Chapter 3

|| ALEKSA'S POV ||

" LUNA! LUNA! WHERE ARE YOU!!"

Leona's voice interrupted our conversation. My mouth fell open, speechless. Getting into my clothes, I followed Leona's direction, forgetting the baby daddy that I hired for a moment.

Leona shrieked into a cry as soon as she spotted me. She dashed in my direction, eyeing my body from head to toe,

" “Luna! Where the hell have you been?” Her voice dropped to a frantic whisper. “That bastard just messaged me—he’s not coming tonight. Thank the Goddess I found you in time.” 

She glanced sharply into the darkness. “Have you seen anyone from our pack? We need to get out of here. Now.”

My jaw dropped at her words. I pointed in the direction, struggling to form a single word,

" That...that... man...I was with a man.."

Leona stared at my face strangely, peeking at my back,

" “What… what man? I don’t see anyone.” Her voice dropped to a trembling whisper. “Oh, Goddess… whom did you meet at this hour? Don’t tell me it was a werewolf hunter.” 

She froze, staring into the darkness. “Luna… if it was, we can’t stay here. They may already know where we are.”

Dear Goddess! Did I strip myself in front of a stranger?

I cleared my throat awkwardly, burning with shame over my stupidity,

" Nothing..I will explain everything to you.. Let's get away from here..."

I shared the details of that stranger with Leona. She was furious at me in the beginning. Since the stranger didn't recognize me as Luna, we chose to forget the whole issue.

By the next day, the attitude of those pack members changed toward me dramatically. They treated me with utmost respect, followed every single order from me without any cold attitude.

Was I really ranking everything to them?

When the evening fell, I entered Kairos's room with the healer for his regular check-up. The healer checked him all over again but found no improvement,

 “My Luna… the Alpha’s condition isn’t improving. Not even a little.” Her voice fell to a grim whisper. “Please… don’t cling to hope. Sometimes, the Goddess takes away what we’re not ready to lose.”

I swallowed hard before nodding blankly. No matter how badly he treated me, our mate bond forced me to care for his well-being. As I walked out of the room, Lucas climbed upstairs in a hurry, clutching a paper in his hand,

“Luna! I was coming for you. Forgive me—I nearly forgot to tell you about Alpha Logan’s annual banquet. Since our Alpha is still unstable, you’ll have to attend in his place.”

 He hesitated, his voice dropping. “But Luna… watch your back tonight. Something tells me this banquet was never meant to be just a celebration.”

I pointed at myself in shock, remembering the humiliation of past years,

"Me? I thought... they don't acknowledge any omega as their Luna."

Lucas assured me, holding up the invitation letter in front of my eyes,

“You carry the Alpha’s heir. You are the rightful Luna of the Hollowfangs Pack. Their approval is irrelevant—you hold the title, the bloodline, and the authority that comes with it. Whether they like it or not, they will see you stand for this pack.”

I returned a small smile awkwardly. If I refused too much, Lucas could suspect me. I agreed with a forced smile, waving at Lucas,

" You...you are right...I should try to get accustomed among them."

By the evening, Leona had prepared for my grand appearance. I wore a white gown, kept my makeup minimal to show that I was mourning for my Alpha. Leona didn't want to go at first, but I had to drag her with me. I didn't want to be a loner in front of those judgmental Alphas.

The ride to Alpha Logan's pack house took nearly an hour. By the time I arrived at their pack house, all the invited Alphas with their mates were present. Alpha Logan greeted me coldly, surprised by my arrival, possibly,

" Luna Aleksa, it's a pleasure to see you. It aches my heart to find you all alone without the Alpha."

I suppressed my bitter smile. Honestly, Kairos never cared about my existence, nor did he bring me anywhere publicly. I still managed to reply politely to avoid any unnecessary feud here,

" You are too kind, Alpha."

All the Alphas began to cast me an uninviting look. In this kingdom among one hundred and forty Lunas, I was the sole Luna who was an Omega. In their eyes, I was a disgrace to my own pack. I grabbed a glass and went to a corner with Leona, whispering in tears,

" See! They hate me! I shouldn't... have come..What if... what if anyone finds out that I am not pregnant?"

Leona took away the glass thoughtfully from my clutch to perform the best act of a pregnant woman. She comforted me slowly, her words bringing me strength,

" Just a while! We will leave once Alpha Logan finishes his formal greetings."

Just then, Alpha Logan's cheering voice drew back our attention, turning all the heads in the party,

" Welcome, Welcome, Alpha Ragnar Bleakwood. Such an honor for a Lycan like you to be here in my party."

RAGNAR BLEAKWOOD?

I gasped so hard that the glass in Leona's hand slipped off, crashing on the ground with a loud bang. My heart beat so wildly that I could barely catch my breath. I muttered to Leona in utter shock,

" The guy...the guy... from the woods... he... here...."

Leona followed my eyes, and her eyes grew wide as well. She cursed under her breath, pushing my head down to ask in a trembling voice,

" Luna...did you really..try to sleep with him? Fuck! Do you know who he is?"

I shook my head numbly, counting my downfall in my head. But the words that came from Leona's mouth shook my whole sanity,

" Ragnar Ravenwood / Ragnar Bleakwolves, stepbrother of Alpha Kairos, the newly formed Alpha and...the only Lycan existing pack in this kingdom."

My feet stumbled back a few inches, thoughts going blank in fear and embarrassment. I heard about Kairos's stepbrother only from rumors. Everyone in the pack either referred to him as a rogue or a wild wolf who didn't know how to behave. Apart from these, I had no other information about his existence.

Leona jerked me off to drag me back to reality. She warned me in a low yet dangerous voice, keeping me away from his gaze,

“Luna! Whatever you do, do not let him recognize you! He’ll use this chance to destroy you. He hates Alpha Kairos and the Hollowfangs, and if he realizes who you are, we’re all in danger. Act as if you’ve never seen him. Don’t even look at him!”

I quickly hid behind the pillars to avoid any eye contact. However, I couldn't stop the temptation of stealing a look in clear light. His face resembled nothing close to Kairos. Unlike his wide jaw, Ragnar had a sharp jaw with a pair of deep blue eyes. The brothers only shared one similarity __ the slightly brown hair and a stone-cold face. Even after receiving such appreciation from the Alphas, he didn't smile.

The Alphas soon engaged in political deals and strategic acts. The Lunas only spent hours gossiping. Since I had no Alpha, I acted a bit bold and tried to overhear the conversation among the Alphas. Alpha Logan asked the Alphas, twitching his eyes on them one by one,

“What do you think of this plan, Alphas? We place our strongest units along the borders, with every pack sending its best warriors. The hunters won’t dare attack.”

A tense silence followed.

“Unless,” one Alpha said coldly, “some of us have a better idea—and the courage to say it.”

I blurted out before I could stop myself, my wolf pushing me to my sharp strategy,

“Wrong. That would be a catastrophic mistake.” My voice hardened.

 “Put our strongest warriors on the borders, and we’re handing the hunters their targets. One dose of wolfsbane could bring down even our best. And when they fall, Alphas, who will defend our packs? We don’t protect our people by sacrificing our strongest—we protect them by thinking three steps ahead.”

Apparently, they took it as an offensive act. Alpha Logan's Luna, Morticia, immediately began to insult me in front of everyone,

“Lady Aleksa! Know your place. Carrying the Alpha’s heir doesn’t make you Luna. Not one Alpha here has recognized your claim.”

Her gaze swept across the silent council.

“Look around you. Who stands with you? Who calls you Luna? No one. So tell me—what gives you the audacity to claim a throne this council never granted you?”

The guests all burst into laughter as if they were watching a melodrama. I sank my head low to hide my tears. Indeed, even Kairos never welcomed me to these gatherings as he believed that I was too shameful to be introduced as a Luna. Just as I attempted to walk away from this party, a sudden voice froze my feet,

“My pack recognizes Miss Aleksa as its Luna. That alone gives her the standing to be here.”