The Luna the Moon Chose
We did not stop running until the forest changed.
The trees grew taller, their trunks pale and smooth like moon polished bone. The air here felt different. Cleaner. Charged. Every breath I took sent a strange warmth through my chest, as if the land itself recognized me.
Lucien slowed first.
He lifted a hand, signaling me to stop. The moment my foot crossed an invisible boundary, the mark on my wrist flared with sharp heat.
I gasped.
The ground beneath us shimmered faintly, etched with ancient symbols half buried beneath moss and roots.
"A ward," I whispered.
Lucien turned, his silver eyes fixed on me with open shock. "You can see it."
"I can feel it," I replied, pressing my palm to my chest. "It's old. Older than the packs."
His expression darkened with something unreadable.
"This is North Ridge territory," he said. "The heart of it. No one has stepped here since the massacre."
My wolf stirred again, restless yet calm, as if we had finally arrived somewhere we belonged.
Lucien stepped closer. "Tell me your name."
I hesitated.
Names carried power.
Especially here.
"Aurelia," I said at last. "Aurelia Vale."
The ward reacted instantly.
Light pulsed beneath our feet, white and silver intertwining. The trees groaned softly, branches bending inward as if bowing.
Lucien inhaled sharply.
"The forest accepts you," he said quietly. "Even I had to bleed for its loyalty."
I stared around us, heart pounding. "What is this place?"
"A sanctuary," he answered. "Built by the first Alphas and Lunas. A place where bonds cannot be severed."
The words struck me like a blow.
"Cannot be severed," I repeated.
Lucien's gaze softened, just slightly. "Who did this to you?"
Images flashed through my mind. The council hall. Cold eyes. The ceremonial blade. The way my bond had been ripped from my soul while the pack watched in silence.
"My Alpha," I said. "He said I was weak. That the moon made a mistake choosing me."
Lucien's hands curled into fists.
"The moon does not make mistakes."
The ground trembled in response, as if agreeing.
I swallowed hard. "Then why am I like this?" I asked. "Why does my power feel wrong. Too much. Too bright."
Lucien studied me for a long moment. Then he reached out, stopping just short of touching my wrist.
"May I?" he asked.
I nodded.
The moment his fingers brushed my skin, the world exploded.
Light flooded my vision. Memories that were not mine surged through me. Ancient ceremonies beneath a blood red moon. White Lunas standing beside monstrous Alphas, not behind them. Their voices commanding the tides, the earth, the very stars.
I cried out, collapsing to my knees.
Lucien caught me instantly, pulling me against his chest.
"Breathe," he murmured. "Do not fight it."
"My power," I gasped. "It's not just Luna magic."
"No," he agreed. "You are something older."
The mark on my wrist shifted, its shape changing, lines branching outward like a crescent crowned with thorns.
Lucien went still.
"That symbol," he said slowly. "It belongs to the Sovereign Luna."
My breath hitched. "The what?"
"The first Luna," he explained. "The one who ruled alongside the Moon King himself. Her bloodline was erased to prevent another from rising."
I laughed weakly. "You're saying I'm a myth."
Lucien's eyes burned with certainty. "I am saying they were afraid of you before you were even born."
The forest suddenly howled.
Not wolves.
The land.
Lucien spun, pulling me behind him just as figures emerged from the trees.
Wolves.
Armed. Armored. Bearing the crest of my former pack.
My heart sank.
"They found us," I whispered.
Lucien's aura flared, deadly and cold. "Stay behind me."
The Alpha stepped forward, his expression twisting as his gaze landed on me.
"Aurelia," he sneered. "I knew you'd crawl back."
I straightened, stepping past Lucien despite his protest.
"I did not crawl," I said calmly. "I walked away."
Murmurs rippled through their ranks as they noticed the light pulsing faintly beneath my skin.
The Alpha's eyes narrowed. "You belong to the pack."
Lucien laughed.
The sound was low. Dangerous.
"She belongs to no one," he said. "Except the moon."
The Alpha's gaze shifted to Lucien, recognition dawning too late.
"You," he whispered. "You're supposed to be dead."
"Disappointed?" Lucien replied.
The Alpha snarled. "Kill them."
They charged.
I raised my hands.
This time, I did not hesitate.
Power poured from me, controlled, precise. The ground rose in a white arc, slamming into the attackers and throwing them back without killing them.
I stepped forward, voice carrying effortlessly.
"You severed my bond," I said. "You stripped my name. But you do not command me anymore."
The Alpha struggled to his feet, fury burning in his eyes. "You think standing beside him makes you powerful?"
Lucien moved to my side.
"I think," he said softly, "she has not even begun."
The sky darkened.
The moon, full and blinding, broke through the clouds directly above us.
I felt it then.
The bond.
Not broken.
Not severed.
Waiting.
The Alpha screamed as invisible pressure forced him to his knees.
I looked down at him, heart steady.
"Leave," I said. "And tell the packs this."
I leaned closer, my voice dropping.
"The White Luna has risen. And she is done asking for permission."
The forest erupted in a deafening howl as the moon branded my fate into the night.
Lucien turned to me, awe written plainly across his face.
"Welcome home," he said.
And somewhere deep within me, the moon answered.
The moonlight did not fade after they retreated.
It thickened.
Silver poured down from the sky like liquid fire, bathing the forest in an otherworldly glow. The wolves from my former pack scrambled away, fear finally overpowering arrogance. None of them dared to look back.
When the last of them vanished into the shadows, the forest fell into an unnatural silence.
I exhaled slowly.
Only then did my legs start to tremble.
Lucien noticed immediately. He caught my elbow before I could stumble, his grip firm but careful, as if afraid I might shatter.
"You pushed too far," he said quietly.
"I'm fine," I replied, though my pulse thundered in my ears.
He did not argue. Instead, he guided me toward a stone platform half hidden beneath the roots of an ancient tree. At its center stood a shallow basin carved with lunar runes.
"The Moon Altar," he said. "It responds only to those chosen."
As I stepped closer, the runes ignited one by one.
Lucien froze.
"It has not awakened in centuries," he murmured.
A sudden sharp pain bloomed in my chest.
I gasped, clutching at my heart as heat spread through my veins. Images crashed into me again. A woman with hair white as frost, eyes burning with authority. Packs kneeling. Alphas bowing their heads. The moon answering her call without hesitation.
I fell to my knees beside the altar.
Blood welled from my palm where the old wound reopened, dripping into the basin.
The altar flared blindingly bright.
Lucien dropped to one knee instinctively, his head bowing without conscious choice. His breath hitched when he realized what his body had done.
"I did not mean to," he said hoarsely.
I stared at him, stunned. "You bowed."
His jaw tightened. "My wolf did. To its Luna."
The word sent a shock through me.
Before I could speak, the altar responded.
A low hum vibrated through the ground. The basin filled with light, then erupted upward in a column of pure silver that wrapped around me, lifting me gently to my feet.
Pain and power fused into something intoxicating.
I felt everything.
The pull of the moon.
The echo of lost packs.
The dormant bonds scattered across the land.
And then I felt it.
Another presence.
Far stronger than the Alpha who had tried to claim me.
Lucien sensed it too. He looked up sharply, eyes narrowing toward the northern ridge.
"Someone powerful just felt that," he said.
My breath caught. "One of them?"
"Yes," he answered. "One of the five."
The air shifted.
From the edge of the forest, a figure stepped into the moonlight.
Tall. Broad shouldered. His aura pressed against my skin like a storm about to break. Golden eyes locked onto mine, burning with something dangerously close to reverence.
He did not bow.
He smiled.
"So," he said calmly. "The White Luna finally wakes."
Lucien moved instantly, placing himself between us.
"Take another step," he warned, "and I will tear you apart."
The stranger chuckled softly. "Relax, old friend. If I wanted her, she would already be mine."
My heart skipped.
Mine.
The word echoed through me, stirring something deep and unfamiliar.
The stranger's gaze returned to me, intense and unashamed.
"I have waited a long time for you, Aurelia," he said. "Longer than you can imagine."
The moon flared violently overhead.
And for the first time since I left the pack, fear crept into my bones.
Not because I was weak.
But because I was no longer alone.