The Return Of The Shadow Luna

Evangeline’s pov

My wedding gown felt like heavy ice against my skin. I sat on the edge of the massive bed, staring at the gold crown sitting on the vanity across the room. I was Malakai’s Luna now. After years of bloody fighting between our families, this wedding was supposed to bring peace. I touched my lips, still feeling the heat of his kiss from the altar. Everything felt perfect until I noticed a slight shift. Being a wolf means you notice the little things. The constant hum of the pack’s electric security fence, the one my twin brother Julian was in charge of, suddenly cut out. Then the distant sound of the guards walking the perimeter stopped. I stood up with my heart thumping hard against my ribs. "Malakai!" I called out to the empty room. Immediately the door clicked open, I turned around, expecting to see my husband, expecting him to pull me into his arms and tell me everything was fine. Instead, Julian stepped into the room. The expression on his face was blank, cold, and completely strange. "What's the matter, Julian?" I asked as my heart began pounding faster in my chest, taking a step toward him. "The security grid just shut down." He replied casually didn't say anything else after that. "That...that can't be!" I exclaimed, I searched for any sign of panic on his face but I couldn’t find any. The security grid was down? That wasn't good news at all. He just stared right through me before stepping backward into the hallway. "Please, let me come with you. I...I can't stay in here alone." I pleaded while trying to go after him. "No. Stay in here." His tone was so stern, it sent shivers down my spine. "Julian?" I let out in a mixture of shock and fear. He pulled the door shut, a sharp click echoing through the room. He had locked me in from the outside. I slammed my hands against the wood, panic finally exploding in my chest. "Julian, please open the door!" I yelled my lungs out. Before I could scream again, the glass balcony doors shattered into a million pieces. The rotten smell of rotten copper hit me first before three massive, scarred wolves leaped through the broken frame. Their lips were curled back over yellow fangs, dripping with saliva. My inner wolf roared to life. I was the daughter of an Alpha, and I was not going to just lie down and die. As the first rogue lunged, I swiped my claws across its snout, drawing deep blood. But there were too many of them. Another wolf hit me from the side, throwing me off balance and pinning me to the floor. The heavy fabric of my wedding dress ripped as sharp teeth bit deep into my shoulder. I gasped for air, fighting against the crushing weight of the beasts. "Please..." I mustered the energy to beg. Suddenly, the bedroom door kicked open. Malakai stood in the doorway, his powerful Alpha aura filling the room. Relief washed over me so hard I almost cried. My mate was here, and he was going to kill them all. But Malakai didn't move. Through the blur of my own blood and tears, I looked up at him. His dark eyes weren't filled with rage; instead, he looked completely calm, almost bored. The lead rogue stopped tearing at my dress and looked back at Malakai. My husband gave the rogue a short, slow nod of approval. The room spun as I gasped in horror. The mate bond inside my chest shrieked in agony as the truth hit me. This wasn't an accident, they had planned this. "Malakai, please help me." I choked out a plea, reaching a bloody hand toward him, begging him to help me. "Get your filthy hands off me." He spat at me before slowly closing the door. He leaned his back against the wall, and crossed his arms over his chest. He just stood there in his wedding suit, watching in absolute silence as the wolves dragged me back into the dirt. They ripped off the last bits of my dress, the cold air seeping into the open wounds and my bare body. I bit down hard on my lower lip as I felt rough claws tear into the inside of my thigh. "Malakai!!" I screamed until the four walls of the room shook when I couldn't take the pain any longer. The attack felt like it lasted for hours. Every tear of my skin and every laugh from the rogues burned into my mind. When they finally left through the broken balcony, I lay in a pool of my own blood, my wedding dress ruined, and my spirit shattered. Malakai didn’t offer a hand. He just looked down at me, "You really played your part well." He said and walked out. The next morning brought a different kind of nightmare. I thought the physical pain was the worst of it, but I was wrong. Two high-ranking guards dragged me into the pack's grand hall. I could barely stand. My body was covered in bandages I had managed to wrap myself in since no one tended to me. My knees shook with every step. The entire pack was gathered, disgust and anger spread across their faces. "Look at the traitor," a voice hissed from the crowd. At the front of the room stood Malakai, wearing his pristine Alpha robes, and Julian, standing proudly at his right hand. Malakai stepped forward, his voice booming through the microphone so everyone could hear. "Silence!" he commanded. He looked down at me with cold, empty eyes. "Yesterday, we were supposed to celebrate peace. Instead, we bled. The monster responsible stands before you." He held up a blood-stained map of the territory. "My guards found this hidden in Evangeline’s bridal vanity. She used her position to turn off the security grid and let the rogues in." I tried to speak, to yell the truth, but my throat was too raw from screaming the night before. "No," I gasped out. "He let them." No real sound came out, only a weak, pathetic wheeze. Julian stepped up next, confirming the lies. He looked the pack elders right in the eye. "It pains my heart, but it is the truth. I saw her talking to a rogue messenger in the western woods days before the wedding. I was blind to my own sister's treachery." My own twin brother turned to face me, his voice hardening as he handed down the sentence. "You are no sister of mine." Malakai stepped to the edge of the dais. "I strip Evangeline of her title as Luna before she can even wear the crown. And before the pack, I, Alpha Malakai, publicly and permanently reject you, Evangeline, as my mate.”

Evangeline’s pov

A mental strike hit me so brutal it felt like my soul was being torn in half. The bond snapped instantly throwing me to my knees. I gasped for air, clutching my chest at the same time. "You are now the lowest rank," Malakai announced. "You are a pack slave, forced to serve the people you tried to destroy. Take her away." I tried to plead my innocence despite the raging pain i felt but I was silenced. I was kicked out of the packhouse and forced to live in a broken shack near the western border. The pack members treated me like dirt. Within the span of two months I had gone from a Luna to something worse than a servant. "Hey, traitor! Clean this up!" an enforcer barked, kicking a bucket of dirty water across the floor. I didn't say a word. I got down on my hands and knees, scrubbing the floors while they threw scraps of stale bread at my feet and laughed. To make the torture worse, Malakai didn’t wait long to replace me. Within the first month, he married Tati