I was instantly gripped by a profound sense of wrongness the moment I stepped over the threshold of the pack house. The concealed snickers and sidelong glances from my pack mates were a nauseatingly familiar greeting. I knew with the cold certainty of a victim that they were finalizing some vicious scheme. The welts and deep purple contusions from their last group assault had yet to fully disappear.
My entire body throbbed from the sustained abuse I had suffered just two days prior yet I reassured myself that salvation was only a few hours away. I simply had to find Rhoan before their malice could be unleashed.
Just an hour earlier he had cornered me behind the old smokehouse his eyes earnest and his voice a low rumble. "Stay close tonight Elara. Stick to the shadows until its time. No matter what anyone says or does just remember this" he gripped my chin pulling my face up. "I chose you four years ago and Ill choose you again tonight. Our suffering ends when I claim you." That assurance was the only reason I could still walk.
Rhoan was the singular light in my shadow filled life—my devoted partner of four years and the only wolf in The Azure Crescent Pack I truly trusted. He was also next in line to become the Alpha. That title held little meaning for me but it was everything to the other she wolves who despised me for being with him. They felt he deserved a strong Luna not a weak unshifted female like me—a runt as they constantly reminded me.
My wolf should have appeared when I turned sixteen three years ago but it did not. Now at nineteen the age where we could usually recognize our mates we had waited eight long months for his nineteenth birthday to finally confirm our bond. He never wavered in his conviction that we were fated fiercely protecting me from the packs scorn after I failed to shift with the others.
He lacked the authority of the Alpha Command to fully stop the harassment but he constantly defended me and stood by me. Being with Rhoan was the only thing that made my miserable existence feel worthwhile. When he held me all the pain seemed to vanish and I knew I would survive.
Tonight was supposed to be the night that would alter the course of my life.
I frantically searched the crowd hoping he was looking for me too. We had planned for this moment for years.
"Rhoan? Where are you?" I called out using the pack link receiving nothing but silence in return.
Suddenly the aggressive pulse of the party music ceased. The crowd parted and Savannah my sisters best friend and one of my most dedicated tormentors strode forward.
"The poor little unshifted thing has quite a nerve showing up here right now" Savannah sneered her lip curling with contempt. "The pack is celebrating the future Luna. Youre only going to ruin it. This party is for wolves only."
She stepped forward and casually knocked her elbow into my shoulder. The impact jarred my already bruised ribs making me gasp and stumble. It was a clear warning a painful physical boundary she was setting. The remaining partygoers stopped their conversations eager to witness the spectacle. The colored strobe lights continued to flash in the suffocating silence.
I desperately searched for the man of the hour hoping he would see the disruption and rush to my defense but his face was nowhere among the grinning onlookers.
"Rhoan invited me. I am part of this pack and I belong here" I whispered fighting back the sting of tears. A wave of collective laughter washed over me. Something truly dreadful was about to happen.
"He doesnt want you here" Savannah hissed her smile widening into a triumphant leer. "I think he went upstairs to his room. You should go fetch him and see what he has to say."
I tightened my grip on the present I held to my chest. I knew she was setting a trap but I was desperate to reach Rhoan and escape her malicious game.
As I took the first step Savannah retreated to the side. I could feel the amusement of the entire pack watching me ascend the grand staircase. Rhoans room was at the end of the hall behind the double doors. I sprinted toward it hearing the footsteps of the gawkers following close behind. I just needed to reach the room close the door and pretend the world outside didnt exist.
My mind surged with a deep primal warning as my hand wrapped around the cold brass knob. It was an alarm screaming for me to run but I ignored it. I turned the handle and pushed the door open.
The loud raw cry of pleasure from the female underneath my boyfriend instantly froze me. I stared wide eyed at the two bodies violently tangled on the bed. Rhoan was driving into her hard his own grunts of pleasure filling the room.
My stomach seized and my lungs refused to draw breath. The tiny precious light that had sustained me for years was abruptly extinguished plunging my mind into absolute darkness as I registered the horror.
He lifted his head his eyes glazed with the wolfs frenzy utterly failing to see my tear streaked face. His canines extended and with a vicious snap he latched onto her neck puncturing the skin and cementing her as his rightful mate.
Lyra. My own sister.
"No" I choked out my hand flying to cover my mouth. Rhoan pulled back his face contorted in a snarl at the unwelcome interruption.
"I told you he didnt want you" Savannah whispered into my ear from the doorway. My sister Lyra laughed triumphantly from beneath Rhoan running her hand through his short blonde hair.
"Would you mind shutting the door Elara?" Lyra asked her voice dripping with mock innocence. The malicious satisfaction in her narrowed eyes confirmed her victory. She hadnt just stolen the man I loved she was now the Luna he would choose. "Im trying to share a private moment with my mate."
Mate. The word was a hollow empty shell now. Rhoan had always hated Lyras cruelty toward me. Now he was bearing his teeth at me defending her.
"How could you?" I sobbed a sharp ragged wrenching through my chest. The small wrapped present fell from my paralyzed hand hitting the floor with a startling crack. The sound seemed to break the spell. Rhoans eyes snapped back to their usual brown guilt immediately replacing the feral haze.
His jaw dropped as he glanced between me and my sister. He looked shocked that he had been caught cheating but there was no sign of regret for the claiming itself. He was happy to have found his mate he just hated the circumstances of the revelation.
"Elara I..." he stammered stepping toward me. I instinctively recoiled stumbling backward only to be stopped by the wall of gawkers at the door who pushed me back toward him.
The constant flow of tears blurred my vision as my chest ached. "Elara... shes my mate" he finally confessed his voice heavy.
The entire pack house below and behind me erupted in celebratory cheers for their claimed future Luna.
Hearing the words spoken aloud was a final devastating blow. I watched shuddering with revulsion as Lyra placed her hand on his exposed back. Goosebumps erupted on his skin and he released a low involuntary growl of pleasure at her touch.
"You despise her!" I shrieked pointing my finger at Lyra. "You told me countless times how dreadful she was! You said you pitied her fated mate for being stuck with such a horrid person! You could have rejected her!" I wiped the wetness from my face blinking hard to clear my sight.
"Shes my mate" he repeated defensive now. "I never intended to hurt you Elara I swear this isnt how I planned the night to go. But you of all people know how critical it was for me to mark my mate before The Offering arrives. It could be any day! And its not like I could mate with you if you werent my mate. Youre a h—"
He cut himself off but the word hung heavy and exposed in the air. I took a deep shuddering breath fighting the despair. "Human" I spat finishing his sentence for him.
He was the only person in the entire pack who had never held that over my head. He was my sanctuary. Now he was on their side. He had pretended my unshifted status didnt matter but it turned out it mattered so much that he preferred to mate with my cruel sister than be with me the human.
"Dont try to make me the villain for finding my soulmate Elara! Finding our one is what weve dreamed of for years! I didnt know it wouldnt be you but you should still be happy for me!" he insisted his voice rising in self defense only intensifying my hatred.
He made no move to step away from Lyra as she brazenly rubbed his shoulder hooking her manicured claw around his chest to ensure I saw her possessive hold. I watched with disgust as his body began to respond to her touch again. I shook my head in disbelief.
"I feel only pity for you Rhoan" I whispered.
My sister responded with a low predatory growl of anger but quickly smiled lifting a triumphant eyebrow at me. "Please close the door behind you on your way out runt. Were not finished in here yet."
The word runt was the final blow. As she said it a terrifying heat that had nothing to do with anger or shame exploded across Elaras chest. It was a raw searing agony deep within her bones. The room tilted. She stumbled back colliding with the watching pack members who immediately pushed her away as if touching her would curse them.
The pain intensified forcing a guttural inhuman sound from her throat. She gripped her head eyes squeezed shut as the lights in the room suddenly flickered then died. A high pitched shriek that felt like the tearing of metal echoed in the sudden darkness a shriek that wasnt hers. The noise was unbearable the pressure in her skull terrifying.
Then the lights in the entire pack house the very power source that fueled the celebrations shattered instantly plunging the whole building into a deafening absolute blackout.
In that suffocating silence the monstrous pain tore its way out of Elara a power she never knew existed now fully awake and enraged by the ultimate betrayal. She finally felt a shift—not the warm welcoming change of a wolf but something colder something terrifying something ready to hunt callvinger