Reborn As The True Luna

Astrid’s POV

“I’m sorry, Luna Astrid but you were never marked. There is no sign of it here.”

The Healer’s voice wouldn’t stop echoing. Even as I was dying, those words kept repeating in my head.

Somewhere in the woods, wolves were howling. Smoke choked the air just like blood soaked through my dress, warm at first then terrifyingly cold as it clung to me and smelled along with the snow.

So this was how the Luna dies, on the snow bleeding out.

I pressed my shaking hand against the wound in my side. It was useless. I could already feel my wolf fading in the background because the wound was too deep and I have lost so much blood that even my wolf cannot recover from it. All alone in this biting cold.

Riftclaw Pack was still standing behind me and no one was coming. Alpha Anthony sent the rogues to come for me when he realized everything he’s lied about has been brought to light. He directed them towards me with a cold flicker of his finger then left me for the dead.

For four years, I stood beside him as Luna. Negotiated alliances he couldn’t. Stopped three border wars before they could start and personally trained half the younger fighters because I was brought up with special powers that he explored so ruthlessly. It was never because I was special. He was using me.

I was the one and only werewolf that changed at six years old. It was the reason why Anthony made sure I was close to him when I grew older. He gave me everything one could ever ask for despite being an omega but he was just grooming me.

A broken laugh scraped out of my throat but it tasted like blood. The hospital smell came back to me suddenly with all its antiseptic, clean sheets and the sound of machines. The day everything cracked open.

I’d only gone in because of the injury from a routine border patrol. Nothing I hadn’t handled before until the wounds stopped healing on their own. The Healer insisted on scans just to be safe it was not some sort of infection.

I almost told them not to bother. If I had walked out that day, I would have lived the rest of my life in a beautiful lie.

The Healer had frowned at the results. Checked again then once more until I was almost sweating from fear. I have always hated hospitals since I was diagnosed infertile the first time I came here with Anthony. I don’t want to know if I have any dying disease.

“The mark around your neck is not real Luna Astrid. It is artificial”

I let out a small, disbelieving laugh at first, thinking it had to be some kind of mistake—maybe even a joke.

But the Healer didn’t joke. She never had.

The way she hesitated before calling me Luna made something cold settle in my chest.

How could my mark be fake?

“The mark is artificial. There’s no biological bond signature connected to it. Whoever did this used illusion magic.”

Whoever? Illusion magic?

My stomach dropped so fast I thought I’d faint right there. I didn’t believe anything the woman had said because she cannot exactly tell me the past four years were all a lie. More than four years if you count the times before I bonded with Anthony but that was beside the point.

I left the hospital in a hurry to go look for Anthony so he’d explain what exactly is going on here. Then I heard the voices through the half closed office door in our home. I heard someone’s voice crying then realised it was Mira, our maid and son’s favorite nanny.

“I can’t keep hiding like this. The bond is getting stronger now.” She whispered in a choked voice.

Silence before Anthony’s calm and charming voice came.

“You know why. You’re my fated mate Mira.” He said quietly. “But the pack would never accept an Omega Luna. Riftclaw needs stability. It needed someone strong beside me.”

My fingers had frozen on the doorframe realizing where I came to play and that indeed the doctor was NOT lying. The test she ran was perfect and I am the one delusional. And the mark around my neck that I proudly wear is NOT a real mark. It is artificial.

“And Astrid?” She murmured with so much venom that I could feel it all the way.

Anthony didn’t hesitate to give her the answer I’m sure he’s said to himself countless times.

“She was the right choice.”

Was. Not is. What’s going on? I’m not anymore? What does it mean?

“She believes the bond is real. The witch made sure of that. The infertility spell too. I made sure there are no complications or rival heirs at the end of the day. Everything stays controlled and our son will be the heir.” His voice sounded so sinister.

For a moment, I couldn’t understand what he meant.

Our son…?

My mind blanked, then scrambled desperately for an answer. 

Calix.

He had to be talking about Calix—our son. The child we had taken in, the one I had loved as my own.

I have never heard it like this before. The world didn’t shatter like I thought it would. It just quietly disappeared under my feet.

…

A branch snapped somewhere nearby dragging me back into the burning present. Pain tore through my side as I tried to move. My body wouldn’t obey so I looked away from the blood on the snow trying not to throw up. There was so much blood.

So this was the final joke.

I helped him build his kingdom and died discarded outside its walls. He gave me up at the first given opportunity to rogues after finding out I knew about his dirty plans. I knew about the wickedness beneath the charm.

I could feel Anthony’s presence somewhere nearby, as if waiting for me to die without having to finish it himself so he could tell the pack it was a rogue attack. He brought the fucking rogues himself! He paid them to come end his so-called mate!

My eyes closed, then opened when I realized he was indeed watching, waiting for me to tip over. I could smell his scent somewhere in the trees along with Mira’s.

Small footsteps crunched through the snow, I turned my head and my heart surged with hope at the sight of my son. My beautiful boy walked toward me, his dark hair dusted with snowflakes.

For a moment, I thought he’d come to help me. That my baby would save me. I forced my lips into a smile despite the pan tearing at every single inch of my body.

“You’re finally going to die.”

The words came out so simply like he was commenting on the weather and that made my smile froze. Calix stopped a few feet away, staring down at me with eyes too cold for a six year old.

“Mama said you’re hateful. She said you keep her and Papa apart.” He tilted his head. “But now you’re going to die and they can finally be together.”

“Calix…” My voice cracked. “Baby—”

“You’re not my mama. Mira is.” He said it so easily, like he’d been practicing. “Papa only kept you around because you’re strong but you’re not even that strong if you’re dying.”

Tears burned down my frozen cheeks. He wasn’t an orphan. He was Anthony and Mira’s biological son, raised right under my nose while I played the fool. I raised him with every inch of love I never had knowing I won’t have a son of my own.

“I hope it hurts,” Calix said quietly, with something in his expression that looked exactly like Anthony.

Then he turned and walked away, his small footprints disappearing into the falling snow. The last fragile thread of hope snapped and I let my head fall back against the snow.

My wolf’s whimpering faded into nothing because she knew this was the end. A silent broken sob wrenched from within me before darkness swallowed everything.