CHAPTER 1: THE BETRAYED LUNA

“I, Claire Black, daughter of late Alpha Gavin Black, renounce my title as the L-luna of the Ashwood pack.” 

A harsh wind started blowing in the silent night as if in protest at the words that still echoed on the ceremonial altar. 

Claire closed her eyes, crumbling into the floor as tears flowed down her cheeks. With each breath, she could feel the power in her soul draining away. The power that had always been in her blood. But it was not the power or even the title that mattered to her. There were more important things that she had lost.

She looked up at Liam, her mate. No. Ex mate, since they had already gone through the unbinding ritual at his demand and he had already taken his mark off her. Even though she should have been used to it by now, Claire bit her lips hard enough to draw blood as she saw his indifferent gaze. 

Was this the same boy who had once showered her with awkward compliments and sang silly love songs for her? The guy who followed her everywhere with his puppy eyes full of love until she had no option but to surrender to his charms? The same boy for whom she had given up her real mate by choosing to let him mark her without waiting for her mate? How did it all end up like this?

“Liam,” she breathed out in a desperate plea, begging for something; anything…

“Shut up, you bitch!” Liam snarled and Claire blinked, startled by his roar.

“Ugh. How dare you look at me as if you are a saintess when you are carrying another man’s child in your womb? You dirty whore!” Liam bellowed and Claire flinched, tears rolling harder down her cheeks. 

She closed her eyes, not bothering to justify herself when she had already tried everything she could. It didn’t matter to him that she had no choice…

She sighed, memories of her life flashing through her mind. From the pampered princess of the pack, now she had become the hated outcast, and it was all because of the love she had for Liam. A love that he had once been desperate for…

Everything was going well in her life until the day her father died. At his funeral, she had passed out in the arms of Alpha Sebastian, her friend and that was when she realised Liam had cheated on her. Still, she forgave him and went back to him, since she still loved him.

But everything changed for her when Liam started complaining about pains randomly. Everyone in the pack started hating her, thinking she was cheating on him when she never even looked at another man. Even when she did nothing, she tried to win his forgiveness, and that was when he continued cheating on her, saying she deserved it for hurting him. And to hurt her worse, he even refused to touch her. Still, she took it all, thinking that as long as he was in her life, she could tolerate anything.

But then one day, she was drugged and was about to be raped by a thug. Thankfully, Sebastian arrived at the right time like he did every time. But by then it was too late, and the aphrodisiac had taken its effect. She had no choice but to have sex with Sebastian to save her life. 

It was after that night that Liam declared that his love for her was dead. With the guilt she had for cheating on him, even if it was unintentional, Claire had let him break their bond. 

But by then, the pack completely abhorred her, and she was treated as a pariah. She had lost all hope in life and that was when she realised she was pregnant. Even when it was not her mate’s and even if it was not conceived out of love, it was still her flesh and blood. The only hope left in her miserable existence. And she just wanted to live the rest of her life with her baby, away from every drama and hatred. 

So when Liam, who found out the news, threatened to kill her baby, she agreed to renounce her title for a quiet life with her unborn baby. And that was why she underwent the ceremony to give up her title. Now it was just her and her baby. With him in her life, maybe someday, she will learn to be happy again. Maybe…

“Hello Claire.”

Claire was startled hearing her name and looked up to see her best friend Diana standing there with a smile on her pretty face. Unlike her disheveled appearance, Diana looked as if she was ready to go clubbing. 

Seeing her best friend, who was more like a sister to her, Claire lost the last bit of her restraints and burst out sobbing before flying into Diana’s arms. 

“Oh, Diana!” she cried out while sobs wracked her body. Slowly, Claire stopped sobbing, the feeling that something was wrong hitting her hard. Then she realized it. Even when she was crying hard, Diana didn’t return her embrace or tried to comfort her. How odd…

Before she could step back from Diana, Claire felt an agonizing pain radiating from her belly. As Diana stepped back, Claire looked down at her belly. She looked down in puzzlement at the red blooming in her white dress before her eyes fell on the handle of the dagger sticking out from her belly. Her eyes widened in disbelief and she looked up at her ‘best friend’, who stood there with a smirk.

Claire let out a cough and blood dribbled from her mouth as she stared at Diana and Liam.

“Why?” she whispered. 

“You bloody bitch! You don’t know how much agony I was in seeing my mate with you! You took him away from me for years! Thank Goddess, we don’t have to put up with you anymore. Die, you witch!” Diana shrieked, no longer looking gentle and helpless.

“Mate?” Claire breathed out, confusion clouding her mind.

“Yes, you bimbo! Liam was never yours because he was always mine! He never loved you because I am his mate! It was I who asked him to make you his mate because it was the only way for him to be Alpha.” 

Diana rolled her eyes at Claire’s shocked look. So it was Diana with whom he had cheated on her, Claire thought absent-mindedly as she stared at the couple.

“Your stupid father had no male heirs and he should just have made Liam, his Beta’s son as his heir. But no. He had to declare that he would give the pack to you. Stupid! We had no way but to tolerate you for this long to get what we deserve!”

Claire felt her legs turn to jelly and fell to the ground as the floor turned red with the blood dripping from her wound. Liam walked over to Diana before embracing her and the couple glanced down at Claire with hatred oozing off their pores. 

“It’s all because of that stupid Sebastian. If not for him, our two years wouldn’t have been wasted! Always running around saving you as if he is a damn hero!” Liam complained while Diana kissed his cheeks. 

“He even fucked you when it was supposed to be that ugly thug we hired!” Diana muttered with a frown and Claire gasped.

“You hired that man?”

Claire always knew that there was more to the attack. That someone who knew her schedule well did it. But she never imagined her own husband was behind it. Just how far had they gone to destroy her?

“Well, duh. We needed a reason to break the stupid bond, didn’t we?” Diana giggled while kicking at Claire, who was lying on the floor in a heap.

Claire gulped a lungful of air, more blood gurgling out of her mouth, and she knew she was dying. Her hand flew to her belly where her child was dying along with her. Its father didn’t even know of its existence... She had given up the mate bond and her title just so that she could have a life with her child and they didn’t even let her have it. She would have gladly died if they had let her live, at least until she gave birth to her baby. But no. Her sweet, innocent child didn’t even get a chance at life. Why?

As Claire stared at Liam and Diana, she felt rage like she had never known. Right now, to her, they looked as ugly as their souls. How had she ever loved such a rotten man? And how had she trusted such an evil woman as a sister? How stupid was she to have believed them? If only she had seen their true faces earlier…

She wished she could wipe that arrogant smirk off their faces. She wanted them to feel even a fraction of the pain that she was feeling. But right now, it was too late for regrets. She could do nothing. She was lying in a pool of her blood, waiting for death to claim her. She needed time to do anything to them and time was a luxury she didn’t have. If only she had a chance to change her life, she would never again let them hurt her like this. She will make them pay for every rotten thing they did. ‘Oh Goddess, what did I do to deserve to die this miserably? Couldn’t you give me one more chance? Just one chance…’

Seeing Claire struggling to breathe, the couple moved towards her, enjoying the view of her slow, painful death. 

“Goodbye Claire. And thanks for handing the Alpha title to me,” Liam said with a smirk while his mate laughed beside him.

As Claire felt the last bit of her strength wane away, she heard a fierce yell that somehow felt soothing to her. Right then, she saw Alpha Sebastian bursting into the altar, his blazing green eyes wild with fear as they locked into hers. A small tired smile formed on her face as she saw the man who had always been there for her in the most crucial times. But this time, he was a bit too late…

The ringing in her head intensified, and she closed her eyes to the sight of Sebastian rushing towards her. And then the words in her head that her wolf Mia was desperately shouting became finally clear. ‘Mate!’ 

And just as she realised that Sebastian, the father of her unborn child, was the man that she was destined to love all along, she was falling into the dark embrace of death. If only she had another chance…