Chapter Three: Easily replaced

Amidst the happy atmosphere at Alpha Victor’s arrival reigned a noisy speculation about who the stunning redhead perched on his arms is. Everyone gathered in the front yard was keen to know, including me. 

   My foreboding worsened as I watched Victor's nonverbal interaction with the strange woman. I sensed a familiarity between them that worried me. 

    “Do you know who she is?” Liora asks, casting a look at the woman. 

    I shake my head. While watching the woman, I picked up things that caused my insecurities to flare up like an allergic rash. 

     The woman was tall, slender, with perfect symmetrical features, her red hair glowing under the evening sun like fire. Not only was she beautiful, but she was also attractive, with a lovely athletic figure. 

    The woman's appearance sparked a feeling of envy in me. For years, I have tried to cultivate a look like hers, but I am cursed with a lush figure that I can’t seem to shake. 

   It pained me that Victor had yet to acknowledge me, and his snobbish attitude compounded my confusion and fear. 

    I was quickly forgotten and cast aside like an abandoned leftover as people rushed over to greet Victor and the woman beside her. 

    No one questioned her presence at Victor’s side. They all acted as if she belonged there. 

    I watched the woman smile at our pack members, her smile tight-lipped and barely reaching her eyes. The woman seemed suspicious, or maybe it was my jealousy speaking. 

    The woman's eyes flicked in my direction, and I braced myself to be acknowledged, but the woman breezed past me like I didn’t exist, like I was a nobody, and returned her attention to her adoring fans. 

   Our pack members all acted as if the woman were a celebrity who graced them with her presence. Even her best friend Liora was there with her mate, fawning over the woman.

 I wanted to go and join the group of excited Pack members, saying hello to their Alpha and the woman he brought along, but my pride wouldn’t let me move. 

    “Who is that woman with our mate? I don’t like her,” Nyra whimpers in my head. 

 “You and me both,” I answer my wolf, wondering when the gushing would be over so I can have a chance to speak to Victor. I have lots of questions in my mind, beginning with who the fuck is the ginger bread he brought home with him. 

While I stood to the side, watching my mate with the stranger, Victor acted as if I didn’t exist. He showcased the woman hanging off his arm like a new sports car on display, sporting a proud smile.

   “Pack!” Victor’s voice rang out, clear and commanding. 

   The mini crowd gathered around him, and the redhead went quiet. The anticipation in the air rose to a fevered pitch as everyone waited with held breath for what the Alpha had to say. 

  My stomach churned with rising panic and anxiety. Something tells me that I will not like the next words to come out of Victor’s mouth. 

   Nyra, sensing my agitation, grew restless herself. The wolf paced in my mind, her action mirroring the turmoil swirling inside me. My baby was also restless, as if he could sense that all was not well with his mother. 

   “I want you all to welcome Selene, my true fated mate!” Victor announced with a broad smile that put the sun to shame. His eyes were glowing with an unholy happiness that stabbed at my heart. 

    I had expected not to like what Victor would say, but nothing prepared me for the words that left his mouth.

   I went cold and numb. Inside, my heart felt like it was being pulverized. 

I have never experienced a pain like this, and worst of all, from a man I never believed could betray me in a million years. 

      A heavy, choked silence descended on the crowd. 

   Their Alpha words shocked them, and it took them a second to react. 

The crowd's reaction was mixed. Some offered faint applause, while most whispered in confusion. They speculated about my position in the Pack with the new woman's arrival. 

I wanted to know as well. I tried to understand why Victor would choose to humiliate me this way. Why didn’t he tell me beforehand that he had found his fated mate? 

    Victor never let on that he was searching for his fated mate, and he let me believe everything was fine between us. 

The cruelty.

   His earlier words that night before his trip echoed in my mind. Did he not mean those words? Or were they just empty promises to pacify me at that moment? 

   Angry tears gathered behind my eyes as I stared furiously at my mate. 

    I felt like a fool watching my mate parade another woman in front of our pack. I couldn’t fathom why Victor would do this to me. 

And for the life of me, I couldn’t leave to spare myself this humiliation. Like a masochist, I stood there like a statue watching the spectacle before me.  

   Victor raised his right hand to demand silence from the crowd, and everyone immediately shut their mouths. 

  “ This day marks a new era for Nightshade! Victor’s voice boomed across the yard. Selene, my fated mate, will serve as the Luna of this Pack from this day henceforth! I hope you accord her the respect and loyalty you accord me!” 

 A shocked gasp followed Victor’s announcement, and I staggered. The shock to my system was so heavy that I felt faint inside. I don’t know how I managed to remain on my feet and not crumble to the ground in despair.   

Nyra howled in distress in response to my pain. 

I hurt so badly inside that it feels like a physical pain. 

Someone, please, make it stop. 

      Love could be a sweet nectar, but it could also be a deadly poison. Right now, I was dying inside, Victor killing me slowly with every one of his actions. 

   The ovation started slowly but quickly gained momentum. Soon, the whole crowd clapped in congratulations to the Alpha for finding his fated mate. 

   Watching the crowd’s animated response to Victor’s announcement killed me a little inside. It is like they have all forgotten they have a Luna. 

   Victor moved aside when the applause died down for the redhead to speak. 

The insult of allowing her to address our Pack in front of me was too much to bear. My fingers dug into my palms as I fought my tears. 

I could hear the crowd whispering about the woman’s beauty. Is this why they sold their loyalty so cheaply? Because the woman had the looks I don’t have? 

 “Thank you, Nightshade Pack, for such a wonderful welcome you have shown me. I have heard so many great things about you from your Alpha.” 

I scoffed after the redhead finished speaking. What an eloquent speaker. 

Her sweet words resonated well with the Pack, because they immediately began to chant. “We accept you, Luna! You are so beautiful, Luna! We love you, Luna!” 

Their words felt like a dagger to my heart. 

Oh, how people’s hearts change with the wind. 

It was all but yesterday when I believed these were my people, but now they cast their loyalty and adoration to a woman they just met. 

 After Selene’s speech, Victor took her by the hand and presented her to our Pack members. 

The proud look on his face pushed the dagger in my chest deeper. Is this the kind of mate he wanted all along? I couldn’t help but wander. 

   After greeting everyone, they finally turned in my direction.    

The atmosphere grew tense as they approached the discarded Luna. 

   With a stubborn tilt to her chin, I straightened to her full height, determined to face this humiliation with my head held high. 

    “And you are?” Selene prompted with a sly look in her eyes when she and Victor stood before me. 

   I opened my mouth to speak, but Victor beat me to it. 

   “She is a nobody, just a mere servant,” he replied coldly, with an impersonal glance toward me, before heading toward the door with Selene’s hand clutched tightly in his. 

   The guards opened the door to let them in.

 “Poor little Raven, replaced by a real Luna,” I heard someone say, and looked in the direction of the voice. It was Selina, and the young girl stared back at me with a sly grin on her lips. 

I guess she is not sick anymore.