Broken by the Alpha: The Moon Singer's Rise

Alexia POV

The silence of the infirmary was a mercy after they left, but it was a mercy that didn't last.

Night fell. The moon rose, casting long, skeletal shadows across my bed.

*Alexia?*

Jacob’s voice slithered into my head, uninvited.

I didn't answer. I kept my eyes fixed on the ceiling, tracing the cracks in the plaster.

*I know you're awake,* he persisted, his tone shifting from tentative to annoyed. *Look, about today... you have to understand. The Rogue was closer to Kassandra. It was a tactical decision.*

*Tactical,* I replied via the link, my mental voice as cold as the grave. *Is that what you call it?*

*Stop being dramatic,* he snapped, his guilt curdling into anger. *You were reckless. What were you doing at that bar anyway? If you hadn't run away, none of this would have happened. You provoked the Rogues by being out of territory.*

Gaslighting. He was rewriting reality again, twisting the narrative to make himself the hero and me the villain.

*I was leaving because you treat me like garbage,* I shot back. *And for the record, Kassandra wasn't 'traumatized.' I saw her, Jacob. She was smiling when the Rogue bit me. She stepped back to let it happen.*

*That's a lie!* Jacob roared so loud it echoed in my skull. *Kassandra loves this Pack! She loves me! She would never hurt you. You're delusional with pain. Stop lying!*

Alpha Command.

He tried to use the Command to silence me, to force my mind to bend to his will.

Pressure built in my skull, the familiar weight meant to crush a subordinate. But this time, it felt... different. It didn't crush me. It felt hollow. Distant. Like a shout heard from underwater.

Maybe because the bond was fraying. Maybe because my respect for him was dead.

*I'm not lying, Jacob,* I said, my mental voice steady. *But it doesn't matter. You believe what you want to believe. You always do.*

*Alexia, wait—*

I visualized a wall. A thick, obsidian wall. I slammed it down between our minds.

The connection severed. The silence returned. It was absolute.

I sat up. My head spun, but I forced myself to move.

I couldn't stay here. Not another night.

I grabbed a notepad from the bedside table. With my shaky left hand, I wrote a list of the songs they owed me for. I left it on the pillow.

I managed to dress myself in the clothes I had worn to the bar—now torn and bloodied, but they were all I had.

I slipped out of the infirmary window.

The Pack was distracted. Loud music and raucous cheering came from the main square.

I crept through the shadows until I could see the square.

A bonfire roared, sending sparks into the night sky. Jacob stood on a platform, placing a crown of flowers on Kassandra’s head. She was wearing my Moonstone. It looked dull against her skin, opaque and lifeless, devoid of the inner fire it held when it was mine.

"To our Luna!" the Pack chanted.

Fireworks exploded overhead, painting the sky in gold and red.

I stood in the darkness, cradling my broken hand against my chest.

A couple of Betas walked past my hiding spot, laughing, swaying slightly with drink.

"Did you hear about Alexia?" one asked. "Hand crushed. Useless now."

"Good riddance," the other sneered. "She was always a downer. Kassandra is so much more fun. A real Luna."

"Yeah. What was Alexia gonna do anyway? Play piano for rogues?"

They laughed, the sound grating against my ears, and moved on.

I leaned against a tree, the rough bark biting into my shoulder.

*Useless.*

*Downer.*

*Alpha's Shame.*

I looked at the fireworks one last time. They were celebrating their own demise, though they didn't know it yet. They were celebrating a liar and a weakling Alpha.

I turned my back on the light.

I walked toward the border. My hand throbbed in time with my heart, but my steps were lighter than they had been in years.

I had no piano. I had no money. I had a broken hand.

But I had the truth. And for the first time in my life, I belonged only to myself.

I disappeared into the night, leaving the Obsidian Pack to their hollow victory.