Not completely. But enough that I could finally breathe.
I lay sprawled on the forest floor, the dirt cool beneath my body, mingling with the last wisps of agony that had seared through every inch of my being. The air around me still vibrated with energy, strange, primal, ancient.
The moon above was no longer just a distant celestial orb. It watched me with sentient presence, burning brighter than ever before. The light shimmered off the trees, turning their bark to silver and bathing the clearing in an otherworldly glow.
I had shifted.
My first shift.
Not during a celebration. Not surrounded by family. Not welcomed by pack elders.
I had shifted in the shadows. Alone. Broken.
Rejected.
Lucian's words still echoed like a curse in my ears:
"You're not Luna material. I reject you."
I curled into myself, arms wrapped tightly around my knees as though I could hold the pieces of my soul together through sheer will.
It hadn't just been a rejection of the mate bond. It was a rejection of my entire existence. My dreams. My worth. Everything I had secretly hoped for… crushed beneath the heel of his pride.
But despite the pain, something inside me was alive feral, alert, and new.
My wolf.
I could feel her now. Not fully formed, but present a raw, growling energy just beneath my skin, pacing inside my soul like a caged storm. She was confused, wounded, and angry, but she was there.
He rejected us, her voice whispered faintly in my mind. But we are still here.
I took a shaky breath. Yes. We were still here.
Even without him.
Especially without him.
The wind shifted suddenly, brushing across my skin like a whisper. I sat up, shivering, trying to gather my thoughts, when I heard a sound.
A rustle. Then silence.
Then… a scent.
Wildflowers. Smoke. Magic.
I tensed.
It wasn't a pack scent. It wasn't Lucian. And it wasn't rogue.
This was something else entirely.
I rose to my feet, every muscle tight. The wind carried the strange scent again, and then between the trees a figure stepped forward.
She glided more than walked, her long silver hair catching moonlight like a cascade of stars. Her robes were pale gray, embroidered with symbols I couldn't recognize, and her eyes… her eyes glowed faintly blue like frost, ancient and unreadable.
She was not of this world. That much was clear.
But I didn't feel fear.
Only awe.
"W-Who are you?" I asked, my voice trembling more from the weight of everything I had just experienced than from fear of this mysterious woman.
She smiled softly, tilting her head. "I have been known by many names across time. Oracle. Seer. Daughter of the Dawn. But to you, Aurora Blake, I am a messenger."
I took a half-step back. "A messenger? From who?"
Her smile deepened. "From the one who never rejected you. From the one who heard your soul cry out long before tonight. The Moon Goddess."
My breath hitched.
"No," I whispered, shaking my head. "There must be a mistake. The Moon Goddess doesn't send messengers to people like me. I'm nothing. I was rejected. I was"
"Awakened," she interrupted gently. "You were awakened through pain, yes. But pain is not the enemy. Pain opens the door to transformation. And transformation… is what you were born for."
My knees buckled and I sank slowly to the ground. I was too exhausted to fight the tears as they finally spilled over.
"All I ever wanted was to belong," I choked out. "To matter. I thought… when I met my mate, things would change. That I'd finally be enough."
"You were always enough," the woman said. "But sometimes, to rise, we must first be broken."
I lifted my face to her. "Why me?"
"Because the world is changing," she said, her voice now layered with power. "The balance has shifted. The old bloodlines are fading. The Moon has chosen a new path one that does not begin with alphas or kings, but with a girl who was overlooked."
"A prophecy?" I asked, my voice barely audible.
She nodded once. "Yes. Long ago, it was foretold: The one cast aside shall be the one to bring the tide. You are the first in generations to carry the Moon's direct mark. Not just a wolf… but a daughter of divine will."
I blinked. My thoughts tangled like threads in a storm.
"What do I do now?" I asked.
The woman stepped closer, reaching out. Her fingers brushed my forehead with a feather-light touch, and a warmth flooded my mind a flicker of memories that weren't mine. Battles. Flames. A silver crown. A forest dripping with blood. And wolves bowing at my feet.
I gasped.
"You become who you were meant to be," she whispered.
"And who is that?"
Her glowing eyes softened. "The one who rises from rejection… and becomes a queen."
Before I could ask another question, a gust of wind rushed through the clearing. Leaves scattered. The moonlight pulsed. And just like that, she was gone.
No scent. No sound. Just silence… and a trail of glowing white petals left where she had stood.
I sat in stunned stillness for what felt like hours.
Was it a dream? A vision? A hallucination?
No. It felt too real.
And I felt… changed.
I slowly got to my feet, wincing as my body ached from the shift. My hoodie was torn at the seams. My feet were bare. But I was stronger. Not just physically, but… inside. A flame had been lit in my chest, and I knew it would never be extinguished again.
I wasn't the weak orphan girl anymore.
I wasn't the rejected mate.
I was something new. Something dangerous.
And Lucian would feel it.
As I made my way back toward the packhouse, the forest seemed different more alive, more watchful. The trees parted for me like they knew who I was. The wind curled around me like a cloak.
I didn't know what the future held. But I knew this:
I would never be invisible again.
I would train. I would learn. I would rise.
Lucian had thrown me away. But fate had caught me in its hands.
And when I returned to the Midnight Howl Pack?
They would no longer see a helpless girl.
They would see the wolf the Moon had chosen.