Luna's point of view

There’s a particular silence that blankets the outskirts of the Crescent Moon Pack’s territory, peaceful, but never quite comforting. The kind of silence that lets your thoughts echo too loudly, exposing the loneliness you try to bury beneath chores and routines.

I’ve lived in that silence for as long as I can remember.

My cottage isn’t much, two rooms, a cracked stone hearth, and wooden beams that creak when the wind blows too hard, but it’s mine. No one bothers me here, tucked away at the edge of the forest where even the patrol wolves don’t waste time wandering. The trees are thicker, the air colder. The pack calls it “unwelcoming.”

I call it home.

I rose with the sun, as usual. I always do. Sleeping in is a luxury I can’t afford, not when the garden needs tending, not when the woods are filled with herbs I can barter for bread, and certainly not when nightmares keep dragging me out of sleep.

Last night’s dream still clung to me like morning mist. A shadow, dark and formless, chased me through the trees. Its growl echoed in my bones. I never saw its face. I never do. But the fear? That part always feels real.

I exhaled slowly, watching my breath curl into the cold morning air. Another nightmare. Another morning pretending it meant nothing.

I tugged my shawl tighter around my shoulders, pushing my silver hair beneath the hood. My hair’s always been a problem. Too bright. Too noticeable. People talk. They whisper “witch’s child” like it’s poison on their tongues. I’ve learned to hide, my hair, my eyes, my voice, my power.

Especially my power.

Not that I understand it. I don’t. Magic isn’t something an Omega should even possess, let alone explore. Omegas are weak. Useless. Disposable. That’s the lie the pack feeds us. I used to believe it. Sometimes, I still do.

But when I look in the mirror and see the flicker of silver light flash behind my deep blue eyes, I know there’s something more. Something sleeping. Something waiting.

“Morning already?” a familiar voice called, snapping me from my thoughts.

I turned to see Raven trudging up the hill, her boots caked in mud, her wild curls bouncing with every step. She was one of the only people who ever visited me. An Omega like me, though louder, braver, and far less concerned with what people thought.

“You’re up early,” I said, forcing a smile.

She held up a cloth-wrapped bundle. “I brought bread. And gossip.”

I let her inside, and soon we were seated near the fire, the aroma of sweet tea filling the cottage. Raven tore into the bread while I sipped my cup, hoping the warmth would chase the lingering chill from my dream.

“What happened this time?” she asked, glancing at me over a mouthful of crumbs.

“Same thing. The shadow.”

Her expression shifted. just slightly. Concern. She always tries not to show it, but I see it anyway.

“Still think it’s just a dream?”

I shrugged. “What else could it be?”

“A warning, maybe. Or a memory. Your mom was a....”

“Don’t,” I interrupted softly.

She went quiet. We never talked much about my mother. I never knew her. She died when I was a baby, leaving me with nothing but questions, half-truths, and whispers that she’d been a powerful witch who mated with a rogue wolf. A forbidden union. A cursed child.

Me.

“I don’t have magic,” I muttered, more to myself than to her.

Raven raised a brow. “Then explain how you healed my sprained ankle in one night last moon. Or how you always know when someone’s lying.”

“Luck.”

She snorted. “Sure. Let’s call it luck.”

I finished my tea in silence, letting the fire crackle between us.

“Anyway,” Raven said, changing the subject, “did you hear about the Moonrise Ceremony?”

I frowned. “The what?”

“You really are out of the loop. It’s a pack-wide event. Full moon. Bonfire. Announcements. Apparently, Kaiden is choosing new betas.”

I stiffened at the sound of his name.

Kaiden.

The Alpha of Crescent Moon Pack. The name alone made most wolves straighten their backs or lower their gazes. Rumors swirled around him like storm clouds, brutal, cold, merciless. But fair. Always fair.

I’d never met him. Never seen him up close. My life didn’t cross with the Alpha’s. Not unless I was being punished. And even then, someone else delivered the blow.

“What’s it got to do with me?” I asked.

Raven smirked. “Well… you got this.”

She reached into her coat and pulled out a sealed envelope, handing it to me.

My heart skipped a beat.

The paper was thick and ivory, the Crescent Moon Pack’s symbol etched in silver wax on the seal. My fingers hesitated before breaking it.

Inside was a simple note:

Luna Hart,

You are hereby invited to attend the Moonrise Ceremony.

– Alpha Kaiden Grey

I stared at it like it might catch fire.

“This has to be a mistake,” I said.

Raven laughed. “Mistake or not, you’re going. Everyone’s going.”

“But why would he invite me? I’m just an Omega. I have no standing. No rank.”

“Maybe he’s tired of seeing you hide out here like a ghost. Or maybe,” she leaned in with a grin, “he’s finally realized the pack’s prettiest wolf lives at the forest’s edge.”

I rolled my eyes. “Not funny.”

“Okay, okay.” She held up her hands. “But seriously, Luna, this could be your chance. To… I don’t know. Change things.”

“I don’t want things to change. I just want to be left alone.”

Raven’s gaze softened. “You don’t mean that.”

Maybe I didn’t.

But the idea of walking into a crowd of wolves who barely acknowledged my existence, or worse, actively resented it, made my stomach twist.

Still… something in that invitation tugged at me. A thread, subtle but insistent.

“What if it’s a trap?” I whispered. “What if Kaiden’s finally decided to get rid of the strays?”

Raven snorted. “Then he would’ve sent a warrior, not an invitation.”

I looked back down at the letter.

Moonrise. Two nights from now.

Everything in me screamed to ignore it, to tear it up, burn it, pretend I never saw it.

But another part, the part that remembered the shadow in my dreams, the flash of power in my blood, wondered if maybe, just maybe, it was time.

Time to stop hiding.

Time to face whatever was coming.

Even if it was the Alpha himself.