From the Ashes: The Broken Luna Returns

"Choose one," the Rogue leader laughed, holding a silver knife to my throat. Beside me, my husband Connor, the Alpha, looked between me and Gemma.

I begged him through our mind-link. I was his mate. I was his Luna. But Connor turned his back on me.

"Haven is strong," he said coldly. "Gemma is fragile. I choose Gemma."

He walked away with another woman in his arms, leaving me to die in a factory filled with poisonous silver dust. To survive, I forced my broken body to shift and jumped into the freezing industrial river.

I survived the water, but the life inside me didn't.

The "miracle pup" we had tried three years for... was gone.

When I dragged myself back to the Pack, bleeding and empty, Connor didn't smell my grief. He only cared that I had "scared" Gemma. He even used his Alpha Command to force me into submission when I tried to expose her lies.

"You are jealous and heartless," he spat at me.

He was right. My heart was dead.

So while he was out hunting for his "missing" mistress, I set the Pack House on fire.

I threw a single item into the safe zone for him to find in the ashes: the ultrasound photo of the son his betrayal had killed.

Then, I turned my back on the flames and walked away to find the man who would treat me like a Queen.

Chapter 1

Haven POV:

The abandoned factory smelled like wet rust and the sour, unwashed funk of Rogues—wolves without a pack, feral and desperate.

But underneath that, a sharper, metallic tang made the hair on my arms stand up. Silver.

"Well, Alpha Jones," a voice rasped from the shadows. "Looks like you’re in a bind."

My knees hit the concrete hard. Chains bound my wrists, burning like dry ice. Silver-infused alloy. It didn't just hurt; it severed the line to my wolf, Seraphina. She was pacing in the back of my mind, scratching at the walls of my consciousness, whining in muffled agony.

Beside me, Connor was on his knees too. His breathing was ragged. Blood dripped from a gash on his forehead, matting his dark hair. Even bound, he radiated that Alpha intensity. He was the CEO of Apex Dynamics, the leader of the pack. Strength personified.

And he was my mate.

"Let them go," Connor growled. His voice vibrated in my chest, a low rumble of thunder. "Your beef is with me."

The Rogue leader stepped into the light. He was a mess of scars, missing an ear, holding a remote detonator in one hand and a jagged silver knife in the other.

"No, no," the Rogue clucked his tongue. "The game is simple. The exits are rigged. I have enough silver nitrate here to poison your territory’s water supply for a decade. But I’m feeling generous. You leave with one female."

He gestured to the far corner.

Gemma was tied to a chair, sobbing. She looked fragile, her blonde hair messy, her big blue eyes filled with tears.

"Connor!" she shrieked. "Please! I can't shift! I'm human right now! The silver dust... it's killing me!"

"And here is your Luna," the Rogue pointed the knife at me. "Strong. Capable. Your fated mate."

My heart hammered against my ribs. This wasn't a choice. I was his wife. I was the Luna. The Moon Goddess had tied our souls together.

I looked at Connor. His jaw was clenched so tight a muscle ticked in his cheek.

Connor, I sent the thought through our Mind-Link. It was static-filled because of the silver. We can take him. On three.

Connor didn't look at me. His eyes were fixed on Gemma.

"Gemma is weak," Connor said, his voice sounding hollow. "She is the daughter of the Beta who saved my father's life. I swore a blood oath to protect her. If she dies, the magic of the oath cripples my wolf."

"Time is ticking, Alpha!" The Rogue laughed. "One lives. One stays with my boys."

"Connor," I whispered aloud. "I am your mate."

He finally turned to me. His eyes, usually a warm hazel, were clouded with conflict. But there was something else there too. Guilt.

"Haven," he said, his voice cracking. "You... you have Seraphina. You are strong. You can survive the silver longer than she can. Her wolf is dormant. She's practically human."

I felt cold. Colder than the freezing draft coming from the broken windows.

"You're leaving me?"

"I will come back," Connor said, though he wouldn't meet my eyes. "I promise, Haven. I just need to get her to safety first. It's my duty."

"Duty?" I laughed, a broken, jagged sound. "Your highest duty is to your mate! That is the law of the wolf!"

"I choose Gemma," Connor shouted at the Rogue.

The Rogue grinned, revealing yellow teeth. "Wise choice."

The chains on Connor and Gemma clicked open.

Connor scrambled up. He didn't even look back at me. He scooped Gemma up into his arms. She buried her face in his neck, sobbing, clinging to him like a vine.

I'll be back with the Enforcers in ten minutes, Connor's voice echoed in my head. Just hold on.

Then, silence. He severed the Mind-Link. He blocked me so he wouldn't have to feel my terror.

He walked out the metal door. He left me.

The Rogue leader turned to me, licking his lips. "Now, little Luna. Let's see if you're as tough as he thinks."

He stepped closer, the silver knife glinting. Behind him, three other Rogues emerged from the shadows, their eyes hungry.

Seraphina roared.

It wasn't fear. It was pure, unadulterated rage. The betrayal snapped something inside me. The bond—that golden thread connecting me to Connor—didn't break, but it withered, turning black and rotten.

Shift! Seraphina commanded.

The silver... I argued.

SHIFT OR DIE!

I screamed as my bones rearranged. The silver chains burned into my flesh, searing my fur as it sprouted. The pain was blinding, a thousand hot irons pressing against my skin. But the rage was hotter.

With a massive crack, the chains snapped.

I didn't fight them. There were too many, and the silver dust in the air was suffocating me. I was a white wolf, large and powerful, but I was weakening by the second.

I saw the window. Beyond it lay the industrial canal.

I launched myself.

Glass shattered around me like diamonds. The icy wind hit my face, followed a second later by the brutal shock of freezing water.

The current seized me. I didn't swim to the surface immediately. I let the dark, freezing water carry me away, washing the scent of the Rogues from my fur.

And washing away the scent of the husband who had left me to die.