Unwanted Luna - Chapter #5 - by Nina Soelian

[Daphne’s POV]

It’s already a week into my new status as future Luna, and the pack members who once shoved me into mud now bow with plastic smiles stretched across their faces.

False respect when they think I'm watching. Vicious whispers the moment I turn my back. I hear them in the corridors, in the dining hall, everywhere I go.

But it's Talia and her friends who've truly escalated their torment.

Without Alpha Hector to witness, they've become vicious. My belongings disappear or turn up destroyed. During pack meals, they engineer "accidents"—spilled drinks, tripped servers, food that somehow ends up in my lap.

Yesterday, they cornered me in the bathroom while I was washing wine from yet another ruined dress.

"Look at you," Talia had sneered, her perfect face twisted with hatred. "Still the pathetic wolfless bitch playing dress-up. You think a title makes you worthy? You're nothing and always will be."

Then Kara had poured the remainder of her wine down the front of my new gown I was wearing, the deep burgundy fabric staining instantly.

"Red suits a whore who spreads her legs for father and son."

I stood there shaking with humiliation, unable to fight back, watching the wine drip onto the pristine bathroom floor. They'd left me there, their laughter echoing off the marble.

I need to be stronger than this. Alpha Hector has given me an opportunity I never dreamed possible—inexplicable faith in someone everyone else has written off.

I need to prove I'm worthy of it. Need to become someone who can actually be Luna instead of just wearing the title like borrowed clothes that don't fit.

But I still have no wolf to train. No innate strength to develop.

The traditional path to power is closed to me.

That night, sleepless and desperate, I pace my new chambers—the Luna's suite that still feels like someone else's room. My mind circles back to one truth I can't escape: the strongest wolves in this pack are the Silvermoon males.

Connor is lost to me, poisoned by his own cruelty. Hector is the Alpha, untouchable, already giving me more than I understand.

That leaves Xander…

The man who hates me. The man I've tried avoiding all along, whose cruel words still echo in my mind. The man from whom I kept my old feelings hidden and heart shielded.

But he's also the most brutal trainer in the pack, the one who pushes warriors past their breaking points and makes them stronger for it.

I've watched him from a distance, seen how he transforms the weak into formidable. How he never accepts excuses or settles for mediocrity.

Yes, he'll be vicious. Yes, he'll make me suffer.

But maybe that's exactly what I need—someone who won't coddle me, who won't lie about my limitations. Who'll either break me or forge me into something that can survive this new ruthless life.

If anyone can forge something useful from the wreckage I've become, it's him.

The decision solidifies like ice in my chest as dawn approaches.

I'll ask him. And if he refuses, I'll beg.

I'll endure whatever cruelty he has in store because the alternative—remaining weak, remaining a victim—is no longer acceptable.

That's why I find myself at the training grounds at dawn, watching Xander destroy practice dummies with barely controlled violence.

He's shirtless, his muscled back gleaming with sweat in the early morning light. Each punch he throws has enough force behind it to shatter bone. The practice dummy's head flies off, and he moves to the next one without pause.

There's something savage in his movements, something that makes my breath catch.

I must have made a sound because Xander went still. Doesn't turn, but I know he senses me. "Come to watch another Alpha heir lose his mind?"

His voice is bitter, rough from exertion. But I force my feet to move forward, my heart hammering against my ribs. "I came to ask you to train me."

Now he whirls on me, and the look on his face is pure incredulity. Then he laughs, harsh and humorless.

"Train you? You're weak, wolfless, and it's far too late to make you anything else." His eyes raked over me with cruel assessment. "Why not ask your beloved Connor for more advice? He did such a wonderful job helping you improve yourself."

The mockery in his voice stings, but instead of cowering like I always have, I step forward. Something new burns in my chest.

Something that feels like desperation mixed with rage mixed with determination.

"I'm tired of being everyone's victim." My voice comes out stronger than I expected. "Tired of being weak. If I'm going to be Luna, I need to be strong enough to deserve it."

Xander's expression darkens. "Deserve it?"

He stalks toward me, each step deliberate.

"You think my father chose you because you deserve anything? You think he looked at you and saw potential?" Another harsh laugh. "You're so naive, Daphne. You always have been."

The cruel words slice through me, but I don't back down. Don't run like I always have.

"Then help me actually deserve it. I need this chance Alpha Hector is giving me. I'm grateful he believes in me when no one else does."

Something dangerous flashes in Xander's eyes at my mention of his father. Something that looks like fury and possessiveness and something else I can't name.

The air between us feels charged, electric.

He moves into my space, forcing me to crane my neck to maintain eye contact. This close, I can see the sweat still glistening on his chest, can smell pine and leather and something distinctly him. My pulse jumps.

"Fine," he says softly, dangerously. "But I don't do gentle. If I train you, you'll hate me more than you already do."

His eyes hold mine with an intensity that makes my knees weak.

"I won't go easy on you just because you're warming my father's bed."

The crude insinuation makes me flinch. Hector and I haven't even kissed—he's been nothing but respectful, almost distant.

But I force my chin up, meeting Xander's gaze without wavering. "I understand."

Something dangerous flashes across his face before his lips curve into a smile—all teeth, no warmth. It's the kind of smile that should make me run.

"Tomorrow at dawn," he says. "Don't be late."

He leans closer, so close I can feel the heat radiating off his skin. Can count the lashes and dark flecks of his blue eyes. His voice drops to something almost intimate.

"And little wolf?" The nickname makes something in my chest tighten. "When you're crying and bleeding and begging me to stop? Remember you asked for this."

His breath ghosts across my lips, and for one impossible moment, I think he might kiss me. My heart stutters, confusion and something else flooding through my veins.

Then he steps back, turning away like I'm already dismissed. Like I'm nothing.

I stand there for a moment, my hands trembling at my sides, my breath coming too fast. What did I just agree to?

But as I walk back toward the pack house, passing pack members who bow and whisper behind their hands, I feel something I haven't felt in years.

Hope.

Maybe Xander will break me. Maybe his training will prove I'm as worthless as everyone says. But at least I'll have tried.

At least I'll have fought back instead of just accepting my fate like I always have.

Tomorrow at dawn, my real transformation begins. And if Xander thinks he can make me quit, he's about to discover exactly how desperate I've become.