REJECTED LUNA: FROM OUTCAST TO MOON QUEEN

sed, sending restless shadows crawling

with careful precision above a long table. Bundles of dried herbs hung from the rafters, their bitter, earthy scent thick

t this place w

e. Of someone who had spent decades preparin

him, my fingers curled tightly around the wo

still lingered between u

know what

esting open across his knees as

r a moment, voice quiet but stea

dry when I spoke.

ed to mine, anc

nt has always been a thr

across its pages. Wolves massive and monstrous were locked in violent combat. Their bodi

Zane continued. "To protect the balance between wol

h tightene

made them superior to the wolves that came a

isted as I star

hey had been created

ed the pa

ever hear

settled into

tted quietly.

his face something caught betwe

family made certa

another leather-bound book from a high shelf. Its spine was c

he returned. "Born directly from the Moon Goddess her

e text with ca

t stared back at me. An ancient lang

trations needed

s female figure wrapped in moonlight. Their eyes burned

thought. Capable of healing wounds that should have been fatal. T

gaze h

uld shape moon

crept alon

tire packs wiped from existence. The eart

as the weight of it

e. She stripped them of their immor

lent except for the

," he finishe

book with a so

ed years, they were

e roared

ot extinct,"

" he a

eld mine with

would hunt you without hesitation. That seal placed on your

outh o

los

ned a

" Zane continued when I said

h scraped its w

asked bitterly. "By letting them mock me? Lett

lashed beh

whis

he

e sc

reje

lieve it," I said, my voic

t try to sof

the price

seated any longer, my chest tight wi

ard the window before I e

forest stretche

ond it lay Silv

y h

ully now, relieved that the embarrassment of my f

t they'd forced into t

I demanded, turning

s he lowered himself in

ever did it possessed tremendous power. Someone who

in plain sight within a pack th

looded

tive famil

nce was an

r a moment. "Though it's unl

t into the darknes

when they took m

.. they knew exa

the fire cont

od that the life I'd lost tonight ha

or's

your whole life t

u discover you are som

ou forg

ld you

er will an