Chapter 2: The Exile
The first thing I felt when I woke up was the cold.
Not the crisp chill of winter, but the kind that seeped into your bones—the kind that came from being alone.
I was lying on the ground outside the pack gates, my body aching, my clothes torn. The rejection had left me weak, but the pain in my chest was worse. Leo had thrown me out like garbage.
A sob escaped my lips as I clutched my stomach. My baby. The only good thing left in this nightmare.
I forced myself to stand, my legs shaking. The guards at the gate refused to meet my eyes. They knew. The whole pack knew. Selene Grace, the Luna who was never really wanted.
I had nothing. No money. No home. No family to run to—my parents had died years ago, and Leo had been my whole world.
But I couldn’t stay here. Not when every breath reminded me of his betrayal.
So I ran.
Five Years Later
The city was loud, bright, and most importantly—far from the Moon Shadow Pack.
I adjusted my lab coat as I walked through the hospital hallway, nodding at the nurses who greeted me. Dr. Selene Carter. No one here knew about my past. No one knew I had once been a Luna.
To them, I was just a brilliant doctor who had clawed her way up from nothing.
“Dr. Carter, you’re needed in ER 3—critical case,” a nurse called out.
I strode into the room, my focus sharp. A young werewolf lay on the bed, his skin burning with fever. His family hovered nearby, their faces twisted in fear.
“Please,” his mother begged. “They say you’re the only one who can help.”
I examined him, my fingers brushing over the dark veins spreading beneath his skin. Moon Sickness. A rare, deadly disease—one I had spent years studying.
“I can treat him,” I said firmly.
The relief in their eyes was worth every sleepless night I’d spent studying.
But as I worked, my mind flickered back to him. Leo. The man who had cast me aside. The man who had rejected me.
I wondered if he ever thought about me. If he regretted what he’d done.
Then I crushed the thought. He doesn’t deserve your tears
The Invitation
That night, I sat in my small apartment, sipping tea while my daughter, Lily, played with her stuffed wolf.
She had Leo’s eyes.
Every time I looked at her, I saw him. But she was mine. My miracle. My reason to keep going.
My phone buzzed. An unknown number.
Frowning, I opened the message—and my blood turned to ice.
“Luna Selene, the Moon Shadow Pack is in crisis. A deadly disease is spreading. We need your expertise. Please return.”
My hands trembled. Return? After everything?
Lily looked up at me, her tiny voice curious. “Mama, what’s wrong?”
I forced a smile. “Nothing, sweetheart.”
But inside, my wolf stirred. This wasn’t over.