The Infertile Luna Is The True Wolf Queen

Amara choked on blood as the ceremonial blade slipped from her hand and clattered across the stone.

The crowd gasped. Black veins crawled beneath the skin of her wrists, branching toward her elbows like ink spilled through water. She tried to push herself upright, but the world lurched. A cough tore through her, wet and burning.

"Hold her down!" the priestess shrieked.

Two guards grabbed Amara's shoulders. Their fingers dug into her ceremonial gown. Inside her mind, her wolf-silent for seven years-thrashed against invisible walls. Amara clenched her teeth. She had endured worse. She had endured everything.

The ancient priestess lifted the silver bowl. Its potion should have glowed pale blue, the sign of a blessing. Instead, the liquid swirled black.

The bowl slipped from the priestess's hands and smashed against the arena floor.

"Seven years," she whispered. Her face had gone gray. "Seven years of trying to awaken a child within you, and there is still nothing."

For one breath, the arena was silent.

Then the whispers broke loose.

"Barren."

"Cursed."

"An empty Luna."

Amara lowered her eyes. She knew every word. She had heard them in the kitchens, in the halls, outside her bedroom door. She had swallowed bitter potions until her stomach cramped and endured rituals that left bruises beneath her clothes. When other women miscarried, the pack had blamed her bad luck. She had accepted the blame-even though she had never been pregnant.

She had done it because Kieran had once held her hand and promised they would face anything together.

The arena gates crashed open.

Alpha Kieran strode in, his dark coat snapping behind him. Seraphina walked at his side, her hand tucked into the crook of his arm. She was lovely in a white dress, her smile bright as polished silver. A jeweled ring flashed on her finger.

Amara's mother's ring.

Kieran didn't look at his wife. His gaze swept over the crowd as if he'd come to address a restless pack, not condemn the woman who had shared his bed for seven years.

"Enough," he said. The word cracked across the arena. "I will no longer allow this pack to suffer because of one woman's failure."

Amara twisted against the guards' grip. "Kieran-"

"I, Alpha Kieran of the Shadowfang Pack, hereby reject Amara as my mate and Luna."

Pain detonated in her chest.

Her breath vanished. She folded forward with a strangled cry, one hand clamped over her heart. In the back of her mind, her wolf howled-a sound so fierce it seemed to split the walls inside her.

Then the entire arena dropped.

Every wolf hit the ground on their knees. The guards released Amara and fell beside her. The priestess struck the stones with a cry. Even Kieran's knees buckled; his palm slapped the floor to keep him from collapsing completely.

For a fraction of a second, every head bowed toward Amara.

Then the pressure disappeared.

The crowd stared around in confusion. Kieran pushed himself upright, his jaw clenched as though the stumble had been nothing more than a slip.

"I will take Seraphina as my wife," he continued. "She will give me the heir you have failed to provide."

Seraphina stepped forward and lifted her ring hand. The jewel caught the daylight.

"That was my mother's," Amara whispered. She struggled to stand, using the ceremonial table for support. "It was stolen from my chambers."

Seraphina's smile sharpened. "Your chambers? You won't have those much longer."

Kieran's expression didn't change. "Surrender your Luna crown."

The guards shifted, waiting for Amara to break. She could almost hear what they expected: a sob, a plea, a desperate promise to try another ritual. For a moment, her fingers trembled at her throat. The silver crown had felt heavy for years. Now it seemed to burn.

She unfastened it.

The crowd fell quiet as Amara set it on the table. Her hands shook, but she kept her chin raised. She looked directly at Kieran, searching his face for the man who had once whispered that she was his home.

She found only an Alpha defending his pride.

"You have spent seven years blaming me for the absence of an heir," she said. Her voice wavered. She drew a breath and steadied it. "One day, Alpha, you will pray for the chance to give me your crown."

Kieran laughed. "Without a mate, a wolf, or an heir, you are nothing."

Amara's mouth curved-not quite a smile, but close. "Then you have nothing to fear."

She turned and walked out of the arena.

No one stopped her. No one called her back.

Behind her, Seraphina leaned toward Kieran. Her voice was soft, but the arena carried it.

"Make sure she never reaches the mountains."

Amara stopped at the gate.

The mountains? Why would Seraphina fear where she went? Amara kept walking, but the words followed her all the way to the packhouse.

By nightfall, she had packed a cloak, a silver dagger, and nothing else. She left her purse on the dresser. She wouldn't need money where she was going. She slipped through the outer boundary alone, the cold biting through her thin clothes. Behind her lay her mate, her title, and the only home she had ever known.

Ahead, the Forbidden Mountains rose beneath a moon veiled in cloud.

Amara climbed until her legs shook and her breath scraped her throat. At last she reached an ancient stone altar, half buried beneath snow and tangled roots. The forbidden ritual was carved into its surface: a way to sever a wolf spirit from its body. She had come to end the ache, the failure, the last piece of herself she couldn't control.

Her fingers closed around the dagger. She pressed its point to her palm.

The mountain shuddered.

Snow cascaded from the ledges. A crack split the altar, racing beneath her boots. Amara staggered back, dagger raised.

A voice rolled through the darkness.

"Put down the blade, Your Majesty."

Amara froze.

Two enormous white eyes opened between the trees. An ancient wolf stepped into the moonlight, its fur bright against the black forest. It lowered its head before her.

"At last," it said. "The last Wolf Queen has returned."

Amara stared, blood dripping from her palm. "I am no queen."

The wolf bared its fangs. "Then why has the blood of every Alpha in the kingdom begun to answer your call?"