1

ELIANA

“I am their luna,” I whispered quietly, like a reassurance to myself. “I have to be strong.”

The kitchen smelled like onions and thyme, and the temperature was freezing cold. The winter came early and was brutal this year.

I hunched over a pot of tomato soup, stirring like my life depended on it while my eight-months old baby kicked softly in my womb.

The Night Shade palace walls creaked as the wind howled through cracked windows while the lights flickered above my head. The electricity current has been so low that I was sure that the lights were going to go off any time soon.

This time, we did not have the money to pay off the electricity bills in the palace. We have gone completely broke.

My hands shook, not just from the cold but from disappointment while I watched the bulb above the stove as it flickered and buzzed one last time before it died.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered, my breath puffing in the icy air.

My heart was pounding as the feeling of uneasiness crawled up my spine once again as I stared down at the beaten up palace of my pack. The only light entering was from the broken window and it was not enough for me to see the contents of the soup.

Just then, the back door creaked open, and a flashlight beam shone through the dark. George, our theta, stomped in with snow caked on his boots and his face frowned with worry. I heard the chatter and loud voices coming from outside as he slammed the door shut behind him.

“Eliana, I’m so sorry,” he apologised, his voice gruff from the cold. “Power’s out for good, and we are out of money to pay for the electricity even for the palace. Folks out there are freezing their asses off, starving, and ready to riot. That soup’s all we got to calm them down.”

My heart twisted, like someone was wringing it out. I continued to stir faster, the spoon scraping the sides of the pot. “It’s almost ready, George,” I told him, trying to sound like a strong luna, not a scared girl. “Grab the bowls. I will serve them the food in a few minutes.”

My voice cracked, and I hated it. I felt my baby kick sharply, and that felt reassuring to me. The pack was counting on me, and I’m all they’ve got since Craig has been nowhere to be found. I felt my heart squeeze even more when I remembered him.

Craig is my husband and the alpha of the pack. Once upon a time, we used to have a lovely marriage. The circumstances that made Craig and I meet were very unlikely. People would often tell us that we were soul mates, but deep down I highly doubted it.

Craig and I were both freshly out of college when he came into my life at that grimy lycan gas company where I used to work before we got married. We fell hard and were both crazy in love. He became alpha, made me his luna, and for a hot minute, life was perfect.

Our baby was coming and our pack was perfect. All that changed when Jade, his alleged stepsister came back into his life six months ago, and everything went to hell.

It started slowly as he brought her little gifts here and there but as time went on, he started to dump our pack’s entire money on her. He spent millions buying her diamonds, dresses, and cars.

When the pack's fund finished, he resorted to stealing from Alpha Darius, the Lycan King, a ruthless bastard who’d burn our pack to ashes if he found out.

But Craig did not care. I should have snitched, but ratting out my husband would make the lycan king unleash his wrath on us.

George sighed as he sat down on the island, his flashlight dipping to the large pot of soup. “You’re leading this whole damn pack alone, Eliana. Where’s Craig? Off with that Jade chick again?”

I let out a breath, bitterness burning my throat. “Yeah, probably buying her another damn necklace, all in the name of ‘catching up’ with his stepsister. Bullshit.” I spat.

George snorts as he grabs bowls from the cupboard. “He’s a fool, and you’re a damn queen. You deserve more than this. You should not let him drag you down with him. You are a good person, and the pack needs you.”

“I’m not quitting, George,” I said, locking eyes with him. “I’ll make this pack strong again. I am not going to allow him to destroy everything we spent three years building.”

George nodded at me sympathetically before he dropped the bowls on the counter. Ann, my handmaiden and my only female friend in the palace came in. Since I got married to Craig, George and Ann have been my closest friends.

If not for them, I was not sure that I would be strong enough to hold this pack from collapsing.

“Come on, Eliana. You have to stop,” she groaned, grabbing my arm. “For moon’s sake, you are eight months pregnant, and the doctor said no stress. You’re our luna, but you’re gonna kill yourself if you do not stop stressing yourself like this.” She scolded me.

“I am almost done.”

“No!” She snatched the wooden ladle from my hand. “You have done the hard part, we will continue from here. Please go back to your room and rest. ”

“I can’t, Ann,” I choke out, tears stinging my eyes. “The pack is falling apart. Craig’s checked out, and if I don’t hold it together, who will? I’m their luna. I owe them.” My voice broke, and I hate how weak it sounds.

Ann sighed as she placed a hand on my shoulder, “You’re the strongest damn luna I’ve ever seen, but you’re no good to us dead. Ten minutes, Eliana. I’ll finish the soup. Go.”

I wanted to argue, but my legs feel like jelly, and the baby’s kicking like she’s begging me to listen.

“Fine,” I mumbled, yanking off my apron. “Ten minutes.” I dragged myself to the stairs, the cold sinking into my bones like claws. The palace was too quiet today except for the howls coming from outside from the hungry wolves.

When I got upstairs, I was about to go to my room when I heard a soft voice coming from our shared room. My heart somersaulted in its rib cage and I paused to hear what it was. There was a soft moan, then a giggle followed that felt like a stab to my heart.

It was coming from our bedroom. The bedroom where Craig and I swore to love each other forever. My hand trembled as I grabbed the doorknob, my mind screaming it’s not real, but my gut knew better.

I shoved the door open, and my world stops. Craig was in our bed, naked and tangled with Jade. Her legs were wrapped around him, and her lips were on his neck. My jaw dropped, and I could swear my heart had stopped beating for a moment.

“Craig?” I whispered as my whole body started to tremble. “What the hell are you doing?” Tears burned my eyes, but I forced myself to stand tall, my fists clenched.

Craig looked up, and he had the nerve to look annoyed as if I had just interrupted their moment.

“Eliana, chill,” he rolled his eyes, his tone bored. “Sorry you had to find out this way, but Jade is my mate.”

I wanted to pinch myself to wake up from this dreadful dream, but it was not a dream. It was very much real life, and I was angry. So angry.

“I’m your wife! Your luna! How could you do this to me?”

Jade smirked, her lips curling like a snake. “Poor little Eliana,” she taunted, stroking his arm. “If you hadn’t been running around playing leader around the pack, then you would have noticed that I was his mate.”

Her words hit like a slap, and I stood there frozen as Lyra, my wolf, howled inside of me in pain as she processed the betrayal.

“You’ve let yourself go, Eliana. I cannot even show you off to my new friends as my luna.” He scoffed as he looked down at my body and his face scrunched up.

“You bastard,” I choked out, tears streaming down my face. “I gave you everything. I carried this pack while you threw it away for her! I am carrying your fucking baby and taking care of the pack, and you… you are telling me that I let myself go?” I bellowed, my voice trembling.

He opened his mouth to reply but suddenly, I felt something. A pain so sharp that I nearly lost my breath, ripped through my belly, and spread down my veins.

“No!” I gasped, clutching my stomach. My baby.

Something was wrong, horribly wrong. I felt warmth trickling between my legs, and when I looked down there was blood pooling on the floor. Fuck.

“Craig, please,” I called out, my voice breaking as I sank to my knees. “Help me. The baby… I think I’m losing her.”

There was a moment of silence, before I heard Craig rolling off the bed. I thought he was going to come to me, but he didn’t. Instead he went towards the window.

“Do you hear that?” Craig asked. I was paralysed in my state, and he wasn’t looking at me. The bastard was not even pretending that he cared about me losing my baby.

“What?” Jade asked him, as she stared at me. I could not tell if she was feeling bad for me, or if she did not care. I couldn’t comprehend how heartless the both of them were.

“The trumpets are approaching. The Blackthorn trumpets,” Craig gasped in realization. “Fuck, the lycan king is here. Fuck!” He panicked as he paced around the room.

“Help…” I managed to choke out again as the pain spread all around my body.

When he looked at me finally, he looked like he was staring at a piece of trash. “I never loved you, Eliana. You were a placeholder wife before I got my mate. I am going to have lots of pups with Jade, so I can afford to lose this one,” he said, grabbing Jade’s hand. “We’re out.”

My heart shattered, the pieces cutting deeper than any knife. “You’re abandoning me?” I whispered, pain swallowing my voice. “You’re abandoning our pack?” I wanted to scream, to claw his eyes out, but my body was failing me.

My baby was slipping away, and I had never felt more helpless.

“Where are we going?” Jade asked. I could feel the panic in her voice too as the sounds of the trumpets got closer.

“We are leaving,” he rushed towards the wardrobe and picked a bag. “We need to think fast. I think he found out about the theft and if the lycan king meets us here, he is going to kill us. If he does not meet me, however, then she will take the fall.”

My vision blurred as I watched them pack and escape through the windows right as the lycan king arrived at the palace. I heard the sounds of motorbikes, the sounds of people screaming and guards kicking down doors.

Alpha Darius had finally come for the thief who had been draining his accounts. I did not think he would find out, even though George had warned me that he would find out and come for us.

I heard the loud, authoritative voice of Alpha Darius as it came closer, but only one thing was on my mind.

Now that I had lost my baby, I needed to save my pack. I’m their luna— even if I’m bleeding out, even if my heart has been broken into pieces. The pain was unbearable as I heard the door burst open and some guards stormed in.

They grabbed my hands and snapped silver cuffs around my wrists. I screamed in pain as it burned like fire on my skin. “Luna Eliana,” a guard growled, his voice dripping with disgust. “You’re under arrest for treason.”

“You have the wrong person!” I heard someone cry, but that did not matter as they dragged me out, not caring that I was bleeding out and had just miscarried my child.

I tried to fight, to tell them it was Craig, not me, but the pain from the silver was too much as it scorched my flesh. It did not take long before I lost my consciousness and succumbed to darkness.