The Alpha's Betrayed Luna Return

Aria POV

I woke up screaming.

My lungs felt burnt, as though I had been drowning, and my hands dug at the ground below me, and they were not mine. My night sky was twirling about my head and the stars appeared to be dancing and blurring. Everything hurts. My muscles seemed to be on fire, and my bones pained as though I were broken and gently glued back together.

Where was I? The final thing I recalled was that I was running in the forest with hunters in pursuit of me. Their firearms had been clattering through the trees, and I had been stung by their bullets before I lost consciousness. But that wasn't the last thing. No. There was something else. Someone else.

I shouted and rocked myself up on my elbows. Dirt stuck to my face and arms. My garments had rags. I gazed down on my hands and stood still. They weren't my hands. The skin was less rosy, and smoother and when I touched my face, the bones were not the same. High cheekbones, a sharp jaw, which I did not know, were followed by my fingers.

"No, no, no," I whispered. My voice did not sound the same as well. It was sweeter and it sounded like a bell. This wasn't my body. This wasn't my voice.

And then the memories struck me in a wave.

I was not that rogue wolf that died in the woods. Something else occurred when the life of that girl ended. Something impossible. A glare into my head, white and like the silver of the full moon. It was talking to me without saying anything, and suddenly I knew everything. I was now provided with a second opportunity. I had been sent back.

My real name was Nora.

I was muted by the memories like thunder. I recalled the pack celebrations, the feast, the drinking and the laughing. I recalled the face of my mate Alpha Marcus of which I was gazing across a room. I recalled that I felt how fortunate I was to have him. To have love. To belong somewhere.

Then I thought of the poison that was in my throat. I recalled the chilly smile of Elena who stood to see me fall on the ground. I recalled Marcus not having done anything. Absolutely nothing. He only stood there and I died.

Nora was feeble enough, too, anyway, Elena had said in her icy voice. "She was born weak. The Moon blessed all members of our family except her. She deserved to die."

And I had died. I had been feeling my wolf dissipate, my heart had stopped, I had been choked by the cold darkness. For ten years, I had been gone.

But now I am back.

I fell on my hands and knees and glanced about. There was nothing visible in the forest but only the wind rustling through the trees. I now had new eyes, where I could see all, even in the dark. There was a little stream about half a mile distant which I could see. I was able to observe the foot paths of deer which had long since gone by. I even smelled the terror of rabbits in their burrows.

The sharpness of my senses was painful.

I strolled up to the stream with wobbling legs and saw myself in the water. A stranger looked back at me. She had silver hair of moonlight colour. Her eyes were violet, clear and strong. She was as unlike the old Nora with her brown hair and weak brown eyes. She did not resemble any of the flimsy Luna that had been so simple to slay.

Now I am stronger, I told the reflection. "They won't hurt me again."

The moon was high in the sky. I could hear it calling me, drifting somewhere inside my chest. The Moon goddess had endowed me with this body, this strength, this power. She had provided me with a reason to come back. justice she wanted to be done.

The ancient pack, the Silverback pack, was still residing in the same area. I had been reminded of that by the memories of the rogue girl. Aria, the girl, had been brought not very far away. She had gone through the Silverback land and smelled home even before she ran away. She had been unwell and starving and dying and the Silverbacks had driven her away without inquiring what.

By morning I could get them, though I would have to be running.

However, initially, I had to understand what I had become. I had to know this force which made my bones ache with electricity. I shut my eyes, and summoned the wolf within me, as I had done myself, as the old Nora. However, round this time, in place of a moan, there was a roar returning.

The change was quick and agony and loveliness all together. My bones shifted and cracked. My skin rippled like water. The sensation in my senses shot up ten times greater than before. By the time it was done, I was on four legs, and had silver fur that was shining as bright as the moon itself. My paws were huge and strong. And daggers as long as my claw.

I was a monster now.

I was a weapon.

I swung my head round and cried to the moon, and the cry of strength and hunger and anger. The forest went silent. The crickets even ceased to sing. Animals in their holes shook to the sound.

I said over the mouth of the wolf, I'm coming after you, Elena. Like thunder my voice rumbled. "I'm coming for all of you. And this time, I won't be weak. This time I'll be the dream that you'll put in your nightmares.

I transformed back to my human shape and stood naked in the dark with my new body being strong and fit to fight. The old Nora was gone. The poor Luna had passed away, and was forever.

I was now Aria and I had a mission.

Today I would enter the Silverback pack smiling on my face, and lay on my tongue. I would feign being just a common wolf seeking a place to live. They would never imagine that it was the dead Luna returning for revenge in the form of the girl they had chased away several years ago. They would never imagine the silent new warrior in their midst would be intending to torch their world to the ground.

But this very evening I was alone in the woods, and I promised the Moon Goddess.

I would ensure that they are made to pay their price. I would watch Elena fall. I would watch Marcus burn his legacy. I would have my justice, and I would--

A sound froze me in place. There was something coming in the woods towards me. Something big. Something of wolf and danger and power. Multiple wolves, actually. A pack hunting together.

I beheld golden eyes open in shadow in the darkness. They gazed at me with amazement and something. Something like wonder.

What do you mean hanging around out here? a deep voice asked.

So when the wolf stepped out into the moonlight I saw him in his entirety. He was massive and dark-haired and midnight-furred. I was able to feel how strong he was, even in his wolf form. I sensed the amount of strength he had.

This was an Alpha.

And there was something about him that caused my new heart to jump a step in a manner I could not explain.