Chapter 8 - THE REPLACEMENT LUNA

“I want out.”

The words hung between us.

The Blackridge Luna did not answer immediately. She studied my face, as if she was trying to decide whether I was speaking from anger or if I truly meant every word.

I held her gaze.

“I know this marriage was forced on me,” I said quietly. “I never asked for it. Deucalion never wanted me either. The bond is incomplete, and it hurts both of us. So why should we continue?”

Her expression changed slightly.

“You are serious.”

“Yes.”

She walked toward the window and stood there for a moment.

Then she turned back to me.

“I will not make that decision alone, Malia. A family meeting will be called. Your request will be discussed by the Alpha, Deucalion, the elders and your parents.”

A strange feeling spread through me.

Hope.

It was small, but it was there.

“When will the meeting happen?”

“Soon. I promise you that.”

For the first time since I entered Blackridge, I felt like someone had actually heard me.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

She nodded.

I left her room immediately. I had barely reached the corridor when I heard two servants speaking nearby.

“Aria returned home yesterday.”

My steps slowed.

“She went back with her parents?”

“Yes. Apparently, she has been telling everyone she was betrayed.”

My jaw tightened.

The second woman lowered her voice.

“She still says Malia took her place.”

I stopped behind the corner. My hands curled into fists. Took her place?

The words burned. I had not stolen anything.

I had been dragged here. My father had made the decision. My mother had allowed it. Blackridge had accepted it. Deucalion had been forced into it.

Yet somehow, I was the villain?

I wanted to turn around and defend myself. I wanted to tell them what really happened.

But what would that change?

Aria had already told her story, and people would believe whatever story was easiest to believe.

I walked away.

I hated that I had to admit it, but there was nothing I could do.

I was trapped inside Blackridge, wearing the title of Luna, while everyone expected me to stay.

All I could do was wait for the meeting.

The next morning, I was standing outside the eastern garden when Deucalion’s mother approached me. “Malia.”

I turned. “Luna.”

She gave me a polite smile. “The family meeting will happen soon. Until then, there are things you must do.”

I already knew I would not like the sound of that. “What things?”

“You are the Luna of Blackridge now. You are expected to attend pack events, learn our traditions, and appear beside Deucalion when necessary.”

I stared at her.

“You want me to act like everything is normal?”

“I want you to fulfill your position while the family decides what happens next.”

I looked away.

It was almost funny.

I had asked to leave a marriage I never wanted, and they were already telling me how to behave like a Luna.

“What if the bond never settles?” I asked.

She was quiet.

“And if it doesn’t?”

Her eyes moved away from mine.

“That is something we will deal with if the time comes.”

“That isn’t an answer.”

“It is the only answer I can give you right now.”

I studied her face. “You are worried.”

She sighed.

“Blackridge has waited a very long time for Deucalion to take a mate. We cannot afford another scandal.”

There it was.

Not love.

Not even a bit of concern for me.

All they were after was their bloodline.

Their heir.

Their future.

My strength had been the reason they accepted me. My ability to survive Deucalion’s bloodline had been the reason they had agreed to this marriage.

And if I became pregnant, my value would become even greater.

I forced a small smile. “I understand.”

She touched my shoulder. “I know this is difficult.”

I almost laughed. Difficult was not the word. But I said nothing.

She left me standing there.

I remained in the garden for several minutes, staring at the flowers without really seeing them.

I wondered how long this would continue.

Days?

Weeks?

Months?

Would I always be the woman everyone compared to Aria?

I finally walked back into the estate.

Later that day, I found myself alone in one of the quieter halls. The mansion was strangely peaceful, and for once, I wanted the silence.

Then I heard voices.

I stopped.

Two women were talking somewhere around the corner.

“I still cannot believe she is the Luna.”

“She is the replacement Luna.”

I frowned.

The first woman lowered her voice. “Aria was supposed to be Deucalion’s true mate.”

“I know.”

I waited.

Then the second woman spoke.

“But don’t you think Deucalion is too much for Aria? I heard she’s eighteen years old.”

“Really? Eighteen years?”

“Yes. She’s really small for Deucalion. How did they even fall in love at first?”

The other woman laughed softly.

“I wondered the same thing.”

Their words made me uncomfortable.

I stepped closer, but before they noticed me, one of them continued.

“Still, Malia isn’t so bad.”

“What do you mean?”

“She has strength. I heard how she handled the warriors sent to retrieve her when she escaped the other day. She doesn’t move like someone who was raised to be weak.”

“That is true.”

“So perhaps Blackridge did not make the wrong choice.”

The silence that followed surprised me.

Then the other woman said, “Maybe.”

I stepped back before they could see me.

For the first time, I realized something had changed.

Not everyone hated me. Some had started accepting me.

Some still saw me as the replacement Luna, the woman who had taken Aria’s place.

But others were beginning to look at me differently. Not as Aria’s shadow. Not as a mistake but as Blackridge's Luna.

I returned to my room and closed the door behind me. My fingers moved to the incomplete mark on my neck.

It still ached.

Deucalion had never chosen me.

I had never chosen him.

So why had the bond chosen me?

I stared at myself in the mirror.

For months, I had thought of this bond as nothing but a curse.

But maybe I had been looking at it the wrong way.

Maybe there was a reason I was here.

Maybe the bond knew something none of us did.

And for the first time since I arrived at Blackridge, I wondered if being chosen had not been a mistake after all.

But if that was true, I needed to discover the reason before anyone else decided my fate for me. For the first time, I did not feel powerless. I felt curious, and that frightened me.