Banished by My Pack, Chosen as the True Luna
Chapter 3
I ran until my legs stopped listening.
Then I walked.
I stumbled. Then I kept going anyway.
The forest stretched endlessly in front of me.
Behind me was Silver Fang Pack.
Behind me was Ryder.
Behind me was Sophia.
Behind me was the future they had already decided for me.
I wasn't going back.
Not for anything.
The cold night air burned my lungs.
My stomach growled.
I hadn't eaten since yesterday.
The baby.
The thought immediately made me slow down.
I placed a hand over my stomach.
"I'm trying," I whispered.
The words sounded ridiculous.
Talking to someone who wasn't even born yet.
But somehow it helped.
For the first time since leaving, I wasn't completely alone.
A branch snapped somewhere behind me.
I froze.
My hearing sharpened automatically.
Voices.
At least six wolves.
Maybe more.
I crouched behind a fallen tree.
The voices grew closer.
"...Alpha wants her found before sunrise."
That made my stomach drop.
Another voice answered.
"Honestly, I don't understand why we're bothering."
"Because she's carrying his child."
Silence.
Then someone cursed.
"What?"
"She's pregnant?"
"Doctor Hale confirmed it."
My heart stopped.
How many people knew?
Another guard laughed.
"Then she's definitely coming back."
"Yeah."
"Alpha isn't letting his heir disappear."
I clenched my jaw.
His heir.
Not his child.
Not our child.
His heir.
The difference mattered.
The voices kept moving.
"Think she'll survive out here?"
"No wolf?"
A snort.
"Not a chance."
Their laughter faded into the distance.
I stayed hidden for several minutes.
Waiting.
Listening.
Making sure they were gone.
Only then did I stand.
My hands were shaking.
Not from fear.
From anger.
So I had been right.
The second they found out about the baby, I stopped being a person.
I became property.
An incubator.
A future heir.
Nothing more.
I turned away from the direction of my old Pack.
And walked deeper into the forest.
________________
By midday, my body was giving up.
I was hungry.
Exhausted.
My feet hurt.
Every muscle hurt.
But stopping wasn't an option.
I knew how wolves hunted.
They could track for days.
Especially when they had a scent.
My scent.
I stopped near a stream.
Kneeling carefully, I drank.
The water was freezing.
A little too freezing.
Something was wrong.
The forest had gone quiet.
No birds.
No insects.
Nothing.
My head snapped up.
Danger.
I didn't know how I knew.
I just did.
A growl echoed through the trees.
Then another.
Then three more.
Rogues.
My heart sank.
Five.
No.
Six.
Maybe seven.
Their scents hit me immediately.
Blood.
Rot.
Violence.
I stood slowly.
The largest Rogue stepped out first.
A scar ran across his face.
His smile made my skin crawl.
"Look what we found."
The others appeared around him.
Cutting off every escape route.
I took a step backward.
The leader sniffed the air.
Then his eyes widened.
"Oh."
Another Rogue laughed.
"She's pregnant."
The leader grinned.
"Even better."
I reached for a weapon.
There wasn't one.
Of course there wasn't.
I was alone.
No wolf.
No pack.
No protection.
The leader stepped closer.
"Where's your Alpha?"
I said nothing.
"Not coming to save you?"
Still nothing.
His grin widened.
"I thought so."
One Rogue lunged.
I dodged.
Barely.
Another grabbed my arm.
I kicked him.
He cursed.
The leader laughed.
"She's got spirit."
My chest tightened.
Not from fear.
Pain.
Sudden.
Violent.
The bond.
The mate bond.
Something was happening.
Something terrible.
The pain exploded through my body.
I collapsed to one knee.
The Rogues paused.
Confused.
I wasn't.
Because through the bond—
I could feel Ryder.
Far away.
But connected.
And then my hearing caught something impossible.
The distance should have been too great.
No wolf could hear this far.
But I did.
Voices.
Cheering.
Music.
The Luna ceremony.
Sophia.
Ryder.
The world blurred.
And suddenly—
I heard him.
The High Priestess.
"Alpha Ryder."
Silence.
Then:
"Do you accept Sophia Hart as your Luna?"
Everything inside me froze.
I shouldn't have been able to hear this.
I was miles away.
Yet every word reached me perfectly.
The crowd waited.
Then Ryder answered.
"I do."
The pain hit.
Harder than the rejection.
Harder than anything.
I gasped.
Blood filled my mouth.
The Rogues disappeared from focus.
The forest disappeared.
Everything disappeared.
The last thing I heard was thousands of wolves cheering.
Celebrating.
While my world ended.
Then darkness swallowed me.
________________
Moonlight.
Silver.
Endless silver.
I stood in a field that didn't exist.
No trees.
No sky.
No earth.
Only light.
For a moment I thought I was dead.
Then a voice spoke.
"You are not."
I turned.
A woman stood behind me.
Beautiful wasn't a strong enough word.
She seemed made from moonlight itself.
Silver hair.
Silver eyes.
Silver dress.
The moment I saw her, I knew.
I dropped to my knees.
"Moon Goddess."
She smiled.
"Olivia."
My eyes filled with tears.
The anger I'd been holding finally surfaced.
"Why?"
Her expression softened.
"Why what?"
"Why me?"
The words exploded out.
"Why give me no wolf?"
"Why let everyone hate me?"
"Why let him reject me?"
My voice broke.
"He chose her."
The Moon Goddess listened quietly.
Then she shook her head.
"No."
I blinked.
"What?"
"He chose her."
She stepped closer.
"But I did not."
The silver world trembled.
The Moon Goddess lifted my chin.
"You believe you have no wolf."
"Don't I?"
"No."
My heart pounded.
"Then where is she?"
The Goddess smiled.
"Because you were never meant to be a wolf."
I stared at her.
"I don't understand."
"The wolves choose Alphas."
Silver light surrounded us.
"But I choose my Luna."
The words echoed through the entire dream world.
"You were chosen long before Ryder was born."
I couldn't breathe.
"What?"
"You are not Luna because of him."
The Goddess touched my forehead.
"You never were."
Memories flashed.
My hearing.
My senses.
My instincts.
Everything different.
Everything strange.
Everything that never fit.
The Goddess smiled.
"You are my Luna."
The world exploded with silver light.
"The only one."
Tears slid down my face.
"But they said I would destroy the Pack."
The Goddess laughed softly.
"No."
The light intensified.
"They feared what they could not understand."
Then she looked toward my stomach.
Her expression changed.
Gentler.
Warmer.
"The child must live."
A pulse of silver energy spread through me.
Warm.
Comforting.
Protective.
I instinctively covered my stomach.
The Goddess continued.
"Leave the past behind."
"Go north."
"What is there?"
"Your future."
The silver light began fading.
The dream was ending.
I panicked.
"Wait."
The Goddess smiled.
"Remember this."
The world shattered.
"No matter where you go."
Her voice echoed around me.
"No matter who rejects you."
Everything disappeared.
"You are still my Luna."
________________
Something warm touched my forehead.
I opened my eyes immediately.
A wooden ceiling.
A fireplace.
A cabin.
Not the forest.
Not the Pack.
Not heaven.
A cabin.
I sat up too fast.
Pain shot through my body.
"Easy."
A man's voice.
Deep.
Calm.
Dangerous.
Every instinct I had immediately activated.
A stranger sat across the room.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
Dark hair.
Golden eyes.
He was cleaning blood from a hunting knife.
My blood.
Rogue blood.
I couldn't tell.
He noticed me staring.
Then he raised one eyebrow.
"You're awake."
I grabbed the blanket.
"Who are you?"
His gaze lingered on me for several seconds.
Not uncomfortable.
Just assessing.
Calculating.
Like he was trying to solve a puzzle.
Finally he leaned back.
"The better question is..."
A faint smile appeared.
"...why is Alpha Ryder's rejected Luna bleeding in my territory?"
My heart stopped.
He knew exactly who I was.
And somehow—
That scared me more than the Rogues had.
The stranger set down the knife.
Then stood.
Every survival instinct I possessed immediately screamed.
Danger.
Real danger.
His golden eyes locked onto mine.
And for the first time since leaving Silver Fang—
I had absolutely no idea what would happen next.
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