Loving the Playboy

**The Banished Luna**

**Chapter 1 — Shadows Before the Moon**

The moonlight poured through the narrow window, silvering the dust that hung in the air. I tugged my worn cloak tighter around my shoulders as I stacked the last bundle of herbs on the healer’s table. My fingertips were raw from picking nettles all afternoon, but the sting was nothing compared to the constant ache of being invisible.

Invisible — except when I was a problem.

“Aria, you’re slow again.” The healer’s sharp voice snapped me from my thoughts. She didn’t look up from grinding roots in her mortar. “If you can’t keep up, I’ll tell Beta Rowan to find someone else.”

I bit down on my reply. Being replaced would mean being sent back to the labor squads — and they worked people until their bones screamed. “Yes, ma’am,” I murmured, keeping my eyes on the floor.

It was always the same. I wasn’t fast enough, strong enough, pretty enough. To them, I was a weak link in the Moonshadow Pack, tolerated only because my parents had died defending the Alpha in the last rogue attack. Even then, people whispered that their deaths had been more heroic than my life had ever been.

By the time I left the healer’s hut, the air outside had cooled to a sharp, early-spring bite. Across the training grounds, warriors were sparring under torchlight, their bodies moving in a blur of muscle and precision. My gaze lingered on one man in particular — tall, broad-shouldered, with dark hair that caught glints of gold in the firelight.

Damien Blackthorn.

Our Alpha.

Every she-wolf in the territory dreamed of him. Every single one except me. I couldn’t afford to. Not when I was still trying to survive the cruelty of his pack without becoming its next casualty.

Yet, even from here, I could feel it — the way my wolf stirred at his presence, restless and drawn to him against my will. It was dangerous, that pull. Wolves like me didn’t get to be near Alphas like him, unless it was to serve or be punished.

“Aria.” My name rolled from his lips like a command, deep and edged with steel.

I froze. He was looking straight at me.

The warriors around him slowed, curious. Damien strode forward, each step radiating the quiet dominance that made others lower their eyes. I kept mine fixed on the ground, my heart pounding.

“You’ve been wandering near the borders again.” His voice was low, but I could feel the warning in it. “Stay inside the safe zones. Next time, I won’t be this polite.”

Polite? My fingers curled into my palms, but I swallowed the retort that clawed up my throat. “Yes, Alpha,” I said instead.

His gaze lingered on me for a heartbeat too long before he turned and walked away, the connection between us snapping like a thread pulled taut. My wolf whimpered softly in my mind.

I told her to be quiet. Whatever was happening — whatever that strange awareness was — it couldn’t mean anything good. Not in this pack. Not with him.

And especially not with the full moon only two nights away.

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