I used to think the pain of rejection was the sharpest blade the world could offer. That being discarded by your fated mate publicly, ruthlessly was the cruelest cut imaginable.
I was wrong.
It wasn't the rejection that bled the most.
It was what came after.
The stares. The whispers. The weight of every pair of eyes watching my every move, every breath, every blink. Their curiosity felt like needles. Their judgment, like a slow, suffocating fire.
The most painful wounds aren't always loud.
Some are soft. Subtle. Delivered with a smile.
Like envy, wrapped in silk and painted lips.
Two days had passed since Lucian had rejected me and I awakened beneath the Moon's light. Two days since the forest shook with divine power, and I emerged with a wolf roaring inside me. Since the pack had stared, dumbfounded, while I faced down the Alpha who broke the bond.
And now, I walked the same halls they used to ignore me in but this time, the air buzzed differently.
They couldn't look away.
I was no longer the invisible orphan in the corner.
I was the girl who survived the rejection and came back stronger.
A girl the Moon herself had chosen to bless.
And not everyone was happy about it.
I walked into the dining hall that morning with my shoulders squared, dressed in the same black training gear Kieran had found for me. The clothes were simple, but they hugged my body differently now my figure had begun to sharpen since the shift. My senses were heightened. My steps more confident.
The clink of cutlery and murmur of conversation dulled as I entered. Heads turned.
Some bowed.
Most didn't.
I made my way toward the food trays, silently begging the Goddess for peace. Just five minutes without a snide remark or a judging stare.
But of course, peace was the one thing I'd never had.
"Look who finally decided to act like she belongs here."
The voice was a smooth purr familiar, venom-laced.
I turned, already knowing who it was.
Nerissa.
Beta-born, Luna-hopeful, and a venomous rose with daggers hidden in every word. She stood near the long table with her usual trio of followers, each one as plastic as the last. Her golden hair was braided down her shoulder, her lips painted red like blood, and her expression was one of sweet malice.
I said nothing, but the air between us snapped taut with tension.
She took a slow sip from her crystal cup, watching me over the rim. "You've got quite the new look, Aurora. Training suits you. Makes you look… tolerable."
I walked past her, pretending she was air. But Nerissa was never content being ignored.
She followed.
"You know," she said, voice low enough that only I could hear, "some of us actually earned our place in this pack. We didn't just get a shiny new wolf and start acting like we matter."
My fingers curled around my tray.
"Is there a reason you're so obsessed with me, Nerissa?" I asked, voice calm.
She blinked, smile flickering. "Please. Don't flatter yourself. I'm not obsessed."
I turned to face her, eyes level. "Then stop orbiting me like I'm your sun."
A few nearby wolves stifled their chuckles. Nerissa's expression soured, but only for a second. She recovered quickly, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
"Careful, little star," she said sweetly. "Not everyone who shines is destined to burn bright. Some flare up, flicker once… and fade."
I leaned in slightly, lowering my voice. "And some, like you, rot in the shadows, waiting for someone else to fall."
Before she could respond, a low growl rumbled behind us.
Kieran.
I didn't have to look to know it was him. I could feel his energy firm, protective.
"You done?" he asked, voice like steel.
Nerissa gave him a sugary smile. "Just catching up with our new favorite outcast."
"Find a new hobby."
With a huff and a toss of her perfect braid, Nerissa sauntered away, her posse following in her perfume-clouded wake.
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
Kieran handed me a steaming cup. "Black coffee. You looked like you needed it."
"You read minds now?"
"Only yours."
I managed a small smile. "Thanks."
We trained again that morning more drills, more sparring, more bruises. But with every blow I landed, with every block I perfected, something inside me unfurled. I was learning quickly. Too quickly.
Kieran noticed.
"You're not just catching up," he said after I pinned one of the male trainees with a slick shoulder throw. "You're outpacing most of them."
"My wolf's guiding me," I said, breathless. "It's like… she already knows."
Kieran nodded, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes. Worry? Awe?
Or maybe both.
As the sun began to set, we collapsed on the edge of the training field, muscles screaming in protest.
"I haven't seen anything like this before," Kieran said. "Not even in the Alpha line."
"I don't understand it either," I admitted. "I was nothing two days ago. Now…"
"You're not nothing."
I looked at him.
He held my gaze for a long moment.
"You were never nothing, Aurora."
For a heartbeat, everything stilled.
Then he stood, offered me a hand. "Get some rest. You've earned it."
That night, the Omega quarters were quiet. The low hum of distant howls pulsed in the background like a lullaby. But sleep evaded me.
My body ached in that good way the kind that told you you were building something stronger. But my mind… it was restless. The edges of the vision I'd seen two nights ago haunted me.
And then it happened again.
It started with a whisper.
A soft breeze through the cracks in the stone walls.
Then came the cold.
But not natural cold this was deeper. Older.
The shadows in my room began to ripple, and suddenly, I was no longer lying in my bed.
I was standing.
In the middle of a great stone chamber.
The same as before, only this time… the fire was gone.
Darkness loomed overhead, yet silver runes still glowed beneath my bare feet. Moonlight bathed the hall in ethereal white, and wolves translucent, ghostly circled me in reverence.
At the end of the chamber stood that same throne, forged of twisted silver bones and thorned vines.
And on it…
Myself.
Older. Radiant. Dressed in robes of midnight and starlight. My wolf visible, ghostly white sat at my side, eyes blazing.
I stepped forward.
But then… a shadow rose.
It came from the darkness behind the throne, tall and wild, a figure cloaked in black fire. I couldn't see his face, but I felt his hatred.
Felt his fury.
He raised his hand and the wolves howled in pain.
My other self stood slowly, lifted a glowing hand toward the threat, and whispered something I couldn't hear.
The world shook.
The throne cracked.
And the vision exploded in red flame.
"He will destroy you before you rise."
The words roared in my ears as the vision shattered.
I jolted awake, sweat-soaked and gasping.
My wolf snarled inside me. She was afraid.
And so was I.
Because I had a feeling I knew who "he" was.
And if the vision was right…
Lucian Storm wasn't just my past.
He might be the very thing standing between me and the destiny the Moon had written in the stars.