Shattered Moonrise

It all started on the 28th of August, the day of my 18th birthday. It was supposed to be a happy day for me. Little did I know, that this was the day that my life would come crashing down. The day that we find our mate, is supposed to be a start to a new life.

However, for me, that was very wrong.

Seraphina’s point of view:

Stepping into the dark forest, I am overcome with this overwhelming smell; sweet popcorn. You might be thinking, well that is odd. Who would smell like sweet popcorn? But for me, this is the most sweetest smell ever. The moon goddess must have been happy with me to give me a mate that smells like that.

Walking to him, the moon was low in the sky, beckoning for me to meet my mate. Upon arriving at my mate; Gabriel, my inner wolf; Sasha could not help her excitement. He was dressed in the most gorgeous outfit ever. A grey suit with his hair slicked back.

“Mate!!!! My mate.” Sasha said to me with excitement evident in her voice. With that I quickly ran over to him, expecting that he would take me in his arms, and kiss me like his life depended on it.

But to my horror, I was wrong. His words would change my life forever. In the stillness of the night, he declared, "I Gabriel, reject you, Seraphina as my mate."

"No!!!! You are my mate! You can not do this to me!" I said back to him, hoping with every fiber in my body to change his mind.

"You are not mine. You are weak. How can the moon goddess give me someone so weak? I am an Alpha, so I need someone who is strong-willed." He said to me with finality in his voice.

As he said this, my knees began to buckle, and my legs gave out. How could he do this to me? The pack silently witnessed our bond breaking.

Each word he told me, was breaking my willpower more and more. After the final blow of his words, I fell to the ground, and could not get back up.

"Now, leave this pack, and never come back!" He declared to me.

His gaze, once warm, is now cold and indifferent. The pack members turned away, unwilling to witness the unraveling of our connection.

"You are not needed or wanted here anymore."

Time froze. The promises of the moon shattered with those damning words. Gabriel's eyes, void of compassion, met mine.

"You no longer are needed in this pack. This is no longer your home."

I refused to let tears fall. With a nod, I turned away, leaving behind the life I'd known. A lone wolf in the shadows, forever altered by betrayal.

The moonlit path stretched before me, a haunting reminder of shattered dreams. Each step away from the pack felt like a weight lifted, but the emptiness within me lingered.

The rustling leaves hinted at a presence, and a voice, soft yet compelling, reached my ears. "Seraphina."

I halted, turning to face the figure emerging from the shadows. Elias, with eyes that held secrets as old as time, stepped into the moonlit clearing.

"Leaving so soon?" he mused, his voice carrying a subtle blend of sympathy and curiosity.

I met his gaze, uncertainty clouding my expression. "Why should I stay where I'm not wanted?"

Elias circled me, his eyes never leaving mine. "The pack is not your only destiny. There are paths unseen, Seraphina, waiting for a lone wolf like you to discover."

I frowned, the weight of his words sinking in. "Who are you to dictate my destiny?"

He smiled, a mysterious glint in his eyes. "I am Elias, a harbinger of choices, and I sense a different fate awaiting you."

The moon watched over us as Elias extended an invitation to the unknown. "Seraphina, embrace the shadows, for sometimes, it is in the darkness that we find our true strength."

I hesitated, the echoes of rejection still fresh. "What awaits me in the shadows?"

Elias's gaze held a promise, a glimpse of a world beyond the confines of pack life. "Answers, Seraphina. Redemption, and a destiny of your own making."

The moonlit night became a canvas for choices, a crossroads where the lone wolf contemplated the allure of a new path. As I stood on the precipice, Elias's enigmatic presence hinted at a destiny waiting to unfold under the watchful eye of the moon.

I weighed his words, the moon above seemingly casting its judgment. "What kind of destiny could be waiting for me in the shadows?"

Elias tilted his head, his eyes glinting with a subtle challenge. "A destiny free from the constraints of pack politics, where the moonlit night is your canvas, and you paint your path."

The idea of freedom, of escaping the suffocating echoes of rejection, tugged at the edges of my heart. "And what do you ask for in return?"

Elias's smile deepened, revealing a hint of intrigue. "Your company, Seraphina. A partnership of sorts, as we navigate the uncharted territories of our kind."

The air crackled with possibility, the forest around us seeming to hold its breath. "Why me?"

"Because you carry the scent of change," Elias responded, his eyes narrowing in on some unseen truth. "The rejected often hold the key to rewriting destinies."

A breeze rustled through the leaves, a gentle encouragement or warning. I considered the path behind me, the one I'd been cast away from, and the one Elias offered—a mysterious, uncharted journey.

"Seraphina," Elias's voice held a hypnotic quality, "choose not just a different destiny, but a destiny born of your desires."

In that moonlit clearing, I felt the pull of something beyond the familiar. The shadows whispered promises, and Elias, a figure bathed in mystery, extended an invitation to a world where rejection might transform into redemption. As the moon silently witnessed, the lone wolf contemplated her next step, torn between the comfort of familiarity and the allure of the unknown.

Elias's gaze held mine, the air thick with unspoken possibilities. "Choose wisely, Seraphina. The shadows await those ready to embrace the unknown."

The moon above seemed to intensify its glow, casting a spotlight on the crossroads before me. I felt the weight of the decision, the pull of Elias's enigmatic proposition.

"I need time," I finally said, uncertainty coloring my voice.

"Time, my dear Seraphina is a luxury we may not have," Elias replied cryptically, his eyes reflecting the ancient secrets he carried.

As he faded into the shadows, leaving me alone with the moon as my silent confidante, a distant howl echoed through the night. A howl that carried both familiarity and a hint of the unknown.

The moonlit clearing held its breath, and in that suspended moment, I sensed the threads of destiny weaving around me. Little did I know, that the choices I made under the watchful eye of the moon would set in motion events far beyond my wildest imaginings.

A chill swept through the air, and the distant howl grew louder as if drawing nearer. The shadows whispered secrets, and the moon, now a silent witness to my internal struggle, seemed to pulse with foreboding energy.

Just as I contemplated the weight of Elias's proposition, a figure emerged from the depths of the forest. A familiar figure, clad in the darkness of the night.

"Seraphina," the voice echoed, carrying with it the haunting resonance of someone I never expected to see again.

In the moonlit stillness, Alpha Gabriel stepped into the clearing, his eyes holding a mix of regret and determination. The pack's howls intensified in the background, their urgency intertwining with the complexities of the choices before me.

"Elias or Gabriel?" The question lingered in the air, a choice that would shape not only my destiny but the fate of those around me. The moon, now a silent arbiter, bore witness to the impending convergence of paths, leaving me standing at the crossroads, torn between the shadows of the past and the uncertain light of a future yet to unfold.