Shattered Bonds: A Second Chance Mate - Chapter 69: Chapter 69

The wind was still.
The fire of the funeral pyre flickered its last flame.
Mario’s burial had just ended, and the mourners stood quietly, their heads bowed in respect, eyes glazed with sorrow and fatigue. I could still smell the incense in the air, mingling with the faint scent of crushed jasmine petals. The stars above blinked gently through the veil of darkness, bearing silent witness to our grief.
Then—
“HOWL…!”
A sound tore through the silence.
Fierce. Sharp. Urgent.
The wolves froze mid-step, and warriors instinctively turned their heads toward the perimeter.
The hairs at the back of my neck stood on edge, and my heart skipped a beat.
“Rogues!” Beta Alfonso’s voice barely came out as a whisper, but it carried all the dread we needed to hear.
Before I could even process the words fully, the mind-link exploded with frantic messages.
“They’ve breached the east gate!”
“We’re surrounded—requesting backup now!”
“There are too many—at least twenty, maybe more!”
Panic rippled through the pack, the funeral forgotten.
Every warrior was already shifting, preparing for the onslaught.
“Luna! You need to get inside—now!” Audrey’s voice was laced with desperation as she rushed to my side. Her hands grabbed my arm, urging me back toward the mansion.
“No,” I whispered, standing my ground.
Audrey’s eyes widened. “Luna Ellaine, please—”
“No,” I said again, firmer this time. “He’s here. This is Luca’s move.”
Even before I said it aloud, I had known.
The timing was too perfect. Mario’s death, Francesco away, a weakened emotional state for the entire pack—Luca had orchestrated this moment with precision.
“Yes. He thinks taking Francesco away from you is a great move,” Mika said inside me, her voice steady and calm. “Let’s prove the rogues wrong.”
Power stirred inside me.
A slow, awakening surge like the breath before a storm.
I turned from Audrey without another word and broke into a run, heading toward the gate. Behind me, I could hear her calling my name, but I didn’t stop. My heart pounded—not with fear, but with resolve.
We were under attack. And I was the Luna.
I would not run. I would not hide.
I spotted Beta Alfonso just ahead, barking orders to the line of warriors, completely unaware that I was following closely behind.
I reached him as we arrived at the east gate.
And then I saw them.
More than twenty rogues. Snarling, bloodthirsty, crazed. Their eyes glowed with malice, lips curled back in vicious grins. Some were already mid-shift, their claws out and ready. Others remained in human form, weapons drawn, prepared to kill.
I stopped, breath hitching.
“A trap…” I murmured, my voice loud enough for those nearest me to hear.
Gasps followed as my presence registered among the warriors.
“LUNA!!” Beta Alfonso turned sharply, his eyes going wide in horror. “What are you doing here?! You need to leave—this is too dangerous!”
He looked at Audrey, his face twisted with silent reprimand, but I held up my hand.
“No.” I looked at both of them, calmly. “Do you think it’s wise for a Luna to hide while her pack fights for their lives?”
Alfonso hesitated. His mouth opened, then closed again.
“I… no. But if Alpha Francesco finds out—”
“He will understand,” I cut in gently. “He’ll understand that a Luna doesn’t just rule by his side—she protects what they built. Our people. Our pack.”
A distant, bone-chilling howl sounded in the distance.
Not just any howl.
Luca’s.
His voice was twisted, dark, filled with the kind of madness that only hatred could breed.
Mika stirred inside me. Her presence grew, stretching, expanding.
“It’s time.”
My body tingled, the air itself seeming to bend around me. A pulse beat under my skin, growing louder, stronger.
Mika’s voice echoed in my mind, fierce and protective. “I’ve waited long enough. Let them see what kind of Luna you truly are.”
And now I understood.
Everything that Mika has said about me clicked into place.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and let go.
“Mika… take over.”
“With pleasure.”
My bones shifted.
Heat seared through my veins like liquid moonlight. My muscles trembled, tendons stretching and snapping, skin changing, fur sprouting as the transformation began. Gasps surrounded me as the pack bore witness to my first full shift.
The pain was there—but it was empowering, not punishing. My soul welcomed the change. I embraced the power rising through me like an ancient tide.
When I opened my eyes, the world looked different.
Clearer. Sharper.
I wasn’t Ellaine anymore.
I was Mika.
And Mika was glorious.
Standing tall and regal among the shocked warriors, I was a wolf unlike any they had ever seen.
Snow-white fur glistened under the moonlight—pristine, powerful, radiant like it was woven from the stars themselves. My paws left faint glowing impressions against the grass, my eyes—now bright silver—gleamed with an ancient force rarely seen.
A white moon wolf.
The rarest form. The mark of something divine. The Luna not only chosen by fate… but by the Moon Goddess herself.
Everyone froze.
Audrey dropped her sword.
Joshua took a step back, awe and reverence flooding his expression.
Beta Alfonso’s lips parted in silent disbelief. “a White Moon… bless us…”
Even the rogues, for a brief moment, paused in confusion, their snarls faltering.
Then, from the far tree line, a voice rang out.
Low. Cruel. Mocking.
“Well, well… so the little Luna finally comes out to play.”
Luca…
He stepped forward, no longer bothering to hide. He looked older than the last time I saw him—wild with dark, unkempt hair and sunken eyes filled with venom.
“I’ve been wondering when you’d stop cowering behind your precious Alpha,” he sneered. “Did you think you could hide forever? That you could steal what was mine and live happily ever after?”
Mika growled deep in my throat, a sound that made the air vibrate.
Luca’s eyes landed on me—then widened.
He stumbled back a step.
“What…?”
That’s right.
He hadn’t expected this.
He hadn’t expected me.
A wolf of light. The Moon’s own daughter. Not a pawn—but a weapon.
I lifted my head and howled—a piercing, resounding cry that shattered the quiet.
A cry of war.
A cry of unity.
A cry of vengeance.
The warriors behind me shifted in unison, bolstered by my howl, their courage renewed.
I could feel it in their bones.
They were no longer fighting for their Luna.
They were fighting with her.
And I would fight beside them, even if I bled for it.
Even if I died for it.
Because this pack—this home—was mine.