Luna's Rise: Leaving a Toxic Love and Choosing Herself

(Soraya’s POV)

The false heiress,Merryn Wildbriar,had always loved her little‘games.’

On the day of my mating ceremony with Jareth Wolfhart,she switched my moon blossom bouquet with grave chrysanthemums and replaced my Moonstone mating ring with a pull tab from a spirit drink can.

My face turned cold at once,and I decided to report her to the Pack Guard.

But Jareth caught my hand and spoke in a low voice only I could hear,“Merryn was only acting like a pup,Sora.She doesn't know any better.”

Merryn did not look worried at all.She lifted her chin,a smug smile on her lips.

“Oh my dear,Soraya Clawson,it was only a joke.Can't you take a joke?”

“When Jareth and I were sharing the same den,you were still living somewhere in the outer territories!”

That was the seventh time my mating ceremony had been ruined.

Two weeks later,secret files from a major murder case I was investigating for the Moon Council were leaked across the realm.

The whole kingdom exploded with outrage.People called me shameless and accused me of selling justice for gold.

And once again,it was only another one of her careless little‘games.’

“Jareth,if you protect her again this time,we're finished.”

But his voice stayed calm,almost indifferent.

“Merryn is only having fun.She never means any harm.She only hates you because you took everything from her.Can't you give her a little?”

Something bitter rose in my throat and stayed there.

This time,I pushed him away and called the Pack Guard without hesitation.

You're wrong,Jareth.Why should I give her anything?

Everything the Wildbriar Clan owned belonged to me from the beginning.

And as for you,Jareth,I would leave you behind in Blackmoor City along with every piece of the seven winters I wasted loving you.

***

Inside the Pack Guard Hall,a settlement agreement sat on the table before me.I looked at it and said three words.

“I won't sign.”

Merryn rushed forward and shoved me.Her sharp voice echoed through the hall.

“Sora,it was only a prank!Do you really have to make such a huge issue out of it?!”

“Or is it because nobody cares about you that you have to come after me to feel important?!”

My heart tightened.

Meanwhile,Jareth watched me silently,his expression impossible to read.

Then he grabbed Merryn's arm and spoke softly,“Merryn,enough.This time you were wrong.”

That only made her louder.

“What did I do wrong,Jareth?!She's the one who stole everything from me!She's the reason we can't be together!”

I looked at Jareth.The last bit of light in my eyes faded away.

Seven winters,and in the end,I became the villain who separated two destined mates.

The hall doors opened.

A man stormed inside and slapped me so hard that my head snapped to the side.

“Soraya,have you lost your senses?!Dragging your own sister to the Pack Guard Hall!”

“She doesn't know any better,but what's your excuse?!”

I pressed a hand against my burning cheek.The pain reached much deeper than flesh.

He was not a stranger,but my biological father,Cairos Wildbriar.

Unfortunately,he treated me like I was the stranger.Always.

I was kidnapped when I was five years old.He brought Merryn home afterward,raised her as his daughter,and never once searched for me.

When I turned twenty,I was working at a tavern in the outer territories when I accidentally met my biological mother,Marisel Silverhart,and we finally found each other again.

Yet even after that,Cairos never sent Merryn away.

Instead,he gave her the identity of my twin sister and continued treating me like an unwanted burden.

No matter how much I thought about it,I could never understand why.

“Father,let me ask you something.What if one day her'not knowing better'gets me killed?”

Outside the hall,reporters from across the Blackmoor City had gathered.

They had eyes.They could see the truth.

Yet everyone here still chose her side.

Cairos stayed silent.The anger on his face never changed.

The Pack Guard officer looked between us and spoke,“Lady Soraya Clawson,are you choosing to press charges?”

“Yes.”

The moment the word left my mouth,Jareth grabbed my arm.His grip was so tight it hurt.

“Sora!You can't press charges.It'll ruin her!”

Cairos struck his cane against the stone floor.“Soraya,do you even hear yourself?!”

I lowered my eyes and stayed silent.

Then Merryn suddenly cried out.

“Jareth,my chest hurts!My heart is acting up again!Please take me to the Healer's Hall!I don't want to stay here!”

Jareth released me immediately and rushed to her side,then he lifted Merryn into his arms.

I stepped forward.This would be the last time I tried to hold on to him.

“Jareth,if you walk out that door with her,we're ending our mating bond.”

He glanced back with a frown.

“Sora,stop this.This isn't the time.You know Merryn has a weak heart.Stop making trouble.”

Whether Merryn truly had a heart condition,I could not say.But I knew this always happened.

Whenever Jareth and I planned time together,Merryn would grab her chest and force him to run back to her.

On my moon-born day,she would call from the Healer's Hall and pull him away.

Not once had he refused.

Maybe what existed between us was never truly love.

I stood there,unable to move or think.

Suddenly,Cairos walked over and stopped beside me.He was smiling.

“Jareth has been close to Merryn since they were young pups.If you had never returned,nobody would have needed to separate them.”

“Soraya,sometimes pretending not to know is the easiest way to live.”

Everyone kept saying I was the one who tore them apart.

But what Jareth and I shared was real.I loved him first,and I gave him my whole heart.Even if I had never returned to the Wilbdriar Clan,Jareth and I should have stayed together.

I finished the documents and walked out of the Pack Guard Hall.

Suddenly,a wave of dizziness struck me.

The world darkened.I collapsed onto the ground.And the last thing I heard was someone shouting in panic.

“Lady Soraya!”