Morning sunlight spilled through the wide glass windows of the pack's southern hall, lighting up the dust particles in golden streaks. Birds chirped just beyond the training grounds, and somewhere in the distance, a low howl broke the quiet.
The Midnight Howl Pack was already awake training, patrolling, gossiping.
And this time…
They were whispering about me.
I stood at the edge of the sparring field in borrowed clothes. My hoodie and jeans ripped during the shift had been discarded hours ago. Now I wore a plain black T-shirt and dark leggings, clothes donated by a low-ranking she-wolf who hadn't dared make eye contact when she handed them to me.
I wasn't surprised.
No one knew how to treat me anymore.
I wasn't just the orphan girl now.
I was the Alpha's rejected mate… and the girl who had been touched by the Moon.
The energy in the pack had changed since last night. I could feel it in the way eyes followed me. The way conversations halted when I walked past. The way warriors glanced nervously at one another when my name was mentioned.
Half the pack was waiting for me to fail.
The other half was waiting to see what I would become.
And the only person who seemed completely unaffected?
Lucian.
He hadn't looked at me once since the confrontation in the great hall. Not during the council's quiet debate that followed, not when they decided to "allow" me to stay in the packhouse temporarily, and not when I was assigned quarters on the Omega level, far below the other she-wolves.
But even if he didn't look at me, I could feel him.
Our bond severed though it might be still buzzed at the edge of my senses. Like an ember buried deep in ash. It made my heart ache… and made my wolf snarl.
Forget him, she growled. He is not your path anymore.
She was right.
If I wanted to survive here thrive here I had to become something else.
I had to train.
The pack's training field stretched wide, with thick mats rolled out in rows. Young wolves paired off in mock fights, claws sheathed but fists sharp. I watched from the edge, stomach tight with nerves.
The problem wasn't that I had never trained before.
The problem was that I had never been allowed to.
No one had bothered to teach the girl without a wolf. What would be the point?
But now…
Now I had a wolf.
And my body still raw from the shift was itching to move.
"Hey."
The voice startled me. I turned quickly and came face-to-face with a tall, tan-skinned warrior with short dark hair and piercing blue eyes. He looked about my age maybe a little older and his broad shoulders filled out his tank top like a born fighter.
"You're Aurora, right?" he asked.
I nodded slowly.
"I'm Kieran. Third-ranked warrior in the training unit."
I blinked. "And… you're talking to me?"
He grinned. "Everyone's talking about you. Figured it was time to meet the girl who caused the Moon to flare bright enough to wake every wolf within a hundred-mile radius."
My face flushed. "It wasn't like that."
"Sure it wasn't." His smile turned teasing. "Still. Word is you never trained before. You here to fix that?"
"I want to learn," I said. "Even if I'm years behind."
Kieran's expression softened. "Everyone starts somewhere. Come on."
He motioned for me to follow and led me to the far side of the field, where a handful of low-ranked wolves were paired off, practicing basic blocks and dodges.
"These are the beginners," he explained. "Normally you'd be with them, but…"
He gave me a long look.
"…I have a feeling you'll learn fast."
He wasn't wrong.
The moment I stepped onto the mat, something changed.
I wasn't graceful. My stance was clumsy. My arms shook when I blocked the first punch.
But I was fast.
And when the she-wolf opposite me lunged a second time, my body moved before I could think ducking, spinning, flipping her to the mat with a strength I didn't know I had.
Gasps echoed around me.
I looked down at my hands, stunned. My wolf growled in approval.
"She's a natural," Kieran muttered, clearly impressed. "No. She's more than that."
The rest of training passed in a blur. I kept sparring, my body awakening in new ways every movement sharper, every breath steadier. By the time the sun climbed high overhead, my arms and legs ached, my knuckles were bruised, but a new feeling bloomed in my chest.
Pride.
No one had given this to me. I had earned it.
And for the first time, I felt like I belonged.
After training, Kieran walked me toward the packhouse.
"You'll need to build stamina," he said. "The speed is there. So is the instinct. You're listening to your wolf most beginners don't."
"She's… strong," I admitted. "Fierce. Smarter than me, I think."
He grinned. "Good. You'll need her."
As we neared the stone steps of the main house, I froze.
Lucian stood near the entrance, talking to Silas and two warriors. His presence radiated power, commanding attention without a word.
Our eyes met.
Just for a second.
And something passed between us raw, unspoken.
But this time, I didn't flinch.
And I didn't look away.
Lucian's jaw clenched slightly. Then he turned back to Silas, dismissing me like I was nothing.
But I knew what he'd seen.
He'd seen the bruises on my arms.
The dirt on my leggings.
The strength in my walk.
He saw me rise.
And for a moment… I thought I saw something flicker in his eyes.
Regret?
Doubt?
Or fear?
I didn't wait to find out.
That night, I lay in the small, windowless room assigned to me on the Omega floor. My bones ached. My muscles screamed. But I couldn't stop smiling.
I was no longer just surviving.
I was growing.
Evolving.
Becoming.
The Moon didn't make mistakes.
She had chosen me for a reason.
And while Lucian's rejection still burned like an old scar…
I no longer needed his acceptance to feel whole.
I had myself.
I had my wolf.
And I had the Moon.