MOONBOUND LIES

I never dreamed my mating ceremony would feel like a punishment.

The moon hung full and heavy in the sky, casting silver shadows across the stone platform where I stood. My fingers trembled at my sides, but I clenched them into fists. Not because I was cold though the wind bit through the thin fabric of my pale blue dress but because I could feel their eyes on me.

The Shadow Pack.

They watched in complete silence. Not a smile. Not a word of welcome.

I wasn’t one of them. I never would be.

And beside me stood the man who had just become my mate… by contract.

Alpha Derek Blackthorn.

He hadn’t looked at me once since we stepped onto the platform. His face was carved in stone. Hard jaw. Cold eyes. Black clothing that matched the bitterness in his voice when he spoke the mating vow.

“I, Alpha Derek Blackthorn, take Erica Hale as my Luna by oath and duty. May the moon witness our union.”

Oath and duty.

Not love.

Not fate.

I swallowed the lump rising in my throat and forced myself to speak clearly.

“I, Erica Hale, take Alpha Derek Blackthorn as my mate and Alpha. May the moon witness our union.”

The Elder, standing between us, nodded. He tied a thin silver chain around our wrists. A shimmer of light passed through it as the bond clicked into place.

It should’ve felt like magic.

It felt like a cage.

Derek yanked his hand back before the Elder finished the blessing.

“It’s done,” he said sharply, already turning to leave.

The crowd began to drift away, murmuring under their breath. No one clapped. No one smiled. I stood there alone on the platform, feeling like I’d just been buried instead of bound.

I was the Luna now.

But only on paper.

The mansion was as silent as the forest graveyard I used to sneak past as a child.

A maid led me through cold hallways and past rooms filled with shadows. She didn’t say a word until we reached a small room tucked far at the end of the east wing.

“This will be your room,” she said without meeting my eyes.

Not the Luna’s quarters. Just a guest room.

The mattress was stiff, the walls bare. No windows. No warmth. Just four walls and a heavy door that shut behind her with a final click.

I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at my hands.

They still trembled.

I tried to call out to the wolf inside me, but as always there was no answer.

No whisper. No movement.

Nothing.

I’d never heard my wolf’s voice. Not once. Most werewolves shifted by twelve. I was twenty-two. That fact alone made me weak in Derek’s eyes.

Broken.

Unworthy.

And yet, here I was… his mate.

Not by choice, of course. My uncle had made the deal offered me up in exchange for protection from rogue attacks. Our bloodline was fading, and I was