Moonlit Rebirth: The Alpha's Betrayed Mate

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☽ Lucan ☾

I left before dawn, while the border fires were only embers. Iseya, the pack’s healer, met me near the path with a basket and a look that told me she knew I was lying to everyone but her.

“You are going far,” she said.

“I told the elders I needed more herbs,” I replied. “They won’t question it,”

“And Nyra?”

“She knows what I’m doing…but she is to stay in the cabin. If anyone tries to touch her, they will answer to me,” I said firmly. Iseya nodded once.

“Bring back something that helps her. Not just plants,” she said, and I nodded before I walked away. Blackpine Villa held its breath at that hour as I headed east toward the nearest territory, Ashridge Pack. It was more than a day’s walk if I kept pace. I didn’t shift. I could have, since it would have saved time, but I didn’t want to be seen as a threat when I arrived at the pack. By midday, I was beyond Moonreach land. The trees thinned, the ground turned rockier, and unfamiliar scents began to thread the air: wolf, smoke, iron.

Ashridge territory.

I stepped into view with my hands open. Two guards appeared between the trees, and I wasn’t surprised to see that one of them had shifted. I kept my stand as a sign of good faith.

“I’m Lucan of the Moonreach Pack,” I said. “I request an audience with your Alpha,” the human guard studied me closely.

“Why?” he asked. “Why not speak to your own Alpha?”

“Because this concerns older matters…matters that don’t concern my Alpha,” I replied. The shifted wolf sniffed the air and then stepped back. The human guard nodded, and I took a deep breath as I waited.

“Follow me, but no sudden movements,” he said, and I immediately nodded. They led me past tightly built cabins and a stone hall that smelled of order. People watched from doorways, curious but cautious. Inside the hall, Alpha Ignatius waited at a long table with a book open and a cup of tea steaming beside his hand. He was older, his hair had turned silver at the temples. His shoulders are broad, and his gaze steady. He watched me closely when we entered.

“Lucan of Moonreach,” he said. “You look like a man who hasn’t slept,”

“I haven’t,” I admitted.

“Sit,” he said. “Speak,”

“My pack was attacked by rogues,” I began. “We believe it’s tied to something old. Something linked to the White Wolf line,” Ignatius’s expression barely shifted, but the air changed.

“White Wolf,” he repeated quietly.

“Yes,” I kept my voice controlled. “A girl in our pack awakened memories of a past life. She was targeted. There was an attempted ritual to steal her power,” Ignatius closed his book with care.

“And you have come here because?”

“I came for answers,” I answered. He watched me as he considered my request.

“Why should I help you?” he asked.

“Because if rogues are digging into old power,” I replied. “It won’t stop with my territory,” it wasn’t a threat; it was a warning. He stood and nodded.

“Fine. But if you lie to me, you won’t leave,” he stated. I had known the risks, and I wasn’t about to back down now. Ignatius led me to a reinforced door and unlocked it. The library smelled of dust and ink. Shelves climbed the walls, packed with thick volumes and scroll cases. A lantern burned on a central table. “We keep records,” Ignatius said. “Because stories turn into warnings,” he pulled a book wrapped in dark cloth and set it down. The faded title read: Moonbound Lineages.

“Thank you,” I whispered as I opened the book.

“Read,” he said, and then he took a seat. I ignored him as I scanned through the first section until I caught words that stood out to me.

White Wolf, sovereign, and the moon’s will.

The text described a line older than the packs. Older than wolves who carried pale power that resisted Alpha pressure. It spoke of a bond not made by an Alpha’s claim, but by the moon itself. A force that chose, marked, and protected. Packs turned that force into legend and called it a goddess. The book called it the moon’s will, ancient and impartial. We all knew about the moon goddess. I continued to read. The White Wolf, it said, could disrupt blood rituals, sense deception under moonlight, and sever corrupted bonds. It could not be forced to submit. That was why tyrants had hunted the line until it vanished. My throat tightened.

“So, it is real,” I murmured.

“Real enough to frighten anyone who wants control,” Ignatius said. A later section showed a sketch of a ritual circle carved into stone, candles at points, and a bowl at the center. The notes called it the Hollow Rite: an attempt by rogues to siphon Moonbound power through an artifact shard known as a Veinstone. Now I had a better understanding of what Nyra had done. She had destroyed an artifact, and if it was a Veinstone, then she had stopped a method, not a single attempt. I forced myself to keep reading. Margin notes mentioned a name: Vaelor. My pulse quickened as I recognized the name. It was the rogue king. Vaelor was an exiled Alpha, and apparently, he was ancient.

“He is in your records,” I whispered, and Ignatius’s jaw tightened.

“He is the reason this book stays locked away. If Vaelor is moving again, then your girl is not just a target,” he said as he leaned forward and tapped a line I had missed. I read it slowly.

Only the blood of a true White Wolf can end the Rogue King’s line.

Cold spread throughout my entire body as I understood the full implications of what that meant.

“Nyra,” I whispered without thinking, but Ignatius heard me.

“Her name is Nyra,” he said. “And she carries that blood,” I shut the book carefully.

“I need copies…anything about the rite, the Veinstone, Vaelor, and how to expose a collaborator inside a pack,” Ignatius opened a drawer and slid a thin bundle of papers tied with a cord across the table.

“Excerpts,” he said. “Take them,” I grabbed them, and I started thinking about my route home. But I untied the cord and checked the pages. Rough sketches. Names. A list of symbols that matched the ones Nyra had described from memory. I forced myself to breathe slowly as I read, because rage made people careless. Ignatius continued to watch me closely. “Be cautious, Lucan. Your Alpha won’t want to hear this,” he said.

“I’m not doing this for him,” I replied. “I’m doing it for her,” his gaze softened a fraction.

“Then listen. If Vaelor knows about Nyra, it will only be a matter of time before he makes his move. Especially if he gets all the ingredients he needs. He will do whatever is necessary…and I don’t think I have to say it, but that includes her life,” he warned, and I nodded as my grip tightened until my knuckles ached.

“I will end this,” I vowed. Not to him, but to Nyra.

“And keep the girl hidden,” Ignatius added. “Because once Vaelor decides to show himself, packs burn,” he knew that it had already happened, which meant that Vaelor wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted. Ignatius then leaned forward and lowered his voice. “If it’s true, and she has awakened, then they already know, and that means that they are already prepared,” before I could say anything more, a horn suddenly sounded outside. I didn’t need to belong to the pack to understand that it was Ashridge’s border alarm. Ignatius’s head snapped toward the corridor. Another horn followed, louder. He looked back at me, eyes suddenly hard. “Tell me, did you notice anything out of sorts? A scent perhaps? Especially when you crossed my border?” I frowned as I slowly shook my head.

“Only smoke and wolves,”

“Then why,” he asked quietly, as he tilted his head to the side. “Do my guards report rogue tracks behind you?” my blood turned cold as the horn sounded again, urgent and near.

☽☾