The Luna He Betrayed

She Stole My Pack Twice

The first thing Elaria noticed was the scent.

Not cedarwood.

Not the expensive bourbon Ronan always drank after late-night Alpha meetings.

Not even the rain soaking through her coat after the long drive back from her grandmother’s territory.

No.

It was vanilla and jasmine.

Sweet.

Female.

And everywhere.

Elaria froze in the entrance hall of the Blackwood estate, fingers tightening around the handle of her suitcase.

Her wolf stirred uneasily beneath her skin.

Something’s wrong.

The mansion was too quiet.

Normally, Omega servants moved constantly through the halls. Someone always greeted the Luna the second she stepped inside.

Tonight?

Nothing.

Only silence.

And that scent.

Her stomach twisted violently.

Slowly, Elaria looked toward the second floor.

Toward the Alpha suite she shared with her mate.

Ronan Blackwood.

The most powerful Alpha on the eastern territories.

Her mate.

The man chosen for her by the Moon Goddess herself.

At least, that was what she used to believe.

Then she heard it.

A laugh.

Breathy.

Female.

Coming from upstairs.

Elaria stopped breathing.

Another laugh echoed through the mansion.

Then Ronan’s voice.

Low.

Amused.

“Careful, princess.”

The world tilted slightly beneath her feet.

Because Ronan was supposed to be at the Midnight Council tonight.

Because her stepsister was supposed to be staying at the Silverfang Pack.

Because fate couldn’t possibly be cruel enough to repeat the same nightmare twice.

But deep down—

Elaria already knew.

Her wolf knew too.

The mate bond pulsed painfully beneath her ribs now, like a warning.

Still, she forced herself upstairs.

One step at a time.

The Blackwood estate once belonged to her mother.

The former Luna of the Crescent Moon Pack.

Every piece of art on these walls had been chosen by her mother’s hands.

Every white rose arrangement.

Every candle.

Every silver-framed photograph.

Elaria remembered being twelve years old, following her mother through these halls while Omega maids smiled warmly at them both.

Back then, this mansion felt like home.

Then her mother got sick.

And Lenora Vale moved in.

The Alpha’s mistress.

Elaria still remembered the whispers spreading through the Pack.

Alpha Draven brought another woman into the Luna’s home.

While Luna Seraphine is still alive.

She remembered finding Lenora sitting in her mother’s favorite chair wearing her mother’s silk robe.

Then two months later—

Her mother died.

And Lenora stayed.

Soon after came Lenora’s daughter.

Vaelyn.

Beautiful.

The perfect replacement daughter for Elaria’s father.

Now that same girl was upstairs with Elaria’s mate.

The bedroom door wasn’t fully closed.

Warm golden light spilled into the hallway.

And inside—

Elaria’s world shattered.

Vaelyn lay tangled in Elaria’s sheets wearing nothing except Ronan’s black dress shirt.

Ronan stood between her legs shirtless, one hand gripping her thigh possessively.

Their scents mixed heavily in the air.

Intimate.

Disgusting.

Vaelyn giggled softly as Ronan kissed her neck.

“What if your Luna comes home early?”

Ronan smirked against her skin.

“She won’t.”

The mate bond snapped violently inside Elaria’s chest.

Pain exploded through her body so suddenly she grabbed the doorframe to stay standing.

Her wolf howled.

A true mate betrayal physically hurt wolves.

Like silver poisoning spreading through veins.

Like drowning while fully awake.

Elaria finally understood why unmated wolves feared rejection so much.

Vaelyn noticed her first.

Her eyes widened dramatically.

“Oh my God—”

Ronan turned instantly.

The second he saw Elaria, all color drained from his face.

“Elaria.”

Silence swallowed the room whole.

Rain hammered against the windows.

Nobody moved.

Nobody breathed.

Elaria stared at him numbly.

Three years ago, Ronan marked her beneath a blood moon in front of the entire Pack.

He promised:

No one above you. No one before you.

Now he smelled like another woman.

Her stepsister slowly pulled the blanket against her chest.

“Elaria, I can explain—”

Elaria laughed.

A sharp broken sound.

“You’re naked in my bed.”

Vaelyn instantly looked close to tears.

Of course she did.

The Vale women could cry faster than wounded Omegas.

“It’s not what it looks like—”

“Really?” Elaria whispered. “Because it looks exactly like my mate buried inside my stepsister.”

“Elaria,” Ronan warned quietly.

The warning in his Alpha voice made the air heavier instantly.

But Elaria didn’t back down.

For the first time in years—

She was too devastated to fear him.

Vaelyn slid off the bed carefully, clutching the sheet around herself.

“I never meant to hurt you.”

That finally shattered something inside Elaria.

Never meant to hurt her?

Her mother destroyed Elaria’s family.

Destroyed her dying mother.

And now her daughter had climbed into Elaria’s bed and spread her legs for Elaria’s mate.

History really was a vicious little cycle.

“You know what’s funny?” Elaria asked softly.

Nobody answered.

“My mother used to say women without shame survive everything.”

Vaelyn flinched.

Ronan immediately stepped between them protectively.

“That’s enough.”

Elaria felt her chest hollow out.

He was protecting Vaelyn.

In front of his mate.

In front of his Luna.

Humiliation burned through her so hard her vision blurred.

“You chose her,” Elaria whispered.

Ronan rubbed a hand down his face roughly.

“It’s complicated.”

“No,” she said quietly. “It really isn’t.”

The mate bond twisted painfully again.

Usually it felt warm.

Now it felt rotten.

Corrupted.

Elaria suddenly couldn’t stand breathing the same air anymore.

Without another word, she turned and walked away.

“Elaria.”

Ronan followed her into the hallway barefoot.

“Stop walking away from me.”

She kept moving.

“Elaria.”

His hand wrapped around her wrist.

The second he touched her, Vaelyn’s perfume slammed into Elaria’s senses again.

Elaria jerked away violently.

“Don’t touch me.”

Ronan’s jaw tightened.

“You’re emotional right now.”

Elaria stared at him in disbelief.

Then laughed softly.

“Oh, poor Alpha,” she whispered. “This must be so hard for you.”

His expression darkened immediately.

“You’re making this worse than it needs to be.”

That hurt more than the cheating somehow.

Because he sounded annoyed.

Not guilty.

Like she’d interrupted a meeting instead of catching her mate with another woman.

Elaria walked downstairs on trembling legs.

The moment she reached the foyer, she grabbed her phone and called the only person she trusted.

Nyra answered immediately.

“Well, well. The dead Luna finally remembers her best friend exists.”

Elaria opened her mouth.

Nothing came out.

Nyra went silent instantly.

“…Elaria?”

Tears finally spilled down her face.

“He cheated on me.”

A dangerous pause followed.

Then:

“Tell me you ripped his throat out.”

Despite everything, Elaria almost laughed.

“With Vaelyn.”

Dead silence.

Then Nyra exploded.

“That venomous little parasite?”

Elaria slid down against the staircase until she was sitting on the cold marble floor.

Upstairs, she could hear movement inside the bedroom.

Probably Ronan comforting Vaelyn.

The thought nearly made her sick.

Nyra was still raging through the phone.

“I swear to the Moon Goddess, Alpha males are actually brain damaged.”

Elaria covered her mouth as another sob escaped.

“I feel stupid.”

“No,” Nyra snapped immediately. “You feel betrayed. Different thing.”

“The mate bond hurts.”

Nyra’s voice softened slightly.

“…I know.”

Elaria shut her eyes tightly.

“I loved him.”

“I know.”

“And he chose her.”

Another pause.

Then Nyra said coldly:

“Your father chose her mother too. Trash bloodlines repeat themselves.”

A broken laugh escaped Elaria through tears.

“Nyra…”

“I’m serious. Stay where you are. I’m coming to get you.”

“You’re working.”

“I was working. Now I’m planning a double homicide.”

That pulled another weak laugh from Elaria.

Good.

Nyra always did that.

She never treated heartbreak like poetry.

She treated it like war.

Upstairs, Vaelyn suddenly laughed softly again.

Like she’d already won.

Something cold settled inside Elaria’s chest.

Sharp.

Maybe Vaelyn thought this was another thing she could steal from her.

A house.

A family.

A mate.

But this time—

Elaria wasn’t her dying mother.

And she wasn’t going to disappear quietly.