Night in the Moonshadow territory was rarely still.
Wolves stirred long after sunset, hunting parties returned late, and pups whined through the dark hours, their calls echoing faintly through the forest. But tonight, even the wind seemed to sleep, wrapped in shadows and silence.
Luna lay awake beneath her pine shelter, her eyes fixed on the moon sliver above the swaying branches. It was waning now, curling inward like a secret. In two nights' time, it would be full—glorious and whole—and the entire pack would gather beneath its light.
The Moon Ceremony.
Luna's hands trembled at the thought.
She hadn't been able to eat since Elder Lyra told her she must participate. At first, she'd assumed they would let her sit at the edge of the clearing and observe like every year. But now, she would stand alongside the others her age, drink from the chalice, and open herself to the Moon Goddess's will.
If she had a fated mate, the bond would be revealed.
If not…
She didn't know what came after "not."
Her heart had never longed for power. She didn't envy Selene's beauty, nor the warriors' praise. But the idea of a mate—someone who could look at her and see her—not the runt, not the orphan, not the burden—that dream had kept her warm through many winters.
Still, Luna didn't fool herself.
Why would the Moon Goddess choose a mate for someone like her? Someone so unwanted?
And yet…
There had been that moment in the grove. The way Orion looked at her. The crack of silence that followed.
Something had shifted.
Even if she didn't understand it, she felt it.
And it terrified her.
As the moon climbed higher into the sky, Luna rose to her feet. She wrapped her blanket tighter around her shoulders and padded barefoot through the woods. The cold didn't bother her. It was the only sensation that still grounded her.
She passed the elder's stone, the warrior ring, the outer patrol posts—each landmark reminding her of how small she was in this world. Still, she kept walking, until the trees opened into a quiet clearing wrapped in fog and moonlight.
The Moonstone Hollow.
It was sacred ground.
Even Selene avoided it—too steeped in mystery for her taste.
But Luna came here often. Not for rituals. Not to seek answers. Just to breathe.
Tonight, though, the air felt charged.
She stepped carefully toward the stone altar at the clearing's center, a massive slab covered in moss and white lichen. According to the stories, the Moon Goddess herself had once descended onto that stone to bless the first alpha of Moonshadow.
Luna knelt before it.
Not because she felt holy.
But because she felt desperate.
Her hands pressed together, and her voice rose softly.
"Please…" she began, unsure of the words. "I don't know if you listen. I don't know if you've ever listened. But I… I need something. Anything."
The wind stirred faintly, brushing against her cheek like a mother's sigh.
"I don't want to live like this anymore. I don't want to be invisible. I don't want to keep pretending that it doesn't hurt… every day."
Her voice cracked. She swallowed hard, but the tears came anyway.
"Do I have a purpose? Did you put me here for a reason? Because if you did, I—I need to know what it is. I need to believe this isn't all I'm meant for."
She bowed her head lower until her forehead touched the cold stone. Her fingers clutched the grass.
"Please. Show me."
Silence.
The kind that lives in places too old for words.
Then—
A shimmer.
Barely noticeable.
But the moonlight on the stone brightened, casting a faint glow across the ground. Luna lifted her head slowly. Her breath caught.
The stone pulsed with soft silver light, the moss seeming to glow from within.
And in her chest, just beneath her ribs—
A warmth.
Not from her body.
From something else.
Something ancient.
Her breath hitched. She looked to the sky, the moon above watching like a great eye, unblinking and eternal.
And for the first time, she didn't feel quite so alone.
You are seen.
The words weren't spoken.
They pulsed inside her.
You are not forgotten.
Luna's hands fell to her sides, and she collapsed backward into the grass, tears running freely now—not of pain, but of release.
She stayed there for what felt like hours.
Just breathing.
Just… being.
When she returned to the pack grounds, the dawn had begun to bloom at the edges of the world.
Smoke drifted from the kitchens. Patrols were changing shifts. A few young wolves dragged firewood across the den paths.
No one noticed her arrival.
That was fine.
She didn't need them to.
Something had changed.
Maybe not the world.
But her.
By midday, Selene had heard about Luna's midnight disappearance.
She cornered her near the mess tent, one manicured brow raised in exaggerated concern.
"Awake all night again?" she purred, her voice dripping sweet venom. "You'll need beauty sleep if you want to impress your fated mate. Oh—wait. You won't have one, will you?"
Luna didn't respond.
Selene leaned in closer, eyes sharp.
"You're not going to ruin this ceremony, Luna. It's the most important night of my life. I won't let some gutter pup draw attention away from me."
"I'm not trying to—"
"But you always do, don't you?" Selene hissed. "With your silent suffering. Your poor, pitiful orphan act. You think it makes them pity you, makes them see you."
Luna stared into her eyes.
For once, she didn't lower her gaze.
Selene faltered for half a second, then scoffed and walked away, the click of her heels fading down the path.
Luna exhaled slowly.
She didn't win anything.
But she also didn't break.
And that was something.
That evening, Luna stood at the edge of the warrior field, watching as the rest of her peers rehearsed for the Moon Ceremony.
She hadn't been asked to join.
She wasn't surprised.
Ryven walked over eventually and gave her a look that wasn't unkind, just tired.
"They say you don't belong," he murmured. "But I've watched you, Luna. You take every hit and keep standing."
She raised an eyebrow. "That's not strength. That's survival."
"Sometimes, that's all strength is."
She didn't know how to respond. But the words lingered with her long after he left.
That night, as the stars blanketed the sky, Luna sat beside the creek again and dipped her feet in the water.
The frogs chirped. The trees rustled. A lone owl hooted in the distance.
She looked at the moon—nearly full now.
"Tomorrow," she whispered, "you show me who I'm meant for."
Her fingers closed around a smooth, moon-white stone in the water.
"If it's no one… then let me go."
She raised the stone to her heart, closed her eyes, and let the cold wind carry her prayer away.