Rise of the Rejected Luna
Chigozirim Nduagu · Ongoing · 132.5k Words
Introduction
Elena Rivers thought her mate ceremony would be the beginning of everything. Instead, Alpha Damien Blackthorn shattered her world with rejection.
Humiliated before the Silvercrest Pack and branded as weak, Elena is left heartbroken and alone. But when Damien returns with a chilling warning—leave before it’s too late—she realizes his rejection was never about her flaws. It was about a curse.
Whispers of a cursed bloodline, betrayal within the pack, and a prophecy buried in the Shadowlands begin to surface. As enemies close in and her hidden strength awakens, Elena must choose: succumb to the pain or rise into the Luna she was never meant to be.
Chapter 1
“Say the words, Elena.”
Alpha Damien’s voice rolled across the clearing like a storm breaking, deep and unyielding. The silver moon crowned him, his dark hair gleaming as if spun from midnight itself, and those golden eyes locked on mine with a heat that should have anchored me. Instead, it burned the air from my lungs.
The pack circled around us, hundreds of wolves standing shoulder to shoulder, their breath misting in the autumn chill. The silence throbbed with the weight of the ritual. Tonight was the moment every wolf dreamed of—the claiming of a mate, the crowning of a Luna. Tonight, every doubt that had haunted me since childhood would be silenced.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and lifted my chin. For years, I had heard the whispers—weak, unworthy, too fragile to lead. Tonight, I would prove them wrong. Tonight, before the Moon Goddess and every watching eye, Damien and I would seal a bond no force could sever.
I drew in a steadying breath, let it fill me, and spoke. “I, Elena of Silvercrest Pack, accept Alpha Damien Blackthorn as my—”
“Stop.”
The word struck harder than claws. The air around us stilled. Even the torches guttered, flames shrinking as if afraid to burn.
Damien’s gaze, which only moments ago had pinned mine with the promise of forever, slipped away. His voice, when it came, was merciless, each syllable sharpened by the weight of an Alpha.
“I reject you.”
The ground tilted. The bond—our bond—screamed inside me, tearing, unraveling, but not cleanly. Something clung stubbornly to my soul, a frayed thread that pulsed like a wound refusing to close.
Gasps tore from the crowd, sharp and cruel. Some wolves pressed hands to their mouths, others laughed, jagged sounds cutting me open like broken glass. The whispers I had carried for years—weak, unworthy, unfit—now had their proof.
Pain ripped through my chest, hot and raw, crushing my ribs until every breath was a battle. My knees wavered, but I forced myself to stand tall. Pride was all I had left.
“You… you can’t,” I choked out, my voice trembling. “The bond—”
Damien’s golden eyes flared, colder than winter’s bite. “I just did.”
The pack stirred, unease rippling through the circle. And then came the laughter. Smooth. Poisonous.
Seraphina.
She glided forward, black silk clinging to every curve, her jeweled necklace catching the firelight with each movement. Her lips curved into a slow, poisonous smile.
“Poor little Elena,” she purred, her voice pitched to carry. “Did you truly believe the moon would crown you Luna? Look at you—you can barely keep standing.”
The pack didn’t argue. Their silence was worse than their laughter. Not a single voice rose in my defense. My heart twisted.
I turned back to Damien, desperate for the man I thought I knew. For a flicker of a heartbeat, I saw it—pain, raw and unguarded, flashing in his eyes. But then it vanished, smothered under steel.
“You’re weak, Elena,” he said, his voice cutting deep. “The pack needs strength.”
The words struck harder than his rejection. Seraphina’s smirk deepened. She touched Damien’s arm with a possessive grace, long fingers brushing his sleeve. My wolf snarled inside me, wounded and enraged, but powerless.
Her gaze locked with mine. “Don’t worry,” she whispered with venomous sweetness. “I’ll take very good care of him.”
The crowd murmured, some voices tinged with pity, more with dark amusement.
“No,” I whispered, broken. “This isn’t fair.”
“Fairness is a child’s tale,” Seraphina replied, tilting her head so the jewel at her throat glimmered. For a moment, it burned too brightly, a strange ripple of heat brushing against my skin. My wolf recoiled, shuddering as if recognizing something ancient and wrong.
The torches sputtered, smoke rising thick and choking. A low, keening cry broke inside me, the sound of my wolf mourning, hollow and broken.
“Leave, Elena,” Damien ordered. His voice was iron, cruel in its finality. “Before I make you.”
The earth swayed beneath me. This night, meant to crown me Luna, had become my public ruin.
“That’s enough!”
The voice cut through the night like a blade.
Jonah.
He pushed through the circle of wolves, his broad shoulders scattering them aside until he stood at my side. His dark eyes burned with fury as they locked on Damien. “You can’t do this to her.”
The air thickened, tension crackling like lightning.
“Stay out of this, Jonah,” Damien growled.
“I won’t.” Jonah’s stance was unshaken. “She doesn’t deserve this. No one does.”
The pack held its breath. The flames themselves leaned closer.
But I saw what no one else did. When the bond had torn, Jonah had staggered too, clutching his chest as if something invisible had coiled around his heart. Standing this close, I could feel it—the faint echo of the bond pulsing in him as much as in me.
Why?
Seraphina’s laughter cut the silence, low and mocking. “How noble, Jonah. But you can’t save her. Not tonight.”
Hope flickered in me, fragile and fleeting. Then my knees buckled. I fell hard onto the cold ground, stones biting into my palms as tears blurred my vision.
“This ceremony is over,” Damien declared, his voice sharp as steel. Wolves recoiled under his command. One by one, they turned away, whispering as they melted into the night.
Still on the ground, I lifted my gaze. Damien’s lips parted as though he would speak—but then his jaw clenched, and he strode away.
And in that moment, I knew: this rejection wasn’t only about me. Something darker threaded beneath his cruelty, something he dared not name.
A scent reached me before her shadow did. Seraphina.
She leaned close, her breath brushing my ear. “Run while you can, Elena,” she whispered. “The forest has teeth… and they’re hungry for you.” Her fingers brushed the jewel at her throat, and it pulsed faintly against my skin. Not firelight. Something else. Something alive.
She straightened, heels clicking as she melted back into the dispersing crowd.
It wasn’t mercy. It was a promise.
I stayed kneeling, the earth cold and merciless beneath me, my chest burning with grief. And then—
Heat seared across my wrist.
I gasped, yanking back my sleeve. A crescent-shaped mark blazed on my skin, glowing silver as though carved by the moon itself.
A voice rose inside me, ancient and commanding, sharp as a blade and eternal as the stars.
Rise, Luna.
My heart thundered. My breath caught. And in the shadows, Seraphina turned once more. She smiled, the kind of smile that said she had been waiting for this moment all along.
This night was not my end.
It was the beginning.
Last Chapters
#111 Chapter One Hundred Thirteen: The Symphony of Scars
Last Updated: 4/10/2026#110 Chapter One Hundred Twelve: The Garden of Stone and Seed
Last Updated: 4/10/2026#109 Chapter One Hundred Eleven: The Anatomy of a Memory
Last Updated: 4/10/2026#108 Chapter One Hundred Ten: The Whispering Wall
Last Updated: 4/10/2026#107 Chapter One Hundred Nine: The Council of Shadows and Stone
Last Updated: 4/10/2026#106 Chapter One Hundred Eight: The Warden and the Wolf
Last Updated: 4/10/2026#105 Chapter One Hundred Seven: The First Fracture
Last Updated: 4/10/2026#104 Chapter One Hundred Six: The Scarification of Hope
Last Updated: 4/10/2026#103 Chapter One Hundred Five: The Calculus of a Soul
Last Updated: 4/10/2026#102 Chapter One Hundred Four: The Unspoken Treaty
Last Updated: 4/10/2026
You Might Like 😍
“Burn those who burned me!”
Burn those who burned me is an anthology book circulated on truth; justice; and REVENGE!
Story #1 The Ballad of Rabena Price.
Story #2 The rebirth of Clara Granger
Story #3 The violin of Graceland Teague
Story #4 The list for Josie Taylor
Story #5 COMING SOON!
The First Female Alpha
The man I was meant to marry—the rising Alpha, the pride of the Pack—thrusting into another girl like I didn't exist.
But I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I didn't even flinch.
Because the pain had carved me hollow long before he ever touched her.
He thinks I'm weak. That I'll stand by his side in two days, smile for the ceremony, and hand him my loyalty with the Alpha title.
But he's wrong.
I'm not the broken little Luna they think I am. I'm the storm they never saw coming.
The Pack worships him, but only I know the truth buried beneath his perfect lies. So I'll take everything he wants most—the throne, the title, the crown he was born to wear—and win it out from under him, in front of everyone who ever called me unworthy.
Screw the Pack. Screw the respect. Screw being tame.
I'm fury dressed in skin, madness wearing heels, and heartbreak turned into a goddamn weapon.
They wanted a loyal Luna??
Instead...
They created a monster.
And when the throne is finally mine...
The Pack won't remember the name of the Alpha who betrayed me.
They'll remember the woman who took his crown...
and became the First Female Alpha.
Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha
Those words should have destroyed me, but the truth was worse: I'd been used as a broodmare by the man who swore to love me, set up in a hotel room with a stranger because My husband Alexander Cross couldn't father children himself, and now I carried the secret babies of Damon Lester—the most powerful and dangerous Alpha in San Loris—while my own family replaced me with the daughter they'd always wanted. But when that same stranger's doctor appeared at my door, when twenty million dollars exchanged hands over a fake perfume bearing my secret identity, and when Damon's gray eyes locked onto mine with recognition I couldn't afford, I realized my carefully hidden life as the legendary perfumer Vera was colliding with a pregnancy that could cost me everything.
Could I protect my babies from the husband plotting my death, hide my true identity from the Alpha who's been hunting me for years, and reclaim the freedom I'd buried along with my dreams—even if it means standing alone against the wolves who see me as nothing more than a womb to be used and discarded?
Invincible Upon Release: The Strongest Mage
Her family looked down on him, and even she herself said coldly: “You’re not worthy of being my husband.”
Everyone thought this newly released good-for-nothing was just a poor fool who’d taken the fall for his brother.
Thorne said nothing.
He merely raised his hand, gently pressing his bride’s forehead.
In an instant, the chaos in her eyes faded. Holy light surged from beneath the church, shooting into the sky.
The world’s only candidate for the Saintess, blessed with holy power, slowly opened her clear eyes before him.
Dangerous Love with the Mafia
Driven out by her adoptive mother and sexually harassed by her boss, she stumbles into a seedy bar, desperate to drown her sorrows. There she meets Alex: sharp, devastatingly handsome, and impossibly charming.
What starts as a wild one-night stand blossoms into a tender, almost surreal romance—art galleries, riverside walks, and whispered promises that feel too perfect to be real. But when Alex vanishes without a word after a morning of gentle intimacy, Sarah is left with a hollow ache and a creeping doubt.
Their encounter was no accident. Behind Alex's blue eyes and skilled touch lies a darkness far deeper than she ever imagined—and the love that burned so bright may come with a price that could destroy her.
The Billionaire's Mask (A Dark Steamy Romance)
Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate
He reached for the back of my head and pulled me up just enough to reach my neck. When his fangs slid into me, the pain was instant, electric. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My hands found his shoulders, clawing for something to hold. My legs kicked. Tears streamed down my cheeks.
He moaned against my throat as he drank, and the sound was devastating.
Chosen By The Lycan King
Legacy Of Dragons, Royal Dragons Book 2
Ria and the Balaur brothers never imagined how far their family would come.
After surviving betrayal, loss, and the lies that nearly destroyed everything they loved, they dedicated themselves to building a future. What began as a training facility for dragons soon grew into something far greater—a place where dragons and other species from around the world could learn, train, and thrive together.
Now the facility is flourishing. Their children have grown, many finding their own mates among dragons, shifters, and other species from distant lands. The family Ria fought so hard to protect has expanded beyond anything she once dreamed possible, bringing new friendships, new adventures, and a growing legacy of grandchildren.
As old secrets continue to surface, long-held beliefs about dragons and mixed-species bloodlines are being challenged. Truths buried for generations are finally coming to light, reshaping everything they thought they knew about their world.
The Alpha Of The Shadow Pack And His Mute Luna
Vanessa, the mute runt of a cursed litter, has only ever known cruelty and abuse. Her voice stolen by a witch’s spell, her freedom crushed by a brutal father, she’s been promised to a monster she doesn’t want. But fate intervenes when she’s left for dead—bleeding, broken, and bound—only to be rescued by Alpha Alfred of the Shadow Pack.
Alfred, fighting against a generational curse that has doomed his brothers to remain wolves forever, never expected his fated mate to be a fragile girl on the brink of death. But the moment he breathes in her scent, everything changes.
Together, they must confront the past, survive betrayal, and uncover the true key to breaking the curses that bind them. Will their bond be strong enough to save them both?
Tempted By The Enemy
She escapes to Preston Island to attend the wedding without informing him only to collide with Lucas’s hot, fiery and arrogant brother, the twenty-three-year-old, Nicholas Donnelly. Sparks immediately fly between them but Alyssa refuses to acknowledge them fearing her brother's wrath.
The wedding is over and Alyssa tries hard to forget the mysterious Nicholas Donnelly but can he forget her? Can he ignore the attraction he feels for her, feelings that have resurfaced after ten years?
What will Allyssa do when she is stalked by the man who has been invading her dreams since the day she met him? What will she do when she is whisked away to a deserted island by the unpredictable Nicholas Donnelly? Can she tame her heart or surrender to sinful temptations? Read to find out!
Part of the Temptation Series. Can be read as a standalone.
The Princess's Revenge
Alpha Logan is an illegitimate son whose mother disappeared when he was 10 years old. He grew up suffering from humiliation and lacking maternal love.
Alpha Logan saves Valencia at Marcus's funeral, which seems to be destined by fate—part of the Moon Goddess's grand plan.
As Valencia accidentally discovers prophecies in Logan's mother's diary that seem to be related to her, the truth gradually surfaces. Valencia appears to be merely a tool in a princess's revenge plot. How will Logan and Valencia navigate their path amid the national war and pack politics?
