Rise of the Broken Luna | Read Free Preview
Read chapters 1–3 of Rise of the Broken Luna free. Unlock the full ebook when you are ready to keep going.
Chapter 1 — The Secret
_Elsa’s POV_
The storage room door slammed shut behind us, and Caleb’s mouth was on mine before I could even catch my breath. His hands roamed my body with a hunger that made my knees weak, pressing me against the cold stone wall like he couldn’t get close enough.
“Caleb,” I gasped between kisses, my fingers clutching at his letterman jacket. The smell of sweat still clung to him from hockey practice, mixed with that cologne that drove me crazy.
“Shh,” he murmured against my lips, his voice rough with need. “Don’t talk. Just let me…”
His hands tangled in my hair, tilting my head back so he could trail kisses down my throat. I melted into him, my body responding to his touch the way it always did—like he was the only man in the world who could make me feel this alive.
But even as passion clouded my thoughts, I couldn’t forget why I’d asked him to meet me here tonight.
“We need to talk,” I whispered, trying to pull back slightly.
“Later,” he said, his lips finding that spot on my neck that made me shiver, his hand moving to push my panties to the side. “Right now I just need you.”
“Caleb, please.” I placed my hands on his chest, gently pushing him away. “This is important.”
He sighed, finally stepping back but keeping his hands on my waist. His green eyes were dark, pupils dilated with desire and something else, stress. The championship game was tomorrow night, and I knew the pressure was getting to him.
“What is it, Elsa?” he asked, his voice softer now. “You sounded urgent when you asked me to meet you.”
I took a shaky breath, gathering my courage.
“Tell him.” My wolf, Amy, urged.
“I can’t do this anymore. The sneaking around, the hiding, pretending we barely know each other when anyone else is around. It’s killing me.”
Caleb’s jaw tightened. “We’ve talked about this—”
“For two years!” I interrupted, my voice rising slightly before I caught myself and lowered it to a whisper. “Two years, Caleb. Two years of stolen moments in storage rooms and empty classrooms. Two years of watching you smile politely at other she-wolves while I serve drinks at pack functions like I’m invisible.”
“You’re not invisible to me,” he said quietly.
“But I am to everyone else. And sometimes I wonder…” I trailed off, suddenly scared to voice the fear that had been eating at me.
“Wonder what?”
“If I’m just convenient for you. A secret you can keep hidden away until you’re ready to find a real mate.”
The change in Caleb’s expression was instant and fierce. His hands tightened on my waist, and his eyes flashed with something dangerous.
“Don’t,” he said, his voice low and sharp. “Don’t you ever think that. Don’t you ever doubt what you mean to me.”
“Then prove it,” I said, my heart hammering in my chest. “Stop hiding us. Tell your parents. Tell the pack. Make this real.”
Caleb was quiet for a long moment, his eyes searching my face. Then he cupped my cheek in his hand, his thumb brushing across my skin with infinite gentleness.
“You want me to prove it?” he asked softly.
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
“I love you,” he said, and the simple words hit me like a physical blow. “I love you, Elsa. Not because you’re convenient or available or easy to hide. I love you because you’re brilliant and kind, and you see right through all the Alpha bullshit to who I really am underneath. I love you because you make me want to be better than I am.”
Tears sprang to my eyes. “Caleb…”
“I’m not finished.” His other hand came up to frame my face, forcing me to look at him. “You want to know what’s going to happen tomorrow night? After we win the championship—and we will win—I’m going to walk into that celebration party, and I’m going to make an announcement. In front of my parents, in front of the pack council, in front of everyone who matters.”
My breath caught. “What kind of announcement?”
“I’m going to tell them about us. About how we’ve been together for two years. How I’ve already chosen my mate, and it’s you.” His thumbs brushed away the tears that had started to fall. “I’m going to tell them that I don’t care about bloodlines or politics or any of the other garbage they keep trying to shove down my throat. You’re the only one I want, Elsa. You’re the only one I’ll ever want.”
I stared at him in shock, hardly daring to believe what I was hearing. “You’re serious?”
“Dead serious. Tomorrow night, I’m going to claim you in front of everyone. Publicly. Officially. And if anyone has a problem with it, they can take it up with me.”
“But what about your parents? They’ll be furious. They’ve been pushing you toward Crystal Owen all season.”
Caleb’s expression hardened. “My parents will learn to deal with it. I’m going to be Alpha someday, which means my choice of mate is my decision. Not theirs.”
“What if they disown you?”
“They won’t.” His voice was confident, but I caught a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. “They need me. The pack needs me. And once they see how happy you make me, once they realize you’re not going anywhere, they’ll come around.”
I wanted to believe him. Goddess, I wanted to believe him so badly it hurt. But the fear was still there, gnawing at me.
“What if you lose tomorrow night?” I asked quietly. “What if the team doesn’t win the championship?”
Something dark flashed across Caleb’s face. “We’re not going to lose.”
“But what if you do? Will you still—”
“We’re not going to lose,” he repeated, his voice harder now. “I won’t let that happen. I can’t let that happen.”
I studied his face, seeing the tension there, the stress of expectation pressing down on him. “Caleb, the pressure you’re under—”
“Is exactly why I need you to stop pushing me about this right now,” he said, cutting me off. “I know you’re scared. I know you want reassurance. But I need you to trust me and let me focus on tomorrow night’s game. Because if we don’t win, if I don’t prove to everyone that I’m strong enough to lead this pack, then my announcement won’t matter. They’ll never accept you.”
His words stung, but I could see the logic in them. The championship game was everything to him, to his future, and to our future.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “I didn’t mean to add to your stress.”
Caleb’s expression softened immediately. “Don’t apologize. You have every right to want more. You deserve more. And after tomorrow night, you’re going to get it. I promise.”
He pulled me close, holding me tight against his chest. I could hear his heartbeat, fast and strong, and I let myself lean into his warmth.
“One more day,” he murmured into my hair. “Just give me one more day to make everything perfect for us.”
“Okay,” I whispered. “One more day.”
We stood there in comfortable silence for a moment, just holding each other. Then Caleb pulled back and gave me that crooked smile that made my heart skip.
“You should probably get back before someone notices you’re missing,” he said.
I nodded reluctantly. “What about you?”
“I need to review the game tape one more time. Coach wants us to be perfect tomorrow night.” He picked up his hockey bag from where he’d dropped it by the door. “The whole pack is going to be watching. Half the territory’s rival packs too. It’s the biggest game Moonstone has played in decades.”
“You’re going to be amazing,” I said, meaning every word. “You always are.”
“We’ll see.” He kissed me one more time, soft and sweet. “Wear something beautiful tomorrow night, okay? Something worthy of the future Alpha’s mate.”
With that, he was gone, leaving me alone with my racing heart and the promise that tomorrow night, everything would change.
Twenty-four more hours of pretending we were nothing to each other. Twenty-four more hours of being nobody.
After that, I would finally be his. Officially, publicly, completely.
I just had to make it through one more day.
Chapter 2 — The Betrayal
_Elsa’s POV_
The silver tray in my hands felt heavier than usual as I made my way through the crowded ballroom. The championship celebration was in full swing, and the air buzzed with excitement and expensive perfume.
“Elsa,” Luna Martha's harsh voice cut through the noise. “Take this envelope to the stage manager. Caleb will be making his announcement soon.”
My heart fluttered as I took the cream-colored envelope from her perfectly manicured hands. This was it. The moment I’d been waiting for. Caleb had won the championship game and scored the winning goal in overtime, and now he was going to announce our relationship to everyone.
I smoothed down my black server’s dress and made my way toward the stage. The pack members were already gathering, champagne glasses in hand, their faces bright with celebration. I spotted some of the hockey team near the front, still riding high from their victory.
The stage manager barely glanced at me as I handed him the envelope. “Another speech,” he muttered, but he took it and disappeared behind the curtain.
I found a spot along the wall where I could see the stage clearly. My hands were shaking with nerves and excitement. In just a few minutes, everything would change. I would no longer be just Elsa the maid. I would be Elsa, the future Alpha’s mate.
The lights lowered, and Caleb stepped onto the stage.
My breath caught in my throat. He looked incredible in his black tuxedo, his blonde hair perfectly styled, and his green eyes bright under the stage lights. He commanded the room’s attention without even trying, every inch the future Alpha he was born to be.
“Thank you all for coming tonight,” he began, his voice carrying easily across the silent ballroom. “What a night to celebrate! Our team brought home the championship trophy, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we accomplished together.”
The crowd erupted in cheers and applause. Caleb waited for the noise to die down before continuing.
“But tonight isn’t just about hockey,” he said, and my heart started pounding. “Tonight is about the future. About the choices that will shape our pack for generations to come.”
This was it. This was the moment he would tell everyone about us.
“Which is why I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve found my fated mate.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. Fated mate? But that was impossible. We weren’t fated mates; we were chosen mates. We had chosen each other.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my beautiful mate, Crystal.”
The world suddenly stopped spinning.
Crystal stepped onto the stage in a stunning white gown, her red hair cascading over her shoulders like fire. She was radiant, glowing with happiness as Caleb took her hand and pulled her close.
“Crystal and I felt the mate bond last night,” Caleb continued, his voice warm and loving as he gazed down at her. “The Moon Goddess has blessed us with this perfect match, and I couldn’t be happier.”
The crowd was going wild, but I couldn’t hear them anymore. All I could hear was the sound of my heart shattering into a million pieces.
Last night. Last night, while I was counting down the hours until this moment, Caleb was feeling the mate bond with another woman. While I was dreaming about our future together, he was falling in love with someone else.
“We’ll be mated next month,” Caleb announced, wrapping his arm around Crystal’s waist. “And I know she’ll make an incredible Luna for our pack.”
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I could only stare at the stage in horror as Caleb kissed Crystal, sealing their engagement in front of everyone.
The tray slipped from my numb fingers, crashing to the floor with a loud clatter. Several people turned to look at me, but I barely noticed. All I could see was Caleb on that stage, holding another woman, promising her everything he had promised me.
Before I knew what I was doing, I was pushing through the crowd, my vision blurred with tears. I had to get to him. I had to make him explain. This had to be some kind of mistake.
“Caleb!” I called out when I reached the front of the stage. “Caleb, I need to speak with you!”
He looked down at me, and for a split second, I saw something flicker in his eyes. Guilt? Regret? But then his expression hardened, becoming cold and distant.
“I’m sorry, miss,” he said formally, like he didn’t even know me. “But now isn’t the time for requests from the staff.”
Staff. He called me staff.
“Please,” I said, my voice breaking. “Just give me five minutes. I need to talk to you about—”
“About what?” Caleb’s voice was harsh now, cutting. “About your fantasies? About whatever delusion you’ve been living in?”
The crowd had gone quiet, sensing drama. I could feel hundreds of eyes on me, but I didn’t care. Nothing mattered except getting Caleb to remember what we had.
“You said you loved me,” I whispered, loud enough for him to hear. “Last night, you said—”
“I said what you wanted to hear,” Caleb interrupted, his voice cruel. “Did you really think I would ever claim a maid as my Luna? Did you actually believe I would choose you over my fated mate?”
The words hit me like slaps to the face. Around us, people were starting to murmur, putting the pieces together. Some were laughing, finding amusement in the pathetic maid who thought she could land the Alpha’s son.
“But you promised,” I said, my voice barely audible. “You promised me—”
“I promised you nothing,” Caleb said coldly. “Whatever you think happened between us was just… stress relief. A way to pass the time. Nothing more.”
Crystal was looking between us with confusion and growing anger. “Caleb, what is she talking about?”
“Nothing important,” Caleb said, not taking his eyes off me. “Just a delusional servant who needs to be reminded of her place.”
The humiliation was suffocating. I felt like I was drowning in shame and heartbreak, surrounded by people who saw me as nothing more than entertainment.
But then the hurt transformed into something else. Something hot and fierce and dangerous.
Rage.
I grabbed a champagne bottle from a nearby table, my hands moving before my brain could catch up. The bottle felt solid in my grip as I raised it above my head.
“You lying bastard!” I screamed and brought the bottle down on Caleb’s head.
The glass exploded on impact, champagne and blood spraying everywhere. Caleb stumbled backward, his hand going to his head as he stared at me in shock. Crystal screamed, and the crowd erupted in chaos.
But I was already running.
I pushed through the panicking crowd, my heart pounding as I fled toward the exit. Behind me, I could hear Caleb shouting orders, his voice thick with pain and fury.
“Stop her! Don’t let her get away!”
Heavy footsteps thundered after me as his guards gave chase. I kicked off my shoes and ran barefoot across the floor, my dress tearing as I pushed through the front doors and out into the night.
The cold air hit my face like a slap, but I didn’t stop running. I couldn’t stop.
Two years. Two years of my life wasted on a man who saw me as nothing more than a toy.
Chapter 3 — The Escape
Elsa’s POV
The snow stung my face like needles as I stumbled blindly through the storm, my breath tearing raggedly from my lungs. I could barely see more than a few feet ahead, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. Every step I took away from Caleb, from his lies, from the way his eyes had turned cold when he chose someone else, every step was survival.
The icy wind howled through the trees, lifting my hair and lashing it across my cheeks. The snowdrifts pulled at my boots, slowing me, dragging me down like the memories that kept replaying in my head. Caleb’s words, once so soft and so sweet, rang hollow now, replaced with the cruel finality of rejection.
I never should have trusted him.
The tears had started without my permission, hot against the freezing air. I swiped them away with the back of my hand, furious with myself. He wasn’t worth this. He wasn’t worth a single tear, yet my heart felt as if it had been ripped from my chest.
I pressed a hand against my ribs as though I could hold myself together. The mate bond was supposed to be sacred, unbreakable, the thread that bound two souls together forever. And yet Caleb had cast me aside as if I were nothing.
My legs trembled from exhaustion, the cold burrowing deeper into my bones. I didn’t even know where I was heading, only away. Away from Moonstone Pack. Away from the hollow gazes of those who pitied me. Away from the whispers that I was the girl who wasn’t enough.
A light appeared through the curtain of snow, two piercing beams cutting across the storm. At first, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. Then the hum of an engine grew louder, closer. Headlights. A car.
I staggered toward the road just as a sleek black vehicle emerged from the white blur, its tires crunching over the frozen ground. Desperation gave me strength I didn’t know I had left. I threw myself into the lane, waving frantically.
The car screeched to a halt. For a heartbeat, I stood frozen in the glow of its lights, heart hammering like a wild drum. The driver lowered his window, his expression startled.
Before he could speak, I yanked the rear door open and all but fell inside, collapsing against the leather seat. The warmth hit me instantly, shocking after the brutal cold. My lungs burned as I gasped for air.
“Drive,” a voice commanded.
Deep. Cold. Uncompromising.
The sound made me lift my head.
He was there in the back seat, not two feet away. A man unlike any I had ever seen—tall, broad-shouldered, his presence filling the space as if the car itself bowed to him. His dark coat was dusted with snow, his hair tousled yet deliberate, and his sharp eyes trained on me with an intensity that made my wolf, Rema, stir uneasily.
Not Caleb’s easy charm. Not his practiced smiles. This man radiated something else: danger, authority, and the kind of command that needed no words.
The driver glanced in the mirror, uncertain. The man didn’t break eye contact with me.
“I said drive. Take her out of this territory.”
The car lurched forward, tires spinning briefly before catching the icy road. I sat frozen, shivering though the air inside was warm.
For a while, I couldn’t stop the sobs that slipped out. The storm outside blurred with the storm inside me, grief pouring through every crack in my chest. I pressed a fist against my lips, trying to quiet myself, but the sound still came out broken, fragile, and humiliating.
The man said nothing. He didn’t offer comfort and didn’t look away either. He simply sat there, as if weighing me in silence.
At some point, the tears slowed. I forced myself to breathe, to find some piece of strength left in me. My chest still hurt, but I straightened, lifting my chin despite the tremor in it.
Caleb doesn’t deserve my tears.
I had lost enough already. I refused to lose my pride too.
Wiping my cheeks with the back of my hand, I dared to meet the stranger’s gaze. His eyes were sharp, glinting like steel under moonlight. There was no pity in them, only a cool assessment, as though I were a puzzle he intended to solve.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice rough. “I shouldn’t have forced myself into your car. I just… I had nowhere else to go.”
The silence stretched before I added quickly, “Please, just drop me at the next junction. I’ll be fine from there.”
One dark brow lifted, as though he found my words amusing or perhaps pathetic. He leaned forward slightly, his presence pressing against me though he hadn’t moved closer.
“Will you?” His voice was low, carrying weight that seemed to settle in my bones.
I swallowed hard. “Yes.”
His gaze sharpened, pinning me where I sat. “No, you won’t. Not unless you decide what you’re running toward, not just what you’re running from.”
The car slowed, tires crunching over snow as we approached a crossroads. My pulse quickened. This was it, my chance to get out, to disappear again.
The man studied me for a long moment, then leaned back, his words precise and deliberate.
“If you want revenge, survive. If you want freedom, fight.”
The car rolled to a stop. The driver glanced back nervously, but the man gave a small nod. My door unlocked with a quiet click.
My heart pounded. Part of me wanted to beg him to take me farther, anywhere but here. Another part, the stronger part, whispered that this was the test. That the stranger had just handed me a weapon, not in steel, but in words.
I pushed the door open, the cold biting at me instantly. For a moment, I hesitated, glancing back at him. He was still watching, expression unreadable, a shadow carved from stone.
Then I stepped out.
The storm swallowed me once more as the car pulled away, taillights fading into the snow until there was nothing left but darkness and the echo of his voice in my ears.
Survive. Fight.
I wrapped my arms around myself, standing at the edge of the road, and for the first time since Caleb’s betrayal, I felt something spark inside me. Not despair. Not grief. Something fiercer.
Maybe I was broken. But I wasn’t done. Not yet.
Finished the preview?
Unlock the full ebook now and continue the story right away. Get instant access after purchase — no shipping, no waiting. Delivered as PDF and EPUB for reading on phone, tablet, or desktop.