Moonlit Rebirth: The Alpha's Betrayed Mate

☽ Nyra ☾ I had never been the kind of girl who counted down birthdays like they were magic, but tonight I did. Eighteen felt like a door I had waited in front of for years. In our pack, eighteen meant your first full change, the moment your wolf stopped being a whisper and became something real. I lay on my bed and listened to the house settle. Cold air pressed against the window. Tomorrow, there would be a celebration, simple but warm, with food, laughter, and the elders watching like they had seen it all before. Lucan was supposed to be back by tomorrow. That thought steadied me. Lucan had promised he would return before sunrise. Three days ago, he had left to search for rare herbs. The kind Iseya needed to keep her medicines stocked through winter. He didn’t want to go. I had seen it in the pause at the doorway, the way his gaze held on me as if he could anchor me in place. He had promised to be back in time, and he had made me promise not to do anything reckless while he was gone. I was never reckless. But the truth is that my brother had been my constant since I was ten, since the night rogues tore through our world and left me with grief that never fully faded. When he was gone, the house felt too quiet, like it was holding its breath. I turned onto my side and pulled the blanket up to my chin. I tried to picture tomorrow instead. The fire. The warmth. Lucan stepping inside with snow on his boots and that tired look he got after long trips. Maybe he would hand me something small and wrapped. The thought softened me enough that my eyes finally closed. When sleep took me, it didn’t drift in. It snapped down like a trap. I stood in a stone hall lit by torches that hissed and spat. The air tasted like iron. Voices surrounded me, too many, all of them watching. My hands were bound behind my back, rope cutting into my wrists. Two figures waited near the far end of the hall. I couldn’t see their faces, but I felt them. One stood closer, his presence heavy and magnetic, as it had always been meant to pull mine. The other moved behind me, light steps, sweet perfume, familiar laughter caught in her throat. “You should have stayed small,” the voice behind me whispered. The figure in front stepped forward. For a heartbeat, torchlight caught the shape of his mouth, a smile that made my stomach twist. Something in me reached toward him anyway, like instinct, like the most dangerous kind of trust. Pain exploded through my ribs. Something cold drove into me, deep and final. I tried to scream, but blood filled my mouth, and my knees hit stone. I heard a soft sigh behind me, satisfied. And then I heard the other voice, low and certain. “It is done!” My vision flashed white, not darkness. White like snow under moonlight. I felt a wolf inside me surge up, huge and furious, and then I felt it break. I woke with a gasp that scraped my throat raw. My sheets were twisted around my legs, damp with sweat. The room was dark, but it didn’t feel safe. My heart hammered so hard it hurt. For a moment, I couldn’t move. I could still feel the rope on my wrists and the cold bite in my ribs. But it hadn’t been only a nightmare. Memories crashed into me, sharp and unstoppable. Forests I didn’t recognize. Snow flying beneath my paws. White fur streaked with blood. Wolves bowing their heads as I passed, not out of love, but fear. A ritual stone marked with symbols that burned when my blood touched them. The same two presences watching, waiting, smiling. I pressed my hands to my chest and forced air into my lungs. My skin felt too tight, like something inside me was stretching awake. Heat raced down my arms. My hearing sharpened until I could pick out the faint pop of the dying coals in the kitchen hearth. A White Wolf. The words rose with the memories, heavy and undeniable. I had been one before. I had died as one. And somehow, I was here again. Shock turned into fury so fast my hands shook. Whoever those two were, the one who felt like something romantic and sacred twisted into a weapon, and the one who hovered like a friend while delivering the final blow, they had taken my life. They had stolen my power. They had decided on my end. I swung my legs out of bed and stood. My feet landed on the cold floor, and my fists clenched until my nails bit into my palms. All I wanted was Lucan here so I could grab his sleeve and pour every terrible image into his hands. But the house was silent. Lucan was still out there, keeping promises, unaware that my world had cracked open in the dark. I crossed to the window and stared at the forest line. The moon hung above the trees, pale and distant, like it had always been watching. I didn’t know if it watched my death before. I only knew it watched me now. Tomorrow was supposed to be the beginning. Now it was a warning. I didn’t know their names. I didn’t know their faces. But I knew the shape of what they did, and I knew something old and powerful was waking inside me. I paced the small space between my bed and the door, back and forth, until my legs ached. Each step grounded me for a second, then the memories surged again. In that other life, I had been powerful, and still I had been trapped. That meant strength alone was not enough. I needed proof, patience, and a plan. I needed to survive long enough to strike when the moment came. I wiped my damp palms on my nightshirt and straightened my shoulders. If the past was clawing its way back, then I would use it. I would learn. I would watch. I would wait. And when Lucan came home, I would tell him everything. I drew a slow breath, steadying myself on purpose, and I let the vow settle into my bones. I would remember. I would find them. And I would take my revenge. ☽☾