The Betrayed Luna's Vow Of Vengeance

Selene Thorne POV:

The silvery light of the full moon spilled across the sacred grounds of the Black Moon Pack. My moon-white silk gown whispered around my ankles as I stepped gracefully from the carriage, the evening breeze a soft caress against my skin.

My maid, Ruby Corvus, fussed with the hem, her warm brown eyes shining with admiration. "Luna, you look like the Goddess herself tonight."

A small smile touched my lips. I glanced across the clearing, taking in the scene. The Full Moon Gathering was in full swing. Bonfires crackled, sending sparks dancing into the night sky. The air was thick with the scent of roasted meats, pine from the surrounding forest, and the joyful energy of my pack. Five years I had poured my soul into this peace, this stability. It was a responsibility I’d carried since birth, as the heir to the Winter Pack, and one I had embraced as the Luna of Black Moon.

As I began to walk, pack members bowed their heads in respect. "Luna Selene."

I inclined my head to each of them, my smile genuine. "It is good to see you, Elara. Is your mother's cough any better?" I paused to ruffle the hair of a young pup. "You're growing so fast, Leo."

This was my duty. My joy.

But my inner wolf, Kara, was growing restless. *He should be here,* she grumbled in my mind, her voice a low growl of impatience. *The Alpha always greets his Luna.*

*Patience, Kara,* I soothed, though a sliver of unease pricked at my own heart. *Ryker is likely busy with the Elders.*

I moved through the throng of dancing bodies, my eyes scanning for my mate, my Alpha. My gaze settled on the raised platform at the center of the clearing, the seat of power, where he should have been waiting.

Then, a gust of wind blew in from the direction of the platform, carrying a scent that made my steps falter.

The smile on my face froze, feeling like a fragile mask of ice.

I smelled him. The familiar, possessive scent of my husband, Ryker. It was the scent of a winter storm raging through a pine forest, a scent that had always meant safety, home, and passion.

But it was tainted. Twisted.

Wrapped around his powerful scent was another, a sickly sweet and cloying aroma of jasmine.

Kara let out a furious roar in my mind, a sound of pure, animalistic rage. *That is not your scent on him!*

The breath hitched in my throat. I knew that scent. Jasmine. Faye. Ryker's ex-girlfriend, a rogue she-wolf who should have been a ghost, a memory buried five years in the past.

My heart didn't just sink; it plummeted into a cold, dark abyss, and ice flooded my veins.

I forced my head up, my gaze cutting through the celebrating crowd, locking onto the shadows at the edge of the Alpha's platform.

And I saw him.

I saw Ryker's broad, powerful back. He was half-turned away, his body shielding a smaller figure from view. A figure with a mane of fiery auburn curls.

Faye.

She was nestled against his chest, her head resting in the hollow of his shoulder. His arm was wrapped protectively around her, a gesture of intimacy and possession that was meant for me and me alone.

I saw a few of the pack's senior members nearby. They saw it too. Their gazes flickered towards the couple, then quickly, guiltily, away, pretending to be engrossed in conversations that had died on their lips.

It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck me, the world dissolving into a deafening roar in my ears. At the base of my neck, my Mating Mark—the sacred bite that bound my soul to his—began to burn with a sharp, angry sting.

Sight, scent, and the sacred Mate Bond all screamed the same, soul-shattering word at me: Betrayal.

My fingers curled into fists, my nails digging so deeply into my palms that I felt the sting of breaking skin. The pain was a welcome anchor in the swirling chaos of my mind.

Ruby appeared at my side, her face etched with concern. "Luna, are you alright? You’re pale."

I drew a shaky breath, the mixed scent of my husband and his lover making my stomach churn with nausea. I forced my fist to uncurl. I smoothed the front of my gown, my movements a little too stiff. I pasted the serene, unshakable smile back onto my face.

*Tear her apart!* Kara shrieked, clawing at the inside of my mind. *He is ours! MINE!*

*Not yet,* I told her, my internal voice a shard of ice. *We are the Luna. We do not crumble.*

I lifted my chin, my amethyst eyes hardening. I took a step towards the platform, towards the public display of my humiliation. Each step felt like I was walking on shattered glass, but my stride was steady, my back ramrod straight.

I ignored Ruby's worried gasp, my eyes fixed on the man who was my world and the woman who was destroying it. I took another step, and then another, my voice calm and clear as it cut through the music, a question directed at my Alpha, but for all the pack to hear.

"Ryker, won't you introduce your guest?"