The Moon Never Chose Me Chapter 01

The Moon Never Chose Me Chapter 01

Caelan and Maeve were twins born under the double moon. They split our parents’ attention right down the middle.

I came along two years later—an accident. The spare part. The third wheel in a family that never asked for me.

Everything good in this house came in twos.

One for Caelan. One for Maeve.

When I was little, I once asked my mother, bewildered, “What about mine?”

Her face went cold in an instant.

“Having Caelan and Maeve is already more than enough. Can you just not make this worse?”

It took me years to understand.

They weren’t out of thirds. They just never thought to give me one.

The whole family was supposed to go to Lake of Moonshadows for vacation. The SUV had six seats.

Two of them sat empty. One held Maeve’s cat carrier. The other held Caelan’s training gear and his hunting dog.

I stood outside the door in the rain, backpack slung over my shoulder, completely in the way.

Caelan immediately shielded his dog, like I was about to steal its spot.

Maeve rolled her eyes.

“No one touches my cat carrier. She gets scared.”

My father glanced at me, still standing in the downpour, irritation tightening his jaw.

“This trip is paid for by Aunt Mira. She likes Caelan and Maeve. She wants them to meet some influential wolf families at the Northern Youth Council.”

“She’s never cared for you. You showing up would only make things awkward. There’s no point.”

Rain dripped from my hair into my collar, icy and relentless.

I was shivering so violently I could barely stand, but I still forced a weak smile for him.

“Okay. I won’t go.”

The door slammed in my face.

I turned around, pulled out my phone, and submitted my transfer application to the Combat Department at Northern Lunar Ring University.

It was the farthest—and best—modern wolf university on the continent.

Twenty years I’d waited for a place that was mine.

I was done standing still.

—

By the time I walked back to Moonhart Estate alone, I was drenched to the bone.

The second I stepped inside, my phone buzzed.

My mother tagged me in the family group chat, asking how I was going to feed myself while they were gone.

For one pathetic, desperate second, my throat clenched. My eyes stung with heat I didn’t ask for.

But before I could even type a reply—

Her next message popped up.

“Don’t touch anything in the fridge. Caelan needs high-protein meals for his training, and Maeve is on a strict diet for the Moon Crown Gala. Everything in there is portioned for their plans.”

“If you take anything, it’ll throw off the balance.”

That tiny, fragile flicker of warmth? Crushed. Obliterated.

I almost typed the question out of habit.

What about me?

Instead, I tapped out two flat words.

“Got it.”

I’d asked that question too many times.

The answer never changed.

In Silvercrown Pack, being born under the double moon was considered a blessing—a sign the family was destined for greatness. Caelan shifted early and strong, so my father groomed him as the next warrior of the bloodline. Maeve had rare silver-white fur and striking pale gold eyes. Every pack gathering, she brought home praise that made my parents glow.

And me? I was the unplanned one.

My mother was sick during the pregnancy, and my father was too busy fighting for Caelan’s spot in the youth warrior program. They never wanted a third child. They just found out too late to do anything about it.

Worse—I didn’t even shift until I was eighteen.

Before that, I had no strong wolf scent, no beautiful coat, no talent worth showing off.

To them, I was just a gray shadow that had somehow slipped into their perfect pack.

I put my phone away and searched the kitchen and pantry.

All I found was a box of stale bread in the corner, already going damp.

I choked down two slices, then passed out cold and hollow.

In the middle of the night, a wet shirt smacked me in the face.

I jolted awake, heart pounding.

Every light in the house was on. The living room was chaos.

My parents were complaining about the storm—mudslides had blocked the mountain road to the lake. Aunt Mira’s whole vacation plan was ruined.

Maeve stood by the door with her arms crossed, already annoyed at me.

“Wash my clothes. They’re covered in mud. I can’t stand the smell.”

So that’s why she’d flung her soaking jacket right in my face the second she got home.

Caelan walked over too, face blank, and dropped his mud-caked boots on the floor with a dull thud.

“Clean those too. I need them for training tomorrow. Don’t take forever.”

I sat up, clutching the wet shirt, my hands shaking.

“Why do I have to wash your stuff?”

My mother walked past carrying another load of laundry, frowning at me.

“Everyone has their role.”

“Caelan and Maeve represent the Moonhart name at the Youth Council. They were out there working while you sat home doing nothing. What’s the big deal about washing a few things?”

Everyone in that room looked at me like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

In my parents’ eyes, Caelan was the family’s future—the muscle behind the Moonhart name.

Maeve was their social currency, the daughter they paraded out to impress everyone.

And me?

I was just the one who cleaned up their messes.

Fighting back was pointless.

I’d already learned how to swallow every single thing I felt—every humiliation, every ache, every quiet scream.

I crouched down, scooped up their muddy clothes, and dragged myself to the laundry room.

Three hours later, my vision kept going black at the edges. Spots swam in front of my eyes.

I hadn’t eaten properly in too long. My wolf was weak, curled somewhere deep inside me, barely hanging on. Starving.

I hauled myself to the kitchen, hoping for a glass of warm water—and ran right into my father coming in with takeout barbecue.

He saw me and instinctively hid the paper bag behind his back.

Then he gave me this awkward, tight little smile.

“The barbecue was cut into four portions, so I didn’t grab any for you. One more, one less, and Caelan and Maeve would start whining about fairness again. The place threw in a free mango soda—they don’t like it, so you can have it.”

I stepped back, my chest tightening.

“Dad. I’m allergic to mango.”

He blinked.

Only for a second.

Then Maeve called from the living room in that spoiled, whiny voice of hers, and he answered her immediately, brushing past me like I wasn’t even there.

I stood frozen, my fingers curling into fists, nails biting into my palms.

My wolf didn’t even whimper.

She was used to being invisible too.

After I finally got some water, I went back to my little room.

The second I pushed the door open, I saw Caelan and Maeve’s unpacked luggage everywhere.