Chapter One: Discarded like a left over dish

   

RAVEN'S POV 

It happened so fast that it gave me whiplash. One minute, I am his mate and the Luna of  Nightshade Pack, admired and loved by everyone, and the next minute I am being pushed aside like a leftover dish, and Victor, my mate and the man I loved for half of my life, is introducing another woman as his fated mate and the next Luna of Nightshade Pack. 

Isn’t life full of surprises? 

You think you know someone, and you are ready to spend the rest of your life with them. And wham! They go and do something that leaves your jaw on the ground and your heart in pieces.

Victor and I found out we are mates when we turned eighteen, during the mating ball of the Pack. An annual celebration that happens in the Pack, where everyone wolf of age has a chance to find their mate.

Victor, being the Alpha’s son, was expected to end up with someone strong, but when our eyes met each other and we realised we were mates. I expected him to reject me. 

Why? You may ask. 

And I will tell you. 

Though my parents are both Betas and serve as part of the Pack warriors, with my father being the Alpha’s second. I was different.

I found out about my difference when I turned fifteen, and I became the pariah of the pack. Everyone called me a freak, except Victor. 

For a reason I do not understand, he defended me and always stood in my corner.

I wouldn’t call us friends, because Victor flocked with the popular kids, and would not be caught dead with the freak. Still, he always came to my rescue when I needed him.

Little wonder I fell in love with him. 

He became my knight in shining armour.

I pined for him while sitting on my window, gazing at the moon at night, wishing that he would be my mate.

And as the goddess would have it. She granted my wish. 

And there I was in the middle of the room, all eyes on us, my breath held in my throat, staring at Victor from across the room, not daring to hope, but entertaining a spark of hope that things would go my way.

He opens his mouth, and my heart nearly gave out on me. 

And then words came tumbling out, loud and confident, his words not minced. 

"I, Victor Thorn, accept Raven Darkblood as my mate." 

No words could describe the joy that filled my heart. It was like an ocean of happiness. 

I couldn’t contain my disbelief or my happiness. 

The man I love chose me. 

Falling in love can be a wonderful feeling, but it is nothing compared to having your love reciprocated. 

And so, before the very eyes of our people, Victor claimed me as his, and I became the next Luna in line. 

Our people, though skeptical of Victor’s choice, accepted it. 

The other people happier than us for our union were our parents. Our parents are best friends, so I grew up very close with Victor. 

Two years following our union, tragedy struck. 

Rogues attacked our Pack. 

It was the worst tragedy our pack has ever seen. Their attack was unseen and unexpected. 

They came like thieves at night. Literally. Killing off the patrol guards before going on to attack the pack. 

In the small town where Our Pack is located, we live in a commune setting, which helps build the tight-knit community that holds our Pack strong.

Our warriors did their best to put up a fight, but there were just too many of them. 

In the end, the other neighbouring Packs came to our rescue, but the damage inflicted was already too much. 

Victor and I lost our parents in this tragedy, along with other members of the Pack. 

This tragedy thrust Victor and me into the seat of responsibilities. 

I felt nervous and insecure about my abilities to lead as the next Luna, at barely twenty years of age. 

Victor assured me he trusts me.

Those three words gave me the courage to step up and feel the shoes of his mother. And I will tell you it was a big shoe to fill. 

Our Pack was in a state of mourning, but Victor and I had to grow strong. We didn’t have time to mourn our parents because we had people depending on us. 

 Victor focused his strength on dealing with the Pack affair, his father’s company, and I stood beside him, handling the internal affairs of the Pack, encouraging everyone to stand together. 

Their view of me gradually changed, and I, who was once scorned because I am different from everyone, became the Luna they loved and respected. 

They say people’s feelings can be as fleeting as the wind, and I have to agree, because the Pack who believed me to be the best Luna they have ever had has turned their backs on me. 

Every one of them accepted Victor’s fated mate with no atom of thought spared in my direction. 

It was like I was fifteen all over again, shunned by my people. But this time, it is even worse because I have lost my amour. 

Because the man who is supposed to protect and shield me from the world has cruelly withdrawn his shield and protection, leaving me open for attack. 

And attack they did. 

They say to see a vulture in your dream is a sign of a bad omen, but as I stirred from my deep slumber in response to the impatient banging on my door, I didn’t have the time to wallow in the deeper meaning of my dream. 

I mean, what omen could be worse than being thrust from the seat of power and respect to the place of pigs and dogs. 

Oh, yes, my mate Victor, not only betrayed me, but he cruelly betrayed me. He degraded me to the status of a servant in the household. 

As the most terrifying nightmare of my life unfolded before my very eyes, I wondered if having once’s dreams answered could be a bad thing. 

I wished for Victor to be my mate, and I got my wish, but in the light of this morning's incident, I can’t help but wonder if I had wished my desire into existence, and not necessarily what is supposed to be mine. Maybe, I believed Victor to be mine because I had fallen in love with him for his heroic acts, not because he is the one destined for me. 

Anyways, let’s forget this philosophical nonsense, as they are giving me a raging headache, and so is the banging on the door.

I trudged my way to the door in a zombie-like state, my brain still in a state of shock to understand what was going on around me.

I feel so tired both outside and inside. I wonder if it is the aching pain in my heart, or the heavy weight of sadness crushing my chest, that is responsible. 

I opened the door to find one of the female servants who helped out in the Pack house hanging by the door with an awkward look on her young face.

She looked like she didn’t want to be here, and was not pleased to be the one delivering whatever message she had been tasked with. 

“Yes?” I question flatly, my expression blank.

The girl opened her mouth to speak, but the words didn’t have a free way out of her throat, as if obstructed by something.

Probably the girl’s anxiousness. 

Her face looks so red, I wonder if she is just coming out of a sauna. 

I don’t have the patience for this. I would love to go back to sleep and pretend this day never happened.

This morning, despite starting as a beautiful sunshine morning, quickly disintegrated into an ugly nightmare filled with ominous clouds that I am finding it hard to accept. 

Yes, I know being in denial doesn’t help my case, but it is the only defence I could mount against the pain eating me alive. 

Not wanting to believe that the man I love now belongs to another is the least my brain could do for my heart. 

“L-Luna Selene needs you downstairs,” the words finally tumble out in a messy jumble from the very nervous servant, snapping me out of my thoughts.