Rejected by the Alpha crowned by the Moon

The Invis

light spilled silver onto the forest, and Lila felt a tug in her chest so strong it took her breath away. Every instinct screamed at her to reach ou

ves were busy preparing for tomorrow's Moon Rite, a ceremony that could change lives. Lila had always watched it from a distance, baskets full of

d just loud enough to be heard. She held her head down and kept busy. She was "done," one of them had said, "finished-what use could she serve?" She had st

d of night picked up her long auburn hair, setting it dancing around her shoulders. She closed her eyes, feeling the moonlight warm her face. A

ard her. Lila could hear her own heartbeat in her ears. Every muscle felt alive and charged. She leaned forward and dipped a fingertip into the icy lake at her feet, skimming ripples across h

it was a heartbeat, Lila would accept that label without caring. Tonight, under this waxing gibbous moon, she felt somethin

branches sway in silver shadows. The forest sighed around her in hush. There, a

lor of night, and in her eyes glowed pale moonlight. Heart thrumming, Lila gasped softly. E

speak. She did not have to. In the silence of the forest at midnight, the woman and Lila simply looked

e to speak, the figure stepped

the moon, and the night. Her mind raced. That woman couldn't

of the ridge. She closed her eyes, uncertain what she

would stand beside him. Rumors swirled every night: some whispered the healer Rhea (though Rhea was hardly young) would be chos

oods. But she clasped her hands around her knees, chin resting on her arms, and felt tears as insistent as blood

t a fire. The air around her throbbed with meaning now, as if the moon itself insisted she had a part to play. If

. "Please," she whispered, voice raw and tiny, "if there is someone out there

gether in her heart as tightly as a braid. The moon was silent and unblinking overhead, and Lila was alone. For a momen

though she wasn't sure if the moon could hear. After all, the night was

camp moved ahead of her-bonfires lighting the early preparations for the Moon Rite-and for a momen

or the elders, offerings for the goddess

ecause tomorrow, she promised herse