Bow Down, My Former Alpha

The grand hall of the Crescent Moon Pack had never looked more magnificent—or more terrifying. Moonlight streamed through the towering windows, casting silver patterns across the polished stone floor where hundreds of pack members stood in perfect formation. The air thrummed with anticipation, thick with the scent of burning sage and ceremonial oils.

I stood at the back of the crowd, my hands trembling as I smoothed down my simple white dress—the only decent thing I owned. Elena, the elderly Omega who had raised me, had spent weeks sewing it by hand, her arthritic fingers working late into the night.

"You look beautiful, child," she had whispered earlier, tears in her eyes. "The Moon Goddess has plans for you."

Now, surrounded by warriors in their finest ceremonial garb and she-wolves draped in silk and jewels, I felt like a sparrow among eagles. My heart hammered against my ribs as Alpha Xavier Blackwood stepped onto the raised platform at the front of the hall.

He was magnificent in the way that predators are magnificent—all lean muscle and controlled power, his dark hair gleaming under the moonlight. The ceremonial Alpha cloak hung from his broad shoulders, and the ancient marking blade gleamed at his side. Every eye in the room was fixed on him with a mixture of reverence and fear.

"Tonight," his voice boomed across the hall, "the Moon Goddess will reveal my destined Luna. The woman who will stand beside me, bear my heirs, and help lead this pack to greatness."

My stomach churned. I knew it wouldn't be me. How could it be? I was nobody—an orphan found on pack lands eighteen years ago, raised by charity, too weak to shift properly, too quiet to command respect. The Moon Goddess surely had someone else in mind. Someone like Diana Thornfield, the Gamma's daughter, who stood near the front in a dress that probably cost more than Elena's yearly food allowance.

Diana caught my eye and smirked, her perfectly manicured fingers toying with her golden hair. She had been circling Xavier like a shark for years, making it clear to everyone that she considered herself the obvious choice. Strong, beautiful, from a powerful family—everything I wasn't.

The pack's elderly Seer stepped forward, her gnarled hands raised toward the moon visible through the skylight above. "Moon Goddess, reveal to us your chosen Luna for Alpha Xavier Blackwood."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop. A strange energy crackled through the air, making the hair on my arms stand up. The Seer's eyes rolled back, showing only white, and when she spoke again, her voice carried an otherworldly resonance.

"Aria... of no family name... orphan of the Crescent Moon Pack..."

The words hit me like a physical blow. The room spun around me, and I felt every single pair of eyes turn in my direction. The silence was deafening.

No. This couldn't be happening.

Xavier's face went through a series of expressions—shock, confusion, and then something that looked dangerously close to