Luna Reclaims Her Power

The night air bit at my skin as I circled back toward the pack house. Gamma Derek had escorted me to the territory border, his eyes avoiding mine as he delivered Foster's final warning. But I couldn't leave—not without speaking to Zev.

"He needs to know the truth," I whispered to my wolf, who paced restlessly beneath my skin.

The pack house windows glowed with warm light against the darkness. I kept to the shadows, my worn boots silent on the damp earth. Five years in the mountains had taught me how to move unseen, how to track without being tracked.

Two sentries stood guard at the side entrance—young warriors I didn't recognize. New recruits, probably. Good.

"I need to see my son," I said, stepping from the shadows. "Please."

Their heads snapped toward me, eyes widening briefly before hardening.

"Luna—I mean, Lucy," the taller one stammered. "Alpha Foster gave strict orders."

"Please," I repeated, hating the desperation in my voice. "Just tell Zev I'm here. He deserves to know why I left."

The second warrior stepped forward, his hand moving to the knife at his belt. "You need to leave. Now."

My wolf surged forward, a growl building in my throat. "I am still Luna of this pack!"

"No," the first warrior said firmly. "Sky is Luna now. Alpha Foster made it official three years ago."

Three years. While I was fighting off rogues in the mountains, barely surviving, Foster had replaced me.

"This is pack business," the second warrior added. "You're trespassing."

I took a step back, my wolf howling in anguish inside me. The mate bond—that invisible thread that had connected me to Foster for so long—felt stretched and twisted, pulsing with betrayal.

"I'll be at the border," I said quietly. "If Zev wants to know the truth, he can find me there."

I retreated into the forest, each step heavier than the last. When I reached the territory boundary, marked by ancient stones carved with the Silvermoon symbol, I sank to the ground. My wolf clawed at my insides, desperate to break free, to howl our pain to the moon.

I let her.

The shift came in a rush of heat and bone-cracking pain. My wolf form emerged—smaller than before, leaner, with scars crisscrossing my flank from mountain battles. I threw my head back and howled—a sound of such raw anguish that birds took flight from nearby trees.

The sound echoed through the forest, carrying our betrayal to the stars.

---

Morning came too quickly. I'd spent the night in wolf form, guarding the border, hoping Zev might come. He hadn't.

A horn sounded through the trees—the traditional call for a pack gathering. My heart lurched. Something was happening.

I shifted back to human form, dressed in my patched clothes, and moved cautiously toward the pack grounds. Warriors were already positioning themselves around the clearing, forming a protective circle. Pack members streamed in from all directions.

"Emergency meeting," someone muttered. "Alpha called it just an hour ago."

I slipped into the crowd, keeping my head down. No one paid attention to me—just another pack member in plain clothes.

Foster stood on the raised platform at the center of the clearing, his Alpha presence radiating authority. Sky stood beside him, draped in ceremonial Luna robes—my robes, altered to fit her smaller frame.

"Brothers and sisters of Silvermoon," Foster's voice boomed across the gathering. "I've called you here to address a... situation."

His eyes found me in the crowd, cold and calculating.

"Our former Luna has returned."

Murmurs rippled through the pack. I felt their stares like physical blows.

"Lucy Crawford abandoned her duties five years ago," Foster continued, his voice dripping with false regret. "She chose her herbs over her pack, over her family."

Sky's hand slid possessively over Foster's arm, her fingers glittering with rings—rings that had once been mine.

"This unstable rogue has no place among us," Foster declared. "Yet she refuses to leave our territory."

I stepped forward, unable to stay silent. "That's not—"

"Mother."

The word cut through my protest like a blade. Zev stood from his place near the platform, his young face twisted with contempt.

"Yes," he said loudly enough for everyone to hear. "This is the woman who abandoned me. Who chose plants over her own son."

The pack fell silent, shock rippling through them.

"I don't want her here," Zev continued, his voice cracking slightly. "This rogue freak chose herbs over family."

Gasps echoed around us. No child had ever spoken to their mother this way in pack history.

"I never want to see her again," Zev finished, turning his back on me. "The mother who abandoned me can stay abandoned."

The entire pack watched in stunned silence as my son rejected me completely.