Moon Chosen

should h

siting territories filled the sacred clearing, their excited murmurs carrying up to my hidden spot among the leaves. I'd chosen this tr

pack runt, the orphan herb witch, the girl who live

only thing I had left of her, besides her lessons about herbs and the wild places where they grew. Those lessons kept me fed, barely. Trad

eremony. The delicate white petals had reminded me of my mother-she used to weave them into my hair when I was small, before the fever took

ago. I'd seen him from afar, of course-everyone had. He was everything an Alpha should be: powerful, commanding, beautiful in that dangerous w

been in the forest, gathering herbs, when the howls began. Even then, I'd stayed away from the mourning ceremonies. My

took his vows. His voice carried clearly-strong, unwavering. "I swear by

ugh my chest l

g? The pain spread, molten and insistent, but it wasn't exactly pain-it was some

o open my eyes,

staring dir

, quickly morphing into disgust as the same realization that was dawnin

ew. Every cell in my being w

The crowd parted as I walked forward, their whispers sharp a

the orp

herb

s nob

is-her wolf probab

o lives in that shabb

e interrupt

mall, used to slipping through spaces others couldn't. I darted past him, my eyes never lea

gaze. He was so tall, so powerful, everything an Alpha should

the word carrying i

outrage. But none of that penetrated the bubble o

hand possessively, and I watched the spell break in his eyes. Of course-everyone knew they were meant to

o a mask of cold auth

hree words, but the

ly surged forward with a howl of agony. The change took me before I could fight it, faster and smoothe

a regular dog. But my fur was pure white, marked with silver, and my eye

who didn't want us. We ran, ignoring the shouts behind

e commotion of the ceremony dissolving into chaos. Someone called for pursuit-Beta Marcus, probably-but my wolf knew these woods

nerve, every muscle, but my wolf pushed harder, faster. We needed to get away, to hide, to heal. Already I could feel the

white petals glowed in the moonlight, beautiful and untouchable-like everything e

. I curled into myself, trying to hold back the sobs that threatened to tear

. "Why would you make me his m

ht would change everything-not just for me, but for the entire pack. I didn't know that my red-eyed

ive this pain. And somehow, fi