighteenth birthday.

I knew. I felt it deep inside my bones-raw and final. My mate wasn't just going to be anyone. He was the Alpha of the pack that had kicked me out like garbage..

The same pack that watched my father cast me away under storm clouds and grief. "Follow me." One of the guards gestured.

His nose curled at my scent as they met me inside the border. The path led me towards the pack's stronghold, and with every step, the weight of invisible eyes grew heavier.

Children peeking from behind their parents' legs. Elders frowning behind the windows, while some whispered my name like it was poison. Others just stared.

"I thought she's supposed to be dead by now," one woman spat on the ground as I passed. But I kept walking, I had to.

"What's that cursed girl doing here," another hissed. But I paid them no attention, everything was about to change for me.

The guard led me to the Grand hall. Massive iron doors stood tall before us, carved with the Blackvale crest-a crescent moon pierced through a fang. It groaned as it opened.

Warmth hit me first. Then came the noise. The hall was shining with a thousand floating lanterns. Wolves dressed in elegant ceremonial robes filled the room.

Gold banners covered the stone pillars, music drifting like smoke-haunting, beautiful, and far too cheerful for what this place was meant to be.

A ceremony.

My own Luna ceremony. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. There he was, at the far end of the room, standing under a silver chandelier.

His broad shoulders. Jet-black hair swept back. A jaw carved by the Gods themselves. He wore a blood-red coat embroidered with silver thread and deep scowl that made my breath stop.

Alpha Caden Varkas.

My mate.

His scent hit me like a storm-heavy, dominant, impossible to ignore. Every one of my instincts is screaming at me to run. But another part-one starved of affection, of being wanted.

It whimpered and leaned in the moment our eyes locked onto each other. And for a second...I saw something in his eyes. Surprise. Confusion.

Love?

But then it was gone immediately, replaced with cold indifference. Still, my heart skipped. Stupidly. Hopefully.

This was the moment. The one I had always dreamed of a thousand nights in exile.The moment the Moon Goddess would right the wrongs of my past.

If he marked me tonight... if he claimed me....I'd be his Luna. No longer forgotten, no longer cursed as they say.

He stepped closer to me, the room falling into silence. I could hear the sound of my own heartbeat. The thrum of it echoed in my ears like a war drum.

His boots clicked against the floor. Slow, deliberate. Measured. He stopped just inches from me. Tall and towering.

My wolf whimpered inside me. She wanted to give in, to kneel before him. And I nearly did with those eyes staring into mine.

Caden stared at me for what felt like forever. His eyes searched for mine. His lips parting slightly to finally say the words I've been waiting my whole life to hear.

Say it, I begged silently. "Make me yours."

He raised a hand.

And then-he spoke.

"I reject you, Ava Duskthorn."

I froze, unable to breathe. "W....what....?" I whispered. His voice was low, cruelly commanding and steady.

"You're not my Luna."

Gasps echoed across the hall like the sound of thunder. My knees felt weak, tears already streaming down my eyes, blinding my eyesight.

I blinked, certain I had misheard him. Certainly this was some sort of twisted joke, maybe he was trying to test me to know if I was really fit to be his Luna.

He turned away from me, looking over the crowd. "My Luna is alive," he announced. "And she's not her."

And at that moment, it dawned on me.

My fate was about to turn out for the worse.

Ava's POV

"Caden, why....? I....I'm your mate. The Moon Goddess chose..."

He turned towards me, his eyes colder than the winter that had once howled through my exile. "Don't speak her name to me."

The words hit harder than any blow.

"Caden, please... I-"

His lips curled, not in warmth, but pure hatred. "Whatever the Moon Goddess gave us was a mistake." I stumbled back as if I had just been struck by lightning.

"A mistake?"

But his eyes swept over me-empty, cold. "I never wanted you, I never will. My Luna...the woman I love...was taken from me ten years ago. And now, she's returned."

Everything inside me immediately shattered. "But...you sent for me. You called me back." A bitter laughter escaped his lips. Sharp and humourless.

"You think I summoned you for love? You are an obligation, Ava. Nothing more than that." My heart shattered into bits, sharp and merciless, as if someone had just taken my soul in their hands and crushed it without warning.

The words hung thick in the air between us, rough and cruel. They pierced straight through my chest, deeper than any blade ever could.

For a moment, the world stood still. The hundreds of eyes watching, the looming banners ahead-all blurred into nothing but a cold, suffocating void.

I had spent ten years alone, in exile, telling myself that I could survive until this moment, everything would be okay. If I could stand here today, strong enough and worthy enough, my life would finally mean something.

And yet, the man whose mark I prayed to the moon goddess for, whose bond was the only thing I held on to during the darkness....looked at me like I was nothing but a mistake. A burden.

"Did he just reject her?"

The whispers began to come, soft at first. Then louder. Harsher.

"She's not his mate?"

"I knew it. She was too cursed to become Luna."

I lifted my chin, forcing myself to meet his eyes, but they were like ice. Empty of wrath, empty of the connection I had spent years dreaming about.

Caden's voice rang out like a death bell, sharp and final. "My true mate...my true mate is Seraphina Duskthorn. She was always meant to be my Luna."

The crowd froze, whispers and murmurs circling them. No one moved. No one breathed, even the wind outside seemed to stop, holding its breath for what came next.

Then-

The grand door creaked open with a groan that echoed through the hall like a ghost rising from the dead. There she was, covered in silver light, stood the girl whose name was still haunted by nightmares.

Seraphina.

My sister.

Dead for ten years.

She was still alive, breathing. Smiling. And walking straight into the arms of the man who had just shattered me. A choked gasp tore out of my lungs. My knees nearly gave up on me.

No. No. This isn't real.

This can't be happening.

My whole world faded. I felt as though I was underwater, everything far and muffled, my heartbeat roaring in my ears.

"Come here, my Luna," Caden whispered, his voice low and deep. Seraphina smiled, slow and intoxicating. Running into his arms like she never left him. Her smile hadn't changed-but her eyes had.

There was something cold in them...Something different. She looked at me as if I didn't exist, as if the past, the pain, my exile, none of it mattered.

And the pack.... They all bowed to her, every single one of them. The same wolves who had labeled me cursed. The same wolves who had branded me a traitor, a mistake.

All falling to their knees for her. The cold, ruthless Alpha-the man whose rejection still burned on my skin-softened. His entire body shifted.

And he...he didn't hesitate. He pulled her close to him, his hands claiming her waist like she belonged there. Like she always had. His forehead resting against hers, their breaths mingling with each other.

And right there-in front of the entire pack, in front of me-he kissed her. Not a fleeting kiss of duty or obligation. It was deep, hungry. Worshipful.

A kiss that spoke of years lost and years to come. A kiss that told the whole world that this was just the beginning of their love story.

I stood frozen, the room spinning around me. My lungs forgot how to breathe. The mate bond snapping tight between us, a cruel thread pulling, burning.

I thought rejection would end it. But no-it made it worse. It screamed in pain. Tears streaked from the corner of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

Not here.

Not now.

The memory clawed its way back to me-that day in the forest. Seraphina fell into the river, but she never screamed. She just smiled, right before the water swallowed her.

She smiled. And when I dove in after her, it wasn't just the water that pulled me down. No, it was something else. Something colder....something darker.

No one believed me back then, not even my father. They said the grief made me imagine things. So I stopped remembering. Until now.

"Escort her out of this place." Caden's voice cut through my thoughts, his cold eyes on me even more painful than a punch to the face.

"For everyone's peace, leave this place, Ava."

Two guards grabbed my arms. Their grip was painful, merciless. I tried to struggle, but no words would come out of my mouth. Not while my heart is still lying in pieces on the floor.

"What are you doing Caden?"

"No... please let me go!!!" I barked, but no one would even pay me any attention. The guards gripped and dragged me even more forcefully this time around.

Then, as I was dragged past her, Seraphina leaned in, her breath hot against my ear, sweet and poisonous at the same time.

"You should've drowned that day instead of me," she whispered, her voice laced with silk and venom. "But I'm back now....to make your life even more miserable."

And then she smiled.

Cold. Cruel. Beautiful.

The smile that made everything clear to me. This wasn't my sister at all.

This was the smile of something else that wore my sister's face.

Ava's POV

They said that time heals pain. After a while, the heartbreak would fade like a distant memory. But they lied.

I could still hear the gossip wherever I went, and I felt the stares. No one saw Ava Duskthorn anymore. They only saw the rejected mate, the cursed girl who didn't die when she should have.

Even the wind carried my Shame, but I had enough. If Caden wouldn't free me from the cursed bond, I would free myself. I stood before the Blackvale Pack's stone courtyard, my heart pounding like thunder in my chest.

They all gathered around me. Curious, mocking. Expecting what was to come of me. Even Caden stood there, his arms crossed over his broad chest, his expression carved from ice as usual.

"Don't do this," my wolf whimpered. "The bond..."

But I silenced her. I couldn't bear the weight of this anymore. I could not bear to live one more day tied to a man who despised me.

I drew in a shaky breath, my voice shaking but loud enough for them to hear. "By the laws of the Moon, I, Ava Duskthorn....reject you, Alpha Caden Varkas."

Silence suddenly filled the air. For one terrible second, I thought it worked, I thought I was finally free. But then, pain unlike anything I had ever known tore through me in an instant.

It felt as though my soul was ripped apart. My knees gave up on me as a searing heat spread across my arm, branding me from the inside out.

I screamed in agony, the sound cutting through the courtyard, sharp and raw, forcing even the bravest of wolves to flinch. A mark- the same one that was on the crimson seal from the letter-flared to life on my skin, glowing red-hot like molten lava.

"No....no....this isn't supposed to happen," I whispered, clutching my arm, gasping as the world burned around me.

But no one moved to help me. Caden stood there, watching, his arms crossed over his chest, his face unreadable, distant. His cold stare cut through me sharper than any blade, slicing what little remained of my heart.

For a little while, I thought...prayed...that maybe he would come forward to help me. That something in him would soften. He would at least offer a hand to the girl he once called his mate.

"I warned you not to embarrass yourself. But I suppose it's fitting....falling alone, just like you always do." His lips curled into a faint, cruel smirk.

"You've made your choice, Ava. Now live with it."

And then, without another glance, not even a single ounce of mercy, he turned away. Leaving me drowned in the wreckage of his words.

Just like that, I was nothing. The crowd began to scatter, their footsteps fading one by one. Leaving me lying hopelessly on the cold stone floor, alone with the burning mark and the emptiness in my chest.

I thought this was it. That I would finally die here, but then....footsteps. Soft at first, running closer to me, steady. Sure. A shadow fell over me, blocking out the fading light.

"Ava."

The voice was low, hesitant. Familiar.

I looked up through my blurred vision to see a figure kneeling beside me. It was Elias. Caden's Beta. His most loyal wolf.

Why would he even want to help me?

"Help...help me..." I choked on the words before I could finish, my throat raw. "Save your strength, Ava." His brows furrowed as he slid his arm under me and lifted me effortlessly.

I tried to push him away, but my limbs wouldn't obey. I expected him to mock me like the otters, to throw me back down like the rest. But his grip was gentle, kind.

"Why...why are you.....helping me?" My voice barely whispers. But he didn't respond to the question I asked him.

"I'll take you to the healer, "he said simply, as if I hadn't just asked him an important question. "But why?" The words slipped out before I could stop them.

For a moment, I thought he wouldn't answer me. Then he whispered. "Because someone should have helped you a long time ago." I couldn't stop the tears that slid down my cheeks at what he had just said to me.

I was too tired to wipe it away. We were already at the healer's hut before I knew it, smelling of sage and bitter roots. Faded curtains fluttering in the cool night breeze as Elias laid me down gently on the worn cot.

"She collapsed after rejecting him, "Elias explained, his voice low. The healer was an ancient woman with silver hair and sharp eyes, her hand hovering over my mark as she approached me.

"This ... this is no ordinary mate bond," she murmured, her face darkening as she traced its fiery outline. I forced myself to speak through the pain.

"Break it....please....break it."

Her eyes softened with something like pity. "Child, only if it were that simple."

"What do you mean?" My voice trembled. She pulled up a worn scroll, unrolling it with trembling hands. Symbols were glowing faintly on the paper.

"You're not just fated to him, Ava. You're bound. A blood-bound mate bond. The rarest, most ancient kind. Not even the Moon Goddess herself can undo it."

"No..." The word escaped my lips like a dying breath.

"Every time you try to sever it, it will retaliate. Grow stronger. Until it consumes you." She paused, her gaze sharp and unyielding. "But.....there is more."

I could barely hear what she said over the rushing in my ears. Her next words hit me harder than any wound.

"You are not only bound to him. You are bound to something older ... very ancient and dark. Something that awoke the day you and Seraphina went into the Forbidden Forest."

My breath stopped, and then it all came crashing down on me. The forest, the river. That cold, invisible hand that had pulled me under that day.

"What is it?" I whispered, dread curling through my bones. Her voice dropped dangerously low.

"I don't know. But...it's coming for you."