A rogue called Luna

Before:Dinner

"Mate"
Mate. The word echos in my mind as I take a step back, shocked but not enough to disregard the mate bond I've watched form between them. The cacophony of of voices around me adding to the chaos of my emotions.

Sadness, confusion, anger all flash before me, but among them exhilaration, freedom.

My mothers eyes meet mine as her disappointment and dissatisfaction shoot at me like knives through her gaze. The future she planned destroyed, the name she gave me meaningless.

I crash back into focus as the group moves towards the dining room, leaving me behind.

I follow after a moment, sitting next to my father as my usual place has been taken by Devins true mate, the daughter of an alpha.

Names are passed around along with pleasantries and congratulations, I hear none, the word still echoing.
"Lu?" Luna?" Father calls, bringing me back to the conversation. Everyone stares at me expectantly, everyone but the new mates, only gazing at eachother. That is, gazing at eachother till she realized what they called me.

"Luna? In what regards are you a Luna?"
The table quieted, Devin glanced at me nervously, and perhaps apologetic.

"Luna is my name, though I prefer Lu. I was to be the Luna of the pack if Devin didn't find you."

I watched her eyes analyze me, trying to assess if I would be a threat. Devin brushed her hand with his and she looked away.
"Mates are rare, so to keep the pack secure our parents paired us." He explained.
"Obviously that won't happen, since the moon goddess granted me you."

Just like that, I was forgotten. They were back to gazing adoringly at eachother.

I had been replaced. I had been freed.

We finished dinner and I made my way back to the betas floor,
ready to put this all behind me and move forward. My mother fumed past, but there was no changing this. A mate is sacred, moon goddess gifted. Once a mate was found it was unlawful to go against the pairing. Years of hard work wasted, I was now useless to her.

The next morning I made my way to breakfast, sitting near my usual spot, but making sure Devin had a seat for his mate to join him. I should have paid more attention at dinner, I never got her name.

They came to the table and sat, seeming somehow closer than they had been the night before.

"Hey Lu!" Dev greeted me, and his mate sent me a wave and a gentle smile. She seemed to fit him much more than I would've.

"Good morning Dev, and I'm so sorry! I was a bit overwhelmed last night and didn't catch your name."

She laughed, "I'm Lexie, it's nice to formally meet you. Dev says you're his good friend despite your family's urging for more."

"Yeah, I was never really allowed to make friends. I guess I'll have time now." I trailed off into thought.
What will I do?
What will I be?

Now that my future has been freed I have a lot of choices ahead of me, things I could only dream to wonder. I had never explored my personality, never found my interests.

We finished our breakfast and I got to work learning who I am, who I could be.

Days passed, I tried new things, went on more runs. I found I love sketching, love exploring the outdoors. I still hadn't made any friends, and found my friendship with Devin was more of a situational camaraderie. The lost life was a lonely one.

My family didn't know how to behave now that their plans had been lost. We were never close, barely interacting outside of training me for my future as Luna.

In earlier years we had been close, but our familial bond had strained the more I realized they had sold me to a future I never chose. They never even gave me a name of my own, never allowing me to form an individual outside of the title planned for me.

The more I discovered myself, the more I felt like an outsider of the pack.
They had quickly taken to Lexie, she was their natural born luna.

I had been replaced.