It was Selene’s nameday. She was my parents’ adopted she-wolf. She was the wolf I once called my little sister. She was the same pup I, Luna Liora, had protected during our training years, when the four of us, Selene, Alpha Alden, Beta Draven and I, were meant to be a bonded pack family.

Back then, I truly believed I was following the Moon Goddess’s will. I thought helping an unwanted wolf would strengthen our pack bond. I imagined us living together in the manor, eating as a pack, sharing moon nights. I never believed the adopted wolf would turn the pack against its Luna.

Selene was always smart for a lower-ranked she-wolf, quiet but watching everything.

At first, she only followed us through the pack grounds, me, Alden and Draven. Then she began changing things. She whispered to Alden when I, his Luna, wasn’t near. She made Draven laugh in ways that once belonged only to me. I told my wolf not to suspect betrayal within the pack.

Until one night, I saw it, the kiss.

That night was meant for Alden and me, his chosen Luna, to speak of our mating bond. Instead, I saw him pressing his lips to Selene’s, their wolves far too close.

I ignored it once, twice and almost every time.

When I questioned him, Alden dismissed me. “You’re imagining it,” he said. “She’s like a sister.”

Draven always supported him. “Stop causing trouble, Luna Liora.”

I was not jealous. It was a betrayal of the bond.

Now, at Selene’s nameday feast, I watched them laugh beside the fire pit like mates. Alden drank moonwine and lifted the cup to Selene’s lips. His hand rested at her waist like she was his Luna. My wolf growled in pain inside my chest.

I left the feast quietly and climbed to an upper pack room. I wrapped myself in a fur blanket, trying to silence my Luna bond ache. Then the door opened.

“Luna Liora?” Selene said softly, pretending care. “The pack members are asking for you. The moonfire is about to start.”

“I am tired. Leave my room.”

She stepped closer, comforting, “Don’t act this way, Liora. It’s my nameday. Are you really upset?”

I turned to face her, my voice cold. “Selene, isn’t being forced to attend enough for this Luna?”

Her face tightened. “Do you hate me now, Luna? Do you think I stole your Alpha? That was never my plan. We were sisters in the pack once….”

“Enough,” I said sharply. “Return to your celebration.”

She grabbed my wrist. “Come with me, Luna. I feel safer when you’re near….”

“Don’t touch me,” I shouted, pulling away.

We fell back together. Selene hit the table beside the bed. Moon glass shattered, cutting into our arms. Pain burned through my skin as blood ran.

The door burst open. Alden rushed in, his wolf flaring, but not toward me.

“Selene!” the Alpha shouted. “What happened? Are you injured?”

His hands brushed the shards from her skin.

“She pushed me,” Selene cried. “I didn’t want… she just…”

He turned to me, anger clear. “What is wrong with you, Liora?! You ruin everything!”

I stood frozen, blood dripping down my arm.

“She grabbed me,” I said weakly. “I told her to stop….”

He didn’t listen. Draven entered, his eyes sharp. “You’re always like this, Luna,” he said. “Possessive. Loud. You can’t stand being admired.”

Even though my arms are bleeding, I was blamed for hurting the adopted wolf.

Draven seized my arm. “You will return to the feast. You will not shame the Stormfang clan again.”

So I went. Bruised, bleeding and humiliated, I stood beneath the moonfire while the pack celebrated.

One last time. One final effort as Luna.

I joined the circle around the fire pit, forcing a smile for the pack.

The drums played. Wolves cheered. Then someone shoved me. Alden? Why?

I fell against the edge of the fire pit. Flames burned my arm.

Pain tore through my wolf. I screamed.

Selene shouted too and rushed to me. “Oh no! Luna Liora is hurt! Call the healers!”

Alden shook his head. “It’s nothing. A small burn. She will live. Consider it repayment for earlier.”

And Draven did not even look at me.

No one helped.

I pulled myself away from the fire and called for a carriage. No pack member followed me to the healer sanctum. No one cared that their Luna was bleeding.

And that was fine. Because under the full moon, this Luna swore an oath. This was the last time any of them would ever hurt me.

“It is good that you arrived when you did,” the pack healer said, her fingers working gently over the burned flesh on my arm. “This is a second-rank degree wound and truthfully, Luna Liora, you also require binding stitches.”

I did not reply. I only nodded, my eyes fixed on the pale stone ceiling of the Healer Sanctum, wide and endless. I remained within the healing chambers for two full days.

Not a single mindlink reached me. Not even sending a word.

No “Are you healed, Luna?”

No, “Forgive us for the fire.”

Nothing. Not even false concern from those who once swore loyalty.

By the second night, I found myself holding my crystal communicator without purpose. Some part of my wolf still believed the Alpha or the Beta would reach out. Instead, what appeared were images.

Selene. She stood smiling in a new crimson gown, glowing beneath lantern light, pressed between Alden and Draven. Moonwine cups were lifted high. Her smile carried that same satisfied curve she always wore when she knew she had won.

“Grateful to Alden and Draven for the greatest nameday under the moon! I will treasure this always! Look at our new bond cords!!!”

I stared at the three identical woven cords that circled their wrists. And then I noticed that they no longer wore the old bond cords we once shared.

I turned the crystal communicator down and placed it beside the stone bed. Silence returned to the healing chamber. My heart beat slowly, but there was no pain now. Only a hollow space where it used to live.

Two days later, I returned to the manor, the same stone dwelling we had all entered after leaving the Lunar Academy. It was meant to be a den for a bonded pack. Instead, it became proof of betrayal.

I crossed the empty main hall and went straight to my private chamber. I opened the closet and began to pack my belongings.

When I bent to collect my boots, I stopped. Beneath the shelf rested the memory coffer. That foolish little box I once called my moon-treasure.

I lowered myself to the floor and drew it closer, dust clinging to my fingers. Inside lay parchments, old, worn letters written by Alden and Draven when we were pups. Simple drawings. Awkward poems. Healing notes they sent when I was ill.

And a single image crystal. The three of us, me, Alden and Draven, kneeling beside a half-built tree platform, dirt smeared on our clothes, smiling widely.

The memory rose clearly. The summer when I was nearly mauled by a Moon Beast. I had always feared them and one had broken free near the outer dens. I froze in terror. Alden and Draven stepped in front of me without thought. Alden was bitten protecting me, his arm bleeding, so I could escape.

After that, everything changed. They became my shadows. My guards.

And over time, I fell for Alden, while Draven treated me as his she-wolf sister.

Until Selene entered the pack and shattered it all.

I sat there, clutching a bond cord with my name etched into its metal clasp. I had been blind.

My Alpha parents had warned me when I begged them to adopt Selene. “Are you certain, Liora? Not every she-wolf desires sisterhood. And what if she harms you? Trust is not given freely.”

I refused to listen. I believed pack love would be enough.

But now? Now I understand. She never wanted to be my sister. She wanted my place as Luna.

I packed the last of my belongings, then carried the memory coffer into the rear courtyard of the manor. I struck a flint.

The fire took hold quickly. Parchments curled and darkened. Bond cords twisted as their shine faded. Image crystals cracked and turned to ash.

“Liora!”

I looked up to see Alden running toward me from the hall, panic clear on his face.

“What are you doing?!” he yelled. “Those are our records! The bond cords!”

“Yes,” I answered calmly. “I am severing our shared past, ending our bond.”

He stepped closer, but I moved before the flames, blocking him. “It is finished. All of it.”

Moments later, Draven arrived, his face stiff with disbelief.

“Is this another outburst, Luna?” he asked, folding his arms. “We know you are upset, but this is too much, even for you.”

“This is not an outburst,” I said evenly. “This is to end the bond.”

“You would let one terrible night erase our bond for years?” Alden pleaded. “Liora, please… we can speak….”

I met both their gazes, then looked only at Alden. “I, Luna Liora, no longer wish to share any bond with either of you.”

I turned away and walked back into the manor, leaving the smoke behind me like the final trace of a life I would never reclaim.

I had wished that after I burned the past bond items, the Alpha and Beta would finally leave their Luna in peace. But they did not.

Several days passed within the pack territory and slowly, Alden began to act as though nothing had occurred. Fresh flowers were delivered to my chamber again. Messages came through my crystal communicator, gentle and light, asking how my day as Luna had been, sharing small jokes, even trying to press a brief greeting kiss when we crossed paths near the manor gates. It felt as if the recent moons of pain had never existed.

Draven followed the same path, stepping back into his role as the elder brother.

Warm drinks delivered, shared memories when we were a pup and easy laughter. Each time they said, “We regret it, Luna. Let us fix this,” it sounded less like remorse for betrayal and neglect and more like an excuse for a minor scrape during training.

Then came the sudden invitation to dine.

“Our offering,” Alpha sent. “The old gathering den. You remember it.”

Part of me wanted to erase the message and pretend it never reached my mindlink. But another quieter part, the tired, worn part of my wolf, wondered if perhaps we could close this bond without anger. Without bitterness.

So I came.

The moonbrew den had not changed. Wooden tables worn smooth by time, low lantern light, soft music humming through rune charms. The scent of herbs and roasted meat filled the air, mixed with memories I was unsure I wanted to reclaim.

I watched Alden and Draven laugh, as we once had and for a brief moment, it almost felt… bearable.

Then Alden’s crystal communicator glowed. He glanced at it and froze.

“It is Selene,” he said under his breath, frowning.

“What? Speak clearly… attacked? By the rogues? Where are you?” His voice sharpened as he rose abruptly.

In moments, both Alden and Draven were standing.

“She is crying,” Alden explained, tension tight in his voice. “She was harmed. We must go to her.”

There were no farewells. No glance toward me. They rushed out, as though the Moon Goddess herself had called them.

I remained seated, staring at untouched food, the small lantern flame slowly fading. I paid the moon-credits myself.

Outside, the sky broke open. Thunder rolled across the land and rain fell heavily upon the stone paths. The streets were empty, no moonchariots, no passing pack warriors. The den keeper offered a cloak, but the doors were already sealed for the storm. I had no choice but to walk.

Each step felt heavy. My arm throbbed beneath its healing wraps. My body ached. Yet worse than the pain was the storm itself. Thunder had always terrified me since I was a pup. Lightning and roaring skies made it feel as though the world would be torn apart.

I pulled my cloak tighter and kept moving, the territory blurred by rain and shadow.

Then, a flash of light. A loud horn call. A moonchariot rushing fast.

There was no time.

Darkness claimed me.

When I woke, everything felt unnaturally soft. I blinked beneath dim lantern light, pale stone walls surrounding me. My body hurt, but the pain felt distant, dull. I turned toward the movement near the wall.

“Alden…?” I whispered.

It was not him.

A man sat quietly nearby. Tall, dressed in dark cloth, his eyes unreadable. He did not move until I tried to rise.

“You are awake, my Luna,” he said calmly. “Do not strain yourself.”

“Who… are you?” I asked.

“Kaegan,” he replied. “I found you after the accident and brought you to the Healer Sanctum. You were unconscious.”

I wished to ask more, but the room spun and darkness returned.

When I woke again, Kaegan was gone. No message. No mark. No trace through the mindlink.

Only one message remained on my crystal communicator.

From my mother. [Mindlink me when you begin your journey. Everything is prepared. Go back to our pack, my darling.]

I did not tell her what had happened. I could not. I would not burden her heart.

The healer told me I was fortunate. The moonchariot struck from the side. No bones were broken. Still, I needed several more days to rest.

So I stayed. Alone.

When the day of release arrived, I returned to the manor only to gather the final remnants of my belongings before leaving the Stormfang pack lands.

That was when Alden appeared in the chamber doorway.

“Good, Luna, you returned,” he said lightly. “We needed to tell you… We sold your moonchariot. And some of your belongings. Selene required emergency moon-credits and….”

“What?” I froze. “You sold my things?”

“Calm yourself,” Draven said, entering. “We will repay you. Selene has suffered since the attack. She needs care. Could you prepare meals for her? She has not eaten well.”

I stared at them. “Are you truly saying this to your Luna?”

Draven frowned. “Where were you anyway? Selene said you attended a gathering after the den meal. You were absent when she needed you. That was selfish.”

I laughed, empty and bitter. “A gathering. Of course.”

Then I threw the parchment toward them.

“There. That is where I was. The Healer Sanctum. You left me in the storm. I walked through thunder and rain. I was struck by a moonchariot.”

“What…?” Alden whispered. “You were injured?”

“I thought you were safe with others,” Draven murmured. “Selene said….”

“Of course she did,” I interrupted. “It is always Selene.”

Before they could respond, a sharp cry echoed through the stone passageway.

“Help! Alden, Draven, it hurts! Please!”

Selene. Always Selene.

I did not wait. I turned away, crossed the threshold and walked on, leaving them behind.