CONFRONTED

Lyra’s POV:

I woke up slowly with furrowed brows, and a confused mind.

The very first thing I noticed when I awoke was that my body was warm, and I was somehow sleeping beneath very thick blankets. For the past decade or so, I had never woken up warm.

In fact, I couldn’t even remember the last time I was warm. And I certainly could not remember the last time I slept under a blanket. So, when I woke up under one, fear filled me.

For the first minute, I had no idea where I was.

The morning sun was just rising in the sky, so the room was a little bit yellowish, and that didn’t help. The room was unfamiliar, the bed beneath me was impossibly soft, and the curtains around the windows were made of a beautiful silver fabric that shimmered whenever the rays of the sun filtered through them.

Where the hell was I?

It took a while before I remembered, and when I did, I shot up in bed.

I was in the Dark Thorne pack, and my entire life had changed.

I was no longer just Lyra Ashford, I was now Lyra Thorne, Luna of the Thorne pack, and I now had a mate.

It was all so overwhelming, my thoughts raced, my cheeks warmed, and I felt heat rush up through my body.

I should have been scared, I knew that, yet, I still felt so warm.

For probably the first time in my life, I had slept through the entire night. Not once had I woken up because someone was shouting at me. And no footsteps had approached me at night just to berate me about not completing my duties.

Even though this was a new pack, and a strange environment. I had slept without fear.

The realization made my chest feel strangely tight.

It took a couple of minutes, but I finally managed to calm down, and when I did, more confusion settled in.

I was the Luna now, yes, but what did that mean?

Did I have to go out and fight? Did I have a throne out there in the castle? Did I have duties? I had no idea.

I tried to look around the enormous bedroom for a clue to what I was supposed to be doing, but I didn’t see one.

Judging by the height of the sun in the sky, I knew it was well into the morning.

Back home, I would have already been up, and would have been half done cleaning whatever room I had been assigned to bymy stepmother.

But here, I didn’t have any chores to do. I didn’t have a supervisor, or an abuser, or a sister who made sure my life was a living hell.

While I was lost in my thoughts, a knock sounded on the door, I flinched, and kept silent.

The knock sounded again.

I took a deep breath to calm down my nerves, then, I cautiously called out.

"Come in," my voice was barely audible.

But the moment I spoke, the door opened, and three women walked in. They were carrying with them folded towels, some jewelry, and several dresses.

One of the women, a wolf who must have been around my age, stepped forward and bowed, "Good morning, Luna," she greeted.

I flinched,

The women froze, and the lead wolf’s face quickly grew blank, and she bowed again,

"Forgive us, my Luna," she said quickly. "We didn't mean to frighten you."

I stood up from the bed, and stared at them with a confused gaze. I had so many questions, like why were they bowing? And why did I feel fear coming from them?

"You... you don't have to do that." My voice trembled as I tried to speak,

The women exchanged glances. The lead woman’s eyes lit up, and I could tell she realized something.

So, she took a step forward, and with her head still bowed, she began to speak, "It is our duty to attend to you,” she answered,

Wait. They were my servants? I didn't know what to say.

At my former home, all the servants bullied me. They had been ordered to report every mistake that I had made, and some of them even punished me secretly.

This was the first time in my life that a bunch of other women were treating me with so much respect, and it was unsettling.

"My name is Rose,” the lead female wolf introduced herself, “I'm the head servant here at the castle. Alpha Drake instructed us to ensure you have everything you need."

I blinked, and somehow, my cheeks began to warm up. Even though it was ridiculous, it still filled me with so much joy that he had remembered me.

It was a ridiculous thought, considering he had left me alone the previous night, and I had no idea where he was now, or where his chamber was. And yet, I could not help it.

Rose had a knowing smile on her face when she spotted my expression.

"Would you like us to help you get ready?” she asked, “I was the one who stocked up the closet, but in case, you didn’t like the ones there. I brought some other dresses for you to choose from.”

I glanced at the clothes, and they were the most beautiful clothes I had seen in my life.

One of them was a cream-colored dress with delicate silver embroidery. My eyes settled on that dress long enough that Rose immediately kept the others, and picked it up, before signaling to the other women, who took a step forward.

“Wait,” I called out, raising my hand up in defense, “What are you doing?”

“We have to help you shower and dress you,” One of the other women whispered, “It is our duty.”

"I can dress myself," I said quickly, while shaking my head, “And I can certainly shower myself,”

"Of course, Luna." Rose didn't argue. She simply placed the dresses on the nearby couch and instructed the other servants to prepare my bath.

I watched them move around the room, still unsure how to behave. It was far too strange to suddenly find that I was now the one being attended to.

When they were done, and I had changed into my new clothes, the women were still in the chambers.

Rose stepped forward. "Would you like me to show you around the castle?"

I hesitated. "The castle?"

"Yes. There are several places you should become familiar with, especially now that you're our Luna. The Alpha's office, the council chambers, the dining hall, and the gardens."

I swallowed. “Am I supposed to be there?”

Rose looked at me as though she hadn't expected that answer. "You're the Luna, You can go wherever you wish within the pack."

I stared at her with surprise in my eyes. Wherever I wished?

"All right," I whispered.

Then, with a single motion of her fingers. She led me out of the bedroom and towards the castle.

In broad daylight, and when not clouded by heavy snow, the castle was even more impressive.

Servants and guards moved through the corridors, but whenever they noticed me, they stopped and bowed.

"Good morning, Luna."

"Welcome, Luna."

Each greeting made me increasingly uncomfortable, and I kept on glancing at Rose, expecting her to step in and tell everyone to stop. But she didn’t say anything, she just stood to the side, and after I was done greeting whomever it was, she kept on leading me through the castle, while introducing every major section to me.

We were approaching another corridor when Rose suddenly slowed down. I followed her gaze, and walking towards us from the other end of the corridor, was a stunning woman.

She wore an elegant red gown that hugged her figure, and her long, dark hair fell in perfect waves over her shoulders. Two servants followed behind her, carrying a small collection of packages.

When she noticed me, her steps stopped, and her eyes immediately settled on my face.

Disdain filled her gaze, and her lips curved into a smirk,

“So,” she whispered while taking a threatening step towards me, “This is the bitch that stole my man.”