ManyWriters

The day my diagnosis of the "Shadow-Eaten Moonlight" disease was confirmed, a tremor seized my entire body. I desperately forged a mind-link with Lucian, the Alpha who had neglected me for months, threatening to sever our sacred mate bond if he didn’t return to the Stone Creek pack.
He did come back, but not alone. He returned with a stunning young she-wolf at his side.
"Seraphina saved my life during an attack by rogue wolves," he announced, his tone leaving no room for argument. "She’ll be staying in the Alpha’s cabin. As Luna, you ought to show some generosity."
I stood rooted to the ground, every muscle rigid, my voice a raw, hoarse whisper as I confessed, "I'm fading, Lucian."
But he merely scoffed, a chilling sound. Without a single glance, he ground the Moonpetal flower—a gift from Kyle, the very symbol of my vanishing soul—beneath his heel.
"I’ve returned, haven’t I?" he sneered. "Do you find these theatrics amusing?"
Triumph danced in Seraphina’s eyes. A single, delicate pronouncement from her—"The Luna’s negative aura will hinder my recovery"—was all it took for Lucian to expel me from the Alpha's cabin.
Cast out and utterly alone, my life force continued its relentless drain.
As I drew my last breath in the den at Whispering Falls, the sanctuary we had once shared, Lucian was leisurely patrolling the pack lands with Seraphina by his side.
A month slipped by before his Beta, Garrick, finally pierced through his ignorance, the truth delivered via their mind-link:
"Alpha," Garrick’s mind link told him, "the one who saved your life during the Red Creek ambush… it wasn’t Seraphina. It was our Luna, Ilana…"

Shadow Eaten Moonlight

My heart ached for Lucian, so I often helped him shoulder the violent backlash from the Blood Moon ritual's energy. He’d try to dissuade me, but he could never win against my insistence.


After the ritual, he would gently trace the burning silver patterns etched onto my skin, his eyes glistening with unshed tears, anguished by my ordeal.


He vowed that one day, he would ensure that I, as the Moon Goddess, could live a serene life, untouched by the energy's devastating backlash.


We were bound by life and death, patrolling the borders side-by-side, confronting rogue wolves. Through blizzards, thunderstorms, whatever nature hurled our way, we never let our guard down, not even for a day.


The following winter, I sensed a new life blossoming within me.


But then, disaster struck. While patrolling on a blizzard-ravaged night, I misstepped near a cliff's edge and lost our unborn cub.


That day, Lucian was so consumed by self-blame, his eyes were bloodshot. He pounded his claws against the stone cliff face until they fractured and broke.


It was from that very day that he started to neglect food and sleep, rarely even returning to our Alpha cabin.


Back then, still reeling from the loss of our little one, I rarely saw him, and a bitter sense of neglect began to fester in my heart.


I pleaded with him several times to come back and be with me, but he always said he was caught up in negotiations with other packs and couldn't get away.


Eventually, the dam broke, and we had our first explosive argument.


He returned one day, practically vibrating with the Blood Moon's raw, volatile energy, and swatted aside the purifying herbs I offered, inexplicably erupting in anger:


"Who do you think I’m pushing myself to the brink for, Ilana?! Why can’t you ever understand what I’m doing?"


"Are you just like those old-guard wolves? Do you look down on me too?!"I understood he was facing setbacks out in the world, so I went over, wanting to embrace and comfort him.


But he shoved me away. "The little one is gone, and I'm hurting too," he snapped, "but I'm not a god! I can't endure all that humiliation out there and then come home expected to happily walk on eggshells around you!"


The next day, we started to drift apart.


Lixian and I both harbored our own grievances, and neither of us was willing to swallow our pride.


As time wore on, even connecting through our link became awkward.


Later, he announced he was going to the border to reinforce the defenses.


After that, he didn’t return for three months.


Deep down, I knew that what finally shattered our bond wasn't that one time he pushed me away, nor was it the harsh words he'd hurled in anger.


It was the relentless accumulation of everyday pressures.


We were, truly, both just so exhausted.


Before me, Seraphina narrowed her eyes, her expression a mask of arrogant provocation.


"No wonder even your own pack elders disowned you," she sneered. "You're truly loathsome!"


My heart gave a painful lurch; I couldn't believe Lucian had told her about my private family matters.


But just as I was about to fire back a retort, her mind link flared to life.


Lucian’s voice, incredibly tender, came through:


"Seraphina, I've arranged for the woodland feast tonight. You haven't been to a Stone Creek gathering in quite some time, have you?"


"After we eat, we'll go patrol Crystal Lake together."Serafina flashed a smile as she agreed. The moment she disconnected, her eyes flicked to me, full of scorn, before she turned to go.


Chapter 4