Born as an Omega, Riley was treated with little respect by the pack and worked like a slave to survive. Like a joke made by the Moon Goddess, she was fated to be the mate of the young Alpha, thereby becoming the pack’s Luna. Riley has been the perfect Luna for the Green Creek Pack, dedicating herself wholeheartedly to everyone’s well-being. Everyone except herself. Jude promised to love her as if they were fated mates, because he understood her, appreciated her, and cherished her. However, after a few years of separation, Jude returned with another woman, Ruth, claiming she was his fated mate. He insisted that Ruth wouldn’t affect their relationship, but that was the beginning of Riley’s nightmare. Though she had been fated to be his mate, Jude never considered Riley a proper Luna for the pack, or accepted her as his mate. He used her, exploited her, and gave her the false hope of a better life. What awaited her was a shattered heart and twisted truths to be silenced till the day she died. An evil trap closed in on her like a wild beast, ready to devour her alive. Heartbroken and torn, how will she escape the claws of these shameless people and rise from the ashes like a phoenix? How will she make them regret losing her and ensure they face the consequences they deserve? Will it eventually be her betraying husband who redeems himself and wins her back, or will she find another man who truly deserves her trust and love?
Lihat lebih banyakRILEY
I squint my swollen eyes to shield them from the sun as I look up at the tree’s withered branches. I cannot recall a time when it had leaves or even fruits. For as long as I remember, it has always been this dry.
As dry as my life.
Pa has made it a daily activity to tell me to smile. “Princesses never wear how they feel on their faces, so even if one day you forget your name, never forget to smile.” This he would say every night he returned, staggering, booze in hand.
But there was no reason to.
One day, I saw Pa being thrown out of the joint that he frequents for refusing to pay. Well, that was what I was told, but I knew he had no money to pay. He had bruises on his cheeks and neck as if he had been slapped multiple times and strangled.
The ten-year-old me fought back tears as I dragged my stumbling Pa home. He sang out loud like he couldn’t feel an atom of pain or shame.
He seemed extremely happy.
Pa was my all, but a strange kind of anger grew in me that night. I kept quiet, tears rolling down my cheeks as I stared intently at him. He had always been like this. I grew up with the perception that all a father does is to leave in the morning and return late at night, so I learnt to fend for us both; so imagine my shock when I realized men owned and worked in their farms and plantations.
Mine was just Pa. Pa, who would come home staggering with a huge stench of booze in his breath. Pa, who everyone hid their kids from, as he had been drunk on a full moon night and ended up being a drunk wolf and had chased every child he came across.
Yes. That was my Pa.
His sleepy eyes locked with mine, and on reading my expression, his mouth got to work.
“Princesses never wear how they feel on their…”
“Pa!” I shouted, and the dam broke.
This obviously caught him off guard as his eyes got clear and widened.
“Smile, Princess.”
“Why?” I brushed the tears off and folded my arms.
“Wh..Why?” He frowned.
“People smile when they are happy. Cassy smiles when her Ma makes her a new dress, or makes her a new braid, or when her father pats her head. Riley gets none of that. I don’t even have a Ma, so why should I smile?”
“Cassy? Who’s that?” His frown deepened.
He had never had a good memory.
“Pa, that’s the daughter of the family next door. She’s my friend and her ma brings us food sometimes.”
He nodded. “Oh. So...” his frown returned. “Who’s Riley?”
Ouch.
“Me. I’m Riley.” I tapped my chest.
“Oh,” Pa waved, smiling. “Well, nice to meet you, Riley. I’m Adam, and I always smile. I was born an Omega, the lowest in the hierarchy of werewolves, weak and never respected, but I smile. My wife, mate, and best friend died at childbirth, but I smile. Without her, I feel worthless, but Riley,” a forced bright smile came on his face, “I still smile.”
My heart broke for the thousandth time since I was born.
“Pa. I sometimes don’t remember to smile.” The tears were back.
“Even if one day you forget your name,” he stretched out himself on the bed, closing his eyes, “never forget to smile.”
Then his snores filled the room.
That day, I spoke to myself that I had no right to be sad, and promised myself that no one would ever see me not smiling.
But there just were so many things that could trigger a ten-year-old to tears. But I kept my promise, and ran down here whenever it gets too much.
Today is my third day coming under this tree for solace. I had once asked Pa where I could go find Ma, and he had answered that she was under the tree at the creek. Any wonder why I find peace here?
I come here to cry.
And the sad situation of the tree makes me feel so sad.
Why would a tree by a waterside be so dry?
I sniff and raise my hands in frustration.
“Why?!”
I wait to hear my voice echo back in response.
“My father said only weird people speak to themselves.” The voice comes from behind.
In fright, I turn to see who owned the voice that had interrupted my Alone Time.
The brightest emeralds I have seen stare back at me. He has small cuts on his left cheek and his lower lip. His light brown hair captures the ray of the sun, adding a glow to his small frame.
Noticing my stare, he gives a broad smile. He winces as the smile stretches the cut on his lip. My eyes zero in on it.
“That must hurt.” I blink when I hear my voice. That was supposed to have been in my thought.
“It does. But don’t worry, I am used to it, and besides, a man needs to feel no pain.”
Man?
I wipe away the little tears remaining in my eyes and scan him up to down. I am ten and a whole foot taller than he is.
“Hey, Little boy, who told you that?” I fold my hands.
“My father. And don’t call me little. I’m seven and big.” He folds his palms and pushes out his chest.
The act makes me throw back my head in laughter.
“Big? My Pa is big. You are not.”
“I am. And if your Pa does not want you anymore, I can be your Pa.”
That reminds me of the reason I am there. Pa had forgotten my name. He is sick, and when I brought him part of the food Cassy’s Ma gave us, he asked who I was. When I wouldn’t answer, he felt ignored and pushed me hard to the floor. I walked down here with a limp.
I hold back tears as they almost spill out.
“Why would you say that?” A tear slides down my cheek.
“You kept on saying that I’m not big. My father says I’m big enough.” He strolls closer to where I stand.
“Then I am bigger.” I almost shout.
“Why?”
I wipe my tears, ready to brag. “I am ten.”
His eyes widen, saucer plate size.
“You are?”
“Yes.”
“Meaning, you can be my Ma if she does not want me anymore?”
“If you will be a good boy, of course. I am my own Ma.”
“Wow. Why?” he squints his eyes, looking really confused.
“My Ma is not here.”
“Where is she?”
I turn to face the tree, then I point at its root. “There.”
His eyes follow the direction of my hand, and he frowns.
“Under the ground? Is she dead?”
“That is what my Pa says.”
“So if my father goes under the ground, I can become my own Pa?” Interest shone in his eyes.
“Hey, that is not a nice thing to say.” I scold.
“Hmm? Why?”
Why?
“Don’t just say that.”
He pouts, avoiding her gaze. Then his mood changes abruptly, and he gives his wide, toothy smile again.
“You answer all my questions. Ma says it’s annoying when I ask many questions.”
“See? You are not big. When you become big, you will know everything, and will not need to ask anybody.”
“Yeah? I’ll be smart like you?”
“Yes.”
We stay quiet till he starts looking at the ground as if searching for something. He moves towards a large fallen tree branch and sits.
“Come sit, Ma.” He beckons, patting a side beside him.
“I’m not your Ma.” I protest, but still walk over there and sit.
“Do you think this branch fell from this tree where your Ma is?” he asks.
“I don’t know. But I feel like the tree is as dry as my life.”
“How?”
“A tree should have leaves. But it doesn’t.”
“Why?”
“I can’t say. But it would have been so beautiful if it had flowers.”
“Why?”
“Flowers are beautiful.”
“Flowers smell.”
“No, they don’t. I love flowers, and when I grow up and get married, I will have my own garden.” I can’t help the smile that comes to my face.
“When you become my Ma, though I don’t like them, I will get you many beautiful flowers. Pretty flowers just like you.” He has his chest puffed out again.
“Cassy’s ma says I’m pretty and will one day get married to a prince.”
His pout returns.
“No, you are mine. Not for any prince. For me.”
He looks as if he is on the verge of tears, but stares straight into my eyes and begins to whisper words cannot hear.
“Hmm?” I ask.
But he ignores me and instead of answering me, he pinches deeper into the cut on his cheek, drawing blood.
“Hey, don’t do that. It was almost healed.” I scold, reaching for his hand.
He pulls his hand away. With a serious expression on his face, he places the bloodied fingers on the side of my neck.
“Eww.” I pull away and stand up.
He replies with a very weird grin. Then I feel a sharp pinch where his blood is.
“Ouch.”
The pinch, very quickly, becomes a slight burn.
Then it stops.
All this while. The grin hasn’t left his face, so I give him a straight look.
“You should say sorry when you hurt someone. Instead, you are smiling? Little boy.” I stick out my tongue at him.
“Hey. I’m not…”
I don’t wait for his response as I turn and run.
Without looking back
RILEYIt takes me a moment to process the information.I shake my head. Not in disagreement. But to shake off every remnant of sleep that must be causing me to hear things that are not real.Gerald says nothing. He just watches me closely with that hawk gaze of his.I am not bothered by what I look like as I continuously shake my head, trying to blur out the noise uprising in my head.“Th…The Alpha. Wh…what did y…you say…” My words come out just as expected. Jumbled. Stuttered.“Deep breaths, my Lady. Deep breath.” Gerald brings both hands to his just and slowly slides it down, signaling me to calm down.I don’t care that I just woke up from a deep slumber, and I’m somehow worried that this might still be happening in my sleep.I don’t care that I feel light in the head, and might soon slump from the shock. I don’t care that my breath is hurriedly coming out, forced, and there is a cold sweat currently trailing its way down my back.I don’t care.“The Alpha…” I trail off, intentional
RILEY“Ma Luna, what does this stand for?” Paul points at the black rose that now has the more population of my garden.I don’t know how it happened, but Paul has somehow become my favorite kid from the bunch of them, though I don’t tell anyone this.He now clings on to my hand once he sights me on any day I am supposed to be with them.It has been a whole year since I took up the responsibility of taking care of them, so most of these pups, if not all, have grown so familiar with me that crying unnecessarily, has been totally erased from our daily agenda.Their mothers still don’t appreciate me, but I love these little beings. Them being around me, have become the highlight of my weeks.Their little has as we play with the mud, their loud giggles when I tell them a stupid funny story, their little scrunched up nose when the story begins to get sad, their tiny foot prints on the and whenever they insisted on taking off their shoes when it was racing time.Everything.I love everything
RYANI have this pack to lead, but I also have a strong feeling something is not right.With Her.“That is a complete lie my King, nothing of such happened. He has just been so envious of me since the day we were born. Maybe even before. No wonder he decided to come to the world bearing my face.” The lanky one of the two argues, repeatedly pointing at the young man he is now facing.“Envious of you? Bearing your face? We are twins, mister. Identical twins. So go blame the Moon Goddess for making it that way, not me. You can keep on saying nonsense with your mouth, but what I will not tolerate is you going into my bedroom, when am not there, to go lay down with my mate, posing as me. That, I won’t take.” The one with the short hair shoots back.I think they both have a thing for pointing.Family problems.I detest it.Makes me feel like I am pock nosing.As it should be settled indoors.“I thought we can share that, seeing that we have shared everything all our lives.”“Share? That? Sh
RILEY“The Beta…”This startles me and I almost drop the book in my hands.I had been so engrossed in looking at that sentence in the book, I did not recognize the presence of a second party.My face is definitely red from where my thoughts had been a second ago, but I still take my attention to the intruder.Theresa.With the way she stands, saying nothing, while just assessing me, I guess my surprise surprises her too.Good.What does she want?I recover. Then turn back with a lot of poise and elegantly drop the book back into the box, where the others are.“I was engrossed in the gift my husband sent me for Winter Night. Oh, that man.” I say with an exaggerated chuckle.Why am I always like this with Theresa?Ever since I discovered that Jude must have been having something to do with her, I have been trying my best to prove that she might be the mistress or whatever, but I am the wife.I am Luna.I always feel a good kind of pride whenever her eyes, filled with envy, go to my pend
"I did not do anything to them.” I explain.I see them turn to look at the children with warm and attentive eyes.I don’t know what this looked like, but with the nonstop wailing of these pups, it doesn’t look like we have been friends all day and they had been triggered by a story.Jill moves closer, squats in front of Paul and softly grabs his little face. As if recognizing her as his once closed eyes come open, his cry subsides to become low sniffles.Wait.That is her kid? No wonder.“My darling why are you crying? What did she do to you?” the voice she uses in asking that, sounds nothing like Jill’s. It is soft and patient.I will myself to not get pissed that it is my word against a pup’s. I mean, it would be weird getting bullied by a kid, right?“Ma…Ma Luna says Bella’s mommy is late. Do you know what it means to be late, mommy?” his rudeness has disappeared, and now he clings to his mother’s hand like the kid he is.Jill takes a moment to throw a scary glance my way.I did no
RILEY“Don’t go there, Paul.” I stretch out to grab him.This, I have repeated for a hundred times now.How do those tiny creatures that only know how to cry and cling to their Ma, how do they get so stubborn and grow a will?“No. I want to go home.” He struggles to wiggle out of my grip.“We are almost done. Trust me, you will like the end part.” I coax.My calm words and soothing voice does nothing as he sits on the bare ground, exhausted from his struggle, and begins to cry. Heavy sobs with no sound.Pups and their drama.It has been a year.A whole year since Jude left and hasn’t returned.It has been difficult getting used to his absence and finding activities to keep me busy, with the aim of tiring myself out, so I’ll be so tired when I go to bed. Too tired to have those silly dreams of mine.It worked.I stopped dreaming about fighting strange creatures. And alongside this, I have a beautiful blooming garden at the backyard of the Base, I am almost a professional in the art of
Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.
Komen