The forsaken luna's revenge

Nyla's POV

The Moon Festival. A joyful night for the pack. A terrible night for me.

The Silver Dawn wolves howled with delight as the bonfire roared, flames licking at the sky. My wrists were tied behind my back, and my knees sank into the chilly courtyard stone. The members of the silk-draped pack danced and laughed, their golden goblets pouring wine like blood on the floor.

I was banned from drinking. I was banned from dancing. I was hardly permitted to be here.

"Take her forward."

His voice was like a blade slashing through the air. Killian Alpha. My friend. My tormentor.

I was pulled through the ground toward the raised surface by two warriors who grabbed me by the arms. Whispers slithered through the crowd like snakes as it split.

"She is so pitiful."

"A slave? A partner? Surely the Moon Goddess is blind.

"He ought to simply murder her and move on."

I gritted my teeth and willed myself not to tremble. I wouldn't allow them to see how afraid I am.

Killian was taller and stronger than me, and his tunic's silver embroidery gleamed in the moonlight. His ice-blue eyes conveyed no warmth, only cruelty.

I should have loathed him.

But the mate link wrapped around my heart like a noose, tightening with every breath. I wanted him to see me-to acknowledge me as his.

He drew closer, his aroma of pine and frost overwhelming my senses. My wolf moaned.

Then he said something.

"This girl is worthless," he declared in a loud, authoritative voice. Feeble. Beneath me.

There was laughter. I tasted blood when I bit my lip hard.

I would not weep. Not in this place. Not in their presence.

Astrid looped her arm through Killian's and purred, "Say it." Her green gown shimmered as her lips curved in enjoyment. She was aware that she had already won.

Killian turned back to me, his countenance opaque.

The tie between us burned, a needy beast inside me, fighting for acknowledgment.

Instead, he raised his chin and delivered the words that devastated me.

"I, Alpha Killian of Silver Dawn, reject you as my mate."

A breath.

Then pain-blinding, searing pain. Not only was it physical, but my wolf was screaming in pain and my soul was being torn apart. My body jerked forward as my nails dug into the soil as I gasped.

The pack roared with laughter.

Killian didn't flinch at all.

With all of my last rebellion, I jerked my head up and looked him in the eye.

I snarled, "I don't accept your rejection."

The audience fell silent. For an instant, even Killian's grin wavered.

His eyes clouded then.

The initial strikes were delivered from behind.

I fell to the ground after a large boot struck my back. I felt a burst of pain.

One of the warriors grumbled, "Filthy rogue."

Another kick, to my ribs this time. My eyes blurred as I choked on a scream.

I could see Killian looking through the fog of sorrow. He folded his arms. Still.

Take action. My wolf let out a whine. He is our friend.

He didn't.

Astrid let out a mocking sigh of sympathy. "What a miserable slave. Always so stubborn.

My cheek was smashed by a fist. My mouth was filled with blood as my head wrenched to the side. The audience cheered.

I was having trouble breathing. I had the sensation that my body was falling apart, piece by piece.

I wanted to plead for forgiveness.

However, I wouldn't.

I raised my head and spat blood on the floor. I turned to face Killian, looking directly into his icy, ruthless gaze.

"This is something you'll regret," I muttered.

A sneer formed on his lips.

Go to the dungeon with her.

Darkness.

Chilly.

Pain.

My body was a battered wreck as I lay on the dungeon's stone floor. My wrists were chained, and the metal sank into my skin. I was breathing shallowly and raggedly. Each breath was a struggle.

Would I die like this? In the dark, alone?

My wolf let out a feeble whimper.

My cheeks began to well up with tears.

Not because I was scared.

But because I thought Killian would love me once.

I let the fatigue drag me under and closed my eyes. The Moon Goddess would take me right now if she had mercy.

However, something inside of me shifted.

Not my wolf.

Something else.

A coil of heat in my chest. A burst of vitality, a tingling sensation in my fingertips.

My body arched off the ground as I gasped. The chains shook. It was something fresh that burned my skin, not agony.

The walls shook. My hands and arms were bathed in a golden glow. My body.

I wasn't going to die.

I was waking up.

My bloodied lips formed a slow, piercing smile.

Killian had been wrong.

And he would pay for it.

Cliffhanger: The dungeon began to tremble around me as my body flashed brighter. Power surged through my veins, wild and terrifying.

"I'm returning," I muttered.

Nyla's POV

The dungeon was quiet, icy, and dead. My laboured breathing was the only sound. Something inside of me felt different, even if the golden warmth that had engulfed me was gone now.

More powerful.

Abruptly, a voice, quiet yet strong, broke the gloom.

"Child, you are not supposed to die here."

I tensed as I gasped. A towering, silver-robed woman with piercing eyes that glowed like the moon stood in front of me. Despite her age, she exuded a timeless, ancient, and powerful presence.

"Who-who are you?" I fell.

She took a step forward, knowing in her eyes. "The Moon Goddess herself sent me, and I am only a messenger."

I felt a sharp pain in my ribs as I attempted to sit up. "The Goddess of the Moon?" I said. "Why would she send you, exactly?"

The woman had a serene, obscure expression. "Because, Nyla, you're not just any wolf. It was believed that your bloodline had been gone. You will be stronger than any Alpha thanks to this bloodline.

I went cold.

More powerful than an Alpha? Me?

I was nothing. A slave. A mate who was turned down. A battered and shattered girl left in a dungeon to perish.

I shook my head and said, "You're lying." "I am nothing."

The woman grinned, a smile full of strength and secrets. "Oh, kid," she said. "You don't know who you are."

Then everything was different.

The dungeon had no windows, but a brisk breeze blasted through it. Around me, a glittering mist swirled, and then.

I was no longer in the dungeon.

On a mountain of bodies, I stood. At my feet were warriors, their eyes dead. The ground was wet with blood, yet none of it belonged to me.

And there was Killian before me, on his knees, broken and trembling.

His face went white with terror, and his once-strong body shuddered. He regarded me as though I were a death goddess.

"P-please." He stumbled. "Pardon me."

With my fingers balled into a fist, I took a step closer. I felt a burning strength within.

I said, "I pleaded with you once." "And you chuckled."

With my claws gleaming in the moonlight, I raised my hand.

Then-it was all black.

I jerked back to reality with a gasp. With a knowing look on her face, the elderly woman observed me.

"What was that, exactly?" I gasped.

She described it as "a glimpse of what could be." "A future in which you assume control and become unstoppable."

I took a deep breath. I had shaking hands.

"What happens if I don't?" I inquired.

Her gaze grew gloomy. Then you pass away here. Feeble. Forgotten.

My heart was racing as I gazed at her.

I'd been weak all my life. Powerless. Useless and helpless.

I had been laughed at, tossed away, spit on, and abused.

However, I now had an option.

Show weakness. Or have strength.

I balled my fists up. "Power is what I choose."

The woman grinned. "Then accept it."

A wave of vitality swept through me. My deep, vicious, and lethal wounds started to heal. Something fresh took the place of the agony.

Strength.

My muscles tensed. My senses became more acute. My claws grew longer and more deadly. Though it wasn't the same wolf I had known, my inner wolf snarled.

She was more powerful. Hungrier and more intense.

I wasn't just Nyla anymore.

I was more than that.

The elderly woman took a step back, pride shining in her eyes. "It's finished," she declared. "You've been reborn."

Then she was gone, gone, gone.

Footsteps reverberated through the dungeon hallway.

Two fighters. I'm laughing. Speaking.

One of them snarled, "Alpha says we finish her off tonight."

The other laughed and said, "She's probably already dead." "Weak little thing."

I got to my feet. The chains that had bound me broke like sticks.

I was no longer feeble.

I wasn't defenseless.

I was power.

The door to the dungeon squeaked open. The warriors entered the building-

I also made a move.

Quicker than I've ever been.

There wasn't even time for the first warrior to yell. I twisted-SNAP-and seized his throat.

His body fell apart.

The fear in the second warrior's eyes grew. "W-what the devil-"

With my claws slicing, I lunged. The stone walls were splattered with blood.

Calmly, I stepped over their bodies. Unfazed.

Nyla was no longer alive.

What about the new one?

She was a nightmare.

I breathed in the cool night air as I turned toward the dungeon door.

In my life, for the first time

I had freedom.

Nyla's POV

I feared he was going to murder me when I first met him.

The King of Rogue. A terrified murmur of a name.

My mind was broken and my body was weak from running for days. My partner had turned me down. I had been betrayed by my pack. All I had left was anger.

Then, somewhere in the rogue regions, I passed out and woke up to him.

As I attempted to get up, his golden, keen eyes watched me. "You ought to be dead," he declared.

My throat was dry as I gazed at him. "Perhaps I should be."

He laughed. "But you're not." That indicates that you are either fortunate or strong.

I sneered. "I don't feel powerful."

His eyes grew gloomy. "Girl, strength isn't about emotion. It all comes down to survival.

Something shifted within me. Living. I had only been doing that. However, it was insufficient.

I desired more.

He said, "You have fire in your eyes." "That's useful to me."

I scowled. "For what purpose?"

He smiled. "For retribution."

Suddenly, my new existence had begun.

The Rogue King trained me for months-broke me, built me. He made me into a weapon and ripped away the helpless, pathetic girl Killian had thrown aside.

His teachings were merciless. No goodwill. Just pain.

However, I was happy about it.

I was bleeding. I got into a fight. I turned into something dreadful.

And I vowed to make Killian regret ever letting me go one day.

Two years went by.

I was no longer the girl I had been.

I was now referred to as the Crimson Shadow.

A name that made Alphas shudder in terror.

I commanded an army of rogues, fighters who, like me, had been betrayed and deserted.

We refrained from attacking the weak. We went after the crooked. Alphas who believed that power made them gods, and packs that mistreated their own.

We set them on fire.

At every battle, I stood at the front, my opponents pleading for mercy as my blades dripped blood.

I didn't give it.

Since I hadn't received it from anyone.

And soon, people will remember my name.

Even to Killian.

It was time to break the bond.

I shouldn't have felt sorry for Killian after everything he had done, the rejection, and the suffering.

However, something continued to pull at me even after two years. An odd, enduring thread of kinship that is thinning but never completely broken.

I detested it.

I sensed him late at night when everything was quiet.

His restlessness. His struggle.

It was a curse rather than a comfort.

I forced my mind to concentrate while I honed my dagger. I had long since hidden my weakness of emotions. My past was Killian. And I no longer had a past. Just a future-a future in which I would inflict the same pain on him that he had inflicted on me.

I was startled out of my reverie by a rustling sound. There was one of my spies back.

He knelt in front of me, and I looked up. "News?"

The man's eyes darted to the blade in my palm as he gulped forcefully. Crimson Shadow, indeed. There has been a conversation.

I raised an eyebrow. "Speak?"

"Killian," he secretly said. There's a problem with him. He's nervous and restless. His wolf is behaving oddly.

I kept a neutral expression on my face. "And?"

"You are in his dreams."

I let out a slow exhale.

Thus, the tie continued to pain him.

Excellent.

I spoke coldly as I leaned forward. He ought to be agitated. He ought to be uncomfortable. Since soon... I'll give him a legitimate reason to be afraid.

With a hasty nod, the spy walked away.

I was alone myself once more, gazing at my image in the blade of my dagger.

Killian had lost the girl she had once loved.

The Crimson Shadow was all that was left.

He would soon discover it.

I listened while sitting in a dimly lighted room.

The voice of my source was hurried and low. "Jareth, an Alpha, is preparing an assault on Silver Dawn. He desires Killian's death.

I didn't respond. I just cocked my head. "Why?"

"Power." He seeks to conquer Silver Dawn's territory and exterminate its warriors.

I ran my finger along my dagger's edge. "And what's preventing him?"

The man took a swallow. "Nothing'. The next full moon is when the attack is scheduled to occur.

A slow, evil smile curved my lips.

Fate was unkind.

Another person desired to defeat Killian, to destroy him.

However, they had no right to do such.

I owned that.

My heart was racing with a sinister excitement as I stood.

"It's time," I said in a steely whisper.

In the candlelight, my blade shone brightly.

"Killian, I'm coming for you."

I listened while sitting in a dimly lighted room.

The voice of my source was hurried and low. "Jareth, an Alpha, is preparing an assault on Silver Dawn. He desires Killian's death.

I didn't respond. I just cocked my head. "Why?"

"Power." He seeks to conquer Silver Dawn's territory and exterminate its warriors.

I ran my finger along my dagger's edge. "And what's preventing him?"

The man took a swallow. "Nothing'. The next full moon is when the attack is scheduled to occur.

A slow, evil smile curved my lips.

Fate was unkind.

Another person desired to defeat Killian, to destroy him.

However, they had no right to do such.

I owned that.

My heart was racing with a sinister excitement as I stood.

"It's time," I said in a steely whisper.

In the candlelight, my blade shone brightly.

"Killian, I'm coming for you."