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