The hall was too silent, so silent that even the sound of my breath felt like thunder. All eyes were on me, like I was some cursed stranger who dared to walk into their sacred ceremony.

I wished the ground would open and swallow me.

The mark still burned on my neck, proof that the Moon Goddess herself had tied me to Damien, the most powerful Alpha this pack had ever seen. Yet the way he looked at me—it wasn’t pride, it wasn’t love. It was disgust.

“You must be joking,” Damien’s voice came low, dangerous, like he wanted to erase me with words alone. His gray eyes swept over me from head to toe as if I was some weak dirt under his boots. “The Goddess can’t be serious. A human? My mate?”

The crowd gasped and whispers rushed like wildfire.

“She’s weak.”

“She can’t even shift.”

“What will the other packs say if our Alpha has a human Luna?”

“She will be a shame to us.”

Each word stabbed me deeper. I bit my lip, trying to hold my tears, but my body betrayed me. My hands trembled, and my eyes stung.

And then Clara’s voice cut through, sharp like a dagger. Of course she would speak. Clara, the beautiful she-wolf everyone wanted as Luna. She tossed her golden hair back and smirked at me.

“This is a disgrace,” she said loudly enough for everyone to hear. “How can the Moon Goddess make such a mistake? Damien deserves a strong she-wolf, not a fragile little human who can’t even protect herself.”

Laughter followed. Cruel, ugly laughter. Some covered their mouths like they pitied me, but their eyes sparkled with wicked joy.

I turned my face away, wishing I could vanish. Why did the Moon Goddess choose me? Why didn’t she leave me alone in my corner, invisible like always?

Damien clenched his jaw. His whole body was stiff, his fists tight. He looked at me again, and in his eyes I saw no mercy. “I won’t accept this,” he said. “I, Alpha Damien, reject you—”

“Stop!” The elder, old Marcellus, raised his staff before Damien could finish. “You can’t speak those words so easily. The bond will answer.”

Damien growled low in his chest. “I don’t care. I won’t be tied to this human.” His voice thundered. “She will never be my Luna.”

The laughter grew louder. My chest tightened until I could barely breathe. Clara stepped closer, her eyes glittering with victory.

“Do you see now?” she hissed at me, her words like venom. “You’re nothing, Elara. Just a human girl pretending to belong here. You’ll destroy this pack if Damien accepts you. You should have never been born.”

Her words shattered me.

I pressed my shaking hands against my ears, but it didn’t block out the voices—the mocking, the insults, the laughter.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to beg the Goddess to take back her mistake. Tears streamed down my face, hot and endless. I hated myself in that moment. Why me? Why couldn’t I have been born like them—with claws, with fangs, with strength? Why did I have to be the weak human in a world of wolves?

“Damien, please,” Clara said sweetly now, her voice dripping with fake innocence. “Don’t let this bond chain you. You belong with someone like me, not her.”

Something inside me broke.

I turned and ran, but before I could escape, Damien’s voice roared behind me.

“I, Alpha Damien of Silver Moon Pack, reject—”

But before the last word left his lips, a scream ripped out of him.

He fell to his knees, clutching his chest as the mate mark on his neck blazed with fire. The crowd gasped as his skin burned with golden light.

I froze where I stood, my heart pounding in terror.

The Moon Goddess wasn’t letting him reject me.

And just like that, the humiliation turned into horror—for both of us.

---

I ran out of the hall, blind with tears. The night air was cold, but it wasn’t cold enough to numb the ache in my chest. My legs carried me to the back of the pack house, far from their whispers, far from their laughter.

I dropped to the ground, hugging my knees, sobbing until my whole body shook.

“What did I do wrong?” I whispered into the darkness. “Why was I born this way? Why can’t I just disappear?”

My voice cracked with pain. My throat burned. Every insult they threw at me kept replaying in my head.

“She should have never been born.”

“She’s weak.”

“She’s a mistake.”

Maybe they were right. Maybe I was a mistake.

The stars above twinkled, but they felt so far away. Even the Moon that had marked me felt like it was mocking me now. I pressed my hand against my chest, but the emptiness inside me was worse than any wound.

A twig snapped behind me, and my heart leapt in fear.

“Elara…” Clara’s voice came softly this time, but it carried the same poison. She stepped into the dim light, arms folded, her smile cruel. “Crying won’t change anything. You’ll never be enough. Damien will never want you. No one in this pack will ever follow a human Luna.”

Her words sank into me like knives.

I wanted to scream at her, to fight back, but I had no strength left. All I could do was lower my head and cry harder.

Clara leaned closer, whispering the final blow: “You should run away, Elara. If you care for this pack at all, you’ll disappear before Damien finds a way to destroy you.”

She laughed softly and walked away, leaving me broken.

I stayed there in the dark, my tears soaking the earth. My heart was shattering piece by piece, and the only thought left in me was one I hated to admit.

Maybe she was right. Maybe I should have never been born.

But just as I whispered those words into the night, the mate mark on my neck pulsed with fire again, spreading warmth through my veins. It was like the Goddess herself was reminding me—my story wasn’t over yet.

And that terrified me more than anything.

Damien’s chest burned like fire. He dropped on his knees, clutching the mate mark that refused to let him go. The whole hall froze, watching their Alpha scream in pain.

He hated it. He hated that everyone saw him weak. The strongest wolf in the region, Alpha Damien of Silver Moon Pack, was kneeling like a broken man because of a human girl.

A human.

His wolf snarled inside him. *Reject her. She is not one of us.*

But the bond pulled hard, like chains wrapping around his heart.

He forced himself to stand, his body shaking. His eyes searched the hall but Elara was gone. She had run like a coward, leaving him with all the shame.

“Alpha,” Beta Roland said carefully, his face pale. “The Moon Goddess… she’s binding you. You can’t reject her without a fight.”

“I don’t want her!” Damien roared, his voice shaking the walls. The chandeliers above rattled. Everyone flinched at the power in his anger. “She is weak! She is human! How can I lead with a mate like that?”

Murmurs ran through the crowd. Some nodded, agreeing with him. Others looked uneasy.

Clara stepped forward, her hand on her chest, fake tears in her eyes. “Damien, don’t let the bond chain you. You’re stronger than this. I am the one who has always stood by your side. Choose me, not her.”

Damien’s fists clenched so hard his knuckles cracked. His wolf growled, restless. He wanted Clara once, but now her voice irritated him. The bond tied him to Elara, no matter how he hated it. He could still feel Elara’s tears in his chest, as if they were his own.

It made him angrier.

“She doesn’t belong here,” Damien said. His voice was lower now, but sharper than a blade. “If she stays, she will destroy everything I built.”

Old Marcellus, the elder, stepped closer with his staff. His eyes were heavy with something Damien didn’t like. “Alpha, you know the rules. You can’t simply reject her. The Moon Goddess gave you this bond. Break it, and you may lose more than you think.”

“I don’t care,” Damien growled. “I won’t let her be my Luna.”

But even as he said the words, the mark burned again, harder this time. His knees almost gave way. His wolf howled inside, torn between rage and need.

“Damien,” Roland said carefully. “The people are watching. If you show weakness—”

“I am not weak!” Damien snapped, his voice like thunder. The crowd fell silent again. “I will show them I am still their Alpha. That human will learn her place. She will regret ever stepping into my world.”

---

Far away, Elara was still crying. She sat under a tree, hugging her knees, her whole body shaking from all the humiliation. Her eyes were swollen, her throat sore. Every word Clara said replayed in her mind.

“You don’t belong here.”

“You should never have been born.”

“You will destroy him.”

She wanted to believe it wasn’t true. But everything around her proved it was. She was just a human, no claws, no strength, no wolf. What chance did she have in a pack like this?

Her tears fell faster. “Why, Goddess? Why me?” she whispered.

She heard footsteps and stiffened. For a second, fear wrapped around her. What if it was Clara again? What if it was Damien? She didn’t want anyone to see her like this.

But when she looked up, it was Roland, the Beta. He stood there with a sad look in his eyes.

“Elara,” he said softly. “You should come back. The Alpha is angry.”

Her heart squeezed. Angry? Of course he was. She didn’t need anyone to tell her that. She already knew Damien hated her. The look in his eyes said it all.

“I don’t want to go back,” she whispered, shaking her head. “They all hate me. Clara is right. I don’t belong here.”

Roland sighed, running his hand through his hair. “It’s not that simple. You are the Alpha’s mate. Whether anyone likes it or not, the bond exists. The pack will have to accept you, or suffer the Goddess’s punishment.”

She laughed bitterly, though it sounded more like a sob. “Accept me? They laughed at me, Roland. They called me a mistake. Even Damien—” her voice cracked— “even he doesn’t want me.”

Roland didn’t reply. He couldn’t lie to her. He had seen Damien’s rage with his own eyes.

“Elara,” he said finally, “just… stay strong. The Goddess doesn’t make mistakes. Maybe there’s a reason she chose you.”

Elara shook her head. “No. This is a curse.”

---

Back in the hall, Damien stood tall before his people. His chest still burned, but he hid it under a mask of steel.

He raised his hand and the hall went silent.

“Hear me now,” he said. His voice was cold, sharp, unshakable. “The Moon Goddess may have tied me to a human. But I will never allow her weakness to destroy this pack. She will never stand as my Luna unless she proves herself.”

The people gasped. Clara’s smile froze on her face.

Damien’s gray eyes turned dark, and his wolf pushed through his voice. “If she cannot survive the trials, I will find another way to break this bond. I would rather burn than bow to fate.”

The hall erupted into whispers again. Trials? Everyone knew what that meant. No human could survive the Alpha’s trials. They were built for warriors, not mortals.

Damien’s wolf growled with satisfaction. He would force the bond to bend or break.

“Elara,” he muttered under his breath, his voice filled with rage and something else he refused to name. “You will regret being chosen by me.”

The night felt colder than ever. Elara sat on the edge of her small bed, staring at nothing. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying all day. Every time she tried to sleep, the words of the people came back to her ears.

“She is weak.”

“She will bring shame to the Alpha.”

“She is human, she doesn’t deserve him.”

She pressed her palms over her ears as if that could stop the whispers. But the voices were inside her head, repeating, louder and louder until she broke into another round of tears.

Her chest hurt. It was not just the insults. It was the way Damien had looked at her. Like she was a mistake. Like she was dirt.

“I didn’t ask for this,” she whispered to herself, her voice shaking. “I never asked to be anyone’s mate. Why, Goddess? Why me?”

The small room they gave her felt more like a prison. The walls were bare, the window tiny. She had no comfort, no one to run to. Her mother was gone. Her father too. She was all alone in a world that hated her.

Her stomach growled but she ignored it. She had no appetite. Pain was heavier than hunger.

---

By morning, gossip had spread through the entire pack house like wildfire.

“Elara? That’s the Alpha’s mate?”

“Impossible. The Goddess must be punishing him.”

“A human Luna? We’re finished.”

Everywhere she walked, eyes followed her. Some looked with pity, others with disgust. Some even laughed openly.

She held her head down, her hands clutched together, trying not to let them see her tears. But it was impossible. Every whisper was a knife.

Clara stood tall in the middle of it all. She wore a bright smile, enjoying every second. When she saw Elara walk past, she made sure her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Look at her,” Clara said to her friends, smirking. “Is this what the Moon Goddess gave our Alpha? A weak girl who can’t even look people in the eye. She can’t even stand straight.”

Laughter followed. Elara’s steps faltered. She wanted to run, but she forced herself to keep walking. Running would only make them laugh more.

Her hands shook. Her heart pounded. She felt like she was drowning in shame.

Clara didn’t stop. “She will never survive the trials. Mark my words, she will run back to where she came from. A human can never be Luna.”

The words spread like poison. People repeated them as if they were truth.

---

Inside the Alpha’s chamber, Damien stood by the window, staring at the forest. His wolf was restless, pacing inside him.

He told himself he didn’t care. He told himself she meant nothing. But the bond kept pulling at him, dragging Elara’s pain into his own chest. He felt her sadness as if it were his own. And it made him furious.

He slammed his fist into the wall, cracking the wood. “Damn her,” he growled. “Why should I feel her weakness?”

Roland entered quietly. “The pack is restless. They don’t understand, Alpha. A human Luna—”

“Don’t say it again,” Damien snapped. His eyes flashed. “I will not accept her. The trials will show everyone what she really is.”

Roland hesitated. “And if she survives them?”

Damien turned sharply, his jaw tight. “She won’t.”

But even as he said it, his wolf growled low, uncertain.

---

Elara didn’t leave her room the rest of the day. She lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, tears sliding down her cheeks. She thought of her parents, of the little life she used to live before all this.

She remembered how her mother used to sing to her when she was sad. She remembered her father’s gentle hands. They would have defended her. They would never have let anyone hurt her like this.

But now she had no one. No family. No friends. Just a bond she never asked for.

She hugged her knees and whispered, “Maybe they are right. Maybe I don’t belong here. Maybe I should have never been born.”

Her chest ached. Her whole body shook with sobs.

She wanted to disappear.

---

That night, the pack gathered in the dining hall. Elara had no choice but to join. Her presence was required. She sat at the far end of the long table, her eyes on her plate, but she couldn’t eat.

The room was full of whispers again.

“She looks like she’s about to cry.”

“Does she even know how to fight?”

“Our Alpha deserves better.”

She gripped her fork so tight her hand hurt. She tried not to listen, but the voices were louder than her heartbeat.

Clara leaned close to her and whispered with a smile, “Don’t worry, Elara. The trials will end your suffering. You won’t last a day.”

Elara’s breath caught. She wanted to shout, to fight back, but the words wouldn’t come. Her throat closed. Tears threatened to spill, but she forced them back.

She couldn’t give Clara the satisfaction.

---

At the head of the table, Damien rose to his feet. The hall went silent.

His eyes swept across the room, cold and hard. “Tomorrow,” he said, his voice carrying through the hall, “the trials will begin.”

Gasps filled the air. Everyone turned to look at Elara.

Damien’s gaze lingered on her, unreadable. His chest burned as he felt her fear, but he ignored it. He looked away quickly.

“If she survives,” he continued, “she will earn the right to stand beside me. If she fails…” His voice turned sharp. “She will leave this pack forever.”

The hall erupted with excitement and whispers.

Elara’s stomach dropped. Her whole body went cold. She could barely breathe.

She gripped the table, her hands trembling. Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would be thrown into something she couldn’t survive.

She stared at Damien, her eyes full of silent questions, silent pleas. But he never looked back.

He had already decided her fate.